Monday again

Did you have a good weekend?

I worked all weekend - what else is new? - and today I was supposed to be starting my new job, but alas, I am not. Guess I'll keep plugging away in the job search!

Saturday Dave and I headed to the Third Ward to check out Boardfest at Moda 3. It sounded like it'd be something really cool to see - they were going to haul in 20 tons of snow and have a snowboarding competition, complete with food, music, and appearances by pro snowboarders and an Olympic silver medalist.



Since I had to work at 4, we arrived right at 2:00 when the event was supposed to start. We wandered a bit, but not much was happening yet, which was a bummer. The snow wasn't there yet, and the jumps were still being assembled. The event went until 10, so I'm sure it got much more exciting as the night went on. This year was the second annual Boardfest, so maybe it'd be something to check out next year when I have more time. If anyone attended, I'd be interested to hear about it...

The AIDS Walk was yesterday and the poor people got rained on all day. It was still a successful event though.

And finally, a little shameless self-promotion: the Jim Stingl article ran in yesterday's paper and I think it turned out really good! My first quote in there was about people who came on here and griped about my compensation package, and I don't know if that was clear - I don't think people in general are dumb!

Other than that, I thought it was a really fun piece. The blog has been getting some extra traffic because of it, which I'm of course grateful for.

Hello to all you newcomers!

It's been almost a week since skydiving, so I know it's just about time I stopped talking about it. But here's a picture I didn't post earlier - I was feeling like a ROCK STAR after jumping, and well, I'm still feeling that way a week later!



(Alright, I'm done. No more skydiving talk. Guess I'll just have to jump again so I can start talking about it again!)

Comments

[Derek]

Nice article..were you calling me dumb?!?! :) Kidding..glad to see people are still looking at your blog as a positive thing for our city.

[Mark]

I just now noticed your job update.. sorry to hear that. You'll find your perfect place soon, I'm sure. But anyway.. about Derek's comment... how could this blog NOT be a positive thing for our city? I love this blog and think it does an incredibly great service for not only Milwaukee but for the people of Milwaukee as well.

And sad that I didn't know about boardfest! I would have loved to have gone to that.. oh well.. I still had a fun night.

Umm.. that's all. Bye!

[Derek]

I was just referring to the tough time it had getting going with the negative "compensation" comments that were flying around. It was pretty amazing that something that is so clearly good for the city was catching criticism. Keep up the great work!

[Christi]

Great write up. They make you sound really cool ;) TOO BAD, SHE'S ALREADY GOT A BEST FRIEND.

Um..I just wanted to say I better have first dibbs on the Haunted House excursion. I've been DYING to go to one!!!

[Rachel]

I'm one of the newcomers, thanks to Mr. Stingl. :) I personally couldn't give less of a crap about what kind of compensation you are receiving. I think your blog is great for the city. It's fun to hear about what's going on and I really appreciate that you take the time to go check things out and report back. Yesterday I read about your geocaching adventures, and - oh my God! - if that's not the coolest geeky thing I've ever heard of! I think my husband is sick of hearing me talk about it already. I must have a GPS thingie, NOW! I don't want to be a "muggle!" LOL!

[Nicole]

Just got to reading the story by Jim Stingl in Sundays Journal Sentinel. Great article Erin! That guy cracks me up!

As always, I love the blog. Keep up the good work! Oh, and if you find out about haunted houses in the area, let us know. I cant wait to go, but never know where to find them.

[Mark]

Hey Erin, I just read the article now and thought it was great. It's really nice to have other people who love this city as much as me and who also go out of their way to promote it. Good work! One thing about the article though.. I think he was wrong when he implied his idea of going to the top of Milwaukee skyscrapers was lame. That would be awesome! Speaking of which.. you haven't heard anything about the Lake Point Tower proposal, have you?

[Samantha]

I read about your blog in Jim Stingl's article and figured I would check it out for myself. What a great way to promote a fantastic city.

May I add that I agree with Mark in that taking a look at the city from above is anything but lame.

If you want to get a great view of the city from some of the higher buildings, you should start at the Pfister (Milwaukee's very popular four star hotel). They have a martini bar on the top floor called Blu and it offers a great view of the lakefront, even if you are in the bathroom! Not to mention you can have a drink while you look out.

I also had a great opportunity to watch area fireworks one year from above the Allen Bradley Clock Tower (worlds largest four-sided clock). When I went, it was only accessible by employees, which my friend was, but if you ever have an opportunity, don't pass it up. You could see forever.

[Mark]

Hey there Erin! Thanks for stoppin by my blog and leaving comments! :) And for the smiley faces as well.. those are always fun. And two, by the way, is not overboard! Holy exclamation points!

So yeah.. Samantha, you can go up to the top of the Allen Bradley clock tower? That would be awesome!! And I thought it was the second largest four-sided clock next to Big Ben... at least that's what I've always told people. Woops if I'm wrong!

[Samantha]

I always thought the same, but then I read that it was ranked the largest in the world by the Guinness Book of World Records. Go figure!

When I went up, it was accessible by employees only, but I heard later that the city puts on tours that also go up. It's been a couple years though so I'm not entirely sure.

[Andre]

Big Ben is the largest *chiming* four-faced clock, but Allen-Bradley is the biggest.

From wikipedia.com:

"The current clock tower is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s largest four-faced clock. Because the octagonal faces are nearly twice the size of the clocks in London’s Big Ben, chimes were never added in order to allow Big Ben to remain the largest four-faced chiming clock in the world. Each hour hand is 15 feet, 9 inches long and weighs 490 pounds. Each minute hand is 20 feet long and weighs 530 pounds. The hour markings are 4 feet high."