Ko Olina > Waikiki, HI

Got up and enjoyed the view from my balcony.

Went for a nice walk around the cove. Had breakfast at one of the other hotels.

Sat in the sun for while.

Then walked around the parts of the resort I had not seen yet.

Am changing hotels today. Headed to the Embassy Suites Waikiki.

In retrospect, I should of gotten a car for this vacation portion of the trip. Even though I would have had to pay a ton in parking charges, it would have been cheaper than the cab ride from the airport to Ko Olina and the ride from Ko Olina to Waikiki! Oh well, live & learn.

My first impression of Waikiki is it reminds me of Vegas. Well – the fancy shops and tons of people part of it at least.

After arriving at my new hotel, I spent some time lounging at the pool. Had a mai tai (am taste testing them where ever I go!) and yet another grilled chicky with avocado sandwich. I just get over how awesome the avocado is here!

After some time in the sun, went for a walk to see what was around.

Watched the sun set and then decided to have dinner at Duke’s.

I went and visited my friend Ed, who is here working on the Sheraton Hula Bowl.  I met him when he worked on remote many years ago - but now he works in the programming department.  He plays a pretty major role in putting on the Hula Bowl - it was actually quite interesting to sit in the suites watching all the volunteers work on the gift packages for the players, coaches, etc.  Listening to the conversations of all the last minute issues....

Headed back to the hotel. I still needed to unpack and get organized. I also scheduled a tour for tomorrow. So I need to get to bed at a decent hour. I think I am almost used to the time zone difference.

Ko Olina, HI

I of course, woke up crazy early – 7a ET. I did ok making myself go back to sleep for a few more hours.

Went for a long walk around the 3 lagoons – beautiful morning!

I spent the day lounging by the pool.

I was going to go snorkel in the lagoon, however, I discovered that I remembered to get my mask from my parents house, but not my snorkel. Oh well. There likely isn’t much to see anyway since the lagoon is man made.

Mid day I decided to get a mai tai

Mmmm…









Had another grilled chicky sand with avocado for lunch.

I took an afternoon nap and then got ready for the Luau at Paradise Cove. It was a short walk from the hotel.

Upon arrival, there was a lot of confusion because I was alone. Apparently that is very rare. Everyone kept asking where my companion was. I had to keep explaining that I was traveling alone for work; hence me being alone.

I got the top of the line package for the full Luau experience!

I sat with various locals and watched them make gifts for me.

My lei and bracelet lei

Then they made a headpiece for me.

Since I didn’t have anyone to take a photo of me, I went into the bathroom. If I was not the CLASSIC tourist, I don’t know what is!

Next I had some tribal thing painted on my ankle

All I could think about was if the dude had on any underwear or not?






There were all sorts of demonstrations going on. I just kind of walked around and found a spot to take in the beauty.

The sun set soon after.

A guy ran up the tree for a coconut

Then there was this fish catching ceremony.

We then made our way over to the Imu. That’s where they cook the pig in the ground.

Numerous native traditions followed.

Most of my photos and video didn’t turn out very well because the area was not very well lit.

We went to the dining area and sat in our assigned seats. I was sitting across from a dreadful person. Her husband was in the Navy and overseas for the holidays. Her mother-in-law and brother-in-law were in town visiting. I feel so sorry for them. This woman did nothing but complain how horrible her life was without her husband. I wanted to scream – “He was in the Navy when you married him, what did you expect?!”

It’s just like the husbands and wives of fellow freelancers who one day flip out because their spouce is always gone. Really? He/She was a freelancer when you got married… did you really think they would be home more once you got married?

For the most part, I ignored everyone at the table. I had several mai tais in me and if I spoke, it probably wouldn’t of been nice.

I was only a few feet from the stage, so had a great view.

Dinner was served…

Ya… not eating ANY of that!

Endless entertainment.. almost too much.

Here are some of the highlights.

I somehow stumbled back to the hotel and made it safely to my room. Promptly ordered room service.

Sat on my balcony, ate, drank and thought about the last 24 hours… what a wonderful experience this has been so far!

Columbus > Atlanta > Honolulu

Was scheduled on a 8am flight to Atlanta with a 1 hour connection. Since the weather was bad, I was not taking any chances. I called at 4am to see if I could get on the 7a flight – giving me more time for issues in ATL.

Got switched to the 7a. Yah!

Cab came at 5:30… got to the airport fine.

Slept on 1st flight; spent an hour in the SkyClub and then boarded my flight to Honolulu. Shortly after takeoff they informed us there was not WiFi on this aircraft. WHAT!!??

All the big planes have it! This news pretty much ruined my day. I had planned on catching up on emails during the 10+ hour flight.

I did have in-seat power – so I was able to work on blog entries, organize photos and edit some videos.

10+ hours in coach is rough for anyone. Especially for someone who is accustomed to normally riding in 1st class. Completely full flight! Ugh!

I will say the 2 meals they fed us were not that bad. Of course I only nibbled at them, but all in all, not bad. I am sure the 1st class meals were more edible – but it’s rare that I clean my plate up there too.

Someone keeps dropping ‘bombs’ – oh my! Takes your breath away!

I only slept from 5-5:45pm ET. Just could not get comfy. I am certain I would of slept for several hours up front; since they would have been bringing me free drinks all day!

Oh well. Life goes on, no matter what cabin you are seated in.

Looks like we are going to land around 3:30 local time. Which is about 40 minutes early. That’s cool. Hope we have a gate so I can get my luggage and get to the resort! I would love to see the sunset. The resort is on the west side of the island, so I am thinking my chances are good if I get there in time.

Got my luggage just fine and then found a taxi. It’s a long ride out to Ko Olina.. well probably close to an hour.

Am staying at the JW Marriott for the first 2 nights.

Got unpacked and then went downstairs to explore.

Grabbed a mai tai from the pool bar and walked around.
Lovely grounds.

Found a spot to watch the sun set

I also took video.  Here it is timelapsed..  which didnt really come out well.
Need to have a tripod to do that. 

It came out blurry, but this is a shot of the resort from the beach.

There are several resorts here in Ko Olina; including a Disney resort they are building next door. I walked over to the Marriot Vacation Club – here is a shot of my hotel from there.

Walked back up to the room, changed and went downstairs for dinner.

Had a few more mai tais and a delish grilled chicken sandwich with avocado.

Got to bed “early” – yet past my bedtime at home. Got to get adjusted to the time difference as soon as possible.



Dayton

December 10th – 11th


Friday – Travel Day

After getting home from Orlando, I worked on prepping for tonight’s trip to Dayton. I also worked on getting ready for my next big trip – which is another LONG one… 18 days, in several climates.

Drove over to Dayton in the evening. Seems silly to get a hotel room for a site that’s about 1 hour away. But I learned many years ago – that hour can be HOURS if the weather is bad.


Saturday – Game Day
NCAA Volleyball - Dayton Regional Final - USC vs Stanford

Turned back the clock today and used the old V12 look on the Duet. Hadn’t used this in easily a year. So it took a while for me to remember the quirks about it.

Worked with a great crew which always makes the day go better.

Drove home in the evening.

Columbus > Orlando

December 7th – 10th

Tuesday – Travel/Set Day #1

Dreadfully early flight this morning.

I am doing the College Football Awards Show down at Disney. It’s a new show for me. And a huge challenge! Not only is a big show, it’s also using the Viz in a way I have never done. Eeek!

Got checked in to the Disney Boardwalk Hotel. It was dreadfully Disney.

Mouse ears in everything from the carpet to the curtain fabric to the furniture. And then the added touch of Mouse ear towels.

Then there was this creepy dude up on top of the armoire.

I kinda felt like there was a camera hidden in him or something.

The view from my balcony was nice.

But it was really chilly out!







Got changed and headed over to the venue.

It took me most of the day to get the Viz set up. It was fresh from Reality Check and was missing a lot of plug-ins. I don’t think it had been used before.

But since we have 2 set days, I had all of today to get it up and running.

In the evening, I had dinner at Epcot with some friends. Mike, Nicole, Elaine and Lenny. We ate in Morocco – it was very good!


Wednesday – Set Day #2

Things are really coming along with the various sets.

Lots to build today and we are supposed to rehearse a few times.

Here’s what it looks like inside

The photos on the chairs are where the nominees are sitting. That will help the camera guys during rehearsal.






When I went to lunch, Kirk was doing a news hit.

We didn’t get to rehearse graphics as I had hoped. I am a little worried.


Thursday – Event Day
2010 College Football Awards

The photo doesn’t do the Hall justice. It looked so much better in person.

Here is my little corner of the world.

The show went really well. It was one of the hardest I have ever done. Well hard in the sense that this show should really have 2 machines, 2 operators. Instead, it is two machines and one operator.

There was one point in the show that my heart stopped beating. But I got that segment right – such a relief!

It took me quite a while to strike my machines after the show. There was a big after party at ESPN Zone, but I chose to go to bed. I have an early flight and have weeks of the road ahead of me! Gotta pace myself.

Such an honor to do this show. Truly.


Friday – Travel Home

Saw this Florida Cracker while waiting in line for coffee en route to the airport.