Knoxville, TN

September 24th – 25th
UAV vs Tennessee
Set Day
Things are finally falling into place. Our set day went well. We even joined the rest of the crew for lunch. I don’t remember the name of the place, but it was some local dive.

I stayed in on Friday night.


Game Day

Saturday morning always comes quick!

In the evening, I went with Chuck, Mike and Josh to grab some takeout from one of our favorite “Diners, Drive-In’s and Dives”….. “The Pizza Palace”

Greek salad, pizza and onion rings are my favorites there. But you can’t possibly eat all three. So you have to share!

We took it all back to the hotel to eat in the lobby. They had a big screen TV set up.

Upstairs and in bed by 9p.

It’s official…. I am falling in love with this football crew!

Columbus > Knoxville, TN

Steph and I decided we needed a “girls night” – so we took a cab to Calhoun’s. It’s a local bar on the water near campus.

We sat outside and had a nice dinner and several drinks.

As we were finishing up, we realized a few of the boys were inside eating dinner. So we went in and visited with them for a bit. Which worked out well, because we ended up catching a ride back to the hotel with them.

Nice evening.

Columbus

Washington vs Columbus – Preseason NHL – CBJ Vision

Well…  times have changed.

I am here to help my friends Dave T. and Andy. 

And to help fund my tax saving account. 

Nothing more. 

I have zero obligation to this organization.  I am still bitter the “re-organizing” of departments that happened over the summer.

This is simply a paycheck.  This is where being a freelancer becomes much like being a whore. 

Oxford, MS

Vanderbilt vs Ole Miss

Woke up at 2:45a because something was biting me! I flicked the lights on and tore the sheets back; assuming I had bed bugs.


Nope, just 3 mosquitoes under sheets, gnawing at my legs and ankles!

God this hotel sucks.

I laid awake for two more hours. Slept for about 30 minutes and then had to get up.

Game Day!

Finally starting to really enjoy football season. The stress of the machine issues is settling and Steph and I are getting use to the disk and all of it’s quirks.

In the evening, everyone else drove back to Memphis for early flights. So I was in Oxford alone. But I made the best of it.

A bunch of the guys had raved about the Greek place they had dinner at last night, so I set out on a walk to find it.

I enjoyed my walk as it was thru a lovely Southern neighborhood.

I found the place with no problem.

It was a converted gas station.

And was it ever good!!
My favorites were the hummus & pimento dip.

The $1.95 Margaritas weren’t that bad either!

Walked back to the hotel and went to bed.

Have to get up early to drive back to Memphis for my flight.

Oxford, MS

The set day went really well. Steph and I are settling into our routine.

I stayed in again tonight.

Columbus > Memphis > Oxford, MS

I love going to Ole Miss! It’s such a quaint southern town.

Got in and settled with no issues.

Our hotel blows.
It looks sweet from the outside.

It’s a dump on the inside. Totally overpriced too. But it’s a football weekend and there aren’t many hotels to choose from. So spending $200-300/night for a glorified Days Inn probably doesn’t seem bad.





A bunch of the guys went out tonite – but it was too late for me. I gotta get my sleep for the set day tomorrow. My favorite Viz Tech, Bob, is coming back tomorrow, hopefully to get this thing running once and for all!

Columbus

Flew back this morning. Picked up Claude & Smokey because their daddy is out of town for a few days.

They spent the next few days being spoiled.

I spent it catching up on life!

Gainesville

USF vs Florida

Game day!

A lot of extra security today.  Because it's 9/11 AND because some moron down the street has been threatening to burn the Koran today; which has been all the talk on the news networks this week.

ESPN takes our safety very seriously.  Sometimes, the measures can be annoying, but it's nice to know we are being taken care of.

Things are coming together, slowly, but surely.

Game went good.

Still having issues with the install, but Bob has figured out what’s wrong. Hopefully next week, we will be at 100%. Still need some more parts.

Ugh.

Oh well, we do have half of our rack mounted Viz working. It’s just the back up machines that are not working. So we no longer have to rely on the Bullet (temp).

Breakfast was kind of cool. We walk over to the student cafeteria and have what ever we want. A million times better than most catered meals, that’s for sure!

Never did make it into the stadium or up to the booth to take photos.

In the evening, I was too exhausted to take Mom and Auntie Gayle out, so we ate at the hotel restaurant. Some of the crew was there, so Mom got to meet them.

Just hung out for the evening. We all have to get up early tomorrow to go home.

Good weekend.

Gainesville

Bob, our technician, arrived last night. He rode to work with Steph and I. Only took about 30 seconds with him for me to know we were FINALLY going to make progress on this install.

Steph and I continued to work on the Bullet (the temporary Viz), while Bob worked on the install.

Things went better than last week, but we are still struggling a bit.

At lunch time, the 3 of us walked to a Mexican place down the street a few blocks.

It was nice to get out of the truck and see a bit of campus!

Bob ran into a few obstacles, but was finally making progress. We needed more parts shipping in – they will be here in the morning.

After work, I ate leftovers from Mom and Auntie Gayle’s lunch in the room while they went to dinner. I needed to write an email updating Anne about our progress made during the day.

They came back, we had a few glasses of wine and then off to bed!

Gainesville

Mom and I got up here last nite.

Today, I don’t have to be to work until 1pm, so Mom and I went to Micanopy. It’s “old Florida” at its finest.

We strolled around town and visited a few shops – it was early, so not much was open.

Afterwards, we headed back to Gainesville for lunch. We happened upon Bistro 1245 – very good!

Then mom dropped me off for work while she went back to the hotel to lay at the pool with Auntie Gayle.

More drama surrounding the Viz install. The technician was having travel issues and would likely not land until our work day was over.

So Steph and I moved on with our day.

When I was done working, I went and got mom and Auntie Gayle. We went looking a place the hotel staff suggested, but never found it. Instead we found a Flying Biscuit. Since I had just been there, I was excited to share it with them.

Well… it wasn’t exactly the same as it was in Charlotte, but it was still yummy.

Afterwards, we went back to the hotel for some wine and girl chat.

Fort Myers

Spent the last 3 days with my parents; we went on the boat, which is always a highlight for me.

Tomorrow evening, mom and I are driving up to Gainesville. My game is there this weekend. Auntie Gayle is meeting us there on Thursday. Mom and her are having a “girls weekend” while I work.

September 1st – 4th

Columbus > Atlanta > Athens, GA > Fort Myers
Louisiana Lafayette vs Georgia

It’s here!!! SEC Football!!

I am sooo excited! After all these years of Big Ten and Big East football, I finally get to spend football season in the South! So many new towns to visit!

Flew to Atlanta on Wednesday afternoon. We have 2 set days this week since we are launching the Platinum look on the Viz and because this is the first time that the Charlotte office has 4 Viz football shows each week.

Had to stop halfway to Athens at a Panera so I could get online for the Conference Call and Webex.

Got to Athens in the late afternoon.

Courtyard by Marriott in Athens… ick!

My room was dreadful and very mildew-y. So much so that they had a portable dehumidifier in there. I couldn’t do that for 4 night, that’s for sure!

So I went to the front desk and requested a new room. Of course that was no easy task because I had forgotten my room key in the room and got myself stuck in the courtyard. I couldn’t get into the lobby without a room key. Thankfully, there was a lady reading in a chair on the deck, so she let me in.

New room. Time to move all my crap. And I have a lot of stuff because I am going to Fort Myers on Saturday night. Am staying there until Wednesday night.

Got to the 2nd room. Got settled. Ran out to the store and got a few things. Also got lost.

Went to bed early – long weekend ahead!

On Thursday morning, I went for a walk. Great weather!!
Then headed over to the truck around noon.

And the drama began with the Viz….

It was evident that the technician that was sent to our site to install the rack mounted Viz was very green. But, nothing I could do about that!

Steph and I got started on setting up shop. For today, I am using the Bullet that was shipped in. The goal is to move our show over to the rack mounted Viz tonight or tomorrow by lunch.

Meanwhile, back at home, Dave was tending to the tomato worm outbreak in my garden

That is momma worm with a gazillion baby worms on her back.  Ugh!







Various technical issues that I won’t bore ya’ll with. Plus a pretty big
learning curve since this is the first time I am using the new software and new look on the Viz.

Thursday didn’t go as well as we had hoped. The rack mount Viz is still not installed. Using the word “technician” to describe the guy who came from LA for the install – is laughable.

For example, he left parts needed for the install, in his hotel room. Why?

Thursday evening, Steph and I walked to downtown Athens. We met up with Steve and Jeff at a place called Pauley’s.

It’s a crepe place. Huh? I was skeptical, but it had rave reviews!






And… I am sold!
Buffalo Chicken crepe – OUTSTANDING!


Friday…. My “technician” continued to fail miserably at the install. There were questions he was asking me that blew my mind. He truly has no idea what he is doing.

Steph and I fell behind fast. It just takes time to figure out all these new elements, what they look like and how they work.

We stayed late trying to catch up.

On our way back to the hotel, we stopped at “The Varsity” for takeout.

Mmmm.. grilled cheese!







Got to my room – called Anne to update her on our lack of progress and issues.

Then talked to my friend Amy to see how things went at her site today.

Oh dear – I have to get to bed! Have to be up in a few hours!


Saturday – Game Day!

Needless to say, I am using the Bullet today as the rack mounted Viz is still not functional.

Steph and I took some time at breakfast to check out the stadium

Dave had mentioned the term “between the hedges” a few times this weekend and I had no clue what it meant. Now I do.

There are hedges on both sidelines.

And then it was time to check out Uga’s house.

Well, right now it’s actually Russ’ house.






Uga I first graced the sidelines in 1956. The 7 dogs to follow have all been from the same line of pure white English bulldogs owned by a family in Savanah, GA.

Russ is a stand-in dog as Uga VII died unexpectedly to a heart condition in November 2009.
Russ is the half-brother of Uga VII.

Uga VIII is in training and will debut later this season.

The view Russ has during the game from his house:

We also paid our respects to all the previous Uga I thru Uga VI whom are buried in the end zone.

Georgia is the only major college who buries its mascots within the confines of the stadium.

The game… well it went well considering all the hurdles we had.

Baby steps.

The rack mounted Viz is still not installed. A new technician will be coming to our show next week.

I am completely exhausted! But it feels good to have week one behind us!

On the walk back to the car I took these shots from the street.

The stadium is just in a really cool spot. I don’t know how they ever got it down in there – but it looks awesome!

Now it’s time to head back to Atlanta.

The drive sucked. Should be about 1.5 hours; but it took almost 3. And I waited for an hour after the game had ended before I left.

Got checked in and headed to the SkyClub.

While sitting in the SkyClub, I realized I had left a bag in the rental car.
Crap! There wasn’t enough time to go back to get it, so I attempted to call National.
Which, like most things in my life, turned into quite the saga!

Landed in Fort Myers just before midnite.

When I went out to my room, mom had left one of Madison’s favorite toys on my bed.