Monthly Archives: September 2026

Couch-Less Thursday Rundown

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Have you treated yourself to anything pumpkin-flavored yet? If not, bravo! I think it is best to wait until the beginning of October to indulge. But something that shouldn’t be confined to a certain season or month (at least in my humble opinion) is the Thursday Rundown. So let’s get rolling with tonight’s five topics…

STA Experience – I mentioned earlier in the week that last Saturday’s EWU gameday experience included a bus ride for my kids. They got to journey on the new STA double decker bus and gave it high marks. Although Sloan battled some brief anxiety once the bus started to move and we hit the highway, her butterflies quickly dissipated. It was cool to let Sloan and Beau experience the same commute that I take often.

Sloan and Beau right the STA double decker bus on our way to the EWU football game in Cheney.

Bye Bye Couch – About four years ago, I made a big deal about us selling a couch. It followed us to four different houses and was the first joint purchase that Sid and I ever made. So, yeah, it held sentimental value and deserved its own blog post. Well, this past weekend we sold the couch that replaced our first one. This second couch provided a comfortable place to sit in three different houses over the course of five years (our first couch sat in storage for a year after we bought our second couch). However, it was time to move on. Facebook Marketplace once again helped us sell this second couch and now we are couch-less until our new piece of furniture is delivered on Saturday. Thanks to big blue for a memorable half decade!

Beau “helps” by assisting the buyer of our couch with loading his new furniture. It served us well!

Green Caterpillar – While on a neighborhood walk the other day, we came across a brightly colored green insect that stood out quite brilliantly on the curb. We spent plenty of time looking at it and admiring the red “horn” coming out at one end of its body. Sloan was especially interested to learn about the creature so we did a Google search and found out it was a tomato hornworm.

Beau looks at a tomato hornworm that we found while on a walk.

9/11 – Tomorrow is the 25th anniversary of September 11th, 2001. This week I have been watching a show that reunites people who were at the World Trade Center during the attacks. In most instances, one individual saved the other and the show brings them together for the first time since that awful day. Since I have authored this blog, I have written about 9/11 no less than seven times. To view those entries you can tap here.

I am currently watching the “9/11 Reunited” documentary series.

National TV Dinner Day – I look back at what I put in my stomach when I was a kid and I can’t believe I ate the Kid Cuisine TV dinners. And it wasn’t like I was plugging my nose and swallowing either—I loved those frozen meals so much that I would opt for them over pizza delivery or fast food! To celebrate last year’s National TV Dinner Day, I wrote a blog post that goes into great depth about the “gourmet food” I thought I was eating and how I now realize how badly mistaken (or taste bud-challenged) I was. Happy 2026 National TV Dinner Day!

This box is a fond memory from my childhood. I loved Kid Cuisine TV dinners. Can’t say the same now.

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Thanks for reading. Make sure to take some time tomorrow to reflect on 9/11 and the lives that were lost. It is crazy to think that it was 25 years ago. Don’t Blink.

Keeping Us In Our Seats

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This past weekend, I took Sloan and Beau to the Eastern Washington University football home opener. They experienced The Inferno for the first time and obviously gave the Eagles a little luck as the good guys defeated the University of Northern Iowa, 34-24.

The kids pose for a photo with me at the EWU vs. Northern Iowa football game at Roos Field on Sept. 5, 2026.

We rode the Spokane Transit Authority (STA) double decker bus to Cheney, went tailgating, purchased concessions, cheered loud, and saw Swoop. However, even with all that fun, I didn’t know how long we would last at the stadium.

Beau and Sloan admire a rainbow at the EWU vs. Northern Iowa game.

The decision to attend the game was a spur of the moment deal and we battled rain multiple times throughout the contest. We were also in the end zone cheap seats and my kids don’t exactly understand the rules of football. So I figured they would probably be ready to bounce at halftime despite all the fun stuff that was transpiring around us.

I was wrong. We stayed until the very end and there was one big reason why…

The McDonald’s McCafe promotion.

Although my kids don’t understand the finer rules of football, they understood one thing very well: If the EWU football team scored at least 28 points and won, everyone in the stadium would receive a coupon for a free medium McDonald’s refresher drink or craft soda.

A look at the coupon that was up for grabs if Eastern scored 28 points and won.

Game on!

Throughout the game, Sloan and Beau kept their eyes fixated on the scoreboard and cheered enthusiastically for the Eagles to score touchdown after touchdown. They asked me countless times what combination of scoring needed to occur for EWU to reach the 28-point benchmark and the likelihood of it happening. As the game entered the second half—and then the fourth quarter—the desired outcome seemed within reach and the kids started to become both excited and antsy.

Sloan and Beau were fired up about the chance of winning a free drink from McDonald’s.

Their enthusiasm and obsession were familiar to me as I traveled down memory lane. I remembered my childhood years serving as a ball boy for Gonzaga and the Wendy’s three-point promotion that was offered at the time. If the Zags nailed 9 three-pointers, everyone left the gym with a coupon for a Wendy’s quarter pounder cheeseburger. The tension and excitement whenever the team reached 8 three-pointers was so much fun as you could always depend on a player throwing up an ill-advised three-pointer in hopes of sending everyone home happy. I remember some very joyful post-game moments stopping at a Wendy’s restaurant with my dad and brother after the benchmark was hit.

Later on in my life, I became even better acquainted with the mania these promotions produce when I worked at the University of Montana. As a marketing staffer in the athletic department, I oversaw the distribution of coupons for our “Wendy’s Chili is free when the Griz score 73” promo. If the men’s basketball team reached 73 points or more, those in attendance at Dahlberg Arena would receive a coupon for a cup of Wendy’s chili on their way out. My interns at the time had some crazy stories of fans making sure they received their chili coupon…it was like we were handing out $100 bills.

These are the Wendy’s chili card we would pass out when I worked for the University of Montana.

So when Sloan and Beau based their well-being off whether EWU reached 28 points on Saturday night, I totally got it. These types of promotions truly engage fans because who doesn’t love getting something free? Even if it is as trivial as a cup of chili or a medium soft drink.

As we left Roos Field, stadium workers handed McDonald’s free drink coupons to my smiling kids. There was no doubt that I would need to make a stop on the way home.

Sloan and Beau proudly hold the coupons they received outside Roos Field.

When we arrived at the McDonald’s restaurant in downtown Spokane, I made sure the kids knew ahead of time what they were going to order. Sloan got the mango pineapple refresher, Beau chose the strawberry watermelon refresher, and I traded in my coupon for a Sprite berry blast soda for Sid. Although the employee took a hard look at our coupons as we were the first people to redeem them at that restaurant, we received our free drinks.

Ahh the sweet taste of victory. We made a stop at McDonald’s after the game so the kids could cash in their coupons for McDonald’s refresher drinks.

As organizations and universities face the age-old challenge of keeping fans in seats for the entirety of a game, the trick of offering an incentive for team performance can do nothing but help. Trust me, I have seen this tactic work to perfection for multiple generations. Don’t Blink.

15 Years With An iPhone

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It was the start of an era for sure. On this date 15 years ago, I received my first-ever iPhone. The University of Montana purchased it on my behalf for work purposes but it would double as my personal phone, too.

This was not the first iPhone I received in 2011 but rather the upgraded iPhone 5 I received in Oct. 2012.

I was pretty jacked up on September 7, 2011, when I handled that sleek piece of technology for the initial time. How jacked up was I? Upon getting off work I went straight home and wrote a 1,000-word blog post about my enthusiasm.

And perhaps that is the most cringe-inducing part of this story. Go back and read that blog post and have yourself a good laugh at my poor writing, immaturity, and utter cluelessness. It’s baaaaad.

But I want to move on from that. Rather, I just want to mark the 15th anniversary of my entry into smart phone mania. I was totally blown away by the power I had in my hands back in 2011 and I still marvel at everything my iPhone can do today. It is my clock, camera, calendar, web browser, bill payer, instant messenger, navigator, music player, e-mailer, and newspaper.

And, oh yeah, I make calls on it too.

Holding my iPhone 5 in 2012.

Over the decade and a half, I have owned either three or four iPhones plus a couple work-specific iPhones as well. They have lasted me all 15 years as I have never taken a chance on an Android. Although my record with cell phones was spotty before I received my first iPhone, since then, I haven’t lost, cracked, or damaged any of my smart devices. Excuse me while I pat myself on the back.

I will be the first to say that iPhones have not changed me (or society) completely for the better. They have drastically decreased face-to-face communication, caused device addiction, and promoted laziness. So today, I am not necessarily celebrating this anniversary but rather just marking it. Don’t Blink.

Pre-Labor Day Thursday Rundown

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With September here and school in session, autumn is in the air. So let’s go crazy with pumpkin-everything, okay? 😉 Actually, the weather will still be warm for the next month or so and Labor Day weekend is right around the corner, so by all means don’t give up on summer. But whether you prefer fall or summer, hopefully everyone prefers a Thursday Rundown. Let’s get started with tonight’s five topics…

Wienermobile Part III – This past weekend we saw the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile in-person. It traveled to Spokane Valley where it was parked on Sprague Avenue for the Cops & Kids event. It was Beau’s first time seeing it but Sloan experienced the euphoria of the Wienermobile twice before. Once at a Publix parking lot in Myrtle Beach in 2018 and then in a Fred Meyer parking lot in 2021. During the 2018 encounter we actually received free hot dogs. In 2021, Sid and Sloan were given hot dog cutouts to pose with. This past weekend, they were gifted Wienermobile whistles (that drove me absolutely crazy).

Sloan and Beau pose in front of the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile on Sprague in Spokane Valley during the 2026 Cops & Kids event.

Back To School Boards – Earlier this week in my back-to-school post, I shared a lot of photos from the big first day back for Sloan and Beau. However, I didn’t share their back-to-school boards. Well, tonight is the night. Let’s start first with the oldest…

Sloan holding her 2026-27 back-to-school board.

And here is Beau…

Beau holding his 2026-27 back-to-school board.

Burger King Mini Cones – In the past, I have argued that Burger King has surpassed McDonald’s as a better value. There is now yet another reason why that argument holds true. Burger King now gives all kids a free mini cone each visit. After losing his two front teeth, the soft serve was actually just what he needed when we visited our local BK this past weekend.

Beau with his mini cone from Burger King. Every child receives one for free if a purchase is made.

Happy 109th Birthday, Grandma – My maternal grandma, Virginia Fazzari, would have turned 109 today. Dang, that seems so old! But there is the other part of me that says people have lived to 120 years old so it wasn’t impossible (God willing) that my grandma could still be alive today. It is crazy to think of her meeting my wife and kids…they would have loved her. Instead, she died my freshman year of college at the age of 88. Although she was quiet, she still had a terrific sense of humor and served the Lord with complete devotion. On her 100th birthday, I wrote this blog post about her.

My grandma would have been 109 today.

Topic of the Day – This was the latest riveting “Topic of the Day” posted for the consideration of our University Relations office at EWU. When it comes to whether I would want to be a friend of an alien or ghost, I found myself torn. Of course many factors enter the equation. After much contemplating, I think I would befriend an alien first just because of what I could learn from it and the possible positive ramifications for mankind. I also believe that the chances are better that the alien would be nice (or maybe that’s because I recently watched “Project Hail Mary:”) as opposed to the ghost. Who would be your bestie…an alien or ghost?

This was one of our topics of the day this week. Thanks to senior designer Emily Ausere for thinking up the question and drawing the great display.

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Happy Labor Day weekend, everyone. Make sure to be safe and enjoy. Don’t Blink.

All I Want For Christmas Are My Two Front Teeth

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Blood makes me queasy so the scene made my stomach turn.

While at Silverwood, Beau and I were waiting in line for the bumper cars. To corral the line, they have a metal railing that keeps order. Although adept at crowd control, the railing can be tough on teeth. Not that any sensible person should ever find out firsthand.

But there was my son, jolted with the copious amount of caffeine he had consumed thanks to the re-fillable soda cup we purchased, swinging like Tarzan on the railing. As you can probably guess, his hands slipped while swinging and his mouth met the metal.

This photo of Beau was pre-accident. This was not the bumper car ride (rather it is the bumper boat ride) but it shows what the metal railings look like at Silverwood.

There was one second of silence and then he started wailing.

I didn’t want to look. But dang it, I am a dad, and that is what dads do. I had him open his mouth and was relieved to see that his teeth were still there…or at least from what I could tell. Yep, he was bleeding pretty bad.

I took him out of the line and tried to find a rest room nearby or perhaps a park worker who had access to a first aid kit. No luck. So I did what I thought was best given the situation. Remember the re-fillable souvenir soda cup I mentioned? By that time it was filled with the very much non-caffeinated Starry. I had him guzzle it and swish it around his mouth until we got control of the bleeding. It actually worked.

However, it was apparent that his two front teeth—although still there—were not as secure as before. I eventually met back up with Sid and Sloan who were waiting in their own line for a separate ride. Sid wanted to see if she could pull the teeth right at that moment. I asked her to hold off.

And thankfully she did. But that restraint wouldn’t last too long as within seven days of the theme park visit, both of Beau’s loose front teeth were gone (Sid is the teeth puller in our family). Not a bad look for the first day of school, right?

Beau lost his two front teeth in the same week thanks to an accident at Silverwood.

Beau has taken it all in stride. Not having two front teeth really hasn’t seemed to bother him that much. He can eat just fine, there is no impact on his speech, and the Tooth Fairy paid up.

With that said, I don’t think he will be using the metal railing method to lose any additional teeth. The natural method works just fine. Don’t Blink.