Ready For The Madness 2013

And so it begins. Today I am in beautiful, sunny (not) Syracuse, NY, waiting to work the last NCAA Big East women’s hoops game of the season for CBS Sports Network and I’m going over my schedule and, like most years around this time, my schedule is JAMMED with day after day of work, work, work. Despite the fact that I like to keep busy, this kind of schedule can become a grind, especially when you add in some baseball and golf events. Here’s is what is on tap for the next 2 months. Should be interesting…

Indiana @ Michigan in Ann Arbor, MI

Mountain West Tournament in Las Vegas

NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament Rounds 2 & 3 in Lexington, KY

NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament Regional in Washington, DC

VACATION to Destin, FL

NCAA Men’s Division II Championship in Atlanta, GA

The Masters in Augusta, GA

Philadelphia Phillies & Miami Marlins @ Cincinnati Reds

The Zurich Classic in New Orleans, LA

All told, I’m looking at over 41 events (multiple basketball games in a single day, several hours of golf in a day), 40+ days of hotel rooms, serious amounts of coffee consumed and probably a headache or 3. But it beats the alternative of not working and having to worry about paying the bills so I consider myself to be blessed with opportunity. I just hope the 4 days of vacation I get in the middle of it will be the brief respite that I need to recharge and get motivated for the month of April!

The Gate I’m In

6:30am in Minneapolis, I’m connecting from San Francisco and heading home. My landing gate was G-something or other and I have to go to gate A13 for my next flight. That is pretty much all the way on the other side of the airport so I start my walk. One of the things I like about the airport (and I DO actually like some things about the airport) is walking past the different gates and looking to see where other people are headed.

As much as I travel, there are so many places I have yet to see…places like Toronto and Portland and Walla Walla. Okay…I have NEVER seen a gate where a plane is traveling to Walla Walla but still…I’ve never been there. I imagine some day I might get to see some of the many places I HAVEN’T been. I’m hoping that when the time comes, maybe I’ll get to see those places with my wife and kids. So many places I go, I go by myself. It would be nice to journey somewhere with my family. See some new things, meet some new people. As it stands, I find myself on repeat, going to the same places I’ve been before. Most of these places are cities where I go from airport to hotel to arena or stadium then back to the airport, only occasionally getting to enjoy all the different sights, culture and ambiance of any given place.

At the Hertz rental station the other day, I noticed their new slogan is…”Live The Journey.” I’m not sure if they are referring only to traveling or if they are indirectly referring to life itself. One of the ways I have been fortunate is that I HAVE been to places and seen things I never thought I would ever see. Now that my kids are getting older, I want my journey to include them! I want to take them to overseas to experience new cultures. I want to take them to see the red rocks of Sedona. I want to take them to the top of the St. Louis Arch. I want them to smell the beignets at Cafe Du Monde or taste the crab cakes in Baltimore.

Now I’m at Gate A13. It’s one of the smaller gates here at the Minneapolis airport and today it is my pathway home. For now, it’s my favorite gate. But who knows…maybe some day I’ll cash in some of these miles I’m accruing and hop on a plane heading to Juneau. I realize it’s October but I hear Alaska is beautiful this time of year. I just hope when I do get the chance, I can take my family with me. Come to think of it, if I’m going to Juneau, Stephanie probably would hate it…too cold. Okay then…Bora Bora it is!

Criss Cross Country Sauce

Let’s start the weekend of Halloween, shall we? Because that is when things really started getting a little crazy for me. Oh I realize that I don’t travel as much as some people and for them, this particular month or so would be nothing, especially if they live on the west coast and have to fly east every weekend (which happens for some friends of mine), but this is MY blog and so I get to discuss MY schedule and for ME…this has been crazy!

Friday, October 28 – Fly to Seattle. (3 hours time difference from east coast time)

Seattle Sunset

Sunday, October 30 – Red eye home so I can be home for Halloween and go trick or treating with my kids. I dress up like a zombie and I feel like one also…

I enjoy a week at home until Friday, November 4 – Travel to Nashville (for the 4th time this NFL season) and visit Leipers Fork. (1 hour time zone difference)

Random shot flying into Cincinnati. Just ’cause…

Monday, November 7 – Fly home to Cincinnati, leave airport for 5 hours, return to airport and fly to San Diego. (3 hour time difference)

San Diego has pretty clouds

Friday, November 11 – Fly home from San Diego, have another 5 hour layover, have dinner with my family, kiss my kids and then off to Kansas City! (1 hour time difference)

Kansas City also has pretty clouds

Monday, November 14 – Return home from Kansas City.

Tuesday, November 15 – Fly to Denver. Do the Tebow. (2 hour time difference)

Actually…this was taken in Kansas City…but you get the point…

Friday, November 18 – Fly directly to Cleveland. (Yay! Eastern Standard time!)

I LIVE IN CINCINNATI! NOT CLEVELAND!!!

Monday, November 21 – DRIVE from Cleveland to Cincinnati because, quite frankly, it seemed like the thing to do…

THANKSGIVING WEEK! No working! Buuuuut…drive to Zanesville Tuesday afternoon. That’s a 2.5 hour drive. (Same time zone…thankfully)

Saturday, November 26-27 – Browns @ Bengals. Stay home and work?!?! Yes!!! And the Bengals won! Good times…

Tuesday, November 29 – Fly to Seattle…again. (3 hour time difference)

Look ma! The Space Needle!

December 2nd: Back in Cleveland again. And driving home once again. (4 hour drive)

December 6th: Off to Pittsburgh (where I got to celebrate my 43rd birthday) in the house that Ketchup built…

December 9th: Home for a few hours for a birthday dinner with my family and then BACK on a plane to Baltimore where I get to see the Colts lose again (that’s 14 in a row) to the Ravens.

Baltimore sunrise

December 13th: Off to Atlanta to fight the traffic and work the worst Thursday night game since…whenever…as the Falcons annihilate the Jaguars 41-14.

A Georgia Dome sunset

December 16th: Off to even warmer climates. The Arizona Cardinals take on the Browns for my 5th Browns game in 5 weeks. Good times. (2 hour time difference)

Phoenix  from the air

Arizona ALSO has pretty clouds…

December 20th: I drive to Indianapolis (which is now in the eastern time zone)  and then I’ll go back to Nashville on December 23rd for the Saturday Christmas eve game and then drive home (that’s 4 hours) and then mercifully it all grinds to a halt.

Overall…that’s a helluva lot of miles and plenty of time sitting in an airplane/tv truck/car and I gotta tell you…

I LOVE THIS JOB!!!

Soooo…THAT summer happened…

Tomorrow (or today, depending on your time zone), my kids go back to school. Christopher will be going into 3rd grade, Ava in 1st. I’m not sure, but I think summer officially started maybe a week ago? And now they’re heading back to school??? Wow…time goes by when you’re having fun. Needless to say, summer has flown by and now…it’s on to the fall and then winter and then spring and then…uh…summer again?

Interesting cycle we’re in here.

Aaaanyway, this summer, beginning in May, I found myself in Louisville, Dallas, St. Louis, Washington, DC, Seattle, San Francisco, Oakland, Zanesville, Williamsburg, Houston, Milwaukee, Chicago, Canton, Phoenix, Los Angeles & San Francisco (again). Needless to say, it’s pretty much been non-stop traveling ever since the sun woke up and I’m a little worn out. 4 months of moving around, working and trying to cram in as much family time as I can is winding down as the kids go back to school and my schedule actually starts to slow down. Which kinda sucks considering that it should work the other way. I should take more time out for my kids when summer starts and then go back to work when they go back to school…but sometimes things don’t work out that way and I can’t control those things. So…I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Football season is right around the corner and baseball season will, for me, be wrapping up.

I imagine now that my schedule is slowing down a bit, I’ll get back into my writing. I have some projects I want to get working on, some housework that needs to get done and some makeup time with my wife & friends. I am hoping that some of the thoughts I have will pour out of my brain and onto my little blog here, but if they don’t all come rushing out right away, I’m okay with that. But I just wanted to let you guys know that I’m still alive & kickin’. It ain’t been easy and I’m still working as I type (I’m in Phoenix right now), but I can see daylight and I can’t wait to have a little free time to be creative again!

Peace!

Just Out Having Fun

My main source of nourishment on the road.

So tonight my wife has left me for a “Girl’s Night Out”. I haven’t been home much the last few months and she needed to blow off some steam. Can’t say I blame her. She’s been at home entertaining our two young children who need to be entertained EVERY…SECOND…OF…THE…DAY. So…tonight is her night off. As for me…well…I’ve been out galivanting around the country, enjoying some RnR in Dallas and St. Louis and Washington, DC and Seattle and San Francisco/Oakland and just having a ball! Good times for me as I get to hang out in coffeeshops and chat with friends old & new. So here I am, documenting my travels for you. I talk as if I’m bitter, but I’m not.  I kid because I care. And I AM actually enjoying some of my travels and I HAVE seen some of the best friends a person can have. So to my good friends Ed, Chris and Michelle…it was great seeing you all and sharing a good meal and drinks. And to the above mentioned cities…thank you for being so hospitable. Honestly, it’s the cool places I get to go that make this job I do so much fun. But someday, I would love to bring my family along. I miss them terribly when I’m gone. But maybe THAT is why we call it “work”, not “playtime”? Not that you can tell by these photos…stupid Hipstamatic…

Nationals Park – Washington, DC

Safeco Field – Seattle, WA

Alameda County Stadium – Oakland, CA

Coming soon: Photos from Zanesville, OH and Williamsburg, VA!!! But these WILL include my family as we take a much needed break and go on vacation…

Florida Fun

Damn it Delta! I love you ’cause you fly me EVERYWHERE and I get all kinds of mileage. But to cancel my 5:45am flight out of Gainesville was just NOT COOL! So…because of the holidays and bowl games and people flooding Florida for the nice, sunny weather, I have no choice but to take a flight out of Jacksonville…at 5:45PM??? Ooookay…so what do I do in Florida for a day? ‘Cause there’s no freakin’ way I’m hanging out in Gainesville with all the bugs for 12 hours…

How about drive my butt off? Hopping in my rental car (thanks CBS!), I’m off to Lakeland to visit my favorite snowbirds…my Mom & Dad! Having never seen their warm-climate homestead, I figured it was a perfect opportunity to waste away my day. And it was great! I got to watch a beautiful sunrise as I was driving south…

I got to hang out with my parents! I got the 3 minute tour of their home, we went and got some breakfast and hit the market to get some veggies.

A Proud Buckeye Fan

Hey look! It’s Roy Orbison at the Market!

“How do you make those beer can windchimes again?”

Of course, the hard part is always leaving, but I had fun and my journey had to continue. Don’t worry Mom…I’ll be back at the end of the month!

Bye Mom & Dad! (The really tiny people in the distance…)

So off I went into the Florida sun, heading east on I-4 to Orlando and then north to Jacksonville on I-95. A good 3 hour drive and along the way, I got to see plenty of sites!

And now…here I sit in the Jacksonville airport. It’s 4:48pm and no gate agent as of yet. And I don’t have a seat assignment. Soooo…I guess it’s all up in the air on what will happen next! C’MON Delta!!! I know they love to fly…and it shows! Now I want them to fly my butt home! I’ll let ya know how it goes later…

My family…minus 5 siblings…

OH LOOK!!! AN AGENT! Gimme a seat…gimme a seat…gimme a seat….

Aaaaaaaaand…

Top 10 Things I Hate About Traveling

And there I go again…

Well…as you may or may not know, I’ve been pretty busy of late. My schedule has kept me runnin’ from airport to airport and I’m feeling pretty jet lagged. For those of you who don’t frequent airports often, it’s a whole different world. And for those of you who DO travel, you can assist me in my Top 10 Things I Hate About Travel!

10. Small Planes
Why do airlines keep downsizing and then pile us into these tiny airplanes? Seriously, I’m starting to feel like I’m a cow being shuffled from place to place. Moo already!

9. Sleeping
I have no idea how people do it, but there are those who don’t seem to have any problem crashing on a flight from point A to point B. I, on the other hand, have a non-flexible neck, so every time I fall asleep, my head rolls off and I’m wide awake again. So I hate people who can sleep on planes…because I CAN’T!!!

8. Overbooked Flights
Look lady…I realize it’s not YOUR fault that the company you work for has decided to screw you and make you the bearer of bad news. But the repeated pleas aren’t gonna make me want to stay in Atlanta one more night and I don’t want a $300 voucher that I won’t use. Actually, the thought of it kinda pisses me off. Why don’t YOU get on the phone and call your manager and have him or her come down and tell all of these people why they’ve paid for a flight that doesn’t have enough seats? Yeah…THAT I want to see!

7. Security
Here’s a little joke for ya…What does TSA stand for? Thousands Standing Around…that’s what! HA! Look, I realize we need to have security for our country. I’m not arguing that. What I CAN argue are some of the PEOPLE they’ve hired to protect our country. Seriously…forcing a 4 year old to walk through one of those scanners scared to death is bullshit. And some of these guys should be working at the Starbucks in the C terminal.

6. People Who Fart
Yeah…I don’t think this needs any further discussion…

5. Seat Hogs
C’MON! Move over, big guy! I always sit by the window because I hate people bumping into me. So the tradeoff is that usually I get some person who is 10 times larger than me and they want to hog all MY space. I got a wall to my right…I can’t move any farther away! Get out of my $900 seat already

4. People Who Stick Their Butt In My Face
The main reason I always sit by the window is because people are just rude. I know you need to put your bag up in the compartment. And I know it’s a tight squeeze. But at least be nice and ACKNOWLEDGE that you just shove your butt 3 inches from my snout and that will make it somewhat more bearable.

3. The Moving Sidewalk
Is what it says it is…a MOVING sidewalk. NOT a people mover for you to stand and graze or talk on your phone. MOVE it already! Or at least stand out of the way, for crying out loud!

2. People Who Talk Loudly On Cell Phones
I HATE when people share all of their business with me without me asking. You going to a business meeting? Well then get there and THEN talk about stock quotes. You have a child with the mumps at home? Well then, GO HOME and take care of your child. I don’t want to hear about it. You’re stressing me out and I want nothing to do with any of it! You wouldn’t believe the number of conversations that I can’t drown out with my IPod because people just can’t seem to put that damn phone away! Ugh…I HATE cell phones…

1. I’m Not Home
Which is where I prefer to be. However I can’t talk my clients into paying me to stay at home. So this is apparently not an option…

You know what I DO enjoy about traveling? Listening to my IPod, playing “Bejeweled” on my ITouch, reading a book or magazine, drinking Starbucks and perusing the computer stores! So see…the airport does offer SOME joy!

Missed Me By THAT Much!

Flying is SOOOOO much fun!

Ahhh…the joys of flying. Crowded airports, crowded flights, bitchy people…aaaaaand bad weather. Not “tossing me around in my seat” sort of weather…just bad weather. Rain, dark clouds and lightning. LIGHTNING???

Yep! And it almost got me! Well…us. As in me and all the people on the flight from Cincinnati to Jacksonville this morning. We just got to cruising altitude when God decided to mess with us a little bit. The stewardess had just told us we could turn on our headphones, computers and other non-disruptive devices when…BOOM!!! Lightning struck about…oh, I dunno…5 feet from our plane? The whole bus shook and there was a loud BLAM! and everyone jumped about 5 feet in the air. I’m thinking the woman behind me had to be peeled off the ceiling. Everyone was looking around and the stewardess, who had just taken her seatbelt off, slowly got back into her seat. Her eyes pretty much told the whole story which was…”What in the holy hell was THAT???”

We felt the plane accelerate and climb a couple hundred more feet and then sunlight and all was better. But what an odd feeling, knowing that just a couple of feet more and we could have all been toast! Not a pleasant way for me to start the new season! But we landed safely in sunny Jacksonville and life goes on and I live to see another day. Who knew flying could be so much fun!?

Yeesh…

Birmingham

 As much as I travel, I’ve decided to start a blog about some of the places that I’ve been. Let’s start off with a place that I will probably not be coming back too anytime soon…Birmingham.

First impression…this city is in a state of depression. Lots of empty buildings and empty streets for 4pm on a Saturday. Seriously, if it wasn’t for the occasional car, I wouldn’t have known anyone was there.

 

Something oddly unique about Birmingham was the amount of thrift shops, hair salons and, believe it or not, shoe repair stores. I counted 2 shoe repair stores that I saw while walking with my friend Erin. I can’t name one other city that I’ve ever been too that I remember seeing one shoe repair store. Who repairs shoes nowadays? I know I’ve never repaired a pair of shoes. I replace them. My wife doesn’t repair them either. She keeps them in her closet and then buys new ones.

Needless to say, being in the Bible Belt, there were plenty of beautiful churches. Presbyterian, Baptist, you name it, there were a lot of ‘em. And they were all historical monuments. Historical monuments are big here in Birmingham. Apparently, if the building has been around for more than 15 years, it becomes a historical monument of some sort. How did I know that a building was a “historical monument”? Well…almost every old looking building that I saw that didn’t have its windows busted out had a sign posted on it that said “Historical Monument”. So…if you are into Historical Monuments or churches, you should definitely visit Birmingham. 

 

They do have a very cool looking statue here that sits on top of a high “building” of sorts. However we weren’t able to get close enough to it by walking. So I took a shot of it from the distance. Apparently it was erected in 1904 and is the largest cast iron statue in the world. Located in Vulcan Park, because it is a statue of Vulcan, the God of Fire & Forge, this statue can be seen from pretty much anywhere in the city. Unfortunately it’s also located far, far away. It would have taken us another 2 hours to walk up there, so…screw that. Anyway, if you are interested, here is the story behind Vulcan, the son of Jupiter and Juno (which is also the name of a certain movie that came out last year and won an Oscar for a former stripper. Strippers can win Oscars…just not American Idol.). Don’t say I never taught you nothin’.

http://www.visitvulcan.com/vulcan-story.html

 

There was a big theatre located downtown called The Alabama. I saw a few people leaving there. I think they might have performances there and I would imagine, back in the day, it was probably a movie theatre. I’m always a sucker for an old-time movie theatre. We didn’t go in, but I can only imagine what it looks like inside. That being said, I went and checked out this site to see what was inside. It looks awesome! Too bad there wasn’t something going on in there today. I would have liked to have seen it!

http://www.alabamatheatre.com/AboutTheAlabama/TourtheAlabama/tabid/62/Default.aspx

Needless to say, Birmingham won’t be added to my favorite places to visit list. It’s not terrible here…but from what I understand they only have one “really big mall” and apparently the city is closed most of the weekend…even during an event as large as the NCAA Tournament over Easter weekend. It is warm here though. And considering the weather we’ve been having up north…I’ll take it!