Friday was another day for the conference. It started a little earlier this morning since we had a general session for everyone to attend (although I think some people skip it.) Just a quick 1/2 hour to welcome everyone (it used to be a 2 day conference, so the Friday would have been the 1st day) and share some info. Then I went to a session that I thought was supposed to talk about how unions are changing and all of the veteran members are retiring or getting close to retiring and how to get the newer members involved and ready to take over the reigns. Instead it focused more on looking at generational differences. This was interesting to see how the different generations view things and the important events in the world that influenced them, etc. With about 20 mins left in the session, I brought up my viewpoints on how I think the different generations view unions and that started some good discussions, but didn’t have enough time to get into it too much. It was a good session, just didn’t take quite the approach that I was expecting.

After the session, I was heading up to my room to drop off my items before heading down for lunch. While I was checking my phone, that is when I found out the excellent news that the US Supreme Court has agreed to take up the case from the 6th circuit to make a ruling on the constitutionality of banning gay marriage. We are one step closer to having this issue settled once and for all. (Hopefully!)

For lunch today, we just ordered food to go from the hotel bar and ate outside by the pool. That was a nice relaxing lunch and got some nice fresh air and a little sunshine. My afternoon session was Advanced Quickbooks. This was mostly review for me, but always good to hear the information to make sure I’m not missing anything. The session again went by quickly and had a good time.

After that session I had a little downtime, so I came back to my room to relax a bit and check Facebook, Twitter, and email. We then had a reception with hors-d’oeuvres and drinks. It is supposed to be for people to mingle and get to know people from other states, but it seems like most people just hang out with people they know. They raffled off a few prizes as well. Nothing exciting but had some nice conversations. Then it was time to head out for the night.

Tonight’s plan was to see a play performed by a theatre group that I saw 2 years ago when I was out here. Theatre 68‘s current play is a musical called Serial Killer Barbie. While the play wasn’t exactly what I was expecting, I think I enjoyed it more based on what it really was. It was about a mom telling her daughter a bed-time story and based it on her time in school grades 1 to 12. It covered the topics of trying to fit in, making and keeping friends, clicks, the popular vs. unpopular kids, etc. Then at the end it twisted into that she and her friend wanted all the popular girls killed, and so they did. It had many funny moments, some sad moments, and of course happy ones – a nice range of emotions. I’m glad I went to see it. Then it was back to the hotel room and another day is a wrap!

Today’s adventures (Thursday) were a lot lower key that yesterday’s. The conference I came to California for started. So the first part of my day was the conference. I attended a session called “Stress Busters” talking about what can cause stress in your life, what that stress can do to your body, and ways to prevent, avoid, or change the stress. It was interesting and had lots of good information, but it is easier said than done to not let things get you stressed.

A group of us walked next door to Joe’s Crab Shack for lunch. When we got there, there was hardly anyone in the entire restaurant and we were seated immediately. They took our drink orders right away and had those out quickly. A few of us needed a bit more time to order, so the waitress left.  It then took her a while to come back, and then took forever to get our food after ordering. Other tables that were seated after us got their food before us, etc. Of course you always get slow service when you are on a time schedule. We were a bit late getting to our afternoon sessions, but it was OK.

In the afternoon I went to the Advanced Treasurer’s workshop. I remember when I first came to this conference 2 years ago, I was a brand new union treasurer and just figuring things out. In this session I was almost the most experienced treasurer there – lots of new people! As the treasurer workshops usually are, it was fun, packed full of good information, and went by quickly.

When that was done, I quick stopped by my room to drop off a few things and then hopped in my (rental) car to head up to Burbank to meet Matt and Claudia, and their friends Brian and David. Although, maybe they are my friends now as well, since I’ve met both of them twice now. Two years ago and then on this trip! We headed to beautiful downtown Burbank for dinner. Had a good meal at a Chinese restaurant, but one weird thing is you had to order the rice separately if you wanted it with your meal. Then we walked a few doors down to a self-serve yogurt place for dessert. On the car ride back we had very funny conversations with innocent comments that were loaded with double (and I think sometimes triple) entendre!

Once we got back to the house, we visited and watched some game show related DVDs and had an overall good time. Then it was back to the hotel for some sleep!

Ever since I was a small child I remember watching game shows and loving them. Most of the shows sitting on my TiVos to be watched are game shows. I can’t seem to get enough of them. However, I’ve never been a contestant on one (although I tried out for Who Wants to be a Millionaire, but didn’t make it) and I’ve never been to a taping of a nationally televised game show. Since I was going to be in LA I checked the taping schedules of different games shows to see if I could remedy any of this – and thus we come to day 2’s adventures!

I got up quite early (PST, but about my regular time EST) so I could leave in time to get to The Price is Right! I got going a little bit later than I had planned, but for something this important, I had built in some extra time into the schedule, so I got there in plenty of time. As I was parking I noticed 2 other people parking that were wearing shirts that made me realize they were heading there too. So I went and talked to them a bit and walked over to the studio together and got in line. While in line I talked to them and some other people around me. I know this is not normal for me, but when it is something this exciting and I know I need to be more sociable to bring out the “game show contestant” qualities in me, I get it going.

Going to a taping of The Price is Right, is about a lot of waiting. First we waited in line outside the studio entrance until they started letting people in around 8 am. I was number 72 of around 300. Once inside the studio lot we waited in line and filled out our release forms. Also, while in this line the CBS Pages came through to write out our name tags and collect our forms. Then we had our individual pictures taken for use by the production crew. Also had pictures taken as souvenirs – which I paid for, figured this might be a once in a lifetime experience, so it was worth the $20 for a keepsake. After this, we waited in another line again. Once this line got moving, we moved in groups of about 30-40 where a producer did a quick interview of everyone in line, just a question or two each, and then on to the next line. It is this few seconds talking with the producer that they use to determine who gets to “Come On Down!” I felt I did good and was excited (didn’t have to force it, I mean, I was at The Price is Right!) Throughout the morning I kept not believing it was real and was so excited! It was then through security and into another line! All of the areas have benches to sit on while waiting, so you don’t have to stand the whole time. In this line they played an episode of TPiR on the monitors and then a “tips” video about how to behave in the studio, it was quite funny actually because they said things like to make sure to come down in a calm and dignified manner, and then showed clips of people coming down all crazy.

Then – it was finally time to go into the studio. Once inside they tell you where to sit (just to make sure they can keep groups together, fill in the seats, and whatnot). As pretty much everyone says when they go to a TV studio, they are a lot smaller than they appear on TV. I was still in a complete state of disbelief at this point that I was in the actual studio where The Price is Right is recorded. As the last people came in, George Gray came out and talked to us a little bit about how things were going to happen, etc. Then before you know it – the show has started taping. The lights come up, the music starts, and …..

THIS SECTION HAS BEEN CLASSIFIED SINCE THE SHOW DOES NOT AIR UNTIL FEBRUARY 25, 2015. TO FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENS, YOU’LL NEED TO WATCH THE EPISODE.

And just like that – before you know it – the show has been taped. A few observations. When people say it is loud in the studio – they aren’t kidding. Most of what you hear on TV, you can’t hear in the studio, Drew’s talking with the contestants, their Hello’s to people at home, etc. They are all drowned out in the studio by the loudness of the audience. Also, the time flies – absolutely flies and the whole experience is one big blur at the end. They do rerecord a few bits here and there as needed for if something wasn’t perfect, but it is pretty much real time live-to-tape. It was then out of the studio to get to my next adventure for the day, and I was hoping I could make it as I was running a bit late and it was already going to be a tight timeline.

I drove quickly (well as quickly as you can in city traffic) to Culver City to get to the Sony Studios for a taping of Wheel of Fortune. I was there later than I should have been, but got there before they took the studio audience in. I missed a step of checking in at a table (there was no sign that I saw to do so, and no one said anything, but then again I was late), but it all worked out and soon we were walking to the WoF studio. We get inside and along the way there are little displays and pictures of history, including one of the old trilons when Vanna had to work real hard actually turning letters. Again, the studio is a lot smaller than it appears on TV – it is amazing how with the proper set dressings and camera shots they can make the area look a lot larger. While they were getting the set ready, Jim Thornton came and talked to the audience, asking questions, sharing information, making jokes, etc. It was really neat watching them get the set ready. Then the taping began.

Again, can’t report anything about the actual games. It was neat watching them change the wheel configuration between rounds. It was a Disney themed week they were recording, so we all get a mouse ears hat, and they only recorded 2 episodes with this audience, since they only did a total of 5 episodes today, instead of their normal 6. Between the games Jim again asked trivia questions and gave out prizes. I won a t-shirt from when Wheel was in San Francisco in 2004. I won it because I knew the correct answer to who the original hostess was on Wheel. Jim was quite impressed that I knew the correct answer – which of course you all know is Susan Stafford. Also, during the 2nd game when some of the audience was petering out from applauding and I kept going full strength, one of the staff in charge of the audience game me a “blinky pin”. It is a Wheel of Fortune pin that has lights that flash like the wheel is spinning – kinda neat! I can say that the QuizBusters audiences are better behaved that this audience was. People behind me kept talking and almost giving answers out, very distracting. Also, when they’d talk when Jim was entertaining the audience, it was annoying, since I wanted to listen to Jim! Again, before you knew it, the tapings were over and I was headed back to my car. The two episodes I was at are scheduled to air on Thursday and Friday, March 5 and 6, although you won’t see me in the audience as I was seated off to the side more as I was at the end of the line as I arrived later than everyone else.

As I start driving, I realized I’m quite hungry as I hadn’t had a full meal since breakfast and only a few quick snacks in the car on the way to Wheel. I see a Burger King and Subway and pull in there. I decide to check Google to see if there is anything else close by that sounds better, and I find a Qdoba not too far away. I find it, and as I go inside I then realize it is part of the large Westfield Culver City mall. Before eating I walk around a bit just to see what is around. I had a nice relaxing dinner which also helped the traffic die down a little bit before heading back to my hotel.

So thus ends Day 2’s adventures. As I sit here typing this – it is all still such a blur and feels like just a fictional story to me and not something that really happened. If I didn’t have the keepsakes from it – I might not believe it happened. The dream that has come true for me today has no where nearly sunk in yet. Not sure when it all will fully hit me, but wow. I’m so glad I decided to come a day early so I could have this completely awesome day – I made one of my dreams come true, and maybe the 2nd one – but you’ll have to watch The Price is Right on February 25 to find out!

I hadn’t given it much thought to do blog posts for my current California trip, but after the adventures on day 2 – I decided to go back to day 1 and record this trip for posterity! So here is day 1…

When I found out our union’s annual winter conference was scheduled for Orange County/Anaheim/Los Angeles again I started thinking about how I should make it a mini-vacation as well, including possibly doing activities with my friend Matt again (and his wife) and they’d be out in the Burbank area again. So I came out here 1 day early and am staying an extra day so I can have more fun! Here are the stories of those adventures.

Day 1 started with me getting up way too early to catch my flight out of Lansing to get to LAX. When I booked my flight I forgot that there are several airports in the LA area and picked the one farther away from my hotel, but it is just a chance to visit another airport! I finished packing in the morning and left on time to get to the airport and got there in plenty of time, as I always plan extra time – just in case. I get my bagged checked and go through security. I notice that they send my backpack down a special section of the security, and then they tell me I forgot to take my laptop out, so they had to do special screening on it.  Oooops! The guy was really nice about the whole thing and even apologized for having to do it, but it was procedure. I didn’t mind a bit, I was the one that messed up, and it didn’t take too long. When I got to the gate I noticed that I had lost my FitBit somewhere. I went and asked security if I could leave and get something from my car and then go back in. I could, so I did, finally found my FitBit, on the sidewalk in the snow where a bag started falling off my shoulder and must have bumped it off.

Our flight was delayed first by the flight crew arriving late, then had to go through de-icing, and then had to sit and wait on the taxiway for them to fix some issue that caused an indicator light to turn on. Even with the delays we still arrived pretty much on time, I think they are really padding their times to give them lots of leeway. The rest of that flight to MSP and the flight from MSP to LAX were uneventful. I do need to remember to schedule longer layovers at airports as I like to explore airports when I travel, and didn’t have time to explore MSP again and stop and get Ben & Jerry’s!

Picked up my rental car with superb service from Enterprise once again, driving a nice Buick LaCrosse. Drove to my hotel without any problems, got checked in, unpacked, and relaxed for a bit. Then decided to head out to dinner and looked for close by Italian restaurants and picked out Marri’s Pizza and Pasta – a nice little local Italian restaurant. When I was there I heard another family come in and said they were there 19 years ago. I figured it must be a good place if someone remembered it from 19 years ago and wanted to come back. I then headed to a Ralph’s (CA’s Kroger) and Walgreens to buy some snacks and food for when I’d have to be eating on the run for my schedule. I then came back and went to bed a bit early so I’d be prepared for the adventures of day 2!