Tag / DLM

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2023: The Year In Travel

As we ring in the new year, it’s time to take a look back at the trips out of Illinois that I took last year.  Things got off to a fast start, as I traveled down to Orlando on New Year’s Day to see Purdue take on LSU in the Citrus Bowl.  While the game did not go well at all, it was a good change of pace to get out of the cold weather.  I stayed the entire week, working remotely to kick off 2023 and enjoying the hotel pool.

My next trip out of state came in early February, when I picked up Danny and headed down to Bloomington, Indiana to see the #1 ranked Boilermakers take on their hated rivals.  Once again, things did not go well for the boys in gold and black, which led to a long drive back to West Lafayette.  The next day, the two schools did battle again, with the women taking the court at Mackey Arena, but the outcome was not any better.

A few weeks later, I returned to the Lafayette area to watch Danny’s band concert.  After lunch with him, his friends, and their parents, we headed over to the Long Center for the Performing Arts to take in his performance.  Thankfully, his section was first, so we were able to take our leave early and head back home.

I stayed home for a few months, until Danny finally cashed in his high school graduation trip, and, in mid-June, we headed west to Seattle.  We arrived on Friday morning and headed to Pike Place market for lunch before attending the White Sox and Mariners tilt that night at T-Mobile Park.  The next morning, we enjoyed breakfast at the hotel before heading back to the ballpark for another exciting game.  After an hour-plus wait for an Uber after the game, we rested a bit at the hotel before heading back out to see the Space Needle and enjoy a nice dinner.  On Sunday, we celebrated Father’s Day by flying home.

The start of college football season brought with it three consecutive weekend trips to West Lafayette to close out September.  The first saw Purdue do battle against Syracuse, falling 35-20.  I headed back down the following Thursday night thanks to a rare Friday night tilt.  After working remotely from the hotel, I headed over to campus where Purdue tried valiantly to end its losing streak against Wisconsin, but it was not to be.  The next morning, I met Danny for breakfast before heading home.  The following Saturday, I returned once more to see Purdue earn its first home victory of the year, defeating Illinois handedly.

In late October, I took my somewhat-annual quick trip to Boston to celebrate birthdays with Angelina.  I arrived on Saturday, headed over to her apartment in the afternoon, and then we went out to dinner in the North End.  The next morning, I was on a plane headed back home.

My final three trips of the year were all, once again, back to West Lafayette.  Purdue faced off against Minnesota two days before Danny’s birthday, so we had a post-victory dinner at his house.  Two weeks later, we headed down the day after Thanksgiving to prepare for his senior day against IU.  As part of the festivities, he got to conduct the band during the pre-game show and then hit the drum with the rest of the seniors during halftime.  The day concluded with a trip to the Olive Garden for a celebratory dinner.  My final trip of the year came just days before Christmas, when Danny and I headed to Mackey Arena to see the men’s basketball team hold court against Jacksonville.

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2024 Calendar

Now that Christmas has come and gone, we can unveil the cover to this year’s calendar gift, given annually to my mom and sister, and made up of pictures I have taken throughout the year.  I imagine I will be able to squeeze out one more version of this next year, but, with both Angelina and Danny graduating and Michael still mostly homebound, that will probably be it.  As in year’s past. the calendar was produced by the good folks at Shutterfly and we will unveil each month’s photo(s) on the first day of the month throughout 2024.

This year’s cover features Michael posing with his parents prior to his high school graduation this past June and Angelina and Danny posing with their Nana at the band tailgate prior to Danny’s Senior Day at the last Purdue football game of the year last month.

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Fitbit IX – Week 44

A nice bounce back week put me back on the right side of the 30,000-step plateau.  Things got off to a slow start on Sunday, finishing 30 steps away from 3900.  Monday saw a very small increase, coming just 21 steps shy of 4000.  A trip to the mall for lunch on Tuesday left me just 29 steps short of 5400.  Wednesday saw a big drop, going down to 3600 steps.  The big Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday actually saw an increase, falling just 20 steps shy of 4200.  A trip down to West Lafayette on Friday saw a bit of a drop, coming 23 steps away from 3500 after the expected nighttime band practice was moved outdoors.  Danny’s Senior Day on Saturday was easily the best day of the week, garnering 9500 steps while traipsing across the Purdue campus.

Total steps: 34,072

Daily average: 4867.4

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2023 Final Standings

The 2023 college football season, and Danny’s marching band career, came to an end yesterday, after Purdue squeaked past the Hoosiers 35-31.  After winning the Big Ten West last season and making a New Year’s Day bowl game, this year’s 4-8 finish was a bit of a disappointment.  Yesterday’s game brought my total for the year to six games, a new high point.

2023 Team Records

University Won Loss Winning Pctg
Wisconsin Badgers 1 0 1.000
Syracuse Orange 1 0 1.000
Purdue Boilermakers 3 2 0.600
Minnesota Golden Gophers 0 1 0.000
Indiana Hoosiers 0 1 0.000
Illinois Fighting Illini 0 1 0.000
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Fitbit IX – Week 42

After taking October off, this week brought college football back to my routine, which helped keep me on the right side of the 30,000-step plateau.  The week got off to a decent start on Sunday, finishing just 32 steps away from 4400 thanks in part to last week’s Saturday night extending into the early hours of Sunday.  Things were even better on Monday, coming 29 steps short of 4600.  A slight decrease on Tuesday pushed me back down to 4300 steps.  Despite a trip up north for a work lunch, Wednesday was the low point of the week, needing an additional 5 steps just to get to 3100.  Another work outing on Thursday, to Topgolf in Schaumburg, pushed my back up to 4200 steps.  Friday was a little better, going up to 4400 steps.  A trip down to West Lafayette on Saturday to see Danny and Purdue battling Minnesota led to the week’s best day, finishing with 7800 steps.

Total steps: 32,871

Daily average: 4695.9

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It’s Hard To Hold A Candle

We are entering the home stretch of 2023, and, to prepare for Danny’s upcoming birthday, we have various shots of him from the 2022 Purdue football season.  From left to right, he’s outside the co-rec heading to Slayter Hill for the band’s pre-game performance, finishing lunch following the pre-game practice, and standing on the sidelines of Ross-Ade waiting to take the field.

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Let’s Try This Again

This past June, the Big Ten introduced their “Flex Protect Plus” model, integrating USC and UCLA into the football schedule and having each school play nine conference games each season, facing every other conference opponent at least twice, home and away, in a four-year period.  That lasted about two months before it was announced that Washington and Oregon would also be joining the conference, sending planners back to the drawing board.

Last week, the conference announced their updated “Flex Protect XVIII” model, which, again, features protected rivalry opponents that will be played on an annual basis while ensuring schools will play every other conference school at least twice, home and away, but no more than three times in a five-year period.  The Big Ten Championship game will feature the top two teams in the conference standings, with tie breakers still to be determined.

So, once again, what does this mean for Purdue?  First off, they will continue to have two protected rivalries to be played every season: Illinois and, of course, Indiana.  The revised schedule now has them hosting Oregon in 2024, facing USC at home and Washington on the road in 2025, hosting Washington and travelling to UCLA in 2026, their first appearance in Pasadena since the 2001 Rose Bowl, facing UCLA at home and Oregon on the road in 2027, and, finally, travelling to Los Angeles to face USC in 2028.

Will we actually get through all five seasons before the next round of conference musical chairs takes place?  It seems unlikely, but this is the plan in place for now.  With Danny poised to graduate this spring, this will give me some motivation to continue going to the occasional game to see new opponents.

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Fitbit IX – Week 35

A successful week, garnering my highest step total since my trip to Seattle back in June.  Despite a trip out to Anderson’s Bookshop to meet Millie Bobby Brown, Sunday ended up a disappointment, needing 2 additional steps just to get to 2600.  Monday saw a nice improvement, coming 27 steps shy of 5400 thanks in part to a lunch trip to the mall.  A post-work trip to Wrigley Field, my final visit of the regular season, pushed me up over 8300 steps on Tuesday.  Wednesday fell back down to a now-normal 4000 steps.  Thursday also came in just over 4000 steps, despite a 2-hour drive to Lafayette after work.  Friday turned into my second 10,000 step day of the year, finishing just 15 steps shy of 11,700 thanks to a remote working day followed by Purdue football losing once again to Wisconsin.  A morning walk about campus followed by breakfast with Danny before heading home led to 4200 steps on Saturday.

Total steps: 40,262

Daily average: 5751.7

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2023 College Football Kickoff

My alma mater, the Purdue Boilermakers, kick off their 2023 gridiron campaign today, starting a new era with new coach Ryan Walters hoping to continue the momentum that led the team to the Big Ten Championship game last December.  With Danny entering his final year in the marching band and the family having season tickets for the first time, I’m sure to make it back to campus for more than my usual allotment of games this year after tying my career high with three games last year.  With that, it’s time to take a look at the results of the now 27 college football games I have attended since the 1993 season, covering six different stadiums in a whopping three states, including one bowl game.

All-Time Team Records

Expr1000 Won Loss Winning Pctg
Penn State Nittany Lions 2 0 1.000
Ohio State Buckeyes 1 0 1.000
Louisiana State Tigers 1 0 1.000
Notre Dame Fighting Irish 4 1 0.800
Purdue Boilermakers 16 9 0.640
Northern Illinois Huskies 1 1 0.500
Illinois Fighting Illini 2 6 0.250
Western Michigan Broncos 0 1 0.000
Northwestern Wildcats 0 3 0.000
North Carolina State Wolfpack 0 1 0.000
Michigan State Spartans 0 1 0.000
Michigan Wolverines 0 1 0.000
Indiana Hoosiers 0 2 0.000
Florida Atlantic Owls 0 1 0.000