Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Rizon

More sad news from Florida .... Rizon passed away this afternoon.

His health has been failing for the past few years, but steadily declined since Madison died in October. He never recovered from his broken heart.

But he now is happily chasing squirrels & stray cats with Madison & Ronnie (his sister from many years ago).

Rizon entered our lives on Easter 1995. He was part of litter that was born a few months prior at a neighbor of my grandparents. They were born while the owners were overseas and were not properly cared for. He was filthy and starving on the day we reached over the fence and took him home.

Rest assured, he never had another hungry day in his life again!

Most of you probably don't know this, but Rizon had a brief acting career in his early years... He co-starred in a commercial (with me) for "Eye On WINK Magazine". (Sorry - it's not on You Tube)



Family Vacation - June 2009


Christmas Morning - 2009


Best Friends!

"Animals are such agreeable friends - they ask no questions, they pass no criticisms."
George Eliot - "Mr. Gilfil's Love Story" - 1857


Rizon
January 1995 - February 3, 2010

Sunday, January 31, 2010

Reno > Columbus

Today is what I hate about working on the west coast. It takes an entire day to get home!

Got home around 11pm

The next 20 days I work in/around Ohio – so it will be 3 weeks before I board a plane again. Very bizarro!

Saturday, January 30, 2010

Reno

Hawai’i vs Nevada Men’s CBB – ESPNU










Ahhh… it’s amazing what 8 hours of sleep does for ones body!

Went down and worked out, caught up on email, ate a late breakfast and headed to work.


The view from the parking deck was amazing.

I was regretting not going to Lake Tahoe yesterday. Oh well, I got some much needed rest instead.

The game went good. I worked with some people that I had never worked with before, which is always cool. These were mainly freelancers from the west coast – I don’t get out here that often.

On the way back to the hotel, I was able to get a shot of the famous Reno sign.

Friday, January 29, 2010

Columbus > Reno

Took an early flight to Reno this morning. I went early just because I have never been to Reno.










Originally, my intent had been to go check out Lake Tahoe – but I am just too tired!

We were staying at a Casino and my room was very Victorian.










I had my nails done yesterday and OF COURSE this morning on the plane, I broke a nail putting my bad in the overhead bin. I never break nails!

So I went to the spa at the hotel to have it repaired. Very nice spa actually. If I wasn’t so cheap, I would of checked myself in for a day of pampering. But I got my nail fixed and a polish change – enough $$ spent for me!

After that I worked out. Then took a nap.

That evening, I ate dinner there at the hotel because I had discovered that Reno is not that great of a place. Didn’t want to venture out alone.

I ate at a seafood & steak place there in the hotel. It had a ocean theme – but very deceiving! This fish tank was just a photo!












Had a decent dinner, gambled a bit and went to bed.

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Columbus

LA Kings vs Columbus Blue Jackets – Visitor Feed

Got home from Ann Arbor yesterday afternoon. Had an entire 24 hours at home, which is rare these days.

Still fighting this funk. I did get a new round of antibiotics since I threw up the big dose on Tuesday morning. So hoping it cures what ever this is!

Worked visitor feed for hockey tonight.

Am so very, very tired. This month is killing me!

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Indianapolis > Detroit > Ann Arbor

5 Michigan State vs Michigan – Men’s CBB – 7et ESPN2 – Campus Connection Week

This could be the worst day ever.

I only had time to sleep for about 2 hours.

Dragged myself into the shower.

Officially decided my doctor was insane. I was sick. So before leaving the room, I pulled out my emergency stash of meds….a ZPack (antibiotic).

Upon checking out, the clerk remembered me from a few hours prior and asked why I wasn’t getting any coffee – I said, “I would, but I think I am about to throw up.”

Stepped out into the frozen tundra and wondered what the hell am I doing?
Why have I accepted this to be my life?

Drudged thru the snow to the car and as I was loading it up, I threw up all over the place. Careful not to get it on my clothes as I didn’t have anymore clean ones!

Throwing up an antibiotic 10 mins after taking it tastes so terrible, you throw up again.

Frozen to the bone, I decided there couldn’t possibly be any bile left and got in the car.

Roads were still barely passable.

Made it safe. Returned car. Stumbled in and thru security and to the gate. A few of the guys from the crew were there as well since a lot of us were doing the game at Michigan today. We all shared our versions of the terrible drive from West Lafayette.

Snoozed on the flight.

Got to Detroit and waited 1 hour for my bag. Well – there goes the chance to check into the hotel and taking a little nap!

Hit the Bob Evans and felt much better once I had food in me again.

Do I take another antibiotic? How much had absorbed in my body?

Hmm… well, I think I will wait til tomorrow just to be safe.

Somehow came up with enough energy to make it thru the day. Ate lunch at Zingerman’s…. yummy!

Game went really good considering I was on pretty much no sleep and felt like total crap. The Coordinating Producer was in town and sat next to me – that’s probably what helped keep me alert!

This is my last week with this crew :(

My nose is dripping non-stop.  I keep applying Neosporin to my nose and face.  It is beyond raw.

Livin' the dream baby!

Monday, January 25, 2010

West Lafayette, IN > Indianapolis

Ohio State vs Purdue – Women’s CBB – 7et ESPN2 – Campus Connection Week










Slept 8 whole hours!!!! Wow!

Since I was the last person to check into the hotel last night, everyone from work had seen the sign in the lobby stating the I was guest of the day – so they had a fun time mocking me today.

The weather was taking a very bad turn for the worse. It got very nasty!










I am still fighting whatever this is in my head. I guess exhaustion? But my nose is completely raw from blowing it non stop!

The game was good.

I was very stressed because I had to drive back to Indianapolis after the game. With the inclement weather – I was pretty freaked out.

To be honest, I don’t believe I made it. The roads where probably the worst that I have ever driven on. The 1 hour 15 min drive took me over 3 hours. Because of the horrible conditions, traffic moved at about 25 mph – and even that was too fast!

Accidents everywhere. Just very scary!

Most of the time I couldn’t see 1 car length a head of me.

Things got a little better as I approached Indy.

But the airport exit was a mess. And the road the hotel was on was horrific.

I was so thankful to get there alive!

I asked the manager to please have coffee ready at 4am.

Went to bed.

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Lexington, KY > West Lafayette, IN

Auburn vs Kentucky – Women’s CBB – SEC Network – 2pm et

Even though I got about 7 hours of sleep, I struggled to stay “in” the game.
I am just freaking exhausted!

After the game, I flew up to Indianapolis (via Cincy) then drove up to West Lafayette. I am so SICK of this drive!!!

Again, talked on phone entire way – I barely even stayed awake that way.

Upon arriving at my favorite West Lafayette hotel – the Hilton Garden Inn – I was greeted with quite the surprise!


The honor of being guest of the day gets you free breakfast – which I didn’t want – I wanted to sleep thru it! So they let me spend $5 in the Pantry.





Since I was still fighting the sniffles, I bought the only cold medicine they had – children’s Motrin.

Went straight to bed.

I continue to "live the dream" !!

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Bowling Green, KY > Lexington, KY

Middle Tennessee vs Western Kentucky – Men’s CBB – ESPN2 1pm et
 



















Didn’t sleep very well last night – I never do when I have to get up so insanely early! But I had a 4am crew call… so 2:45a the alarm went off. Didn’t really matter since I was already awake.

Once I was all loaded up in the car, I drove around to the lobby to get coffee.

UGH!

How could they not have a pot ready?!

There was a Steak-n-Shake right down the street – so I pulled in and missed the empty drive thru. Of course by the time I drove around, someone else had pulled in. Obviously their night was just coming to an end because they sat at the sign, not the ordering sign, the sign listing the combos currently on special – and kept yelling at it. After a few minutes, I gave up. They were obviously too drunk to realize it was only a sign they were yelling at.

So very depressing when your day is just starting, when yesterday is just ending for the rest of the world!

My mood was quite surly by the time I arrived at the truck. The town was so small, nothing was open en route. But like an angel from heaven, Tom, the engineer, gave me his coffee! I love my Lyon boys!

Lunch time was like at 8am or something crazy. I ventured out to the Bob Evans. I have learned over the past 24 hours that the longest red lights in the country are in Kentucky!








After the game, I had drive to Lexington. Oh my that was rough! It was about 3.5 hours. Thank God I was able to talk on the cell phone the entire way or I would of never been able to stay awake!

Just my luck – as I arrived in Lexington, the Kentucky men’s basketball game was just ending. The hotel is attached to the arena. Oh, this is not going to be good!

Sure enough, the roads that I knew were all closed down.

Deep breaths.

I sat for a good 45 minutes, creeping only inches at a time to the hotel. I was so close to just leaving my car in the middle of the road, walking the hotel and telling the valet to go get it!

So I get to the point that I can see the street in front of the hotel is closed down. GREAT! The valet stand and the parking lot are on that street.

Since I wasn’t moving, I called the hotel to ask if they had alternative parking since the street was closed.
That only got me angrier!

For every men’s hoops home game, they close the street. The hotel staff acted as I was the first time in all these years to call and ask for an alternate route.

Completely worthless!

I sat at the intersection for a good 15 minutes.


I had determined there was no way I was going to turn when it was my time. I was going to wait until an officer came over to the car to yell at me – then I would promptly yell back!




When it was my turn, I screamed out to the officers and begged them to open the street. And they did because the traffic almost back to normal.

Thank God, because the mood I was in would of resulted in a little jail time.

As I entered the lobby, I was overcome by a sea of blue.

Oh dear God – there really are worse fans than Ohio State fans!
They are Kentucky men’s basketball fans!
I truly hate them.

Had dinner plans with some friends who had just got done working the men’s game. I wanted to break them and go to bed – but there was a party in the room next door - so there was no way I would be able to sleep.

So I met up with my friends in the lobby. But I first stopped at the front desk and warned them that if the party in the room next door was still going on when I got back – I was going to be vigilant and call security every 10 minutes until it got stopped. Not everyone staying in this hotel was here to party!

One of the people I was meeting for dinner, Audrey, went to Kentucky and had the perfect place in mind. So we headed over.

Joe Bologna’s


It had moved since she lived here. It was now in an old church. Pretty cool.

Has beer and pizza – what else could one ask for!?








Got back to the hotel around 10.

Only had to call security twice. Party next door ended.

They obviously left and went elsewhere because they were back around 3am.

A quick call to security and they were quiet again.

Friday, January 22, 2010

State College, PA > Philadelphia > Nashville > Bowling Green, KY

Was supposed to fly to Philly, connect to Louisville, then drive 2 hours to Bowling Green, KY.

Upon arrival at the airport, I was told my flight to Philly was delayed and my connection to Louisville was cancelled. Okay.

So I ended up flying to Philly, sitting for 2.5 hours, then flying to Nashville –which was actually a better scenario for me because it was only a one hour drive to Bowling Green. However, I was getting in much later.

Got to the hotel just after 6pm CT. Quickly got settled and went downstairs for some dinner. Shortly after ordering, I saw the producer come into the hotel and he joined me for dinner. It was nice to have someone to eat with! Plus it was great to catch up.

Got back up to my room around 8p. Ugh!

Alarm set for 2:45am – glamorous life!

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Columbus > State College, PA

January 20th – 21st

Indiana vs Penn State – Men’s Basketball – ESPN

Travelled midday on Wednesday – since I was going to the worst state in the country, my mood wasn’t the best.

Flying into State College is always a gamble. You never know if you are gonna land in one piece or not!

The aircraft is almost always a prop plane. Which makes me nervous where ever I am going.


And the overhead bin space is about 7 inches tall. I have to pretty much take everything out of my backpack in order to get in in.





It’s a very small airport – the plane pretty much taxis right up to the building.









The weather was pretty crappy. It wasn’t snowing though!

It’s been a few years since I have been here – so I drove around for a little while.

Beaver Stadium










Nittany Lion Statue on campus
Many years ago, while working a football game here, my friends Tim &  Brandy were in town for the game. We had a wild night on the town – and we stumbled around for hours looking for this damn cat! So every time I am back, I am always sure to visit him.





Tim & Brandy are old friends from when I lived in Orlando. They lived in the apartment below me. The have since lived all over the country and have 3 beautiful children.

Downtown State College is actually pretty cool; lots of places to drink, eat & interesting little shops. I have stayed at the Days Inn – which is GREAT location if you want to be in the heart of it all. I literally had drunk students passed out under my window when I stayed there.

Probably my favorite place is the Nittany Lion Inn. It’s very old and quaint. Right in the middle of campus.

This time we were at a Hilton Garden Inn… which is easily one of my favorite hotel flavors. But the location of this one sucked.

I got settled in and spent the afternoon catching up on email. So nice to have an afternoon/evening to myself!

I ordered room service and had a quiet night.

Thursday morning I hit the gym and then on to work.


Jason and I went to lunch at Chipotle and then sat at Starbucks for awhile. Always nice to have an actual lunch break.

The game went really good!

Friday morning I headed back to the airport for my next adventure!

Happy Squirrel Appreciation Day!


My Florida Squirrels



My Ohio Squirrels


My Cookie Squirrels

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Columbus

Northwestern vs Ohio State – Men’s Basketball – Big Ten Network

It’s great to be working at home for once, however, it seems like I just get started on something and it’s time to go to work.

Buckeyes win 76-56

Monday, January 18, 2010

Columbus

St. Louis vs Columbus – NHL - Visitor Feed



I got nothin….

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Columbus

Indiana vs Ohio State – Women’s Basketball – Big Ten Network

Kinda nice to have several days of work at home!

Buckeyes won 81-64

Saturday, January 16, 2010

Columbus

Wisconsin vs Ohio State – Men’s Basketball – Big Ten Network




Buckeyes won 60-51

Friday, January 15, 2010

West Lafayette, IN > Ann Arbor, MI > Columbus, OH

January 13th – 15th
Showcase Thursday Presented by T Rowe Price – Indiana vs Michigan – Conference Tip-Off Week – ESPN 2 – 9et

Wednesday morning I needed to drive from West Lafayette to Ann Arbor. Dumb me, thought it was a 3 hour drive. Figured that was easier that driving an hour plus back to Indy and catching a flight to Detroit, then driving to Ann Arbor.

Well, I was wrong. It’s a 5 hour drive. Nothing I could do about it now. Set out mid-morning. It was a beautiful day actually! Most all the snow had melted from the roads, thankfully, since it was mostly country roads thru Northern Indiana and Southern Michigan.










As I approached one town in Michigan, I had the feeling that I had been there before. Hmmm….



Wait - I’ve been at that hotel before… I stayed there in July of 2007 with mom & dad while we attended a family reunion in a town nearby.







I arrived in Ann Arbor in late afternoon. Got settled. Still feeling crappy with all the snot.

Decided to just eat dinner at the hotel – even though it was a Sheraton 4 Points.

Fatal error.

Dinner sucked beyond belief!

The side ceasar had rusty lettuce.

I just wanted a “Nicole salad” – someday I will be home long enough to make one again.

When I asked the server, “Is the meat on the French Dip lean?” He said, “I don’t know what the means.”
Not a good sign.

Thursday’s game was good. I really enjoy working with this crew!

On Friday morning I met up with an old friend for breakfast. We went to Zingerman’s.


Zingerman’s is a deli that is absolutely delish! Very expensive – but worth it once in a while!





After spending a few hours catching up, I hit the road. Had about 3 hours ahead of me. And the Michigan to Columbus drive is quite possibly one of my least favorites.

A welcome sign….  (in more ways than one!)

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Columbus > West Lafayette, IN

January 11th – 12th


Super Tuesday Presented by KFC - Ohio State vs Purdue – Conference Tip-Off Week – ESPN 2 – 7et

I only mention all the sponsorship because sometimes it’s funny. It’s rarely ever “just a game” anymore.

Monday morning I went to see my doctor cause I have had some sniffles I can’t kick.

Sure enough, he said I wasn’t sick – just allergy overload. Nothing he could do.

Made the drive to West Lafayette. Didn’t I just do this?

We were at the Homewood Suites…
It’s ok in the sense that its basically a one bedroom apartment with a kitchen. But bad on the little nice-ities of a full service hotel.

Because I was at the end of a hallway, I had almost no internet signal. Agh!!!

(However once I called to complain on Tuesday morning, the maintenance person right up to move the wired modem from the living room to the bedroom so I could watch my slingbox at night)

I didn’t sleep at al well. Realized at some point in the night it was because I had taken MucinexD. The “D” keeps me awake.

Tuesday was good. Had lunch with team graphics at Panera – which is always high on my list.

After the game, I headed to Bruno’s for drinks and dough balls with Heather & Erin.
We arrived at 10:02pm. They closed at 10. But since there were still lots of people inside Heather started banging on the door. She was able to talk them into letting us in.

Bruno’s is Coach Keady’s post game hangout and of course he was there with a group of friends.



Dough balls are one of the signature items… a piece of dough that is deep fried, brushed with garlic butter and then sprinkled with parmesan cheese. Pretty good, but sinful!

Once we got back to the hotel, there was no parking. Grr!

We had to park in the front and walk – which is a lot like parking in the front of an apartment complex and walking all the way to the furthest building – which sucked in the sub-zero temps and icy sidewalks.

Nose is still running!

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Columbus, GA > Columbus, OH

Dallas vs Columbus – NHL – CBJ Vision


Got up a little after 4am. Ugh. Never fun no matter how early you go to bed.

Arrived at the airport 1 hour before flight. Ha!

It’s so small, they don’t open security until it’s time to board your flight.

So it gave me time to have a breakfast sandwich from the greasy spoon at the airport…. Which was actually pretty good!

Got to Columbus around 11am. Went home to regroup and then went to work.

We celebrated Andy’s birthday.


Jackets defeated the Stars 2-0

Saturday, January 9, 2010

Auburn, AL

South Carolina vs Auburn Men’s Basketball – SEC Network

Worked with one of my favorite APs today – Rich. He lives in Charlotte and does racing most the year, so it’s rare that I get to work with him.

This is the last season that the Tigers will play in Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum.

After the game, I headed back to Columbus, GA to a Doubletree near the airport. I have a crack-o-dawn flight tomorrow morning!