Portland, OR

February 20th – 22nd

ESPNU Bracketbusters – Boise State vs Portland State – CBB – ESPNU 7:30p et

The trip out was good. I had good flights and was able to sleep most of the way.

I got into Portland around noon on Friday and had a list of things to do; provided by a friend who recently lived in Portland.

As I was leaving the airport, “Linda”, my GPS couldn’t find Mt. Hood, so I decided to just go to the hotel first.

The hotel was in downtown Portland and was recently renovated; 9 months ago it was a Days Inn. It is now a boutique hotel and really I have no complaints – other than for the dead animal on my bed.

Ok, I know it’s not real, but it still freaked me out.

There were a few extra touches from management – a hand written card, candies & wine.

By the way, I put the black bar across the last name. To "protect the innocent", you may have noticed I never use last names.

I got settled and inquired at the front desk about my list of sights to see.
I really wanted to go see Mt. Hood, however, it was a minimum 3 hour drive round trip. I just didn’t have that in me. I was already dragging from the 6a cross country flight and my body ached from sitting for so long.

Instead, I decided on the things that took a lot less driving and a little more walking.
My first stop was the Portland Japanese Garden, built in 1963


It’s 5.5 acres with five separate gardens, water falls, meandering streams and winding walkways.

As you walk thru the garden it was easy to be taken away with the peace and tranquility of your surroundings.


If it had been a summer day, I would of definitely stayed for much longer.


One of the things that I really enjoyed is all the species of moss growing there. Of course, this photo doesn’t do it justice.

But everywhere you looked, there was a different kind growing on a rock or yard ornament or tree or plant or even on the ground in place of grass.

It was in the mid 50s and in the sun, it felt wonderful! Once you got in a shady area, it was quite chilly. However, I really enjoyed being outside and seeing green! Outside the gates of the Japanese Gardens were trees and trees. They were so gigantic that I couldn’t even get a good picture showing how tall they actually were.

Wow - that must of been a HUGE bird!

Before leaving the garden, I went to the overlook to get a shot of Mt. Hood.


Near the Japanese Garden is the International Rose Test Garden. Obviously, it’s not rose season – but I am sure it is absolutely amazing in the summer!

Acres and acres of all endless rose varieties. I didn’t spend too much time here as rose oil is one of the many things I am highly allergic to. Granted, I have to be poked by a thorn or touch a fresh cut stem, but I don’t take chances anymore.

Next I went to Pittock Mansion which was a top a curvy 1 lane road. I didn’t visit the actual mansion, but walked the grounds and took some more photos of Mt. Hood and the city of Portland.



Upton returning to my car, I stopped for one last shot of the trees and vines. I just love seeing all this green! It’s also such a different type of vegetation that I didn’t grow up with (ie: palm trees)


Once back downtown, I stopped at a few shops in the 23rd St. shopping district.
Very quaint area!

Got back to the hotel around 3pm PT and was completely exhausted! I wanted to nap, but also knew the importance of adjusting to the time zone, so I decided to sit outside in the hotel courtyard and take in some rays of sunshine.


I sat and read my book and it was quite relaxing, until the sun went down – then too chilly!


The game on Saturday was fun. I got to work with a few friends from the Charlotte office.


The Peter W. Stott Center is more like a gym than an arena. Portland State has 27,000 students, however, their basketball venue only holds 1,500 fans.


On Saturday evening, I joined a few friends at Jake’s Famous Crawfish for dinner. Apparently one of the top 5 seafood places in the country. I am highly allergic to seafood, but I could tell the seafood was local, fresh and was amazing! I had a steak and it was fabulous!

Another 6am flight on Sunday morning…. Grrrr!

If you haven’t been to Oregon, it is a very “Green” state. Everywhere you look there are signs of the community trying to save the Earth. Huge Recycling efforts as well.

Well, maybe it was the fact that it was 4:45am or the fact that I have the maturity of a 12 year old or a combination of both. I found the flushers funny in the airport bathrooms.
If you go #1 – pull up on handle (less water)
If you go #2 – push down on handle (more water)


The sign saying “#1 & #2” just made me giggle.
And yes, I am 35 (almost)

Columbus, OH

February 16th – 18th

Dallas Stars vs Columbus Blue Jackets (16th)
St. Louis Blues vs Columbus Blue Jackets (18th)

I worked in Columbus twice this week!

The weather is starting to get more spring-like. I got to walk outside a couple times this week. Of course still in layers, but it’s much better than the treadmill.

Beaumont, TX

February 13th - 15th

Texas State vs Lamar CBB – ESPNU – 9pm ET


I rarely ever fly Continental. Figures that within 12 hours of them losing a plane in New York, I am scheduled to fly on Continental.

Oh well, what can I do?
I try hard to never let that kind of stuff bother me. If it did, I couldn’t do my job.
Plus I know air travel is much safer than travel by automobile.

I will say though, the plane they lost was one of the reasons I try not to fly that airline – the Dash 8 is a prop plane and those really freak me out. Since most of my flights are ‘commuter flights’ that is the aircraft I would typically end up on.

When ever I am on a prop plane though, I stare at the propeller the entire time just waiting for it to stop rotating.

Anyway, back to this weekend.
Another trip to a warm region. On Thursday it was in the mid 70s and not a cloud in the sky. On Friday, as I arrived, so did a cold front. 50s-60s and rain! The humidity level was still pretty high – it felt great to soak in the humid air :)

I flew into Houston (on a regional jet) and then drove 1.5 hours to Beaumont.
The flight was fine except for as soon as I boarded, the smell of the bathroom was wafting up the isle. Whatever the potion is that is used in airplane bathrooms is so nauseating to me.

I got a little freaked as they bumped passengers and then started moving people around on the plane due to weight & balance issues. I never like weight & balance issues. I have actually gotten off a plane before because of that.

It usually means there is too much cargo and that the cargo is more important than the passengers, which is never a good thing.

The drive to Beaumont was rather bleak. By the looks of the ravaged vegetation, blue tarps on roofs and piles of debris, this area was still recovering from Hurricane Ike.

My hotel was kinda icky and was right on the edge of I-10. Thankfully there was a dehumidifier in the room that I ran at night to drown out the sounds of semi’s barreling down the interstate.

On the way to the arena on Saturday, I had extra time so I attempted to find some sights around Beaumont – this is all I found.

The Port of Beaumont

The game was a showcase of some really bad basketball.


Fun Fact: It was the first time a regular season Southland Conference game was played on the ESPN family of networks.

Lamar was a very gracious host – handed out various shirts and hats to the crew, which always goes over very well!


My day was rather hectic, so I never had a chance to go inside the arena and check it out.

It started pouring rain after the game. So bad that just getting from car to the front door of the hotel got me soaked to the bone. Even my hair was dripping.

Sunday morning, I had a leisurely drive back to Houston.

On a side note, not everyone gets to go to China three times in one year!

Okay, so I drove thru China, Texas going to/from Beaumont.


What did I miss this weekend?
“The Menu’s” played at the Frog Bear on Friday night after the Jackets game. Boo!

Cincinnati, Ohio

February 11th – 12th

St. John’s vs Cincinnati CBB – ESPNU360.com – 7:30pm


No snow fell on Tuesday night – yah!
However, on Wednesday, we had wind gusts of 60 mph for most of the day and night.

As we prepared for the game, the tornado sirens went off numerous times.
The truck was shaking back and forth from the wind which is something I had never experienced before. Kinda scary! Thankfully, the driver had left the cab attached to the truck as that stabilized us more.

At one point in the afternoon there was a double rainbow and it was quite pretty over the dark & ominous sky.

Soon after the game started, the campus lost power. Our truck took some sort of hit too as we lost the switcher for a couple of minutes.

The announcers explained to the viewers that the past 3 weeks had been rough on the crew – from the snow/ice/snow storm to the snow storm to now this week the wind storm. One of them said, “Our poor crew is out in the parking lot in the equivalent of mobile home.” Which is true – I never though of it like that.

I spent another night at the Marriott Kingsgate.


On Thursday morning I again woke up sneezing and went thru a box of tissues on the way home. Hmmm… I have stayed in this hotel for years – and now 2 weeks in a row I have had issues. I wonder if they have changed laundry detergent or something?

The drive home was miserable due to my dripping nose.

Santa Ana, CA

February 6th – 8th

Old Spice High School Basketball Showcase – Nike Extravaganza! – ESPNU – 8pm & 10pm ET

Ahh! A trip to Cali in the middle of the winter – how awesome is that!? I even suffered thru a 6am flight out on Friday just so I could have the afternoon to soak in some warm weather.

Nope! It ranged in the 50s-60s with tons of rain & mud slides!

The crappy weather did allow me to get caught up on a lot of emails on Friday afternoon – which is always a good thing.

And the weather couldn’t stop me from the other wonderful feature of California: In-N-Out Burger!


I typically only make it to California about twice a year and when I am there, I pretty much only eat In-N-Out Burger during my stay.

On Saturday, we had a double-header at Mater Dei High School.


Their facility was recently built with television in mind as it is pre-cabled. Wow! A lot of colleges don’t even invest that kind of money into their facilities.


You will never guess what I had for lunch?

I didn’t get to check out the inside (of the arena) as much as I had hoped. I am always super busy for double-headers and never have time to just explore. I did snap this though on one of my trips to the bathroom.


I didn’t play high school sports, even so, I can not imagine traveling across the country to play in a game. There were teams in this tournament from as far away as New Jersey.

At the end of the night, Stephanie wanted a Diet Coke for her drive to LA; so we decided the only place that would probably have Diet Coke would have to be In-N-Out Burger!
Since I was there and have no upcoming California trips, I figured I had to go ahead and have one more burger.

Cincinnati, Ohio

February 4th – 5th

Notre Dame vs Cincinnati CBB – ESPNU360.com – 7:30pm

More snow fell on Tuesday night again this week!
The roads were clear until a about 10 miles outside of Cincinnati – so not that big of a deal.

Our game was at US Bank Arena in downtown Cincy. Apparently they hold this matchup at this arena because Notre Dame fans will travel to Cincy and this arena hold more than Fifth Third Arena.


I left on Wednesday morning with $3 – no need to stop and get cash as I rarely use it anyway.

When I got to the parking garage there was no attendant so you had to use the machine to enter. You guessed it - $4!

Thankfully, I was in my own car and the machine also took coins, so I was able to come up with enough money. To make matters even more interesting, the gate when up and came back down in a matter of 5 seconds, so I couldn’t get in. I sat there staring at the gate wondering what I was gonna do because there was a line of cars behind me and I had no more money. The guy behind me, thank God, must of worked nearby and had a swiper card to get in & out of the garage. He saw what happened to me and kindly got out of his car and swiped me in.

The last time I worked at this arena was for the 2004 Conference USA Men’s Basketball Tournament. I am quite confident the bathroom at the top of the ramp has not been cleaned since then. It was just as disgusting today as it was 5 years ago!

On a positive note, there were no pigeons this time. That was the other enjoyable factor back in 2004. The TV trucks park under a bridge… up above the trucks, literally thousands of pigeons live on the bottom of the bridge. You can kinda see the pigeons in this photo:


It rained pigeon poop non-stop for the week. This photo of the ground doesn’t really do it justice.

The smell was horrific and was obviously very unsanitary for us. The truck guys put up a series of tarps that allowed us to get in & out of the area under cover. But it still was so disgusting!


It was so bad that the truck company had to sue the city of Cincinnati because the poop ruined the paint and the trucks had to be re-painted.

Anyway, I was relieved that the pigeons weren’t around this time.

The only thing that happened was the team busses parked next to us. They wanted to leave them running to keep them warm. Well, that didn’t end up being a good idea. The exhaust filled into our truck’s air conditioning and none of us could breathe. It triggered a horrible asthma attack for me. Eventually, we got the busses moved, but I had trouble breathing the rest of the night.

On Thursday morning, I woke up sneezing and went thru an entire box of tissues on the drive home. I was miserable!

Worthington, OH

February 1st

Back by popular demand – a kitty update!

Today, Smokey experienced snow for the first time.
At first, he was a little scared….


But then he loved it!

Claude slept thru Smokey’s caper.

Cincinnati, Ohio

January 30th – 31st

UMass vs 10 Xavier – College Basketball – ESPNU – Noon ET

Much improved in the weather department!


There was more rain and snow over the past 24 hours, but the roads were fine until just outside Cincinnati.

I drove down on Friday afternoon - about 22 hours after I had just returned from Cincinnati.

Uneventful evening as I had to get up at 4a.

The game on Saturday was good.


I just kept thinking I was at UC since I had done so many UC games this season.

Had breakfast with some of the crew at Buskens. It's a locally family owned bakery; the breakfast was fabulous!

Drove home after the game. Big Saturday night – asleep on the couch by 6:30!

Cincinnati, Ohio

January 28th

Georgetown vs Cincinnati – College Basketball – ESPN360.com – 7:30pm

White death!
That’s what we joke about when it “snows” in Columbus because we typically never get more than a dusting. However, if you listen to the local media, you better get to the store for canned goods and batteries!

On Tuesday night I worked the Blue Jackets game – and yes – the roads were a mess on the way home.

So on Wednesday morning, knowing I had to be in Cincinnati at 1:30pm, I got up a little earlier than I normally would to check on the weather.

Guess what - this time, they were right!

Pretty much the entire state had been hit hard with 6 inches of snow, couple inches of freezing rain, then a couple more inches of snow. Everything was closed!

I checked the University of Cincinnati website and yes indeed, the campus was closed. However, the game was still a go! Well… it was a go, but the school wouldn’t confirm it with ESPN until Noon. Since I couldn’t wait until them to leave, I had to go ahead and head out.

It takes me about 1 hour and 40 minutes to get to Cincinnati, but considering the alleged road conditions, I allowed myself double that. Worst case scenario is I get there early and go hang out at Panera and have some coffee.

Here is what it looked like as I was leaving the neighborhood:

Not the greatest, but not so bad.

It got worse with every mile.


That is what it looked like for 100+ miles. The average speed was 35 mph.
Not fun!

Cincinnati, as well as much of the area I was traveling in, was under a “Level 3 Snow Emergency” – which means you are not allowed to be driving and risk being arrested if found on the streets.

But, ya gotta get to work!
Ended up taking all the time I allotted – about 3 hours & 20 minutes.

It was by far the worst conditions I have ever driven in. But I remained patient and just took it slow.

The game went well and I stayed the night at the Marriott Kingsgate (my Cincinnati ‘home away from home’)

On Thursday morning, I worked out, had breakfast, etc and then decided to head home around 10am. Assuming, rush hour was over and the roads were good and cleared.

Apparently, the state of Ohio hadn’t heard about the storm yet (24 hours later) as I-71 was a solid sheet of ice from mile marker 3 to 40. It was horrible!

The ride home got better after mile marker 40 and ended up taking about 2.5 hours, so not the end of the world.

Champaign, IL

January 23rd – 25th

Wisconsin vs 24 Illinois - College Basketball (CBB) – ESPN2 – 4pm

It took pretty much all day on Friday to get to Champaign, IL. Flight options are limited, so I was stuck with a 4 hour layover in Detroit. However, that allowed me to catch up on some emails.

This weekend was a reunion of sorts – Amy, the other graphics operator that started the football season with me, was the other operator this weekend. She did Viz and I did Duet. (Some higher profile CBB games have 2 graphics operators on them still)

Jason, my football AP, was also our AP for this game. So it was very nice for the 3 of us to work together again!

On Friday night, Amy and I had dinner and spent some time catching up.

Since the alarm was going off at 3:30am, I was in bed by 8:05pm Friday night. I was so obsessed about falling asleep, that I didn’t until well after 11pm. Ugh!

Game day went really well. Other than we had to be in a 5am for a 3pm game. Ugh! That part wasn’t fun!


But it allowed for Amy, Jason and I to take a real lunch break for once. We went to this place called “LePeep” – it was fantastic! It’s a lot like a “First Watch”.

Over the years, I have stayed in some of the worst hotels in the entire country while visiting Champaign. The “Historical Lincoln” was cross between a Scooby Doo Haunted Mansion and the set of the movie “The Shining”. I believe that was during football season of 2004.

There was carpet, velvet & tapestries EVERYWHERE!

I actually sent a complaint into the ESPN Travel Dept. begging them to never book this hotel again. It was winter time and I had to leave my window open in order to breathe. The ventilation system was so outdated that it was as if there was lit cigarette in my room the entire stay (or maybe it was the ghost in the corner smoking?)

It was a nice hotel, when it was renovated back in the early 80s!
Just so creepy now!

It defienately added entertainment value for our crew and gave us something to compare future hotels with. (See, 5 years later and I'm still talking about it!)

Then there was this other one – I don’t remember the name – maybe “America’s Inn” or something ? I think it was during the 2005 football season that we experienced this gem.

It’s feature was the sign at the check in desk:
“If illegal drugs or activities are conducted in your room, you will be asked to leave without refund. If you don’t leave, we will call the police.”

NICE!

Actually, if I remember correctly, the Illinois football team was doing so poorly at the time, the coaches made the team stay at the hotel the night before the game as punishment.

ANYWAY, back to this trip!
I am happy to report that Champaign has a brand new hotel!
It’s called “I Hotel” and it is located 1 block behind Assembly Hall.
Great hotel!! Just a lot of nice little touches.

This one was my favorite
(yes, actual books)

Happy National Squirrel Appreciation Day!

January 21st

Happy National Squirrel Appreciation Day!

These are the little squirrel (sugar) cookies I made to honor the holiday.

Columbus, OH

January 17th – 18th

Again, this weekend I was “on call”. No other Duet ops got sick or had travel emergencies, so I got to stay home.

I flew mom up for the weekend and we pretty much never left the house. A lot of cleaning got done!

BREAKING NEWS….. at approximately 10:52am on Saturday, January 17, 2009, the final bag from China was unpacked! What’s the rush? It had only been sitting on the guest room floor for 5 months!

Birmingham, Alabama

January 15th – 16th

South Atlanta (GA) vs LeFlore (AL) High School Basketball – ESPN2 – 9pm

I stayed in Cincinnati on Wednesday night after the UC game and flew to Birmingham on Friday morning.

The game was played at Bartow Arena – UAB’s basketball arena.


It’s always difficult doing a high school game – be it football or basketball – due to the lack of information available. Most high schools are not accustomed to dealing with being on TV; so do not know how desperately we need information on the school, team and players. Not to mention the fact that most schools do not keep stats or at least accurate stats.

Even with the challenges of doing HS sports, I always enjoy doing these games as we are there for a reason – one of the players is going to be tomorrow’s star. So that part is cool – getting to see them when they are still a kid.

But the action was not on the court – it apparently was outside the arena – in the parking lot just 50 yards from where the TV truck was parked. After the game, the play-by-play announcer was mugged at gunpoint.

On Friday morning, unbeknownst to me, it was “Be Evil to Nic Day.” All small things, but all annoyed me in a huge way!

First it was the woman in 3C – I was attempting to put my roller board in the overhead bin and it was not fitting “wheels first” as it typically does on that model of aircraft. So I flipped it around to “handle first” and again, it didn’t fit. (By putting getting your bag to fit wheels or handle first, you don’t take up as much room; thus allowing room for more bags; a kind gesture to fellow passengers)

While I was doing this, the woman in 3C was giving me a once over; apparently she didn’t feel that I was first class material. So she proceeded to snear, “It’s not going to fit.” I looked at her and said, “No shit!” She was instantly appalled by my response which made me giggle!

On the flight, I had a much needed nap as I only had gotten 3 hours of sleep.

As I was waiting to get off the plane in Atlanta, the guy in 2C reached into the overhead bin and started to take down my bag. I said, “Actually, that is my bag sir.” His head swiveled around and he said, “Well THAT is where I put MY bag. You must have moved it when you put yours in!” And he being the gentleman, that he obviously was, he shoved my bag back into the overhead bin.

I replied with, “No, I did not touch your bag.” He said, “Yes you did!”
I reached up and grabbed my bag and said, “Whatever dude” and left.

He had made such a scene that when I was on the jet bridge a lady came up to me and said, “Be thankful that guy isn’t your husband – what a jerk!”

Then in the elevator in the Crown Room, this old couple started talking about me as I am 8 inches from them. Seriously, it was an elevator for 4 people and the old man whispered
“Will you look at the size of that bag!”

The old lady said, “That is what is wrong today with carry-on luggage. People taking such large items on the plane”
I just stood there with my back to them, attempting to be nice – I am angry at myself for not saying “I CAN HEAR YOU!” Cuz that is what I was saying in my head.

I attribute all 3 scenarios with me being discriminated against. The 1st two things happened in first class, the other in the airline club. As I usually do on early morning flights, I was wearing a sweatshirt and comfy pants, no makeup and less than perfect hair.

Basically, I look homeless, but I am comfortable! All these people didn’t feel that I belonged in first class or in the club – when indeed, I do! Subconsciously, I think I dress worse when I know I will be in first class, just to annoy people.

And yes, I have an enormous backpack that weighs 37 lbs. I may not be able to walk by the time I am 40, but I have everything I could possibly need to do my job. I also carry my roller board suitcase – which is also typically packed until ready to burst. The more crap you have in your bag, the more mad the TSA agents get when they search your stuff. (But that’s another one of the fun games I play – I’ll save TSA stories for another day)

Anyway, to anyone who complains about the amount of stuff I carry on a plane I have a simple response – “I challenge you to live my life for one week and see how you pack afterwards”

I guarantee you, after you are buying underwear at WalMart at 1am because an airline lost your luggage and you have to be to work in 5 hours, I bet you won’t check your luggage next time!

Ok… so back to my trip home.
On the flight from Atlanta to Columbus, the guy next to me passed out after 1 bloody mary.

He sat hunched over the entire flight. I just thought it was funny.

Cincinnati, Ohio

January 14th

University of Cincinnati Basketball

It actually snowed last night in Columbus! So it took me an extra 30 minutes to get out of town since the roads inside of I-270 were actually pretty bad.

Other than that – nothing to report.

Waterloo/Cedar Falls/Cedar Rapids, Iowa

January 10th – 12th

College Wrestling – Tape Delayed for ESPNU

Flew into Cedar Rapids (I think) and then drove to Waterloo. For some reason, I was confused all weekend as to where I was. I think it was because our hotels kept changing during the week and I also originally thought our event was at Iowa, but it actually was at Northern Iowa.

Anyway, it was insanely cold where ever I was.

On Sunday morning, the front desk clerk gave me directions to the UNIDome. She said to get off at the “Hudson exit and the dome will be a couple miles down on your left.” So that’s what I did.

However, the road was a dead end. Hmm… I know I didn’t pass a huge dome!

So as I was turning around, I saw “University Ave.” – well I knew that had to lead to a college campus I assumed it would be the one I needed.

Eventually, it was. I eventually came to “Hudson Street” – and what do ya know, the UNIDome was on it, on my left.

Apparently the hotel clerk left out one minor detail…. There is an exit for Hudson (a town) and then an exit for Hudson Street. (I needed the street, not the town)

I was about 40 minutes late to work, but it was okay. It took a couple hours for the truck to warm up enough to turn on the gear.

On Sunday night, I was able to hang out at the bar with a few of my long time freelance friends. It was a lot of fun to catch up with them!

I only had about 4 hours of sleep on Sunday night and wasn’t feeling all that happy about the early flight when I woke up on Monday morning.

The night before, a co-worker and I had decided to sit together on our flight from Iowa to Cincinnati. (It’s better to be squished in together with someone you know)

Unfortunately, the seat next to me was taken and he had the one across the isle. He went ahead and sat next to me and when the guy came up and said, “I think you are in my seat”, Mike said, “I’m on the one across the isle, do you mind switching? I met this girl at the bar last night.”

I laughed so hard and said, “that doesn’t really bode well for you considering I haven’t even brushed my hair yet today.” (Sadly, it was the truth)

When arriving at the gate for the flight to Columbus, I ran into a client. He did a double take when I said hi – he obviously didn’t recognize me wearing sweats and unkempt hair.
Glamorous life I tell ya!

Sorry, no photos this weekend. I honestly forgot.

Cincinnati, OH

January 7th

Providence vs Cincinnati – College Basketball – 9pm ET - ESPNU



It’s nice to be into hoops season. As I have mentioned in the past, college basketball is my favorite sport to do.

Uneventful evening.