September 2026 - Thoughts

September 1st, 2026. 8:56 AM

Wake up! It's the first of the month!

I can't believe it is finally September, the month where it begins to get colder and Sandusky (along with the rest of Vacationland) slowly fall alseep for the winter. Its also the time where I begin to say goodbye to the many wonderful people I met working at Cedar Point, as they begin to go home back to their countires. I will be making a page documenting my time at Shores after we close for the Summer next Monday.

Tash and Vanessa are heading home tomorrow, and I will be missing them dearly. The Shores team and I went to Thirsty Pony to celerate the end of the summer. It made me a little sad, knowing that I may never see them again. We had a great time discussing work drama, good and bad memories, and what our future plans are. End of the night, we parted ways and I realized just how amazing my team was.

I had the day off yesterday, since this weekend I will be very busy for the next 6 days. It was nice to be able to sleep in and not worry about anything. I took some time to finally hang up some posters I had been needing to hang up, along with some cleaning. I had bought a autographed/numbered Giant Wheel poster, which was numbered 6/150. I also made the decision to buy the Hotel Breakers poster, since when else will I have a poster I am in charge of/worked at? Probably never unless we got a Castaway Bay/Lighthouse Point poster. I do think the new lineup looks very nice on my wall though, what do you think?

My grandparents are coming up to visit today. Once Nate is off of work, we're all going to go get dinner togther. We're going to go to Goofy Golf, and play some mini golf. I will also try to pack a little for my trip to San Francisco next week. Both are very exciting, and I get to see so many people during both.

September 2nd, 2026. 10:24 AM

Yesterday was very fun with my grandparents, and Nate. Dinner was fun, and Goofy Golf was also very fun. I won, but barely.

I also did some work on the site yesterday, getting a lot of things worked on backend, and also FINALLY finishing archiving my transcripts from 2024. If you are interested, you can view it HERE. I will work on getting 2022 and 2023 finished up soon, but given 2023 has 56 videos to archive, and 2022 has around the same, it will take some time to complete.

I work today, day 1/6, closing. I also close tomorrow, and friday. I am counting down to when I leave for San Francisco.

September 4th, 2026. 10:45 AM

Evening resorts feels so strange to work, and I feel like I just run around Cedar Point. I enjoy it though, especially driving the new truck. Wednesday I spent most of my time helping out the other areas, and cleaning up Shores. I also got to take the Gator into the park after park close, which was fun. Closing resorts yesterday was also very fun, getting trained finally in the new truck. Its a 2026 Chevy Silverado, and its B I G. It seats six, and its hard to see the road. The weather yesterday was not on our side, and it downpoured so much the park had to close at 6pm. Ultimately, resorts closed at 9pm, and we had an easy close.

Outside of work, I went to see Coyotte VS ACME in theaters with Nate. It is a very funny movie, and I am very glad it got saved. I will note there is a few scenes where the CGI needed a few more minutes to bake, but it was very good. Otherwise, I haven't been doing much outside of work.

Lastly, I did some updates to the website that should be noted. The 2023 transcripts have been finalized. It was not as bad as I expected. 2022 is nearly 75 videos, and I don't have the energy to work on it today. This will probably be a "Alex is bored" Tuesday activity.

September 8th, 2026. 9:04 AM

Working 3 O/Cs in a row (including the 7:30am-12:30am on Saturday) was the most tiring 3 days I ever worked. Working resorts, Waterpark, and helping out in park was a lot of fun. I worked, and helped, so many people that I lost count. I genuinely didn't do anything outside of work other then sleep. While I was working though, I did get news about something I am getting for Nate for Christmas. More details to follow after Christmas.

While working this weekend, I came to the realization that Wildwater Kingdom Closed for good 10 years ago. Wildwater Kingdom was the last piece of Geauga Lake to operate, and I got to visit it growing up. It is still my favorite waterpark I have visted, and every day I work at Shores I miss the place. I also thought about how much ny life has changed in 10 years. I grew up, my dad got divorced and remarried, I graduated High School, I'm nearly done with College, I work at Cedar Point, AND I met Nate. There is so much more change in my life, but those are the big ones. Knowing that there was so much change in 10 years, I look forward to the next 10.

Lastly, Six Flags bought ArieForce One from Fun Spot Atlanta! They haven't said where, but I am very thankful that they are relocating the ride somewhere in the company. My bets are Kings Island and Carowinds.

September 8th, 2026. 4:11 PM

Spent some time today reworking some code for the webpages, and I believe I am ready to roll out Phase V. It is largely the same appearence as Phase IV, but the backend code is easier to follow, and is much more flexible then Phase II or Phase IV. Going forward, I will be using Phase V code to make my pages.

I've spent most of today relaxing, and doing some mild chores. I haven't had a day to relax the way I am relaxing in a while, since May or June. I am enjoying this relaxation, but I do need to get things done. I've also been getting ready for California. I am very excited to go out there, and meet so many people. I probably will not be updating my website while I am out there, unless I can borrow Nate's computer while I am out there, since I do not plan to brind my laptop.

September 9th, 2026. 11:06 AM

Today is the daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!

I am getting final preperations done before flying out, and I am very nervous. I will be meeting Nate's family for the first time today, in about 15 hours should the weather hold. I am more scared of being stranded in Chicago then them, but I've got this. I keep teasing Nate that I will dress as rural midwestern as possible to pull a funny prank on their parents, but I don't think they (Nate) would appreciate it. I still haven't finished packing, and I might spend the extra $65 to bring a carryon for the return flight.

September 15th, 2026. 9:40 PM

California was SO MUCH FUN. Nate and I had a wonderful time, and I got to meet family. However the return loop was bad. I got stranded in Vegas overnight, with my 11:16pm flight being delayed to 6am. I had an awful time there, but I made it home. I will write my trip reports soon. I spent today resting, and going back to Sandusky. I went to cheekz with Luke and Ronan, and we discussed IAAPA 2026. I am very glad to be home, but I miss Nate. I will see them tomorrow.

September 19th, 2026. 9:54 PM

I've been hard at work for Halloweekends. I haven't had much time to work on pages for the site, I did get the page done (for now) for California's Great America. I may add some more pictures that I took when I have time. Work the last few days has been fun. I have left late every single day, but I am working hard. Staffing is minimal so we have to be smart with what we have. This includes using me as a breaker. Shores is nearly done getting packed up for the winter, and its very strange walking through and seeing everything all...gone. Thursday Luke, Nate and I had brownies and watched The Hunger Games. It was good, we plan to watch the next one tomorrow evening. Friday, Owen, Luke, Nate, and I went to do some haunts at Cedar Point. I got to ride Valravn and do Shrieks again, we even got a Danielle cameo. Good times. Tonight, I am going to go to bed after I am done with this blog post. I know I have videos to archive and pages to write, but that will have to wait til Monday or Tuesday. The gang goes to watch Shrieks

Lastly, Nate's Christmas gift is nearly here. It's due in Tuesday, and while I won't say what it is, I know they will like it.

September 21st, 2026. 1:19 PM

Do you remeber? The 21st night of September?

Its Monday, which means I get the day off. Yesterday I was sent home early since the park was so dead, we even closed at 6pm. Resorts has been fun to work, especially this weekend.

Today Luke and I went to Mr. Smith's for coffee, IAAPA bookings, and Scholarship applications. While walking home we thought we saw Ohio Governor candidate Dr. Amy Acton doing a film shoot for her campaign, but it was actually someone who looked really similar doing something for the City of Sandusky. We are saddened that it wasn't her, because that would be a full lore drop right there. Luke and I might go to Hobby Lobby later, which will be fun.

To expand on the IAAPA stuff, here is our plans so far:

I plan to visit a minimum of 5 parks on this trip, with a max of 8. I want to possibly go to SeaWorld with Mom, since she hasn't been in nearly 3 years. Luke has mentioned doing 2.5 days at Universal, but IDK my finaly plans yet. Overall, however, this is our itenerary for IAAPA 2026.

September 27th, 2026. 8:46 PM

So I know I promised that I wouldn't go tooooooo long without updates, but I promise I have an excuse. The last few days have been very busy, and everytime I get home I am so exhausted I can't sit down to write an update. However, a lot happened to me in the mean time:

Hunger Games

Star Trek

Nate and I had grilled cheese for dinner today before their RAIL meeting. Caroline came over to bring me a poster they got me.

Tomorrow is the first day of class. I am nervous, but I get to sleep in so we are going to be ok. More writings to follow soon.

September 28th, 2026. 12:04 PM

Today is the first day of class, and it doesn't start until 4:30pm. In the mean time, I'm doing some chores like laundry, dishes, and filling out paperwork. I stayed up rpetty late last night, I couldn't sleep. I decided to play some Themepark Tycoon 2 on Roblox, and I have been working on something interesting. Vortex from Kings Island, but as a Tilt Coaster. I'm working on some element changes and what not, but it's looking cool so far. I am nervous for my class, but I think I'll be fine.

We are approaching one year of my website. I have learned quite a bit about HTML since then, tried many things, and I have worked so hard to make this website my own. It is bland, I don't know what I want to do about that. It can be confusing to navigate (just look at California's Great America page nav buttons) but I am rather happy with the content, and the information this site has.

September 29th, 2026. 11:22 AM

This morning before Swathi's class Nate, Luke, Josh, Ronan, Caroline, and Danielle and I went to breakfast at Pancake House. I got this breakfest pierogi bowl and it was very good. We're now in class, and it's the class I was not looking forward to. The dynamic of the classroom has changed a lot since last semester, something I will write up about at some point.

Last night after class, we took a walk down to Shoreline before the RAIL meeting. After the rather short RAIL meeting, a huge group from the club went to Toft's for ice cream, and gossip. It was a fun time, I didn't want to leave. Afterwards Nate, Luke, Josh, Ronan, Caroline, and Danielle and I went to Luke's to play Cards and Jeopardy.

X2 at Six Flags Magic Mountain has offically closed for good after 100+ people have entered a lawsuit over injuries. I'm a bit bummed since I am planning on going to Magic Mountain in December and now I won't be able to ride. Hopefully Japan works out in 2027 and I can ride Eejanaika (ええじゃないか) when I go.

September 30th, 2026. 12:00 PM

Today is the one year anniversary of my website, alexfirlik.neocities.org. A lot has happened in the last year, many changes in my personal life, work life, and things around the whole world.

In my personal life:

IAAPA Expo

Orlando

southern road trip

Union Pacific Big Boy

Nate and I would go to California

In my work life:

In World News:

So much has happened in the last year, its crazy. All the ups and downs I have had during the last year, its fun to look back and see just how much the world has changed since I started this site 1 year ago, bored in class. I think its approperiate to say that it has been an interesting 1 year. Here's to the next month, and year, of my life. anneversary ribbon

My Thoughts - September 2026