This weekend was definitely an Epic Weekend In Pictures I'll never forget. From me stumbling into a Governor Press Conference, to planting a sunflower, cheering on my old Boston sports teams, and being glued to PGA Golf all weekend, I had some fun along the way. Weekends when I can't see Awesome Girlfriend Megan are always tough, fortunately I'm blessed to have so many wonderful friends who help cheer me up. We'll start this Epic Weekend In Pictures with Friday afternoon. As I'm driving to Ideal Farm & Garden to purchase sunflower seeds, I notice a television crew in the small Chocolate Goat Gift Shop parking lot. I swung by and asked the girls "nice cameras, what do you have going on today?" They casually answered back with "we're just setting up for The Governor's press conference." I responded with "Governor Murphy? Here???" This was my first time attending a gubernatorial press conference, despite all of my gubernatorial experiences from my News Talk radio station days 10 years ago.
I felt much more at home when I started running into my friends, Dawn Fantasia, Steve Oroho, and Hal Wirths. Their press conference was a bipartisan effort to increase our broadband speed, especially in rural areas like we have here in Sussex County. I'll be happy with faster Internet, better Wifi, etc!
I was also able to meet Governor Murphy's Senior Advisor, Darryl. We exchanged business cards, and if we ever need information / updates from the Governor's office for our radio station, he said I can reach out to him anytime. Overall, this press conference was a success. The comedy gold behind it? I stumbled into it, not dressing up at all. Not only was I underdressed, I was wearing my Boston Bruins shirt to support the Bruins with their Friday night playoff game. If you watch the video of Governor Murphy's press conference, you'll see him walk past the microphone. This was him walking over to me, saying "uh oh, is that a Boston Bruins shirt here in Jersey?" I replied with "yes sir." He said "You know, I was raised in Massachusetts." I said "Yes sir I'm well aware, I was too, and have lived here for 7 years for our 3 iHeartRadio Stations, grew up in Mansfield, 10 mins from Gillette Stadium."
After the press conference, I did selfies with elected officials on both sides. Governor Murphy said "Uh oh I hope this doesn't go viral, me being so close to a Bruins shirt after I switched to the Devils decades ago and I get heat." I replied with "with all due respect Governor Murphy, I'm much more concerned for myself taking a selfie with you here in Sussex County." He chuckled and said "fair enough." He was a good sport.
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Friday night after work I went to The Cottage for a happy hour beer. Last week was a long week at work. Our classic rock station 103.7 NNJ went off the air for several hours. That kind of stuff results in tons of headaches and heartaches for me behind the scenes basically. That ice cold beer Friday night was terrific. We also had golf on the television screens.
I was slightly more vested into golf than a typical weekend. I learned Friday afternoon that someone bet $1,000 on Phil Mickelson to win the weekend. Not only would Phil Mickelson at 50 be the oldest person to win this kind of championship, but he was also a 30-1 underdog. This means that whoever bet $1,000 on Phil to win, just won $300,000!!!!!!! WOW!!!!
Phil Mickelson was in the lead Friday night, but several of my friends pointed out that as we get older, it's tougher to hold onto leads.
Friday night I stayed in and watched the Bruins playoff hockey game where they won, that made me happy.
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Saturday morning, time to head over to our Home & Garden Show at The Sussex County Fairgrounds. It was great to meet new friends and see many old ones. It felt great to have a radio station event happen! Everywhere you looked, you could tell that folks were smiling under their masks.
Okay, I have been stalling enough. Everywhere I went this weekend all everyone kept asking me was about the sunflower I attempted to plant. Friday morning, Steve Andrews came up with the idea for me to attempt planting a flower at our Home & Garden Show. My friend Jan from Ideal Farm & Garden was a good sport and brought soil for me. Our friends at Berkshire & Hathaway were giving out mini flower pots which was perfect for my sunflower. I hate getting my hands dirty!!! I can't be the only one who feels this way, right?
Some have told me that me struggling and being in complete agony planting a sunflower made their weekend. In fact, some of our vendors inside the building were watching on their phones cracking up watching it happen live in real time on Facebook. You can see the video at the bottom of this recap.
After our Home & Garden Show, I watched some more golf. I was rooting for Phil Mickelson to beat the odds and win it all.
Saturday night, I swung by The Tiki Bar Moonshine at Minerals for a drink on my way home. I explained to bartender Marlena that I needed to get some more alcohol in me before watching my Celtics likely get trounced by the Brooklyn Nets.
The Celtics lost. I was ticked. Not because we lost which was expected, but that we were winning after 3 quarters and should have won. I would have felt better if we just got blown out like everyone predicted instead of them giving me false hope.
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Sunday morning, more off the radio off the air issues. This time it was WSUS with transmitter, power, generator failure issues. Not fun.
Sunday afternoon I went grocery shopping, beverage shopping, then swung by The Cottage to watch golf with friends. It almost felt like a playoff Football game with the energy of everyone their cheering with every Phil Mickelson great shot. Such a fun atmosphere.
I ended up watching Phil win at home. During the game, after Phil hit a phenomenal shot from the sand trap he handed that ball over to a boy in a wheelchair. Classic Phil. He's always a class act.
Then I watched my Bruins win woohoo.
Overall I had a wonderful weekend. I hope you did too. Thank you for taking the time to read and watch my Epic Weekend In Pictures. Time to start planning next weekend and I better do that fast. My parents are visiting from New England for their first time in a year and a half. I'm beyond excited to get them back here and see them.