Time flies when you're not blogging...

It's been a busy time for the intrepid adventurer out here in Arizona... Tubing down the Salt River was awesome because one of our group purchased a six-man inflatable raft (which we dubbed the Queen Mary) and we tied the remaining tubes to it and floated down the river about 20 strong. We were a floating log jam waiting to happen. Marshmallow fights broke out all along the river (traditional method of whiling away the time--nothing is better than whipping wet marshmallows at other floaters... feels like you're being hit by a tiny wet sponge). At first I thought it may not happen because on the ride to the river in the morning the skies were overcast and rain threatened to ruin the day... But by the time we wrestled the Queen Mary down into the water (very chilly water, there was significant shrinkage!) and set the flotilla on its way, the sun broke through and the day turned beautiful... Lots of sunblock used (although there were some casualties---some of our group looked like human "stop signs" by the end of the ride). I, being the veteran of the "cheeto" wars survived with no problems and some awesome color. (Pictures will be posted on facebook for those who care). Five hours later, we were on the bus headed back to our cars...what a great trip!

Went bowling later that night and something gave way in my left knee and forced me to stop for the night... I am now officially announcing my retirement from bowling forever (unless I start bowling left handed--I suck ambidextrously---meaning I can't bowl with either hand). But after a few days of rest and ice therapy, I was back on the golf course and the knee is back to being just a cranky reminder that I'm older than I think...(but of course it won't stop me from doing anything because I'm basically a moron).

I also did something I always wished I could do in college...I became an honorary member of the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority. My friend Mary Ellen is a member and she is the communications officer and needed to send out 1500 mailings and after being turned down for help by her "sisters", I came to rescue and helped with mailing labels and "dots"...(those little circle things that seal folded mailers). I did not ask for payment, but I would like an invite to the alumni slumber party (if there is one). So we managed to get them out on time and I satisfied "my good deed for the day" for two days.

The trip back to the East Coast is in full swing... Plane tickets purchased, visits scheduled (and some not) and I should be running around like a mad man the whole time I'm there... It should be terrific. I am sure my "east coast attitude" will re-emerge at the necessary time and that will be enough to get me through. I am looking forward to visiting with y'all and I think I have time to squeeze everyone in... As long as I get a few days in Manhattan (man, I am Jonesing for some lox and cream cheese on an everything bagel) around my visit to Citifield and the Mets, I'll be a happy camper.

Well, adios for now... I'm off to host at the Arizona Science Center this morning... a chance to restock the "fountain of useless knowledge" with useless factoids to spice up my blogs... should be an interesting event...

It's Raining!!

Things are a little slow as you can tell by the title of this blog, but we finally got some rain last night into today...(not to worry, the little suns on the weather report are back for the weekend and into next week). It cooled things down a bit into the 90's (very comfortable). Memorial Day weekend should be beautiful again in paradise...

Finally got the call I have been waiting for from my security gigs...My Jersey friend Mike called me on Monday (106 degrees--I played 36 holes) while I was on the golf course and he had a meeting with the upper echelon and now I am a member of his "A" team... Whatever events he works, I will be working with him (and receiving a plum spot, I hope). In fact, right after I talked to him I got a call from Megan in scheduling asking me if I could work Tuesday night at ASU for 4 hours (local high school graduation). She said I came highly recommended (thanks, Mike). So I took the gig and it was beautiful. I was inside the arena, guarding the door to the faculty changing area, keeping unauthorized people out. Easy gig, easy money... I met a girl I worked with at the LPGA tournament (the Stand II) and she asked me if I could give her and a friend a ride home. Sure, I said (good deed for the day, right?). Turns out she lives a half hour NORTH of ASU and I live a half hour SOUTH of ASU so I had an hour and a half ride home! Nice guys finish last and they also get home last (around 11:00). But, it was a good deed and I am a nice guy...(sometimes).

Played golf Wednesday morning at the Raven at South Mountain. It is definitely a tour stop on the Arizona Vacation Tour if and when y'all decide to come visit. The last five courses I have played are all over 7,000 yards from the tips (championship tees). But they are nothing compared to the 7400 plus yards the pros will be playing at Beth Paige Black next month at the U.S. Open. I can't wait to walk that course again...(thanks, Victor). I have my flights booked for my "East Coast Swing" and am working on transportation and accomodations as I speak... Looking forward to seeing as many of you as I can while I am back east, including the former work peeps at Max Finkelstein, Inc.

Tomorrow is tubing on the Salt River in the morning and bowling (yes, I said bowling) late tomorrow night including laser lights and music... Sunday is a hike in the mountains around Mesa and maybe some afternoon golf... Happy Memorial Day to all my hard working friends who deserve the long weekend. Welcome to the unofficial start of summer (BBQs, pool openings and all that sh@#!). My condolences to my friends on the Jersey Shore...Memorial Day signals the return of the "bennies", a hideous malaise that infects the Jersey shore until after Labor Day---summer rental people (sorry, Loretta). That's all for now... Enjoy the long weekend and I will continue to be in touch... yes, I will be bringing my laptop for "remote blogs", chronicling my adventures back in the land I left last October...

ASU Graduation--Part 2

So on my way to the "Obama graduation" gig, I call the security company (because they never returned my call Tuesday) and ask them what do they have for me the rest of the week... "Nothing in security" is the reply. Nothing at all? "Ushering". Well, let me have something for Friday (need more greens fees). "Oh, I do have security work from 10am-2pm and then you can usher from 3:30-9:30pm." Ok, what the heck, I'll bring a change of clothes...(white shirt and black pants) and do the Clark Kent quick change and make some money... So, Thursday I went to E&A office to talk to Emily about hosting events in June and met Mary Ellen there and we went to lunch. Then she went off to play golf with her boss and I went to the practice range to work on my game...

I get to ASU early and check in at the Wells Fargo Arena on campus wearing my security uniform and wait to be assigned... Mike, the "lead", brings me to the North Entrance and I'm doing bag checks for my 4 hour security gig. Inside the arena, air-conditioned, SWEEEET! No "cheeto" today! So I'm talking to the people I'm working with and tell them how I'm scheduled and they tell me the usher shift is 5:30 and I better call the office... So I call and explain my concern and they tell me they have me scheduled to usher at 1:30!! "How can I work security til 2 and report to usher at 1:30?" I asked. "Oh, right." they replied. "It overlaps...(DUH!) just report after you finsh security." But the doors open at 1:30 for the next ceremony, so by the time I check out and change and get back, I'll have no one to "ush"... (is that even a word? Is now.) So I explain to my lead what's going on and he tells me it's hard for them to see the schedule with "their heads up their asses..." and leave it to him, he'll get it straightened out... a few minutes later he returns and says never mind the ushering, he's keeping me on security at the door and just stay here... SWEEEET again...

The deal is there are five separate ceremonies going on that day so after we let them in and check bags and purses, we then have to get them out after the ceremony is over... so that the next wave doesn't butt heads with the ones leaving... I stopped people with balloons, posters, coolers, glass, softdrinks with lids (only bottled water and soda allowed),tripods, champagne (no glass bottles) and kept everything by where I was stationed...(Yes, I'll be here when you come out...) All in all, everyone was pretty cool about the search (visual, we can't rummage around in a purse, not that I wanted too... Bless you ladies, you can cram an awful lot of "stuff" in a small purse!) I promised not to divulge the contents of anyone's purse because I couldn't believe some of the "stuff" that was brought to a graduation ceremony...

This was a pretty sweet job... We finished clearing out the last group at 9:25pm and I was in my car headed home by 10... long day on the feet but no sun, no dust, no cheeto... also reconnected with my buddy from Jersey who is the lead on most all the good gigs I haven't been getting and he took my phone number and "promised" he'd call me about future work... If he does, it's a bonus, if not... it is what it is...

Saturday was clean the bathrooms day (now that's an adventure no one signs up for!)... but I persevered and didn't pass out from fumes and my bathrooms are sparkling clean...(woo hoo). Saturday night I went to Peoria to Skye restaurant with the club and saw a tribute band of "Journey" and let me tell you the lead singer was awesome! (really bad wig...at least I hope it was a bad wig) but his voice was almost spot on... really cool show... We had a private section in the balcony overlooking the stage and the food (rack of lamb for me) was great... Hung out til around 11pm and headed home (it was an hour drive each way). Well worth the trip, though...
Later this week, it's volleyball and tubing on the Salt River and maybe some "cosmic bowling" (10pm start, laser lights and music)... and much golf on the schedule this week... Sushi tour 2009 is looking to make a comeback after a two week hiatus...(no takers, need to regroup). Weather report for the week? Sunny and 100+ for most of the week...(what else?).

ASU Graduation---Part 1

I finally got through to the security company I work (not much) for and got a gig working the ASU graduation in which President Obama would speak on Wednesday of last week... I reported for work at noon and was assigned as a "roamer" security guard (which means I go to wherever I'm needed). They had me doing crowd control (outside, of course) in front of the Wells Fargo Arena directing people to the main entrance of Sun Devil Stadium... pretty easy work, stopping foot traffic so the bicycle rickshaws and handicap carts and police vehicles could get through... (massive amounts of people coming in, most using the new lightrail). Over 71,000 were expected and they started coming at 2:00pm and didn't stop until 7:00pm. The best news was that I was stationed along the motorcade route, so I had front row access to watch Mr. Obama come by with his entourage... The police presence was overwhelming and that didn't include FBI and Secret Service...we were told which areas we were NOT to go near (called the dead zone for a very good reason!)... So I spent the afternoon doing my crossing guard shtick and baking in the 100+ heat until around 6:00pm.

Normal airport traffic was going overhead all day, but I noticed a plane flying lower than the others around 5pm. It passed overhead and we could tell it was Air Force One! The President was landing... From then on the police force around the motorcade route seemed to double... There was an officer every five feet and then there was me at my station...They asked just to help keep the people from crossing...they shut all crossing for about 15 minutes until the motorcade passed on its way to the stadium...(one graduate tried to jump the barricade and run in, was tackled in cap and gown and detained by about eight cops! Four years of college, you think he would have been smarter than that!)... The motorcade then swept by and I lost count at about 40 vehicles...very impressive sight I must say...most observers cheered and clapped (there were some protestors, but the mass amount of police kept them in check, unlike our graduate)... a few minutes later they reopened the crossway and people kept flowing in. We were told to redeploy (fancy, eh?) to the stadium...

They closed the entrance at 7pm whether you had tickets or not (quite alot of "fashionalby late" attendees turned away by local and state troopers). We were sent onto the field with the graduates...(very cool). I went around with the lead dude and made sure our people were stationed so that they were not blocking anyone's view or just hanging out on the field doing nothing... I was there for about an hour, and just before the President's speech, I was cut because we had too many people there...(curses!!). So I missed the President's speech, but I beat it out of there before the mass exodus of people and made it to Majerle's in time for some chicken wings and the end of the Nuggets game...

So six hours in the sun (mmmm...toasty!) and some pretty cool adventures at the graduation ceremonies... They continue through Saturday with each college and school getting their own ceremony... I was scheduled to work Friday, split between security and ushering... More about that in Part II... stay tuned... Oh yeah, almost forgot... the graduate who jumped the barricade was seen entering the field by one of the guys on my team outside, so he made it after all.

Happy Mother's Day and more...

Happy Mother's Day to all the Moms out there in the blogger universe as well as all the other Moms on the planet...(Yes, I sent my mother flowers...). A special greeting to all single Moms out there, too... It's tough enough raising a family with two parents, but to do it on your own... you deserve all the credit and praise us mere mortals can give... I hope you all have a special day and that it continues beyond just today...

Just when I thought my Mets were dead in the water, they have resurrected themselves with a 6 game winning streak and are on top in their division... It is difficult not to watch them all the time (damn you, DirecTV!!) but I get a game or two a week thanks to Majerle's sports bar...(I go there enough that I can request one TV to put the Mets on). And there's always Sportscenter for some highlights... Manny Ramirez's suspension for 50 games makes me really glad we didn't acquire him in the off season... (we have enough problems, thanks Oliver Perez)... Good to see that A-Rod is back. Even though I am disappointed that he used performance-enhancing drugs, I was hoping a "clean" ballplayer would overtake Bar-roid Bonds for the homerun title... Serves me right for giving athletes the benefit of the doubt... I just feel bad for the players who are clean, because no one will believe they are in the "steroid" era. Hey, Texeira! Now that A-Rod is hitting behind you in the order, do you think you could get a few hits sometime?

Went to see Star Trek on Friday and let me tell you, it was awesome! As a long time Trekkie (the original, not the spin-offs) the movie was spot on with the characters. The actors they chose to portray Kirk and the boys (and girls) did a terrific job... That's all I'm going to say except go see it... Definitely worth the price of admission. I am not the guy that tells you the whole movie before you see it and ruins it for you... or am I??? No, I'm not. I'm pretty sure that it's the first movie I've seen in a theater since Planet of the Apes (the remake, not the original...although I'm old enough to have been there, too) Useless factoid of the day... the original Planet of the Apes came out in 1968 and Star Trek debuted in 1966. Two thumbs up for this movie...

Was supposed to work Saturday at another commencement (University of Phoenix--there is one, not just the online one that pops up on the computer all the time) but they called me Saturday morning and my gig was cancelled...I think they overscheduled... but I am working ASU next week... I am going to pursue the substitute teaching thing...Tina sent me a web site and the application is easy enough and who knows where that will take me...(at least I can volunteer for the golf team, if the school has one---it's Arizona, how can they not have a golf team!?). Still working on the itinerary for the East Coast visit, centering around going to Beth Paige Black to watch the opening round of the U.S. Open (thanks, Victor). Will let everyone know when I'll be there and for how long...

Playing Moon Valley Country Club (very private, very posh) today with Mary Ellen... Hopefully, the "A game" is in the bag today...

Mutual of Omaha' s Wild Kingdom

As the temperatures creep over 100 (it's listed as the high for the seven day forecast), the wild life is coming out and making appearances, especially on the golf courses. In the last week alone I have seen road runners (beep! beep!), quails, prairie dogs, rabbits, coyotes, hawks, eagles (I think, it was huge) and I saw my first scorpion (unfortunately, it was in my kitchen sink!). I have yet to see a rattle snake (not in a real hurry to come across them) nor have I seen a Javelina (pronounced Havelina) which is a wild pig that roams the desert...(supposedly,they are nasty so I'll steer clear of them, too). The scorpion was only two inches long, but I crushed him with a drinking glass and sent him into the garbage disposal and drowned him at the same time...(sounds like a contract kiling, no?---beware to future scorpions, don't mess with Jim).

Golf was interesting this week... The putting is coming along but it is far from where I want it to be... Investigated some new courses this week... some very nice and others glorified cow pastures... I now have a good selection for when people come out and visit...(hint, hint!). The prime time to come here (if you're a golfer) is during the summer... Its 100+ degrees but the prices are incredible... Some courses go as low as 15 dollars for 18 holes with replays for 7.50... Some courses offer all day play, free lunch...anything to get people to play. Courses are already feeling a decrease in play...(not from me). Played two 18 hole rounds under 3 hours this week... will have to play an afternoon round to test my "beat the heat" plan...(bandanas in the cooler, huge frozen mug with ice, etc.).

I put the "work" hat on again next week for Arizona State's graduation. Already working Wed. and will hear about the rest of the week later...(I hope). Could be another "Cheeto" gig (baked to a crackily crunch), but I'm hoping to find some shade somewhere... All the schools at ASU will be graduating so commencement lasts 4 days... "Will work for green's fees" gets back in action... Also got some information about substitute teaching for the next school year...(thanks, Tina). With all the layoffs and cutbacks here in Arizona, it may be a good opportunity for me to get my foot in the door...Will investigate further and keep you up to date (the opportunity to shape young minds---scary thinking someone might entrust that to me, eh?).

In case I don't blog in time, I want to wish all the Moms out there a Happy Mother's Day...(and hope you get some good presents). Parenting ain't easy...(and I'm just watching from the sidelines) and you deserve recognition... Planning is also in full swing for the East Coast road trip in June... So many people to see, so little time...I will do my best to visit all I can, when I can... More on the itinerary when it becomes available... Happy Mother's Day, Moms!!!!!

Long time, no blog...

Time to update my fellow adventurers on the goings on here in the Valley of the Sun... when I last spoke to you, I was on a rant about the NFL Draft (especially the NY Jets). I haven't changed my opinion since then... they just continue to frustrate their fans with their "band-aid on a broken leg" approach and while I'll always be a fan, at least out here I have the option to watch numerous games. The best thing about football season here is that the early game starts at 10am and the "late" game at 1pm and Monday Night Football at 5pm... So, fellow Jet fans, I guess we adopt a wait and see on this latest savior the Jets drafted...

Meanwhile, back at the desert, it still hasn't rained...After the one day rainstorm we have been back to normal...sunny, 85-95 everyday. So basically it has rained one day in the last 2 plus months... Since the skydiving adventure I have been on two hikes in the mountains of Glendale and Pinnacle Peak (which is in Scottsdale). The scenery is beautiful and the hikes are getting earlier and earlier (7:30 start) to avoid the heat. I have played numerous rounds of golf in the afternoon and while the weather is hot (especially in the sun) it is not the heat I grew up in...(Thank the Lord!). Set a personal record on the golf course yesterday...I got a tee time for 5:45am and they had no one to pair up with me so they let me go on my own... I played two balls on each hole and I finished 18 holes in 2 hrs and 22 minutes! I was driving away from the course at 8:15am. I probably would have finished under 2 hours if I played one ball but there was no one to bother me...I talked to the starter and he said business is already slowing down because most of the "snow birds" go back by May 1st (Arizona's version of the "bennies", Loretta) so now that the weather is heating up, business is slowing down... Which means lower prices and more golf for me...(I love it when a plan comes together).

The "Sushi Tour of 2009" has added some new members and we continue to "chopstick" our way through the valley trying out new restaurants every week... I can't seem to get enough eel so I'm glad we go every week... I continue to host 2-3 events each month and that helps me defer the cost of some events that we have to pay in advance for. Volleyball and tubing down the Salt River are coming up later this month, as well as some pool parties at member's homes...(got to beat the heat). I'm in the process of rebuilding my bicycle (new tires and parts) so that I can pedal around rather than use the car... I have purchased the industrial strength windshield shade and remove everything from the car that has the chance to melt each day. My parking space at home is covered so I just have to be careful where I park when I'm out. I don't want third degree burns on the back of my legs or my hands to heat seal to the steering wheel...(the shade is indeed my friend)...

So we have reached the sunblock and hat portion of our adventure... I make sure to have plenty of both everywhere I go...I rented a water cooler for the apartment (5 gal. bottles) so I have plenty of water to drink...(Tap water here is awful!). Hydration is the number one priority for me now (I've been dehydrated and it sure ain't pretty). The golf courses provide coolers on every cart and I keep my bandanas in there to wrap around my neck during the round... I'm sure I'll think of other things when the temps climb above 110...(holy snikeys!!!)