Columbus > Memphis > Batesville, MS

Set Day @ OSU > Travel to HS Football

I filled in today on a set day with the ESPN Noon crew. They were at Ohio State for the game this weekend, but their Viz op couldn’t make it, so I worked for him.


The day went really well.

On my way to the airport, I called home. That’s when I got the news about Madison.
The day pretty much went down hill from there. It was not the official diagnosis, but there wasn’t much hope.

I flew to Memphis and then drove 1.5 hours to Batesville, MS.
Got in around midnite.

Stopped at the gas station to get a beer to take to the hotel. Figured I had earned it after my evening.

Nope. Dry county!
Figures.

Got checked into the hotel – Holiday Inn Batesville. Yippie!
Bar = closed.

But I will say, this is the NICEST Holiday Inn I have ever seen.

My hours of sobbing have turned into a migraine in the making.
Made steaming hot towels to lay on my face as I went to bed.

Columbus

August 28th – 30th

Kirk Herbstreit High School Showcase

This weekend I worked High School football for the ESPN family of networks. I have worked this event in the past and as most of you already know, I really enjoy working high school sports. (You all thought I was going to say something about Kirk, didn’t you?)

This year it was held in Ohio Stadium. Which was really cool for the kids on the local teams.

We had a set day on Friday, 2 games on Saturday and 2 more games on Sunday.

It was a good time as I got to work with some of my long time freelance friends.

And Steph got a snapshot of Kirk and his boys…

Sunday night, Steph came over to see my house and meet Dave. Then her and I headed to dinner at Cap City Diner – one of my favorite places to take out of town guests.

Cincinnati

August 26-27th

St. Louis vs Cincinnati - NFL

A few months ago, I was crewed to work the St. Louis feed for a preseason NFL game at Cincinnati. On a whim, Dave asked me if I could get him on the crew. And I did – as stage manager.

We drove done Wednesday evening. We stayed in Covington where I used to stay frequently when doing Reds games. This was kind of our last little trip of the summer since I missed out on our Put-In Bay vacation.

We got a list of places to eat from the front desk. There is a little district of restaurants that we wanted to walk to. 5-10 minute walk; max.

30 minutes and a few blisters from my girl shoes, later, we found the district. Sure enough it was only 5 minutes from the hotel – but the map had confused us.

We had a nice dinner and made our way back to the hotel.

Since it was still relatively early, we sat outside in a gazebo and enjoyed the summer evening with a few adult beverages.

On Thursday, I had to be to work around 10am, so he dropped me off at the stadium. He went back to the hotel to work out, etc.

The day was a little crazy. Just issues with the production, the truck, etc.

Dave arrived later in the day, met with the Producer and then explored the stadium.

He had a great time – it was a super simple show to stage manage for!

I think we were on the road back to Columbus around 11:30…. Late night!

Taylor, MI

August 21st - 23rd

Junior League Baseball World Series – ESPN

The drive up on Friday was a disaster. I had just returned from 2 weeks of family hell on Thursday afternoon, then had to embark on this trip on Friday.

Route 23 was backed up for miles. I decided to go my mom’s way to Michigan, but I didn’t have a map. Minor detail.

But after talking to her and getting a brief overview of how to go and where to find a rest stop – I was able to plot the trip using the rest stop map.

All while hoping “Linda” would figure out I wanted to go the back roads… nope – she kept directing me back to 23.

Then to make matters worse – there was bridge construction in a few of the small towns… forcing me onto insanely long and out of the way detours. My 3.5 hour trip quickly turned into 6.

The hotel was right outside of Ford headquarters.


I ate an early room service dinner and went to bed.

Saturday morning I headed over to Taylor.


I had done this event once before – maybe like 5 years ago?
So I really remembered nothing about the venue.




The day went pretty good… considering all I had going against me!
I hadn’t done a Viz show since early June and I had an AP that had only been on remote one other time – just that alone is a struggle! But my incredible baseball knowledge got us thru the day!

Okay, that’s a stretch – but I did shock myself on a few things I explained to him about baseball.

On Sunday morning I set out early…. What is that?


That’s strange… a car window in the parking lot of the hotel.
Thankfully, it didn’t belong to my car, so I got out of there!

Fort Myers, FL

The final memorial service was today at The Palms.
Uncle Hugh, Aunt Mary, mom and I were the only family members to attend.

Considering the exhaustion and emotions we had endured, we probably didn’t take this service as seriously as we should have. It was for grandma’s friends who lived in her retirement community with her. She had only lived there 9 months, but in that time, she had become known and loved by many. Her death was a complete shock to them as well.

My friend Patty had a plant delivered to the chapel which was such a nice suprise!

We got a case of the giggles as we sat in the front row. We couldn’t help ourselves as we overheard the ladies arguing over who got to sit next to who…about where they were parking their ‘wagons’ (their walkers). They thought they were whispering. Thankfully, they likely could not hear our giggles.

4 services in 2 states in 6 days. That has to be some sort of record!

After the service we got back to her apartment and continued working on packing up her belongings.

Yet another 18 hour day.

Do people really go to Florida for vacation?

Big Rapids, MI > Fort Myers, FL

My parents and I spent the early afternoon with my dad’s side of the family. We went to my Aunt Karen’s for a little cookout which was very nice.

Then we drove to Grand Rapids for our journey back to Florida. This trip was beyond exhausting on so many levels. The only redeeming factor was that I booked us first class tickets for the entire trip. That made all the difference in the world. Plus I was able to keep my parents busy in the Crown Room during our layovers.

I don’t remember ever being so tired. But there is still tons of work to be done. Aside from all the legal stuff from the estate, we still have another memorial service to attend tomorrow at the retirement community where grandma lived.

Yes, I missed my vacation, but being there for my family was much more important.

Big Rapids, MI

The visitation on Friday night was very nice. Such a great turnout of family and friends. My parents and I moved away from Michigan when I was 8 – but I still remembered many of the faces. And it was very heartwarming to have family members from my dad’s side of the family there. That really meant a lot.

The funeral today was lovely. My cousins, their kids and I took up the gifts during the offertory.

There was the traditional small town church potluck in the basement afterwards.

Followed by the burial in Paris – where I lived from 2-8 years old.

From there the family all headed to our hotel in Big Rapids – the Holiday Inn. Where the kids swam and the adults had snacks and beer.

I am beyond my breaking point. The stress of this week has been overwhelming. To top it off, I am staying in a very old Holiday Inn in Big Rapids with my parents! This is a very small town – essentially my home town. But even so – this hotel is not up to par with the type of service I am accustomed to. I have had many confrontations with the front desk staff regarding their lack of service skills. But what do they care? They are “the” hotel in town.

I would probably pay $50 for a cup of Starbucks coffee right now!

Meanwhile, my idiot friends were on our vacation. It was a very difficult weekend for me. Obviously the loss of my grandmother weighed heavily, but I also lost my vacation. The vacation we look forward to all year… and the one I spend a lot of time arranging for all of us. I have a lot invested in it.

This weekend is our annual camping trip in Put-In Bay to see “The Menus”.

Dave, Roger, Cliff and Boo kept me up to date with texts and emails.

I can not remember where I put the photo CD - as soon as I find it, I will add some of their photos.

Fort Myers > Big Rapids, MI

Complete whirlwind of days… tons of family stuff to deal with!

Arrangements had to be made for a memorial mass in Ft. Myers, which was last night.
Very nice service. I got to see all my “Florida” cousins and their kids – many of which I hadn’t seen in years.

Arrangements had to be made for the visitation, funeral and burial in Michigan. Plus booking all the travel and the complications of getting grandma to Michigan in time.

Nothing is ever simple.

Mom, Dad and I made flew to Big Rapids this morning. Ok, flew to Grand Rapids and drove the hour north.

Still so much more to deal with.

We are all getting by on 2-3 hours of sleep a night.

Columbus > Fort Myers

Grandma died unexpectantly around 4 this morning.

I spent the morning arranging travel to FL and packing for who knows how long ?? Assuming I would be going from Florida on to Michigan. There will be services in both places.

Our yearly camping vacation is next weekend. It doesn’t look like I will make it back in time – so I put together “to do”, “to take”, and “to buy” lists for Dave since I am the one who preps everything for this trip.

Out of hope, I also packed my camping stuff for Dave to take just in case I am able to meet them up there.

Crazy, crazy day!

Got to Fort Myers around midnight.

Columbus

August 3rd – 8th

Pretty uneventful week. I spent it working on getting stuff around for my tax person. (2008 taxes) Only 4 months behind schedule!

But I did it! I got the stuff sent out to her!

Smokey & Claude also came to Auntie Nic’s for a mini-vacation!


“The Chosen One” on Auntie Nic’s Bed


Claude re-enacting a http://icanhascheezburger.com/ photo


Claude enjoying the livestock in the front yard.


Smokey sleeping on the newspaper – his favorite spot!

Columbus

July 20th – 23rd

Mom and Auntie Gayle had decided I needed to re-do my office. When I am actually home, that is where I spend the majority of my time – and it is indeed dark & dreary.


This was going to be a $100 project.
Famous last words.

Because this was their idea and not mine, I had no ideas on colors or fabrics or anything.
Well, I knew I wanted to paint the wood paneling white and remove the wallpaper.

I had purchased a 8 x 12 map last year with the intentions of someday having my dad hang it for me in my office. Then I would put pins in all the cities I have worked in. Each year would be a different color.

Of course this map wall could not be an easy project! I wanted it mounted on some sort of foam core so I could easily stick in the pins. And I wanted to be able to take it with me if I ever moved. But those were dad’s problems!

On Monday morning we headed out for Lowe’s. I was completely overwhelmed with paint options!

After about an hour, I settled on lavender. Not sure why? Maybe because that was the color of my childhood bedrooms ?

Auntie Gayle had a blast ripping down the wallpaper!


When we finally got home and started painting, I didn’t like it.

That afternoon, mom and I headed to a fabric store to see if I could find a fabric for curtains that would inspire a color scheme for me.

Sure enough, I found something! Probably the most expensive fabric in the place - but who's counting?

So back to Lowe’s for new paint!!

Once I got a coat of the new paint on, I knew this was right.

Tuesday was spent with more painting. Mom worked on cleaning out the crawl space. Sorting and transferring the items into Rubbermaid bins. Many items were set aside for Goodwill as they had been there since I moved into the house in 1999.

On Wednesday – a little more paiting!

Thursday, I got up early and did some touch ups. Then we headed to Yellow Springs.
I had heard about it over the years as having some unique shops and places to grab lunch.

We leisurely strolled around town. Had some lunch and then checked out a few more shops. On the way home, we stopped at Young’s Dairy Farm for some ice cream – yummy!

Late Thursday night, my dad flew up.

On Friday morning, we went over the projects to be done, made a list and headed out to Lowe’s. Not only was he going to do the map wall now, he was also going to install a laundry tub in my laundry room, install a new dehumidifier in my basement and some other minor repairs.

So much for that $100 project!

Both Friday and Saturday were long days with tons of work being done by all.

Of course I kept my help well fed! Not to mention the fact they didn't go thirsty! There was even daily fresh made sangria!

Saturday night, Dave and Roger came over and joined us for the St. Margaret’s Festival. I was nice that mom and dad finally got to go after all these years.

Yes, we won plenty of baked goods for breakfast in the “cake walk”.

Sunday & Monday were busy as well with finalizing projects and of course, adding more to the list!

Everyone headed out on Tuesday morning and I had the place to myself!

Here’s a peak at the map wall


I can’t wait to start sticking pins into it!

More shots of the office… didn’t take long for the piles to return!

Well, I need to hang my diplomas.... but at least I have them framed, right?

This shelving unit is a lot of my childhood... photo albums... my early years of "TV" captured on VHS tape from "WildNews4 and WEVU News 4 Kids"...... my Wizard of Oz collection... Grade school & High School stuff... books... Chyron manuals - lots of manuals! (I did throw out the CMX editor manuals recently - that was hard to do!)

Cleveland

July 16th - 19th
Mariners vs Indians – SportsTime Ohio




Woke up Thursday – the flu-like symptoms are gone, bad, dry cough.
My doctor doesn’t work on Thursdays so I can call to get a Rx filled.

Headed to Cleveland.. I could tell this was going to be a miserable couple of days!

SportsTime Ohio does not use a TV truck for their games in Cleveland. They have a control room at the NBC affiliate in downtown Cleveland. The camera feeds reach the station via fiber optic lines. It’s actually pretty cool!

I always enjoy my trips to STO – the crew is beyond great! And it so nice to work in a control room where there is lots of space as opposed to being in a truck. And I get to use an actual bathroom instead of a port-a-john!

It’s a very nice station – appealing to the eye, unlike some of the stations that I have worked!



All the control rooms have glass walls facing the hallway. So it’s kinda like being in a fishbowl.


Thursday’s game was brutal. Well, the game was fine, I was just beyond miserable.
I went thru at least a box of tissues.

That night I headed over to Matty’s – I was staying with him for the weekend.
I took a bunch of cold meds, cough syrup and went to bed.


Matty’s place

Friday morning, I called my doctor and had a Rx called in to a nearby pharmacy. I refused to go to work until I got it filled.

I took a nap on the couch and then ventured out for some food and more cold supplies.
I had zero appetite but knew I needed to eat. So I asked “Linda”, my trusty GPS what was nearby. Yes! A Quiznos!! And only a mile away!

Nope, out of business.

I was already exhausted so I looked around and there was a Chipotle, so I went there. Nothing like some spicy hot Mexican to clear the sinuses!

Because I was in such a cloudy state, I didn’t notice the giant cement light pole in the parking lot as I was parking. I now have lovely yellow paint streaks where I once had silver paint on my Pilot.

Took another nap and headed to work.
Stopped by the Giant Eagle to get my Rx on the way.

The game on Friday was probably the worst condition I have ever worked in.
I thought I was going to die.

The flu-like symptoms had returned, I had lost my voice and I was coughing up blood.
I could barely keep my head up and eyes open, let alone type.

I felt terrible because I knew I was spreading this horrible plague to everyone else.

If I had know where the hospital was and had the energy to go there, I would of. But I didn’t think I could handle the frustration. So I went to Matty’s to die.

I slept for 11 hours.

On Saturday, Matty had to work (Cavalier Girls tryouts). So I again went to the store for more tissues & cough drops. I was craving Panera Tomato Soup – do you think there was a Panera nearby?

Took a nap and then went to work.

Saturday night was rough, but I could feel I was getting better finally. The Z-pack was finally kicking in.

Sunday morning always comes quick! When you don’t get done working til after 11p and have to be back by 8a…

I survived the game and headed home.

Bummer of a weekend.
I didn’t get to hang out with my friends since I was so sick.

Meanwhile, my mom and her best friend, Auntie Gayle, had arrived at my house over the weekend. I was looking forward to getting home and having a nice home cooked meal!

Columbus

Columbus Blue Jackets 2009-10 Schedule Release Show – columbusbluejackets.com

Yah, I am sick. It’s moving into my head & chest.

But, the show must go on!
Without the luxury of sick days, I have to work no matter how bad I feel.
Thankfully, today I was working a super simple show!

It was a 30 minute show on the internet. We unveiled the upcoming NHL season. Exciting stuff!

I then went home and went to bed.

Columbus

Today I had a meeting at the local PBS affiliate. They have asked me for years to come in and work on Duet projects with them and my schedule has never worked with theirs.

About 1.5 years ago, they moved into a fabulous facility downtown. I had heard how amazing it was, so I was excited to finally see it!

It is really nice. They have all sorts of bells & whistles. Very impressive facility!

As I was working on their Duet, I had a few moments of thinking, “hmmm, I don’t feel so good.”

But I continued on with my meeting and then headed home.

Soon after, I decided I might have the flu.

Kitty Hawk, NC > Columbus

We need we needed to hit the road at a decent hour. We had a 11 hour drive ahead of us and the traffic is terrible on Sundays getting back to the mainland. Apparently you can wait for hours.

We hit it just right – no major backups.

I think Matty and Dave put something in my water that morning… because I slept the entire way home. I would wake up long enough to pass them snacks and drinks and then pass out again.

I don’t remember where we were, but we stopped for gas and the bathroom was horrifying! Here’s Matty with the “key”


Dave on his turn in the back seat


I woke up for good in southern Ohio. We decided we wanted DQ but somehow missed the exit. I remembered there being one just north of Athens. I used to do a lot of Ohio University games so I knew the area well. They didn’t believe me. I kept saying, I know it’s here somewhere, it just around a bend next to a Burger King.

It took a while, but sure enough, I was right!
And truly, that’s all that matters!

What a fabulous trip this was!
It’s very rare that the 9 of us are together in the same place at the same time. I believe the last time we accomplished this, was in July of 2006 – for Jonny & Amanda’s wedding in Park City, Utah.

With everyone’s schedules, it’s very hard to plan anything!
Let’s see… combined we are at the mercy of the following conflicts: 3 pro sports teams (NBA. NHL, AHL), 2 local TV stations, a national tv network and my wonderful schedule! (Thankfully, the AFL dissolved because we used to have to plan around 2 of those teams as well!)

Hoping we can do it again before 2012!

Here are some photos from the July 2006 Utah trip; we stayed at The Canyons Resort - it's fabulous!

The NTACs @ Bowling Party night before wedding

The NTACs at the Olympic Park

Rev. Matty & Jonny

Amanda & Jonny

Dave, Me & Matty - mocking the Dispatch travel section pose

Kitty Hawk, NC

Today started with the phone ringing a little before 8am. Maybe it was 7? I don’t know, but it was early considering we had only been asleep for a couple hours.

It was Bettes. “We got in. We have to leave in 15 minutes and you must wear flip flops.”
I hung up the phone.

“Dave, we have 15 minutes to get ready and put on flip flops.”
“What are we doing?”
“I don’t know.”

Months before, Dave and I had decided we were going to go parasailing while on this trip. Well once we all had gotten in on Wednesday night, they boys talked about hang gliding instead.

Bettes looked into us going on Saturday, but there were no open spots.

Apparently, he called at the crack of dawn on Saturday morning and enough spots opened up for Bettes, TG, Jonny, Dave and I to go.

Meanwhile, back in our room, there was a flurry of activity. One of us tends to be cranky in the morning, especially when he hasn’t had enough sleep. (I am not naming any names or anything)

Since I was still unsure of what it was we were doing, I didn’t know if I was going to be sitting on a beach watching everyone else play or if I was going to get involved. I tend to be a watcher when it comes to activities that can possibly lead to broken arms, hands or wrists. I am overly cautious when it comes to injuring my livelihood.

So I was packing waters, magazines, books, sunscreen, towels…. Then I realized I had 5 hung over & sleep deprived kids on my hands, so I threw in some Special K bars and snacks.

Meanwhile, Matty laid in bed saying, “What is going on?”

We all met in the hallway and raced to this hang gliding training place.
Once I saw what it was, I was in. I was a little scared, but since you don’t get that far off the ground, it was unlikely I would break anything.

We had to sit thru a training class and then sign our lives away.



Then we headed out on a trek across the dunes with our gear.




Flip flops?
Why do they say you have to wear flip flops? You can’t walk the dunes in them as they come off in the soft sand. You need to wear sneakers!

So we had to walk barefoot, which is not something I do. Dave either.
It was rather bizarro.

It was a bitch of a walk! Hot beyond belief! A bit dehydrated from the night before. The gear wasn’t heavy – but the bag of crap I brought was!

So we ran thru the drills of how to operate the gear…






And then, one at a time, ran off the side of the dune until we took flight.



Jonny was the first major crash




Needless to say, there were LOTS of laughs! We all crashed. It was much harder that it appears!

There was not one millimeter of our bodies that were not caked with sand. We looked like sugar coated donuts! It was actually quite nasty!

Our lesson went long and now it was past noon. Holy crap does that sand get HOT!
On the final climb back up the dune, it felt as though our feet were blistering. It was like walking on fire. Quite possibly one of the most painful experiences ever!

TG and I finished first, so we headed back to fill out the final paperwork, get our certificates and get the car ready. Bettes & TG were late checking out of the hotel, so we had to git!
That walk back to the training center was complete hell! It was so incredibly hot and our feet were on fire!!

By the time we had everything settled, the boys jumped in the Tahoe and we raced back to the hotel. Bettes & TG grabbed their stuff and showered in Jonny’s room.

After we all were freshened up, we met up with Amanda and Matty and headed to lunch.

Amanda/Jonny/Matty/Dave


TG/Bettes

It was a seafood place. (I’m allergic)


After Bettes & TG headed to the airport, I believe there were some naps taken.

That evening, we ordered pizzas and had a little party in the courtyard. Perfect end to a wonderful vacation!