KIDS NIGHT OUT

I'm involved in a little contest at work, the whole office is involved, not just the sales staff. Winner takes down a cash prize and we're also broken down into teams that can take home other cash prizes and an extra vacation day. Any help you can give would be great...or even your parents...anyone that wants to help the kiddies (and me!)

We are hosting our annual Kid's Night Out with the Chicago Fire on Wednesday, August 16th at 8:00 PM against the Kansas City Wizards. This is a program where companies can make donations in terms of tickets to underprivileged children in the Chicagoland area. Last year we had over 8,000 kids attend the game and we'd like to top that this year.

We are accepting donations for this event in $12 increments ($12 is the cost of the ticket) and you can donate as much or as little as you like.

There are two packages as well, they are as follows:

Package A = $600
50 tickets to a local charity or one chosen by the Fire Works for Kids Foundation, company name listed on video board inclusion in the "Kids Night Out" media release, recognition in the game day program, matching donation by the Fire Works for Kids Foundation.

Package B = $300
25 tickets to a local charity or one chosen by the Fire Works for Kids Foundation, company name listed on video board inclusion in the "Kids Night Out" media release, recognition in the game day program, matching donation by the Fire Works for Kids Foundation.

News and Notes

I realized (after the fact) that despite feeling okay, my first few rides were rather weak. I had to take a few days off due to meetings and needing my car this week, but I rode last Friday and this Monday. I plan on riding tomorrow, but we'll see. For comparrison's sake, here are all my stats:

Friday
Ride In
18.7 Miles
1:15:44
AV 14.8

Ride Home
18.22 Miles
1:22:24
AV 13.3

Monday
Ride In
18.36 Miles
1:20:10
AV 13.7

Ride Home
18.12 Miles
1:05:29
AV 16.6

On the ride back Monday afternoon I finally felt good. Plus the wind had stopped. Plus I left my towel and travel bathroom stuff at work so I had a lighter load on my back. We'll see how I feel tomorrow after a couple days off. I haven't really riden hard yet, so breaking the hour mark should be no problem within the next week or so.

In other news, I'm playing in a beach soccer tournament this weekend down at North Avenue beach. Should be a good time. We have a game on Saturday morning before we have to be at the stadium for the Fire match and then we play at least two more on Sunday afternoon. After the tourney there is also free drinks and food for us on the beach. I'm pretty excited.

I do have some bad news for all the Pi Kapps out there. Or maybe it's good news depending on how you look at it. I regret to inform you all that there is officially NO CHANCE of me making it to the 10-year at Miami. I basically have four or five big nights that I'm working on from a sponsorship/event standpoint and they are as follows:

July 22nd - Polish Night....done, thank God. We had an absolutely insane weekend here, but since my guy is one of the big-wigs in the Polish community here on the south side, I had to run point for everything

Labor Day Weekend - Kenny Chesney and Fire Game....normally reserved for Bally's lakehouse up in Coldwater, I have to be here the whole weekend. My sister is also going to be singing the national anthem at the Fire game, so if anyone ELSE isn't going to the lake, she needs help selling a few tickets so she can do it.

Sept 17th - Armed Forces Appreciation Day.....this is my big daddy. We have so much planned for this event and I'm the coordinator for it, so I'm here, all weekend, making sure the military are happy with everything.

Sept. 23rd - Hispanic Heritage Night.....I don't know how involved I'll be with this, but I'm getting a Hispanic construction association (HACIA) involved, so it could be big.

Oct. 7th - James Hardie Title Night.....One of the big sponsors I signed, James Hardie Building Products, is having their title sponsorship night this day. I'm sure those that aren't in the sports biz have no clue what that entails, but I assure you I will be busy as hell and unaccessible for the week leading up to that.

So, as you can see I'm tied up for two of the most important weekends at the end of the summer. I also had to work on my own birthday this year (July 4th V. Kansas City) for the first time in 27 years. I had to work on Amy's birthday (Club America match.) It seems the only thing I have off for is the Gongola's pig roast. We have a game that night as well, but I requested off for it. Phew. I'll probably end up going to the stadium anyways because I know of a big client that will be there that night in the suites and I need to talk with him about some things for next year, but at least I can take off whenever I want.

Alright...time for me to get some work done!

Walk in the Park

I was finally given permission to use a locker room to shower at the stadium in the morning, so for the first time ever I rode to TOYOTA PARK this morning. It wasn't a very difficult ride by any means, it ended up being significantly less miles than it is to drive. I will certainly be doing this much more often to save some gas money and get a nice workout in on the way to and from work. I will have to put it up in the big ring though in order to make it more difficult.

The two biggest problems are the number of traffic lights (fewer and further between as you get further away from downtown obviously) and the terrible roads. I actually had a giant pot hole pop up out of nowhere and almost wreck me. I was able to jump the front tire but the back tire hit pretty hard. I pulled over and had to realign the back tire and adjust the sensors for the computer back into place. I also ran into a stretch of Harlem Avenue between 31st and 47th where there is no shoulder whatsoever. Needless to say, I won't be coming down that stretch again. I also got run off the road a few times by jackass truckers.

Here are my stats:
18.7 Miles
1:15:44
Avg Speed 14.8

Sadly, it was my first ride of the year, so I'm not too disappointed with the stats. I plan on cranking it up a notch on the way home.

My Jeep

As requested, probably over a month ago now, here is a picture of my Jeep.