Trusted Travelers (Day 3391 - 3/8/19)

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The vlog starts out with a clip from the end of yesterday's vlog being shown as the image starts to spin and ominous music starts playing. Stephen stands still while a clock can be heard ticking in the background. He says that this was the worst sleep he has ever had in his life. Stephen said that last night before going to sleep, they turned the temperature of the thermostat down because they usually sleep with the temperature of the room being cold. He said that 3 hours later Mallory woke up because the room was really hot, so she couldn't sleep. Stephen also woke up due to Mal waking up and agrees that the room is really hot.

He said that Mal noticed that when you change the temperature on the thermostat it will start and then shut off. Stephen said that he understands that some thermostats are automatic, but if you set the temperature it should eventually reach that temperature on it's own. But, this thermostat seems to be broken. He said that they have tried pressing all the buttons and it just wouldn't work. So, they decided to open the window to let the cool air inside the room. Stephen said that it took a while for the air outside to cool down the room. He said that Mal was eventually able to fall sleep, but he tossed and turned for a couple hours before being able to fall asleep. Stephen says that he has enough energy to last for today, but he will probably go right to sleep once he gets home.

Stephen said that he was all dressed and ready to go to the airport to get global entry. He said that they will eat some breakfast first and then drive to the airport to get the "Disney fast pass for planes" (the name Stephen gave to Global Entry in vlog Day 3389). There is then a clip of Mal looking at her phone while eating eggs and fruit for breakfast. Then, there is a clip of their drive to the airport and them walking to the Global Entry Enrollment Center inside the airport. The video then transitions to Stephen and Mal walking in the airport parking lot to the car after finishing their interviews.

Stephen said that Mal's appointment was at 9:00 A.M. and his appointment was at 9:40 A.M. Mal told Stephen that during the interview they are supposed to ask you a lot of questions. However, once Mal finished her interview she came out and told Stephen that they didn't ask her any questions and just got her finger print. Stephen went in for his interview and he said they started asking him all sorts of questions. He said that he did have a different person interviewing him than Mal did though. The person who interviewed Mal just told her that he was taking her picture and held up a Logitech C920 HD Pro webcam, got her fingerprint, and told her to use the kiosk next time she comes into the country. Stephen said that his interviewer asked him where he was born, where he worked, what his job was, what his job was exactly because it wasn't a good enough answer, when he was last out of the country, and where it went when he was last out of the country.

He said that the person interviewing him was really easy-going and they chatted a lot about some other things so it took a bit longer. Stephen then says that they finally got their "Disney fast pass for planes". Mal comments that Stephen says that like Global Entry is supposed to help them get on the plane faster (like Disney fast pass helps people get on rides faster), but that is not what Global Entry does. Stephen says that Global Entry just includes pre-check and making the process of going through customs after getting back into the country a little bit easier. He said that it is part of a program called the Trusted Travelers Program. Mal says that now Stephen doesn't have to worry so much about the equipment whenever they are travelling. Stephen says that it is a pain every time they go to airport because he always has a laptop, at least one camera, and a bunch of other equipment and TSA always wants to see the equipment and he has to pull them out of the cases. Stephen then says "Happy Anniversary" to Mal. He sarcastically says that this is the best anniversary ever with them going to the airport as a date.

Stephen then says that it is not even 10:00 AM yet, so they can go home whenever. He said that they were first planning to go to some game stores, furniture stores, and camera stores in Charlotte. Stephen mentions that Charlotte is a big city and the traffic is crazy. He said that it was even sleeting this morning. They then go to an Office Solutions Inc. store, so Mal could look at office chairs. Stephen said that he had never seen so many display chairs in one location. He said that this store is supposed to be for businesses that need like 100 office chairs, but you can go in and just buy 1 chair. Mal goes around and tries out different office chairs. Stephen comments that she probably has more choices for office chairs here than at Costco or Office Depot. They then return to the car and Stephen says that aren't getting an office chair from there because Mal is looking for something very specific. He mentions that Mal is looking for a comfortable chair with arm rests that are removable or that preferably can be moved up and down. Stephen says that Mal likes to sit cross-legged on her office chair, so she wants to be able to move the arms rests up and down. He said that Mal doesn't really use the arm rests often especially because her current office chair doesn't have them. Stephen then says that the store was really nice and recommends going there if you're in Charlotte and need a chair or any office furniture. Mal mentions that they even gave her a catalog that showed all the office furniture they had.

Stephen and Mal then go to Ikea and go to the food court inside. Stephen films outside the window of the Ikea food court and comments that the weather is very dreary. Mal says that it is supposed to rain the rest of the night, while the weather back at Myrtle Beach is sunny and warm. Stephen mentions that they had stopped by a 2nd & Charles store because they don't have one in Myrtle Beach. He said that it was a great store and he didn't film anything in there because most people have that store in their city. Stephen said that the deals for game were good and he got some more Game Cube game manuals in there. He then talks about how they weren't didn't planning on eating at Ikea, but once they walked in the door they felt hungry so they went to go get something to eat. Stephen says that they are going to look around Ikea and try to find a chair for Mal. He said that even if they don't find a chair they will probably end up buying some stuff they don't need because they will feel compelled to buy it since it is so cheap.

Stephen said that Mal has been trying a bunch of office chairs all around Ikea and she has also been trying out some stools. He said that Mal was thinking that she might want to paint while standing up sometime in the future. Mal mentions that her studio chair is probably worse than her office chair. She said that she would need a studio chair in a specific shape if she was going to sit in it. On the other hand, if she is going to stand she would need something that she can perch onto if she needs to. Stephen said that they were basically in the process of upgrading the things in Mal's studio. Mal then tries out an office chair with a tall mesh back and says that Hayley has a similar chair to this or had one at one point. Mal said that the chair has a nice back support. Stephen tells Mal that he knows she wants to find a chair that has good back support, but she should be also looking for chairs that have movable arm rests. They then return to the car and Stephen says that they didn't end up buying a chair. Mal liked one chair, but it wasn't as comfortable as the one she tried out in Costco.

Stephen says that they did end up getting some other stuff like he had predicted earlier. He said that Mal got a clock that she has always wanted in red. Stephen said that Mal is going to do some kind of art project with the clock and it's related to video games. He says that the viewers will have to wait and see what he means when Mal's video comes out. Stephen mentions that they have been going to Ikea over the years and Mal has been trying to get the clock in red. However, they always had the clock in every other color except for red. There was one time where they were selling it in red, but it was sold out. Stephen and Mal begged the employees to sell them the display model since there were 3 display models, but they wouldn't sell them. Mal decided to buy the clock in green today and just paint it red. Stephen says it is still only 2:00 PM and they still have places they want to see. He says that today is their dating anniversary, so it's like they are on a mini vacation.

A sped up clip of them driving in the rain to the Save Point Video Games store is shown. There are then cinematic clips of the games on display inside the store and the video game art on the walls. Stephen says that it is a cool store that is right up the road from Ikea that he has never been to before. He said that he has been to this Ikea multiple times and had no idea that there was a video game store 1 mile up the road from it. Stephen says that the store had a specific section that just had Game Cube manuals and he found a couple Game Cube game manuals that they had a hard time finding. So, he bought a couple of Game Cube game manuals. For example, he found a Bomberman Jetters game manual at the top of the pile of Game Cube game manuals and bought it for only $1. He said that buying the game manual for $1 was easier than buying the game to get the manual and selling the game back to Roland. Stephen mentions that they are almost done getting all the game manuals for Game Cube. He said that they are just missing the game manuals for games that are very hard to find manuals for like Pokémon Box: Ruby & Sapphire. Stephen mentions that he also got a game that he thought would be fun for him and Mal to play on stream. It was a Wheel of Fortune game for Sega CD. He said that based on looking at the back of the game, you can tell that it is in full-motion video. Stephen says that Vanna White and the contestants are all in full-motion video. He says that you can even name the contestants, but the contestants are preset.

There is then a sped up clip of them driving in the rain again to the Video Game World store. A clip with cinematic shots of video games, a wall of plushies, T-shirts, Funko Pops, and necklaces. Stephen says that Video Game World has multiple locations and this is the very first location and it is also the largest location. He mentions that this store has a lot of consoles and games at fair prices. Stephen said that he was amazed by the number of boxed games they had especially for Super Nintendo and NES. He said that the store also had some of the rarest Game Cube games that exist and this made him feel glad that they already finished the Game Cube collection. Stephen then talks about how the store is located in a strip mall with other businesses in it. He said that there was a fire in a business that was 2 doors down from Video Game World about a week ago. Stephen says that it could have been disastrous for the video game store because there is so much merchandise in there, but thankfully the fire didn't reach the store. Stephen than says that Charlotte has great video game stores and mentions that Video Game World has 3 different locations.

There is another sped up clip of them driving in the rain to another Video Game World location. Stephen said that they picked up a few things that were mostly related to Game Cube stuff. He said that they have fully finished up the Game Cube stuff. Stephen mentions that he also found a Jet Force Gemini (for Nintendo 64) player's guide for only $3. He said that it was an official Nintendo guide that they didn't have. Stephen says that this game is often forgotten about and it hasn't really aged well, but it is a rare game. He said that he would love to go back to it at one point and play through it. Stephen says that the location they ended up in, when they went to the 2nd Video Game World location, didn't have a lot of food options so they just got some Chick-Fil-A. He said that it was already 6:30 PM, so they would just eat it on the drive home. Mal says that it will take about 3 hours and 15 minutes to get home. Stephen said that they probably wouldn't get home until 10:30 PM since they also have to stop for gas. He then says that he had fun on their short trip and they now have to drive home safely since it's been raining. There is then a sped up clip of them driving home in the dark.

The video then cuts to them being back home with Stephen making eating noises while filming Sagan and Kepler eating their last meal of the day. Stephen says that his dad has been taking care of the cats while they were gone like he always does when they go on a trip. He says that he told his dad not to feed the cats their last meal because they would feed them when they got home. Stephen said that they got home a little later than they anticipated and that at certain points the drive dragged on. For instance, there were times where he was tired and had to stop for a bit to rest or get a coffee. He said that he didn't sleep super well yesterday night, but once he got breakfast he was fine. Stephen said that he will probably sleep well tonight though since anytime he drives for a long time period of time he sleeps really well.

He then talks about how it is hard to believe that it was that fast of a trip. Stephen says that the whole purpose of trip was to get Global Entry and then zooms in to his mouth and says "Disney fast pass". He said that they were told that they could start using the Global Entry right away. Stephen says that they each get assigned a number and whenever they have a flight there is a section for "known traveler number" and they just fill in their number there. He said that it will work as long as the name associated with the traveler number matches the name on the records they have of your passport. Stephen says that when you're given your ticket and it's a domestic flight you will automatically get pre-check. If it's an international flight and you're coming back it will make going through customs a bit easier.

Stephen then asks Mal if she is tired. Mal is lying down on the large bean bag in the living room and replies that she is tired. Stephen says that he still has to schedule some videos for tomorrow before going to bed. He then says that the cats are glad that they are back, while trying to get Sagan to come over to him. Sagan doesn't come over and Stephen says that since he got fed he got exactly what he needed, so he won't come over now. Stephen then mentions that some important packages arrived while they were gone which he will talk about in tomorrow's vlog. He says that tomorrow's vlog will be one of the most important vlogs in StephenVlog history. Stephen says not to miss watching the vlog tomorrow because later vlogs won't make any sense if you don't watch it.