72 Incredible Hours

About three hours ago, the wife and I returned from New York City, where we spent three days sightseeing and cheering on our Kansas State Wildcats in the Pinstripe Bowl.

And man, was it fun. In terms of cramming in as much stuff as possible, I'd have to say these were three of the best days of my life. There was the whole getting married thing, but then I started moving furniture the next day.

But we wore purple the whole time (it was the only color we packed), were thankful for good walking shoes, did some sightseeing, ate some incredible food, met some nice people (some of whom wore orange) and watched our Cats live for the first time in two years. And everything was on time and went well. It was truly a flawless trip.

It was worth every penny we spent. There were many times where I couldn't believe what was happening to me.

Anyhow, I'm painting the trip with a broad brush here, then later I'll spend some time going into detail on each day of our trip. We really had an incredible time and I'll relive these 72 incredible hours with you.

G2 and Basketball Shoes

In the last week, the First Lady went hunting for new phones for the both of us. So, during a time of year when people buy these things for others, the wife bought us new G2 phones, officially getting us out of the era of having phones that only called people. Well, texting was also available, but you get the idea.

So I've spent some time figuring out all the things our new toys can do. Calling, yes, but learning about all the apps (new word) and ringtones that are available, as well as having the entire world wide web in the palm of my hand. I could become dangerous once I figure out how this gizmo works. Of course, by then, who knows what technology will be available.

And I've begun selling shoes at The Athlete's Foot. Not the TAF store I interviewed at, which was more of a running-centered store, but at a store where the bread and butter is basketball shoes. Basketball shoes, in fact, selling shoes for that matter, is not a forte of mine. But I did work at the store for four of the five days leading into Christmas, and the Thursday and Friday were particularly busy. I've learned a lot, and still have a long way to go. I equate it to my first days at Domino's back in February, when I was learning how to get a job done with no experience to call on.

I also get a chance to look into the eyes of people and see the calculus that goes on as they try to buy a pair of shoes, perhaps on a budget and where other factors seemingly come into play. I can still see the expression on a man's face who called and then came in asking about a nice pair of women's boots. He seemed to just want something nice for his lady. I told him we didn't have the boots in that size, and my read was that he settled for different pair. I could see his disappointment. Still do. And I shared it when I learned that we had the correct size at our other store.

So I guess I'm starting to see this as something besides selling shoes. Where it leads, who can say.

You Never Know

There has been much to report over the last few weeks, and the more time that goes by, the further behind I fall. So here goes.

I interviewed for a job at a local running store, by now close to six weeks ago. I'd managed to move past the disappointment at (apparently) not getting the job, since I'd not heard anything from the company. I'd been rejected like this before, so I sort of assumed that this was how the world works.

Well, I'm trying to bang out some pre-calculus homework about three weeks ago when I got a call from the guy, saying they wanted to hire me! I was very happy, since I now had another way to contribute to my family, and to not do my schoolwork. So fast forward to last week, when I started at another location of The Athlete's Foot (shameless plug-- hey, it's my blog, and I *am* a company man), and not the one I interviewed at, which was more running-oriented.

So I'm selling shoes and delivering pizzas. The Domino's gig (cha-ching) continues on, and I feel like I'm doing OK-- finding my way around pretty well and even making a little scratch on the way. TAF is going to be a work in progress-- I had no idea that there were 3,846 versions of Air Jordans. I'm learning my way around the store, how to work the register, and how to sell. I'm pretty nervous, but I want to learn and support my wife, and this is a chance. The learning curve is steep for now, but I had a lot to learn at Domino's once, also, and I'm keeping my head above water now.

It just goes to show that you never can tell what's going to happen. Sometimes we get struck by lightning, such as I did that day. I'd turned the page and was looking at other options when things turned for the better.

And speaking of school, finals are done at the University of Alabama, with our hero earning an A in microeconomics and a B in said pre-calculus course. I can be very pleased with these marks. I worked my arse off in a new neighborhood doing a new thing. Oh yeah, and 13 years after I earned my first degree. I'm registered for intro to accounting and Calculus I in the spring semester.

And I did my first basketball games in nearly two years last week. Local TV access for a private school down the street. Not the same as radio, since the pictures tell some of the story, but it was pretty much the same as riding a bike. I still don't know where that'll go, but I've learned to not turn my back on anything.

I've made it this far and haven't talked about football at all. The First Lady and I are making our first bowl trip together at the end of the year, as Kansas State plays Syracuse in the Pinstripe Bowl. She's never missed a K-State bowl. We're both pretty excited about it and have been making plans to fill our three days in New York. It'll be my first trip there, but the wife is an experienced world traveler and travel guide. It'll be great fun. Besides-- given the football we've seen from KSU this season, their 7-5 ledger is pretty remarkable.

And my Miners are 6-6 and headed to the New Mexico Bowl. What the hell. It's a bowl. We don't deserve it, but there are more bowls than there are teams deserving them. I'm not really a Mike Price guy anymore. I'll support my team. I love my Miners. It's a character flaw, and I can't quit them, even if I tried.

So-- that's the news from Lake Wobegon-- where all the men are strong, all the women are good looking, and all the children are above average.

More to follow.

Church music

The wife and I really love our church. Our priest, our Sunday School class, the people, the worship, the food... I could go on, but I think you get the point. We really like worshipping together.

An advantage of being a campus church is that there are lots of people with a ton of ideas and creativity, and the music is one way this is reflected. Now I *love* church music. It's music I heard growing up, and it is very reassuring and very soothing. Not really happy-clappy stuff, but music that penetrates my soul.

Our entrance hymn at church this morning was one of my favorites, and I've linked it here. I prefer this version, but the First Lady likes the melody, but with different words.
This video was from August 2009, and I'm sure we're in the congregation somewhere. Today's version didn't have the band, just the organist. Doesn't matter to me. This song is like a warm blanket on a cold night. Enjoy.

Pizza, vol. 3

It's been a bit of a down week around here-- I had another good job interview for a job at a local running store that didn't work out. It was a job I could get excited about, had some upside, and was something I could believe in. Would've been decent hours, decent money and would've fit well with schooling. But I've not heard anything, which tells me what I need to know. It can be difficult, because it's not always about what you did wrong. I really thought I had a good chance.

So I've been rebounding from that, and have run only once this week, a 24:56 5K, good for a personal record by two minutes. I used to just show up and run a race at training tempo, but now I'm starting to get in there and mix it up to see what kind of number I can put up. I'm not an active racer for a few reasons, but this one was nice, and there's always a cool vibe at these events.

Three weeks ago, I decided to return to the pizza business again. While I was at Texas Tech, I worked at CiCi's Pizza from 1994-1996. Not bad times. It was a reason why I ate so well back then-- once you're off the clock, they let you go to town on the buffet. Once I found a place where I fit, it wasn't too bad. Plus, it fit with my other radio jobs at the time. I left because friends were working at a hotel in town, and I could make a little better money washing dishes.

One morning early this year, mid-January if I remember right, I took a stack of filled-out applications to Subways and to Domino's. The one place I got my foot in the door is where I went, of course. I also left there, at the end of February, to work at the Census office.

The Census gig, of course, ended in August, but circumstances have led me back to Domino's. It hasn't been too bad so far. My co-workers are nice people and are very helpful to a directionally-challenged guy who's new to the area. They know where everyone is, and they can look at an address and know what side of the road it's on, which way to turn, the color of the car, and the name of the dog. I'm exaggerating, of course, but they know the neighborhood. My learning curve isn't as steep as it was in January and February, since I've done this before. I'm picking things up a little faster. And it gives me a chance to contribute. It's not enough, but it's something. I'm pretty grateful to the store manager who hired me about five minutes after I walked in his store, and who let me come back.

I'm truly exceeding expectations in pre-calculus. I got a 92 on my test this week, which is the fourth ace (A) I've put on the board. I remember strugging with this stuff back in the summer, and didn't expect all this. It's hard to believe the semester is nearly over. Finals are just a few weeks away. I'm pleased with my results and my effort has been good. I actually get to take an accounting class in the spring to see if I might be a good fit.

And Now, For the Weather...

The weather is a topic most people feel comfortable talking about, in the normal context of banter. "Boy, it sure is nice out here," is a common refrain. Rain, cold, wind, what have you. Even if it's what we *don't* have, we can find a way to work it in. When the wife and I moved to town last year, the rain seemed to pour down every Thursday or Friday. I remember, because I went out to help cover high school football last season, our first as Alabamians. If you didn't know what day it was, you could tell it was toward the end of the work week, because of the heavy rain that always seemed to come down. That hasn't been the case this year, which is OK by me, but I'm told we need rain, since we've not had anywhere near as much this year as last. But it's still gorgeous outside these days. Alabama sure does get a bad rap for the nasty-hot summers, but the fall and spring seasons are really nice.

Weather and football take me back to some fun times as a broadcaster. I have a million stories about covering games and how the weather tied in, but for now, I'll try narrowing it down to a city at a time.

Dateline: Canyon, Texas. Home of the Buffalo Bowl, aka Kimbrough Memorial Stadium, home of the West Texas A&M football team, as well as Canyon ISD schools. The first memory is a cold one-- bi-district playoffs (first round), Randall vs. Frenship, circa 1997. I was the engineer for the FHS radio crew, working on a cold and snowy Friday night. So cold, in fact, that the scoreboard stopped working in the middle of the third quarter. It was still on, showing 3rd and 7 on the 26, home 21, guest 6, but nothing could make it budge. Game officials, of course, keep time on the field, so that's all we had. Score was easy enough, but trying to gauge the time to go was a challenge. It even started snowing again after halftime. I-27 runs just east of the stadium, and you could see the taillights of the snow plows going up and down as they did their thing. Randall wound up winning, as FHS couldn't really do much with the football.

A few years later, I was the voice of the Levelland Lobos, as I came to Kimbrough for LHS/Randall, September of maybe 1999. We got through our pregame show and are about ready to kick off, when the skies opened up and it started pouring. A delay followed, everyone circles around the TV, because the local TV stations were in full-bore severe weather coverage. Soon after, the decision came down to play Saturday. It wasn't about to stop raining, and the hope was that the field would be in better shape by the next day. So I packed up and got in the car and went home in a driving rainstorm. Turned out I was one of the last to get south on I-27 before they closed it down. It's truly a strange feeling to be a broadcaster and not have a game on Friday night, but that's what I had that evening. So I went back up to Canyon the next day, and I'm pretty sure our Lobos were on the short end.

When you're actually in, um, the eye of the storm, decisions are being made quickly, and a lot of changing of plans is done, so at the time, it may not seem too pleasant. But now, I have some fun stories (maybe only interesting to me) to tell, and some awesome memories.

Concession Stands

I've had some trouble finding full-time work since moving to Alabama, which is another story for another time. What I have found, however, is a concession stand gig at Bryant-Denny Stadium, home of the Crimson Tide. I've been at it for six weeks now, which doesn't tell the whole story, since I've only worked three games-- Penn State, Florida and Ole Miss.


The work starts earlier in the week, with the popping of hundreds and hundreds of bags of popcorn. My work has begun Fridays at noon, organizing Coke, Diet Coke, Sprite and water for delivery to our six different stands throughout the stadium. None of which, btw, are close to each other. Different stands get different amounts, based on history. We put the proper amount in the tubs (I call 'em bobsleds) and start moving them on their way. Our base camp is on the club level and not close to much, but it is reasonably close to an elevator. Though said elevator is typically not active while we work.


This means moving five tubs full of 8 to 12 cases (24 bottles to a case) of drinks down the spiral ramp and into position for gameday Saturday. Fighting the tubs is a more accurate way to put it, since the bobsleds don't steer well to begin with, and when you add all that weight, well, it's a workout. The sixth tub is a tag-team effort-- it goes up one level, to the north end zone. One pushes and the other pulls. The entire evolution is done in two hours, though humping that tub up to the north end zone sure seems to take a while.


I should say that while we work, the grounds crew is painting the field for the game. Yard lines, sidelines, midfield logos, end zones, the whole nine yards (thank you, thank you very much). I just never gave it much thought. And for whatever reason, Bama chooses to go with natural grass, when the world is trending toward field turf.

Anyhow, on gameday, we arrive four hours before kickoff to send out the popcorn and ice the pop. I'm responsible for two of the six stands, checking to see if they need more product, more ice, etc. During the game, I don't have much to do. Walking from stand to stand every 20-30 minutes is the hardest part, because the seller and expediter (two-man crews) seem to have it all worked out. Though Saturday for the Ole Miss game, one stand was a person short, so I went and stood a post. It wasn't hot, and with an 8 pm kickoff (yuck) the temps were in the 50s, so we didn't move a lot of product.

At the end of the night, we move the tubs back up to the house, count product and head out. We stop at the end of the third quarter and are leaving about 15-20 minutes after the game ends.

So it's not hard, but it *is* long work. The down side is 8.5 hours of effort when the rest of the football world is watching games, tailgating and drinking chocolate milk. The cool part is being in the stadium for Alabama football for free, and getting paid for it. I've had enough off Saturdays to enjoy as the rest of the masses do, so it's not too bad of a deal.


And I still help with stats at the UAB football games. And I made a decision to work the Ole Miss game and miss the Blazers vs the Miners in Birmingham. It was a painful choice, but the right one, and not because UTEP lost.


It helps me keep my head up during this time in my life-- knowing that I *am* doing something. Not much, but a little. My wife, bless her, supported my going to see the Miners, for whom my love has been well-documented earlier in these pages, but income, no matter the amount, is a good thing.



So I know I chose correctly.