2008... A Year in Revue

Almost 200 hotel nights in 25 states and 3 countries. What has Ben been up to this past year?

Let's start with some numbers:
-203 nights in a hotel
-162 flights in a plane
-102,595 miles flown
-51 rented cars
-5 pro baseball games
-4 pro football games, including one stupid super bowl
-25 of the 50 states, and one district
-2 countries... if you consider canada a country
-and a partridge in a pear tree

I started the year out well, braving the frozen tundra of Minneapolis. I watched grown men play the drunkest hockey I've ever seen in my life in Vegas. I thawed from the tundra in San Jose working with bicycle nuts and moon bats. I took a cab less than 2 blocks from where I was to my hotel because I couldn't figure out what way forward was. I flew from San Jose to San Diego to LA to Dallas to Connecticut and back to Chicago then San Diego to LA and into San Jose again, all in one weekend. I dodged jury duty AGAIN! I braved some serious habanero chili at the NASA cook-off, and then proceeded to insult one of our nation's greatest astronauts because he's a Giants fan (see: still bitter from the SuperBowl). I asked a girl in Boston if she was a taxi. I bought a jetski, blew it up, and bought another one -- then spent the rest of the summer on Lake Erie. I quit my job for the second time in two years. I was the best man in a wedding, and didn't get tackled by a line backer (or even knock the bride into a pool of water). I continued my sports team playoff losing streak, extending it to 3. I boo'd Manny loud enough for all of Wrigley Field to hear me. I sat front row for a Raven's Redskin's game, and got alllllll the cheerleaders' signatures. I FINALLY got to Lambeau field for a real football game! I discovered the wonders of drinking at a casino... and that no matter how much you drink I never spend as much as I lose playing table games for 3 minutes.

All in all 2008 was a great year, and hopefully 2009 will be even more interesting (and judging by our pending change of leadership, the outlook is good!)