Chapel Hill, NC

May 8th – 10th

UMBC vs North Carolina - NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Championships – First Round – ESPNU – 2:30pm et

Have been having issues with charging my cell phone for about a week now. It is driving me nuts! It will say it’s charging but it’s really not. A few days ago, I got a new Treo, but didn’t have time to get it all set up for this trip. So it’s a gamble on whether or not it will stay charged long enough to make it back home.

Traveled to Raliegh on Friday afternoon. Totally uneventful.
Felt good to be on the road again. It’s been just over a month since my last trip.

Arrived around rush hour, so it took a little longer than usual to get to Chapel Hill.

I did however find out, just before boarding my connecting flight, that I had screwed up my travel request for Women’s College World Series coming up at the end of the month. The crewing department had emailed me and wasn’t exactly ‘happy’ with me.

So I was able to spend the last 90 minutes of my trip figuring out where I had erred. Which of course drove me absolutely nuts!

On a side note – when I refer to “crewers” or “the crewing department” – those are the people who hire me to work. Essentially, they are my bosses. For example, ESPN & ESPN Regional Television have staff crewers. However, a lot of networks sub-contract the crewing out to either local vendors (usually TV truck companies) or crewing companies.

My dealings with crewers vary from network to network. For the most part it is a person who hires me for anything from 1 day or for a contract for an entire season (ie: college football season). This person also negotiates my rate and what I will be paid for per diem & expenses.

For some networks, this person also arranges my travel. In some instances though, there is a separate travel department that takes care of those things.

Anyway – back to this trip…..
Upon arriving at the hotel, I immediately attempted to get online so I could research and fix my travel mistake.

This turned into a 3 hour saga!
The hotel’s wireless router wouldn’t allow me to connect. No one knew how to fix it.

Eventually, they gave me a bridge to connect the old fashioned way. However, it only allowed me to be online for approximately 2 minutes at time. So I could see the flights, just couldn’t select them. It was just plain silliness!

I was finally able to get everything taken care of. But I nearly lost my mind doing so.
In the process, I was unable to go out to dinner with co-workers.

4:30am on Saturday came very quickly! Ugh!

Little obstacles arose all day. From having problems with the Duet to cutting my elbow on something in the bathroom (I’m still not sure how I managed that one!)?

But the game was exciting, even though in the end, UNC won.

On my way back to the hotel, I picked up dinner. A storm was coming and I likely wouldn’t feel like going back out into the rain.

As I pulled into the parking lot, I noticed the winds were REALLY picking up. As I was getting out of my car a bunch of trees broke.

I scurried up to my room with the wind blowing all sorts of dirt & debris in my face.
(old hotel with exterior doors/hallways)

Dropped everything on the bed and turned on the TV to see what the radar looked like. Didn’t even get the chance to change the channel before losing power.

Ok. Now what?
I have 13 hours til my flight. Hmmmm….

So I did what any other idiot does in severe weather – sit in the window and watch the storm while eating dinner.

It started to get really hot in the room, so I pushed the big chair and ottoman over to the doorway and propped the door open. Knowing having the door propped open was a safety issue, I figured if someone was gonna try to come in, it would take effort to climb over the blockade.


After about an hour, I decided the lights were not coming on any time soon. So I went driving in search of candles. It took a while to find a store with power, but eventually did. Got 4 candles and headed back.


Since I needed to leave for the airport at 5:30am – if the power hadn’t been restored, I would be getting ready by candlelight. So while there was still some daylight trickling in the windows, I decided the best thing to do was to get as packed as possible for morning.

Then I was bored.

The weather had cleared so I took some magazines and went down to the pool. Sat in a wet debris covered chair and read a magazine until it was completely dark.

Went back to the room. 4 candles is not enough light to read by.

Can’t talk on the phone because it’s under 50% battery life.

Worked on a few things on the laptop and then went to bed.

I left 2 candles lit since I didn’t have the soothing comfort of a glowing TV.

Was actually able to sleep for about 6-7 hours which was very surprising!
Got up at 5am, lit the rest of the candles and at 5:07a, the power came back on. Ahhh… made getting ready so much easier!

Headed to the airport around 5:45a. Got my car returned, checked in and to security.

I dislike the Raleigh airport security checkpoint very, very, very much. The tables before the x-ray machine are no more than 4 feet long. This gives you NO time to take off your shoes, jacket, take out your liquids, laptops, etc. The TSA agents nag at you for holding up the line. Gee, I wonder why I am holding up the line? Maybe if you had longer tables like EVERY other airport you wouldn’t have long lines!!

This morning was no different. However, thanks to a 3 year-old, there was at least entertainment. She was in complete meltdown mode because she had to remove her shoes & backpack. Kicking and screaming blood curdling screams. It actually reached the point that you wondered if the child was being kidnapped. But she look a lot like her siblings and parents – so I think it was legit.

Ran into an engineer from Lyon while waiting for my flight. It was nice to catch up and have someone to pass the time with.

Made it back to Columbus by 10:30am.

What did I miss this weekend?
Nothing. As crazy as the trip was – this is what I live for. I can’t imagine my life any other way.

Columbus

May 1st – 3rd

Michigan vs Ohio State Baseball – Big Ten Network

The game on Friday was doomed from just about the time we arrived. Severe weather was on it’s way. It started raining around 2pm.

Tornado sirens started a little before 6pm and we were evacuated to the stadium bathrooms.

Eventually, the game was postponed until Saturday. Grrrr! That means a double-header!

Game 1 of the double-header was exciting! Pitcher Alex Wimmers, threw the first-ever 9-inning no-hitter game in 126 seasons of Ohio State baseball.

The time between games was cut short, making our transition of getting “off the air” after game1 and back “on the air” for game 2 a complete thrash. Some days TV is not fun!

Sunday’s game was… well another college baseball game.


What did I miss this weekend?
My friend Cliff was in town. I could of hung on the patio with him & Dave, cooking out, watching TV and drinking ice cold beer! But instead, I was a good girl and made sure I was in bed early each night.

Columbus

April 27th – 28th

Red, White & Boom! Preps – NBC4



Had a couple of meetings with the local NBC station about the upcoming RWB show on July 3rd. It’s a huge fireworks display in downtown Columbus. For as long as I can remember, NBC4 has televised it live.

A few years ago, I got involved with the project. It’s a lot of fun. Each year I am presented with new challenges, which is always a good thing!

I also did a few graphics tests over at Lyon and got to see their newest truck – “10” a few days before it was ready to roll to it’s first gig.

The tests can be frustrating every year. Like many TV stations across the country, they no longer have a graphics department. All of their graphics come from a “Hub” – theirs being in Richmond, VA.

A “hub” is a place where they make ALL the graphics for numerous TV stations every day. This way the TV stations save millions of dollars because they don’t have to have the staff or expensive equipment.

So the people who work at a station that is “hubbed” never get to interact with the people building their graphics. They send a request via email and viola! The graphic is sent back to them electronically.

I feel really bad for everyone that works at a “hubbed” station. My first reason being, I have a lot of friends who have lost their jobs because of "hubs". Plus, in any TV station across the country, I can guarantee you, the art department is THE coolest place to visit & hang out! They are always dark, music playing, cool & crazy stuff hanging on the walls and the most bizarre little trinkets places on everyone’s desk/work space.

Escaping from the circus of a newsroom to the art department for 5 minutes can revive anyone!

Back to RWB….
It’s frustrating because I don’t get to interact with the artists assigned to the project. I give the specifics to my client, who then fills out the correct forms, sends them to Richmond and a few days later I have graphics to test.

In life before “hubs”, I would sit down with the artist, he/she would give me a graphic, I would test it out on my laptop and then we would know right then and there what tweaks needed to be made.

Now the process takes much longer. And I miss out on the interaction with the artist. Typically on every project, during the course of all the meetings, I would always learn a new Photoshop trick or at minimum, get to catch up with the artist and what’s new in his/her life.

So… yes, I understand why TV stations “hub”. The money saved is astronomical. However, I am against them because I have watched so many people lose their jobs because of them. If I still worked in TV News, I likely would be jobless. I am also against them because it has made “quantity” more important than “quality”.

In looking for photos of the art departments I have worked in over the years – I didn’t have much luck! Mainly because I haven’t worked at a station since 2001 – which was before I had a digital camera. Like many of us, I have boxes and boxes of photos. So I am sure there are tons of them to share, I just don’t know what box they are in.

But I did find this one – it’s framed in my office. It was my last day at Ch. 6 in May 2001.

JR - Nic - Fritch

I also came across this one, it made me giggle. It’s from one of my birthdays. I am guessing maybe 1999? Showing a much younger Dave & Nic.


Of course in both photos, the lights are full blast and neither show the cool surroundings. (Lights were on because we were taking photos)

Columbus

April 25th

Chicago Fire vs Columbus Crew – Fox Soccer Channel – 7pm et

First REALLY nice weekend day in Columbus this year. Figures, I am working!

It was a good day though. I know I say this all the time, but it really uneventful. BUT, “uneventful” is a good thing! It means the graphics machine was working and all the rest of the crew was nice and easy to work with. Plus I got to wear flip flops - so that's always a good day!

I worked with my long time friend, Paul, who by the way is an avid “wheresnic.blogspot.com” reader.

Another friend, Melf, works for the Columbus Crew, so whenever I work at Crew Stadium, I always sit in his office on my meal break. So it was nice to chat with him for awhile.

I forgot to take photos. Maybe I will on my next game.

Chicago 2
Columbus 2

Which is why soccer is so stupid. Nobody wins!?

Columbus

April 23rd

I again worked CBJ Vision tonight. It was another exciting playoff game! This time, the Jackets almost pulled off a win.

DET 6
CBJ 5

Even though they lost, the fans were still ecstatic that the team FINALLY made it to the playoffs.

It was a great season!

Columbus

April 21st

Sookie’s parents got back from vacation yesterday and she was very happy to return home.

On April 21, 2009, Blue Jacket fans were rewarded with the very first home playoff game. What a feeling that was! It was so awesome to see the fans and their dedication to the team finally pay off!



The Arena District went all out to invite the fans out early to celebrate, with tents, heaters and beer stands.



Unfortunately, the weather was really crappy. But the die hard fans still showed up on the plaza.

And…. The score was pretty crappy too.
DET 4
CBJ 1

CTF!

Columbus

April 19th

Today was the Columbus Clippers 2nd day in their new digs – Huntington Park.

As a favor to a couple of our friends, Dave and I went to the game to observe the game operations. They had asked for our feedback on their ‘show’ and operations.

Game ops is basically the “show” you see while at any type of game. It’s everything from what you see on the “Jumbotron” to the entertainment you may see on the field/court/ice or even on the main concourse of an arena or stadium.

We have both been in the TV industry since the early 90s and have been involved in various aspects of game operations for the past 7 years for several NHL, NBA, AFL teams… and a few leagues/teams you’ve likely never heard of! Not to mention our jobs with various sports networks.

“Consulting” is something we both enjoy. Who doesn’t like free range to give your opinions?! Plus it’s nice to give back to the community that helped build who we are today.



As I mentioned a few weeks ago, Huntington Park is really nice! Granted, I have not sat in the seats yet – but overall – it’s a HUGE improvement from Cooper Stadium!



I am looking very forward to coming to a game as a fan this summer (when life settles down) !


What did I miss this weekend?
Absolutely nothing!
I wouldn't of spent it any other way!
It was SOOOO nice to spend a weekend like a normal person.

Columbus

April 18th


You may of noticed that I have started using smaller photos. I am doing so as Blogger.com has a limit on how many photos I can post. Am trying to save storage space so I can continue to share my excursions with you. I believe, you can double click on any photo and see it larger.

I stopped fighting and let Sookie sleep in the crook of my neck last night.

She is a beast when it comes to food! She wants to eat whatever you are eating and does everything she can to eat off your plate. Same goes for when you are trying too cook. She has no fear of the stove or oven.

Sookie also has bad bathroom habits. She doesn’t cover up her poop! I’ve never known a kitty to not at least try. Yowza – there have been some smelly moments!

Anyway, back to today! Have been waiting for today for a very, very long time! Tonight, the Blue Jackets play in Game 2 of the 1st Round of the NHL Playoffs, the Columbus Clippers open their new ballpark AND Dave and I have tickets to see Fleetwood Mac!

Dave also had family in town, so we had a small lunch cook-out planned as well.

Which leads me to Sookie – she was nuts this morning!
She was literally climbing the walls!


She may (or may not) of licked the ground beef I was mixing for burgers.

When the brownies were cooling, she had to check them out.
Of course landing right in the middle of the pan!


Eventually made it thru the day and it was time to have a night on the town!
We walked around the Arena District in awe. Was this really our town? There was a “buzz” …. People were coming/going to the Clippers game, gathering for viewing parties to watch the CBJ game (they were playing in Detroit) and people coming down for dinner & drinks before the concert.

We commented numerous times how we felt like we were on vacation and that we felt like we were in a big city. It was such a great feeling!

Had several Miller Lite’s while watching the game at the (new) R Bar. Which is 10 times bigger than the old R Bar – I was amazed!

The ‘old’ R Bar was a favorite hangout of ours in ‘the old days’ after Blue Jackets games. Then one day, we got old and stopped going out after games. (Plus Matty moved away).

BUT, the ‘new’ R Bar does have a photo of Matty on the wall – taken during “the good ‘ol days” in the ‘old’ R Bar.

After it was evident the Jackets were going to lose, we ventured over to Frog Bear (another former hangout) for a few more drinks. Again, amazed over the “buzz” all around the Arena District.

Then it was time! We headed over to the arena.

We were in the 3rd row, a couple seats in. But no one was sitting in the 2nd row on the isle, so we decided to sit there ‘til the occupants came.

The tickets were my birthday gift from Dave. The concert was awesome!









Dave has had a little ‘thing’ for Stevie forever. It was so much fun to see him so happy….


I of course was interested in all the technical aspects of the show, which at times, can drive Dave nuts!


After the show, we walked over to the Hyatt and got a cab home.
It was a great night!
AND we were ‘out with the people’!

Our Signature Pose

Columbus

April 17th

One other little nugget about hairless cats is that their skin produces a lot of oil. So they have to be bathed at least once a week. If not, they can end up leaving an oily residue on your bedding, furniture, etc.

After about 24 hours, to me she felt very dirty. After you would touch her, you felt like you needed to wash your hands.

Last night, we struggled at agreeing on the sleeping arrangements.
She insisted on snuggling with me – she wanted to sleep either under the covers, touching me, or in the crook of my neck. I didn’t sleep well because I was so worried I was going to roll over on top of her and smother her.

For the most part, she never got out of bed on Friday. Not sure if she was just sleepy from following me around yesterday or if she was just depressed that her parents didn’t take her with them on vacation.

Columbus

April 16th

For the next few days I will be cat-sitting for my friend Jim. He and his girlfriend are leaving their little princess with me while they go on vacation to Vegas.

Ms. Sookie Cathouse (like cookie with a “S”), is not your ordinary cat – she is hairless!


She settled in pretty quickly. Insisting on being wherever I was.
Unfortunately, I had a lot of office work to do, so we had to compromise on how that was going to work out.


Eventually, I got her interested in the birds & squirrels outside the window. This would keep her occupied for about 10 minutes max.


A few facts….
These types of cats have a very high body temperature, to help keep them warm.
They are not truly hairless, they have a fine fuzz all over their bodies.
They require a lot of attention; I often times felt like I had a puppy following me around.
They also tend to be very active, all the time, unlike your typical cat that sleeps 23 hours a day!

Columbus

April 13th – 15th

Three days have passed and I have accomplished very little. Lots of high hopes for getting things done around the house…. Not so much!

I have spent a lot of time doing nothing. Lots of laying on the couch watching TV.

Decompressing from the past 8 months of insanity.
(or maybe decomposing?)

I’m told I have earned it. I guess that’s true.

Claude & Smokey did come stay for a little while. A ‘vacation’ to Auntie Nic’s was way over due.

Is there anything cuter?


Smokey


Claude


Claude


Smokey & Claude


Smokey helping me with the Laundry


Smokey helping me file tax extention

Charlotte, NC > Durham, NC > Charlotte, NC

April 9th – 12th

Virginia vs Duke – Men’s Lacrosse – ESPN2HD – 4pm et

I flew down to Charlotte on Thursday evening. Got settled into my favorite hotel near the ESPN Regional Television office.

On Friday morning, I went to the office to visit for a little while. As always, I was greeted with open arms and felt right at home there. A lot of the staff was out on remote or off because it was Good Friday – but I still had a chance to see a few people.

After leaving the office I started towards Durham, but stopped in Denver to visit a good friend and her husband. (I have worked with them both for many years) They live on a lake about 45 minutes outside of Charlotte. Their house was fabulous and in a magnificent setting. Their views of the lake were so peaceful. I can see why the daily commute is worthwhile.

It was a very, very rainy day. But Anne and I still toured the yard so I could see all her flowers, gardens etc. that we have talked about over the years.

Just a great afternoon visiting with friends! I would of stayed longer, but I still had a couple hours to drive, rainy weather and holiday weekend traffic were waiting for me.

“Linda”, my GPS, freaked out and had be going in the wrong direction for a while. But I figured it out eventually. She sometimes likes to add a little excitement to our trips!

Eventually made it to the hotel in Durham. Had a nice evening with friends at the bar.

On Saturday I worked with the production crew that I will be working with in May for the NCAA Lacrosse Championships. It’s a great crew and I am happy to be joining them again this season.



After the game, I made the drive back to Charlotte. I had booked a hotel near the airport.
The hotel was completely dead, it was sad to see actually.

I was a little uneasy about my room assignment as I do not like rooms on the ground floor. I just don’t feel as safe.

As I was following the winding hallway to my room, I got a little freaked out because my room was off in a corner. Upon entering my suite, I took a step back out into the hallway as it looked like my room had possibly been robbed.

The piece of furniture that was obviously intended for the TV was bare. It only contained a remote control and channel guide.


So I propped open the door with my bag and investigated. Again, a little nervous because it was a 2 room suite divided by a bathroom, so there were lots of windows and such. I determined all was secure and had a chuckle about the missing TV. (there was one in the bedroom, so I didn’t complain)

Spent the rest of the evening relaxing and watching TV in bed. Nice change of pace for once.

Flew back to Columbus on Sunday morning.


What did I miss this weekend?
The Blue Jackets Fan Appreciation Night, formally known as “FanAle” – the last game of regular season. They did it! They finally made it to the post-season!!!

Columbus

April 8th

2009 Women In Achievement Luncheon – 12pm – Ohio News Network

Today I worked on an awards show about Women in Columbus who have done great things for the community. Most of them have come from troubled lives and have persevered to become who they are today.

The event was held at the Columbus Convention Center.

For me, an easy gig!
About 10 graphics and 30 pages of credits. Not a bad day’s work, that’s for sure. But we all deserve shows like this once in awhile.

Actually, I think I attended this luncheon many years ago with a group of girls that I worked with at Channel 6. They were a sponsor at the time.

Columbus

April 6th

Went and met with the folks at Huntington Park today. It will be the new home of the Columbus Clippers (ILB), the AAA Team of the Cleveland Indians.

The park opens on April 18th – it’s going to be awesome!

Here is a sneak peak.




Today was also Dave’s birthday!

Cincinnati, OH

April 5th

Louisville vs Univ. of Cincinnati – College Baseball – ESPNU – 2p et


Alarm went off at 5am AGAIN today. UGH!
BUT – I get to finally go home tonight!! Just have to make it thru one more day!

Game was painstakingly slow, but I survived!

Thankfully, I didn't have the sniffles all day after checking out of the Kingsgate Marriott.
Maybe I am not allergic to it afterall?

Made it home in 1.5 hours….

It’s been a very, very, very long 2 weeks. Several sports and way too many games later – but I did it! One of the most grueling trips I have ever done.

It’s so nice to be home again!!!!

Rockville, MD

April 2nd – 4th

ESPN Rise High School Basketball Tournament – ESPN Family of Networks



Very short night! Got about 3 hours of sleep.
Rode to the airport with my friend Mike – which was nice – I didn’t have to take a cab!

I paid to upgrade to first class on my flight (Miami to Washington, DC). That made all the difference in the world! I was able to sleep for a little over 2 hours. I felt (almost) human again.

So today (Thursday), I am late for work. I knew that going in. Crew call was at 10a; I wasn’t even landing until 11:25a. Had some issues getting to the venue - “Linda” (my GPS) said the address didn’t exist. I called the Operations Producer onsite who gave me directions, but I missed an exit somehow. So it took about an hour for me to get to site instead of the normal 40 minutes.

This was the first annual ESPN Rise Tournament – so I knew there was a lot of importance in the event going smoothly.

Our set day was like most for a tourney – you feel like you will never be ready and are more behind at the end of the day than you were at the start of the day!

The venue was Georgetown Prepatory School. Wow!


All I saw were the athletic facilities and they were amazing! I can’t imagine what the rest of the place looks like!




By the time I got to the hotel Thursday evening, I was beyond exhausted! I actually allowed a bellman to take my bags up to my room. I never do that – my theory is – “if I pack it, I have to be able to carry it!” But not tonight; I just couldn’t do it.

Had a quick dinner at the bar and went upstairs to get settled. Just before I got into bed, I went to lay out the towels for morning. Guess what? No towels anywhere to be found!
I called housekeeping and they assumed I was crazy. I explained I had 3 washcloths on the counter, but in the cubby where the towels should be – empty! They said someone would be right up.

After waiting for 15 minutes, I gave up and went to bed. Of course, just as I got comfy, knock, knock, knock. AGH!!!!

Was back in bed by 10:30p. Unfortunately, I had to get up at 5a. Even more unfortunate – the 12 high school teams participating in the tournament were also staying at the hotel. Many of which were on my floor. Running, yelling and door slamming went on for hours. I called the front desk numerous times… I finally fell asleep around midnight.

Next time you stay in hotel, here is some food for thought…. Remember, just because you are on vacation, does not mean everyone else is on vacation. Also, just because you don’t need to get up until 10am – the person next to you might have to get up at 3am to go to work. It seems strange, but yes, people do get up that early to go to work. So please, next time you and your friends or you and your kids are in a hotel – be thoughtful about the other guests in the hotel.

Okay – back to the trip….
Was onsite a little before 7a on Friday.
Am I going to survive these last few days on this monster trip?

All in all, the double header went well. As I have explained before, high school sports are always challenging. The rosters & statistics are always hard to get and typically are incomplete and riddled with inaccurate information.

After my 2 games, there was lots of work to do for Saturday’s games. So my AP and I kept on working. Sitting for 13 hours straight seems simple – but let me tell ya – it is extremely painful and really takes a toll on your body. Especially when you have a couple weeks of events like I’ve had for the past month.

Back to the hotel around 8:30p, ordered room service and packed while I was waiting for dinner (I depart tomorrow). While eating, I caught up on the essential emails & voice mails. In bed around 10:30p. All work, no play on this one!

Another short night filled with noisy high school kids in halls.

Saturday’s games went great! As soon as the ‘morning session’ was over, I scurried back to the airport. The lines for check in and for security were really, really long. I wasn’t sure I was going to make it. But, somehow, I did!

Flew to Cincinnati; stayed at Marriott Kingsgate on the UC Campus. Same drill; lug all the luggage up to the room, dig out some clothes for the next day, order room service, go to bed. I did however, treat myself to watching Michigan State play in the Final Four game. Go Sparty!


What did I miss at home this weekend?
I have no clue. I have truly lost track of time.

Miami, FL

March 29th – April 2nd

2009 POWERade Jam Fest & McDonald’s All-American Games – ESPN Family of Networks – March 30th & April 1st

On Sunday morning I made the drive from Bridgeport to Hartford, CT. It was very rainy, but since there were 3 of us with similar flight times, we had a little caravan going.

My connection was at Washington-Dulles. It was a tight connection so I was a little concerned with me making it and even more concerned about my bags making it. I rarely ever check luggage, but had to since this was a 15-day trip.

Thankfully, upon arriving in DC, I discovered the flight to Miami had been delayed a little. Good news for me and my luggage!

Well, that little delay turned into a couple hours. But I had access to the Red Carpet Club, so it was no big deal.

It did screw up things on the other end of the trip though. Andy, Mike & I were supposed to share a rental car since we got in around the same time (but on different airlines). That didn’t end up happening since 2 of us were delayed.

I had been dreading the trip into Miami for weeks. That airport is a nightmare and I have avoided it for years. When I have to go to that region, I fly into Ft. Lauderdale as it is nice & simple. However, it just wasn’t going to work this time since it was so far from the venue.

I have to admit, it wasn’t so bad. The Miami airport has made numerous improvements since that last time I was there.

At this point, I am absolutely exhausted and so sick of carrying my luggage. I have been on the road for a week and entering my third city.

The wait for a cab wasn’t too bad. Of course the driver spoke no English and had a hard time understanding where my hotel was; even though it’s only about 6 miles away. He proceeds to drive 20 miles an hour so the price would escalate. I was getting really annoyed, but then relieved because he fell asleep behind the wheel 7 times! I didn’t know what to do, so every time his head would fall to his chest or he would snore, I would cough really loud to wake him back up. I was so happy we were on side streets because he was weaving all over the road. If we had been on an interstate, I would have been dead.

Eventually made it unscathed to the Holiday Inn. It was pretty much what I expected. Old, crappy and smelly! But it was going to be home for the next 4 nights, so I better accept it.

As I started to unpack, my friend Mike texted me – everyone was down the street at Friday’s for happy hour. Tempting… I wanted to get unpacked, but I was hungry and thirsty. And it was only a couple blocks away, so I could walk.

Spent the next few hours at Fridays. Happy hour was very cheap!

Later in the evening a few of us went to a place called “Titanic”. Saks had been there many times for lunch and said it had great food. It was karaoke night – oh my! All bad!
We had dinner and drinks and eventually wandered back to the hotel.

I was really bad at taking photos on this trip, sorry. I always had my camera with me – but for whatever reason, forgot to use it.

Monday was the POWERade Jam Fest – which is a cool event for the kids involved. However, this year, we were doing it live for the first time. We had always taped it over a few hours and then edited it down to 1 hour. It proved to be challenging – but fun!

I still want to watch the DVD of the event and count the graphics – I swear there had to be at least 100 over the course of the hour. It was by far the most insanely paced event I have ever done. I had one error, which angered me beyond belief. While one graphic was on the air, I changed it to the next graphic and it was an obvious mistake. It’s something that happens; but for me, it is extremely rare. Only making me more mad.

After the show, there was talk of going to South Beach since we had Tuesday off. But it ended up being just that – ‘talk’. We ended up down the street at Friday’s for happy hour again. We were there for 2 hours; ordered endless appetizers and A LOT of drinks for about 10 of us – bill was only $148! Insane! That’s usually 1 round of drinks for us!

On Tuesday, I slept in and made my way down to the pool around 10a. While enjoying the sun, I also did some laundry since the facilities were right off the patio. Eventually a bunch of the crew ended up poolside. It was a nice & relaxing day for all.

In the afternoon, there was the 3rd Annual ESPN vs McDonald’s basketball game. Stephanie (Saks’ girlfriend) and I went to watch my co-workers play.

ESPN won in overtime.

That evening, Saks, Steph, Mike and I went to a sushi place in downtown Coral Gables. It was really, really good! Of course, I don’t eat sushi – but they had some non-seafood options. After that we walked to an Irish bar for drinks. Sure enough, in no time at all, we had racked up a $150 tab. After 2 nights at Friday’s – we decided it was time to go! And what better place to go? Friday’s for yet another happy hour! Can’t beat $2 drinks!


On Wednesday we had the McDonald’s All-American Girls Game, followed by the Boys Game. Again, a long day and a double header. But this trip is always worth it. We work hard, but we also play hard :)

It was probably midnight before I got back to the hotel. Everyone else went out – I had to pack and catch a few hours of sleep. Mike and I were leaving at 6:15a for the airport.