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It was quite the adventure for the little guy and me! Jackson and I woke up with the sun and hit the road. Our mission? A journey that would take us through four countries in a single day. Stop number one was Chateau de Bouillon, just across the Belgian border. It was fun to explore a legit castle that has existed well over a thousand years. Jackson had fun in the dungeon, and it really was amazing to explore and imagine all of the history that has taken place within those walls through the ages. Following our castle adventure, it was off to a pirate ship adventure... in the form of a pirate ship playground in Luxembourg. We spent at least an hour climbing, swinging, steering the ship and having a swashbuckling-good-time. Lunch was also had in Luxembourg. While my ballcap certainly wasn't representative of the cosmopolitan fashion on a workday, I had a cute little kid with me... which is a path to get good service just about anywhere. Thankfully, the establishment we chose had a so...

Game #162 of the season rarely culminates in the kind of drama that was seen in Oakland. My beloved A's spent the entire regular season shy of first place until they found themselves heading into the final game tied for 1st with the Texas Rangers, which just happened to be the team they were playing. Only one team would end the day on top of the AL West. Thankfully my boss, Cat Collins, fully understood the importance of the game (albeit his love for baseball was the result of being a San Francisco Giants fan) and gave me the thumbs up to sneak out for the Wednesday day game at the coliseum. The fact that most in attendance likely had to make similar arrangements at their respective places of employment or learning underscored the level of fan who comprised the sold out crowd. We all knew how special this game had the potential to be, and the energy was electric from the very first pitch. It was a neck-to-neck game until the bottom of the 4th inning. With the score tied at 5 apiece...

As someone who routinely lets the unread messages in my inbox creep into thousands- territory, I get it. Reading ALL THAT CRAP is typically a chore with zero reward other than the bragging rights that you have zero unread. However, there are occasions when trudging through and giving a thorough glance can actually be worthwhile. While Nigerian princes in need of assistance to secure riches beyond imagine is now a joke of e-mail lore, not every too-good-too-be-true invitation is - in fact - not legitimate. Case in point... A couple of months ago, an invitation to be part of the first-ever International Radio Festival arrived. "International Radio Festival? Never heard of it." would have been the easy answer. But the more I dug, the more this thing appeared to be the real deal. The offer came complete with a Swiss Air flight and accommodations in Zurich, in exchange for broadcasting live from the action and delivering a keynote address. No pressure, right?! After requesting th...