Patrick Combs and Old Rag

Patrick Combs (you may have heard of him) is a normal person turned celeb. He cashed one of those get rich quick scheme checks that you get in the mail that have strings attached. Some how, he found some loophole and was able to keep the sum of 95,000 with no further obligation.

Long story short, we were to have him as a guest on the radio show on Friday, only he was nowhere to be found with about 3 minutes til air time. I get a message from the staff at Spirit square where we hold the show from this guys promoter/manager or whatever telling us to call him. So I do.

"I'm on my way to his hotel and am stuck in traffic and will not be able to get him to the studio for another thirty minutes" the overly excited Eric on the phone screams at me. Upon asking where this hotel is, I find that it is the Dunhill. For those of you that are familiar with Charlotte, the Dunhill is the oldest and swankiest hotel in Charlotte and also happens to be right across the damn street from Spirit Square. For some reason this guy needs a limo to take him a block and half.

I run across traffic, track him down, and drag him to the studio just in time to do the show. I receive many kudos from important people...





On a non work related note, I took a trip to VA with the little brother to visit family. We decided to go hiking and climb a mountain called Old Rag. The trail was no joke, and was nearly impassable. There were elements of rock climbing and rock scrambling. Very difficult, so very fun! Below are some pictures from the excursion, and I have about 60 of them. If you want to see them all, let me know.


Elevation at the peak= >3900ft

Beer Trinkin

The Flying Saucer, a local (and my favorite) watering hole in the University area has over 200 beers on tap. On Mondays, they offer each and every one of these up for $2.50 each. For the first time in a long, long time I attended $2.50 pint night at the saucer tonight, and realized just how much I have missed it. There are very few things better than an hour over an Oatmeal Stout and a group of friends after work.

During my break at work tonight I decided to call up some people and have them meet at the bar and enjoy a beer or two. Dave Miller, an old roomie and good friend, was first on board. He was followed by a few others; and we all met there around 10:30.

The bands that play at this place are always the same group of semi-talented musicians playing other band's hit songs - whatever, its a bar.

Of course, as the night goes on, I see many familiar faces stroll in the door and am soon greeted by them with open arms and a jovial hello. This is always nice, especially when you never get out anymore!

So, needless to say, I headed home a bit refreshed in more ways than one... hooray BEER (in moderation)

quick update

Thought I would update from earlier today:

- I actually got out and did a trail run for an hour
- Found out that even though I got paid thursday, I am already scraping bottom
- Got a raise at work
- Sink is clogged and I only made it worse whilst trying to unclog it



Looking forward to good warm day tomorrow... likely to ride around 50miles or so!

Motivation? Anybody?? Anybody? No?..... ok

For the last few weeks I have been doing quite well in terms of training and staying busy. Yesterday, I hit a wall that I am trying to climb today... with no luck so far.

Every month I organize a potluck dinner at the Bonnie Mansion (the nickname for the house we rent). Yesterday, we had "Potluck of the Irish" for this months' theme. It was a great, sunny, warm day and usually there is no way that I would even think about staying off my bike, much less inside all day. But this was potluck.... so I stayed in, ate a lot, and played games with the crew.

Although the potluck was good times I think it made me realized how much easier being lazy is; and now I don't want to be active again. Furthermore, and against my better judgment, I let a co-worker who is considering buying a road bike test ride my bike. This means that he is returning it when I go into work today and I do not have it to ride today. Soooo, I guess I'll do a trail run, maybe.

Round 2...

As some of you may know, my intent for last summer was to go to Germany and attend the world cup. While I do love soccer, the WC was only a reason to travel abroad. The dream of the Germany visit went up in smoke when I realized just how in debt I would be upon returning stateside. So, I stayed here and raced mountain bikes instead.

Well, I've got the travel bug again this year and oddly enough the destination hasn't changed. The means and circumstances may, however, be entirely different this time around. I have been made aware of a program that allows young US citizens the opportunity to travel to Germany and work in a world class resort as waiters and waitresses. Check out the link to the resort below:

Edelweiss Lodge and Resort

As you can see, this place is mind-blowing! I am sending off the application today and am hoping against all hope that they will admit me for an interview. If I get the interview, I know I can get the position.

The perks for working for these people are outrageous:
-$8/hr (US) plus gratuity
-Living expenses (room and food) only $30/mo.
-5 days on, 2 days off - with a paid weeks vacation after 6 months
-401K
-They pay for the flight(s) to and from the resort
-They have bike rides into the surrounding countryside (both on and off road)
-Just imagine the people I'll meet, the things I'll do
-Its in the ALPSSSSSSSS


So, here we go again. Destination Germany... round zwei!

Spring's Broken

Today marks the beginning of the end for my Spring Breaks, if you can call them that. The only time I have ever really took advantage of this week I have off from school was last year when the guys and I rented out a house in the Outer Banks. I suppose once was enough for me though, seeing how the other 51 weeks of the year I make it a point to take my own little (and sometimes large) breaks from responsibility.

So, instead of going to Panama City or the Bahamas or whatever else college kids do on the typical spring break you hear about on MTV, I'll be doing business as usual... as usually is the case this time of year.

I did the radio thing this morning and left with a certain feeling of importance. The radio show host, Mike Collins, and I talk pretty regularly and comfortably. At the onset of my internship, as I only assume is natural, I was very intimidated by the whole thing. However I have grown comfortable with the realization that the people running this show (so to speak) are no smarter, more talented, or more capable than me, just more experienced; and I'm glad to have always been a fast learner.

This afternoon, I went to Huntersville for my weekly visit with Dominic. Dominic is a 12yr old boy that was on a soccer team that I coached a few years back. After I quit coaching, his parents got in touch with me more than a year later and wanted me to train Dominic one-on-one. As it turns out, the kid looks up to me and had listened to every word I ever said to him as his coach!

It's funny for me to be in this position, as I remember the guys that I felt this very same way about; and it seems like only yesterday. Thinking about it now, "yesterday" was 10+ years ago... wow.

Conclusion? I'm 23 years old, a role model, and a key holder to a multi-million dollar studio in uptown Charlotte; and the best part of it all...

I still have no clue what I'm doing, and it's fun as hell.

Brilliant

Nothing too insightful to offer from this weeks' happenings, except for the obvious fact that I have no idea how to negotiate seemingly simple technical issues. For a while now, evidently, we have been paying for internet service that we have not been receiving. We have, for a good spell, had a dodgey signal at the house on our wireless network. Usually one would complain to the provider of the faulty internet service and schedule a service call. We are guys, we are lazy, we are what we are. So needless to say, no one was contacted. Today, after trying to connect to the internet (restarting my computer over and over) for around 3 hours unsuccessfully, I got angry and stomped upstairs to inspect the modem.

The damn thing was unplugged - and has been for quite a long time.

And by a long time, I mean months (we have been picking up a signal from some other source)

Brilliant.