August 26th – 29th

Rock Hill, SC

High School Football
9 Hoover (AL) vs Byrnes (SC) – ESPN – Noon ET
South Pointe (SC) vs Northwestern (SC) – ESPNU – 4 ET












On Thursday afternoon I flew to Charlotte. Drove to Rock Hill, SC, which is only a few minutes over the border.

My long time friend Mark, who just moved to Charlotte, joined me for dinner at the Chili’s next to the hotel.

It was nice to catch up and talk about the upcoming football season.

Friday was our set day. About half of our SEC Football crew was here this weekend. We also are using “our” truck for the season.

This weekend we are using the Duet, since it’s High School football. However, my Viz is being installed on the truck today/tomorrow.

This weekend is the debut of the new look on the Duet. So there was a huge learning curve! Stephanie and I both attended the seminar, however, the disk will be a work in progress for several weeks.

We spent a lot of time taking notes on what should be added and changed. And even more time figuring out how to use a lot of the shells!

Since we felt that we were falling behind fast, I ran out to grab us some lunch.

Very tasty!






We spent the rest of the afternoon building away.

That evening, I went with my friend Mike over to Stephanie’s house for a cookout. It was very nice – but we couldn’t stay late as we have an early call tomorrow!!

Saturday morning came fast!

Double header football is always a long day. Even if it is High School football! (shorter quarters)

Our catered breakfast was across the street at the American Legion post.

It was awesome!

It was staffed by American Legion volunteers. Everything was homemade and delish! Right down to the sliced tomatoes from one of the ladies’ garden. It was really cool to hang out and talk with the volunteers. They were all super sweet.

Walked back to the truck.

Before we knew it, it was kickoff!
Between games, we had a quick break. We had Chick-fil-A catering. I kinda like the new spicy chicken sandwhich.

Game 2 started and … ugh. I am tired!!

Side note… there were issues with installing my Viz. The wrong size of brackets were sent so it can not be installed until next week. Bummer :(


I talked to the appropriate people and made sure that an additional Viz was being shipped next weekend, so I would have one to work on, while the permanent one was being installed.

After the game, Stephanie and I worked on our notes to send back and then parted ways.

I headed over to Shannon’s. She had pizza and wine waiting for me!
We stayed up late watching TV.

On Sunday, we met Mark for a late breakfast at Flying Bisuit. Oh my!
Totally worth the wait!

I had some chicken and bricks of grilled Mac & Cheese. Yes, GRILLED Mac & Cheese!

It was Mac & Cheese, cut into a brick and then grilled. I was in heaven! The chicken and biscuit were good, but didn’t compare to the Mac & Cheese!!

That evening, I headed back to Columbus.

Taylor, MI > Columbus, OH

Got up bright and early… just wanted to get home!

It was still raining a bit, but nothing too bad.

Always a welcoming sign….

Stopped at Cracker Barrel on the way home. There is always some new squirrel figurine that I need – so I try to stop every few months.

Was eager to just get home… I have the next days off – then end of my summer. Football starts next weekend and then before I know it, it will be June!

Taylor, MI

Tyler, TX vs Chinese Taipei

Well…  the forecast is not in our favor.  Looks like it is going to be a very, very, very long day!

Rain, rain, rain, rain…

Being a little league field, there was not much the grounds crew could do.

The start of the game was delayed 2 hours, 47 minutes.

Which was actually good, because it allowed us to catch up on building graphics.

We started and stopped the game a few times during lightning. 

It was just a really, really long day!

15 hours to be exact.

Taipei defeated Tyler 9-1

Taylor, MI

Got on site only to find that my Viz had been damaged in shipping. The machines are mounted in rack that is inside of a bright orange shipping container. That container is called a “Bullet”. It’s allegedly bullet proof. But not airline proof!

The computers themselves didn’t appear to be damaged, so I was optimistic.

Thankfully, I was on a Lyon truck so my boys were quick to help me set it up to test it out.

It came up fine – the damage was just cosmetic.
Whew!

The next challenge was dealing with a graphics package that had not been used since the Women’s College World Series back in June. It was a mess then and even messier today.

Add on to that – a newbie AP!

Seems to happen every year on this event. They send me an AP that has done maybe 1-2 games, and typically knows nothing about baseball. For those of you who really know me, when I am the resident expert about baseball, you know it’s bad!

Thankfully, he was really sweet and was trying very hard. That’s all I ask.

We got thru our set day; there is a lot we can not do because the teams in the Championship game (our game tomorrow) are not determined until all the games on Friday are played. And even then, we only know one of our teams.

In the evening, I walked across the mall parking lot and ate dinner at a Bravo.

Sent a few emails and then headed to bed.

Columbus > Taylor, MI

In the late afternoon, I packed up the car and headed to “that state up North”. One of my least favorite trips.
I know, it sounds bad...  it's my birth state.  And I do still have some family living there...  and many buried there.  I can't really explain it...  I just hate it there. 

Could it be living for the past 14 years amongst Ohio State fans?  It's no secret how much they hate Michigan!

When people ask where I am from, I always say, "I am from Florida, but live in Ohio."
I guess maybe it's cuz I lef

Am working this weekend in Taylor, Michigan – it’s outside Detroit.

Junior League World Series – have done it a few times over the years.

Got up there, got settled and ordered room service.


At least it was a better  hotel this year :)










Exciting life!!

Charlotte > Columbus

Mid-morning I headed back over to the office. The Viz’s were still set up, so I wanted to go back over and play around on them for a few hours.

I was able to figure a things out.. and get frustrated about a few things that have changed.

Went to lunch with several friends from the office and then raced back to Shannon’s to pack and hit the road!

Slept on the flight back.

Charlotte

When I woke up, I may have used Shannon’s name in vain. It was NOT a good morning.

I picked my friend Amy up at her hotel at 7:45am for breakfast.

We headed over to the office for our College Football Viz Seminar.

We learned a lot!
The new Viz software and graphics look are very different!

It was a great day, full of endless information. So glad I had this opportunity!

After the seminar, Amy and I visited a few of the departments before heading over to Shannon’s. The three of us walked across the street to a burger place to meet up with a few of the other people in town for the seminar.

Lots of gossip ensued!

Afterwards, Shannon and I headed back to her place and watched TV for the rest of the evening.

Minneapolis > Charlotte

Got to Charlotte in the mid afternoon.

Went to Harris-Teeter for groceries and headed to Shannon’s.

I made my chicken bruchetta sandwiches and she taught me a 2 new recipes for sautéed corn with basil and roasted asparagus. Yummy!

The wine also flowed as the evening progressed.

We watched all of her silly reality tv shows.. I was sooo lost!

Went to bed at a somewhat decent hour.

Brainerd, MN > Minneapolis

August 14th – 15th












It’s good to be visiting this crew again so quickly! As I have mentioned before, they are such a wonderful family!

Got settled in quickly and started the day.

Saturday went well.

In the evening, I stayed in again. Another storm was rolling in.

Here is the view from my balcony

And here comes the rain again…

Sunday came fast. Long day followed by a drive back to Minneapolis. Wanted to get back there since I have an early flight in the morning.  Thankfully, my friend Rich rode with me.  That made the drive go much easier!

Another great weekend spent with one of the best crews out there!

Charlotte > Minneapolis > Brainerd, MN

Started out the day by having breakfast with my friend Anne. Always nice to catch up!
Headed back to the hotel to pack and get to the airport.

Flew from Charlotte to Minneapolis, then had a 2.5 hour drive up to Brainerd. Which turned in to a 4.5-5 hour drive. Severe weather, power outages and a recent tornado had the roads a mess!

I arrived at the resort in the late afternoon, which was very disappointing. It was a beautiful resort and this was my once chance to check it out. It’s the kind of place you want to take your family to in the summer for a few weeks. Tons of activities and lakes - Maddens on Gull Lake.

Of course we stayed in the old section that was make shift hotel rooms; not the luxury condos.

When was the last time you saw an elevator like this:

Elevator "artwork" - the one on the left is a shotgun with shells laying next to it.  Classy!

I assume they used to be small hotel rooms and then they took the dividing wall out because I had 2 bathrooms and 2 closets.  (no photo - duh!)

I quickly went outside for a walk because I could tell another storm was moving in.

Didn’t get very far before the rain set in.

Early day tomorrow, so I ordered room service and called it a night!

Charlotte

Crazy busy day!

Met Steph for breakfast at 7:15am. She will be my football AP this season, so we got together for a little “team building”.

Got to the office around 8:40am and made my way to the conference room. It’s always so awesome to visit the office. So many people there that I have known for all these years. And they all make me feel soooo welcome! Always just a great experience all the way around!

During the seminar, I got to meet a few of the other operators and APs that I have heard about over the years, but never met. Which is always so much fun!

The seminar wrapped up mid-afternoon and I wandered around the office, visiting various departments. I am coming back next week, so I knew I didn’t need to try to visit everyone today.

Afterwards, I headed back to the hotel to catch up on email real quick. My uncle Eric, whom lives about 1 mile from the office, was coming to pick me up at 6:30.

We headed back to his place for a few beers and then went to dinner.

Got back to the hotel around 11p.

Wow! What a day! My head is spinning!

Columbus > Charlotte

Got in to Charlotte in the late afternoon.

Got settled at the hotel and then met up with a few friends from the ESPN Charlotte office for drinks/dinner in the hotel lobby.

I am here for a graphics seminar for football season. They are debuting a new look on the Duet platform. I am only doing one weekend of football on the Duet – but because I do so much work for the Charlotte office, I was asked to attend anyway.

I am very eager to see what’s in store!

August 4th – 10th

Columbus

After mom and dad headed back to Florida, I was busy working on a project for my friend Rick. He is launching a new company (kinda like a talent agency of sorts) in the coming weeks and he had this huge photo shoot. His wife is my best friend AND responsible for me living in Columbus (she hired me back in 1996 at our former job).

Anyway, he asked me do craft services, which is something I absolutely LOVE doing, but it’s a huge undertaking. In the TV/Film world, ‘craft services’ is Latin for “catering”.

I spent several days planning the menu and then shopping at various stores to keep within the budget. I had a blast!

The photo shoot turned into a 20 hour day! But it was so much fun! I was doing something I loved, with people I loved. It was so awesome to be spending a SATURDAY not only WITH my friends, but also HELPING my friends. It’s something that I rarely have a chance to do.

In the days after, I was able to catch up on a few things around the house.

I also got to go visit some other long time friends, Eric & Stacia. I had dinner with them and their adorable boys. I worked with Eric for 5 years at my former job and Stacia is a client of mine.

It has been a busy, busy, busy week – but oh how wonderful! I wish I could have more weeks like this – spent with friends!

July 28th – August 3rd

Columbus

Between sanding and coats of paint, mom and I managed to go to Home Depot and Lowe’s about 12 times in 2 days.

The gazillion pound fire door also fell on mom, hitting her in the back of the head. Which was quite the scare. After a call to Auntie Gayle, we determined she didn’t have a concussion.

We did sneak out for a few fun things too, like visiting some of the local farmer’s markets.

On Thursday afternoon, my Uncle Eric arrived. He was en route to Michigan and had stopped for the night. We had appetizers and visited until it was time for me to go get dad from the airport. He ended up landing much later than scheduled, so dinner was very late!

We got started Friday morning. The rush was on because there was rain in the forecast for later in the weekend.

Dave and dad got started with the back door.

By this point I had already been to Lowe’s and Home Depot!

Mom was busy power washing the house.

In the afternoon, the back door was installed.

Mom and Dave would take turns with the power washing duties, while I cooked meals and went to the store.

This pattern repeated for days!

On Saturday, the front door…..

More trips to the store. More meals cooked!

And I worked on power washing the fence, driveway and sidewalk. I was amazed at what it can do!!

Mom had a tree trimming helper as well….

That’s “Blue Collar Squintz”. He is my neighbor’s cat. He is quite precocious! I am not sure what his name is, but he and his brother are identical black squinty eyed cats. One wears a blue collar, one wears a black one. Blue Collar Squintz is always up to no good and walking right into my house or car when the door is left open – even if for only a minute. So when I didn’t have doors on the house all weekend, it was quite the chore keeping him out!

Another project this weekend was putting together my compost bin.

So many projects!!

It was an absolutely exhausting weekend! Filled with challenges, but thanks to Dad, Mom and Dave, we managed to get all the projects completed!

And guess what? I apparently forgot to take photos of the new doors!
So stay tuned for those photos!

Columbus

July 26th – 27th


When I got back from Denver, my mom was at my house. She and Dave started the preps for the projects ahead this week.

I am getting all new exterior doors.

They got them picked up on Monday. Which was a saga in itself; doors not ready on time, had to rent a truck from Home Depot to pick them up from Lowe's...  etc

Mom and I started sanding & painting them on Tuesday.

Dad will be up this weekend to rip out the old ones and replace.

Original back door

Original front door

And for some reason, I didn’t take before photos of the garage door??

It was in the worst condition and what started this project!

Of course, nothing ever goes as planned. Last week the sales person at Lowe’s had called to inform me that one of the doors was not going to arrive on time. Due to my limited timeline (aka: the 4 days dad would be in town), she was able to call in a few favors and get the door back on track.

Go back a few weeks.. when I had to order the doors… holy crap! So MANY decisions when it comes to ordering doors! Left outswing, left inswing.. right outswing, right inswing… peep hole height… threshold stuff… etc. When you have an outswing, you can’t have a storm door (aka: screen door)

However, by putting an outswing on the back door, I would gain a couple inches of space in my (very) small kitchen. My head was spinning!

Small factoid… in the state of Ohio, if you replace a door that is going to the garage, it has to have a specific fire rating. Which is Latin for expensive! Basically, if my house catches fire, it will burn to the ground. However, the door going from the dining room to the garage will still be standing!

And as luck would have it, my new fire rated door, arrived damaged!

I took a ton of photos and took them to Lowe’s. Due to my limited timeline, I got a nice discount because my dad had to fix the damage. There wasn’t time for the factory to re-make them.

If you plan on painting your own doors – DON’T GET WINDOWS! They are a pain in the butt to tape off! Especially curved ones!

One more mind boggling decision process… choosing hardware! Oh… I lamented over this for days. My selection was narrowed because my dad would only ‘approve’ one brand. Which both Lowe’s & Home Depot sell – but they both sell similar, yet different models. AGHHHH!!!

Denver

July 24th – 26th

NHRA: Denver

Welcome to the compound!

The track is up above us

I never got anywhere near it







This crew is simply awesome!
No other way to put it!
They always make sure I feel welcome and like part of the family.

The days are really long, but the people make up for it.

On Monday, I spent the better part of the day flying home.