Pour Me A Story, Vol. 23
feat. Jake Sundstrom, behind the scenes of roller coasters, and more
well well well. if it isn’t the 23rd edition of the newsletter. the Jordan Edition, if you will. let’s see if we can make it to the second Jordan Edition (#45) in 22 weeks’ time.
it’s been a hell of a week, huh? as is so often the case, we have ups and downs, ebbs and flows. I started running again for the first time post-race, with mixed results. I ground out a little over a mile and a half on Tuesday and felt every step, but then ran a couple miles Thursday at a better pace and felt a little more like myself. my fitness is shot, but it’ll come back.
meanwhile, I’ve signed up for a couple of 5K races to keep me moving my legs. the first, on April 10, is a charity race to benefit Special Olympics Colorado. work very graciously covered my donation minimum, but it’s a great cause and if you have a couple bucks to spare in your stimulus checks, you can donate to the cause here.
Vaccines and Green
speaking of stimulus checks, I really got to thinking this week about the original mission of this publication: to give folks the space and opportunity to celebrate wins during a time when it might feel selfish or awkward to do so.
this week the third round of government relief payments hit bank accounts, and “relief” was really the key word. I didn’t get one this time around (owing to a lower earning threshold and the two months of bartending I did at the start of 2020) but my social feeds absolutely filled up with folks celebrating the direct deposit. it also spawned this tremendously funny tweet format.
all jokes aside, it’s just incredibly good to see collective joy as folks were finally able to shake off even a crumb of the financial stress so many have been living under over the past few months.
the same thing applies to COVID-19 vaccinations. people all over my timelines are getting inoculated, and it makes me genuinely pleased to see folks posting their vaccination cards or stickers or whatever. it just fuckin' rules, keep posting them. I don't give a shit whether you "skipped the line" or not, we gotta get these suckers into people's arms. every single person who gets the vaccine is in turn helping to protect others who haven’t yet. we can’t let these doses expire in the fridge.
for anyone struggling with the idea that they should wait til the last minute because there might be someone out there who needs it more, this piece is really worth your time to read and may quell some of your concerns.
Anyway, We Have Company
this week’s special guest was my very first subscriber, our second “Jake” and our third? fourth? cameo from the great state of California. please welcome Jake Sundstrom.
AC: hey Jake! how’s things my friend?
JS: things are looking up! we just broke a hellish cold spell in sunny southern california (I'm still in joggers and a hoodie as i type), i have health insurance again and a part-time job!! look out world, here comes jake!!
AC: oh man this is all tremendous stuff! we love to hear it. are you able to divulge what the new gig is?
JS: sure!! nothing fancy, i'm getting back to my college roots and doing a little ride operating at knott's berry farm when they open back up in [to be determined]. so, that should be enjoyable. I'm good at it, I liked working at Disneyland a lot in college and honestly, i've been bored out of my skull the past six months, especially as my motivation to write has really diminished. i get that boredom is in itself a kind of privilege but it usually comes with anxiety and depression which!! i hate!! so, this will be a good change of pace.
AC: wait don’t give me that “nothing fancy” shit, that’s an incredible line of work. I’m incredibly intrigued! how did you get into ride operating, what’s the learning curve like? tell me everything!
JS: well those who have known me for /a long time/ know that I have been kind of a theme park dork since I was old enough to read. i actually went to school for hotel/restaurant management before moving to journalism — which worked out great!! my first gig in journalism was covering theme parks while I was in high school (which actually did rule!!)
anyway, i ended up getting a job in foods at Disneyland while I was in college and The Rule was you needed to work four months in a department before you could transfer, so I busted my ass, handed in my transfer papers four months to the date of my hire and got hired on Winnie the Pooh and Haunted Mansion which was kind of a dream gig for someone who grew up loving the latter of those attractions. it was a lot of fun!! it can be very hectic, especially on attractions that go beyond pushing buttons and cleaning up barf (I have a feeling I'll be doing a little bit more of that at knott's)
disneyland is a very well-oiled machine and the expectations are, frankly, too high for what they pay — but I enjoyed the work and would do it again. there was a lot of cool stuff I got to do while I was there and I met some really dope people. it's not for everyone, but it was definitely for this dork!!
AC: first let me say this: I’m a huge control freak and chickenshit and I cannot handle roller coasters or thrill rides in general. now with that out of the way, what a wild thing to do. Knotts is like more thrill than theme right? so yeah there’s gotta be a ton of vomit there. what kind of rides are there that are “more involved?” what does that entail?
JS: that's interesting — i used to be absolutely terrified of roller coasters, but that was over when The Girl I Liked Wanted To Ride Kong At Six Flags Marine World. knott's is kind of interesting — without going through its whole history, it started as what is arguably the first theme park in america (a fake ghost town just blocks from where disneyland now stands) to what is now an amalgamation of a regional theme park (think elitch gardens in your neck of the woods) and what it was for its first 50 years.
the most involved rides are (in my opinion) gonna be something like xcelerator, which uses a cable-launch technology (very similar to what you see on aircraft carriers) to get to 82 mph in under 3 seconds. that involved a person in a tower and a couple other crew members all dispatching a train every 45 seconds or so, checking 24 restraints in that cycle and dealing with an attraction that ... well, breaks down a lot.
(editor’s note: Jesus look at this fuckin’ thing)
that being said, an upset for this kind of thing might be something as old-timey as a log flume. i remember at Disneyland, splash mountain seemed like a *nightmare* because you had to keep your eyes on something like 40 logs at once. we're talking about an attraction with no seatbelts and guests that are ... unpredictable on a ride that gets up to 50-feet in the air. no thank you.
AC: there has to be some pretty rigorous training for this stuff right? because you literally have a bunch of folks’ lives in your hands at any given moment. and checking two dozen restraints in less than a minute sounds more like something you’d see from a nascar pit crew (which is fitting, given your writing interests.)
JS: that is correct!! i actually went through the first part of a certification process yesterday and will complete that in person in the coming weeks. a common misconception about all this, particularly when you think about state fairs and the like, is that they're not well maintained because of their transient nature. but there's a lot of regulation that goes into this sort of thing, whether it be through osha or otherwise. nascar is a good comp, because while speed is the sexy part of it, it doesn't matter how quick you get off pit road if all the lugnuts aren't tightened and the wheel comes off on turn four!!
you know as well as me that if kyle busch comes into the trailer after that, it's trouble, amiright adrian!?!?
AC: hahaha I can only imagine it would be bad news if [checks notes] Kyle Busch came into my [squints] trailer. yes that would be suboptimal. what’s the ultimate journalism dream? full-time sportswriter somewhere on a motorsport beat?
JS: that's an interesting question, which as a Serious Journalist you know means /i'm stalling because i don't have a good answer./ i've done the NHL beat, a lil minor league baseball and prep sports and then honestly the motorsports thing was a total fluke that i really enjoyed for a few years. i love what the defector people are doing because it's that perfect cross-section of sports and politics, and that's kind of my sweet spot. so, if i pitched myself anywhere it'd be on the back of attacking these things that i enjoy (racing, hockey, soccer, baseball, movies) from the perspective of how they fit into the wider universe. that's partially because i find it interesting but mostly because i find it so hard to divorce what i enjoy from everything else right now.
AC: yeah man I like the defector/post-deadspin crew a lot. I definitely applied there more than once ~when I was your age~. I think being able to sample a lot of subject areas is a huge benefit because it broadens your scope and understanding (and, thus, employability). it’s tough out there though man, I worry about my pals in daily journalism. I mean I worry about all of them but y’know. anyway. you’re like the third or fourth person I’ve had on the newsletter who’s based in California, is that where you’re from? think you’ll stay there or are there other places you’d like to put an apartment down payment on for a bit?
JS: yeah, it's interesting because i kind of grew up reading (and eventually writing) for some of the sbnation sites and feel like a late arrival to the whole ~deadspin scene~ in a lot of ways. i was worried about journalism as a whole before the pandemic (frankly i naively felt i had gotten out of dodge by getting the job with the motorsports company a few years ago!) and now!! who knows. it's not great!! yeah, i grew up just outside of san jose and have lived in southern california for nearly 20 years — minus a dalliance with houston for a year. i would really like to make this work, but if i've matured in any way over the past [however long] it's that if the right person or position came along, i think i can make anywhere work. i think. i theoretically have british citizenship available to me and i love london, so that would be a ~cool~ place to live, but if i die in los angeles, you wouldn't hear me complain. california fucking rules. you heard it here first.
AC: hmmm but I heard it’s awful and everyone’s leaving for Texas. citation needed! I think if you move for a job and the job is good, you can make anywhere work. or as long as you can support yourself wherever you are, you can make the best of it. I’ve been on both sides for sure. alright dude two more then I’ll let joy fly. as of right now I’m changing up the newsletter so that the guest gets to pick the final song of each edition, so what’s a jam that’s your favorite lately and why?
JS: we have officially been going through covid long enough that i'm back listening to punisher (phoebe bridgers) again, which means i'm back listening to "kyoto" again. it's kind of a sad song that sounds happy, which fits both the moment and is a vibe i find myself in a lot. it's about her relationship with her dad which is, and i don't think i'm putting words in her mouth, Not Great. i have not spoken with either of my parents in, man, three years? i think we're getting close to that now, so i definitely resonate with the idea that the people you're supposed to be close to are the ones you're furthest from. that's especially hit funny the past year when many people are so worried about their parents and grandparents — it's just something i haven't related to. anyway, it's a great song and she's a wonderful artist, though i think we're well past the point where she's ~undiscovered~ lmao
AC: terrific answer and this immediately vindicates my decision to pivot to asking the guest for a song choice. I love it. alright dude last one: as a longtime subscriber you’ll know this is where you get to plug something meaningful to you. the floor is yours, sky’s the limit!
JS: well as former journalist bois i think it would rule if everyone with the means would subscribe to http://discourseblog.com and http://defector.com!! you can find my work at http://jakesundstrom.substack.com and if tony hawk is reading this: please message adrian back!! we love you!!
AC: hahaha. I really hope he sees this, man. Jake thank you so much for your time and more importantly your support, you’ve been down since day 1 before I even sent the first edition and I love ya for it.
JS: i'm your ride and die. love you man — here for this and all your future projects.
Worthy Consumables
have you ever had one of those moments where it took you way too long to get around to doing something, and then once you actually do it, you’re mad at yourself for not doing it sooner? was this vague enough for you?
it happened to us this week. after getting through our stockpile of winter storm groceries sometime on Monday, we were at a loss for what to do for dinner Tuesday night. Alex nannies for another baby on Tuesdays, and I’d had a hell of a day at work myself, so we figured we’d order some takeout. after vetoing the usual options, one of us (I can’t remember who) had the brainwave: why don’t we try the Mediterranean spot down the street?
we’ve talked about it the entire time we’ve lived in this apartment, and next Friday will be our third anniversary here. the restaurant in question, Shish Kabob Grill, is literally two and a half blocks away (forgive the hyperbole in the tweet above) and we drive past it all the time. a 30-second glance at the menu online showed that approximately 140% of the items listed sounded fantastic, so we went hell for leather and ordered a spread.
and of course, it was even better than advertised. big goof on my behalf. it was so good that we opted to return on Wednesday night (after having leftovers for lunch that same day.) there’s making up for lost time and then there’s making up for lost time.
anyway, Denver pals, I would highly recommend stopping by and getting carryout if you’re in the neighborhood (or even if you’re not.) everything we’ve tried so far has been an absolute knockout.
Parting Note
as I mentioned in the interview with Jake, I’ve decided to change up how I’m handling this segment. partly because I’m Extremely Bad at broadening my musical horizons (so you’re gonna end up with a rotation of 90s hip-hop and angsty 2000s alternative stuff that I listened to in high school) and partly because this newsletter is meant to be about you guys.
anyway, as you read above, Jake selected Kyoto by Phoebe Bridgers.
thanks, as always, for hanging with me this week folks. I look forward to bringing you Volume 24 next Friday.
— adrian ✌🏻