Week Thirteen

Talk about a wild final last week. It was my last full week with the West Virginia Power, and a crazy one at that. I gave myself a long to-do list for my final week trying to leave this place in the best condition possible.

Sitting in the rain waiting for the show

After a productive Monday, I decided to make the trip to University of Charleston Stadium to drop $21 on a DCI ticket. I haven't been to a DCI show since I was in elementary school and even though the corps weren't the top of the line corps, it was a chance to see a show. I didn't know when I could go see a show again in the future, so I took full advantage of this chance. I've been missing music a lot lately and was looking forward to this tremendously. 

Phantom Regiment, the host corp, began their show
with the Eiffel Tower

I was too cheap to pay for reserved seating, so I saved a few bucks and just went with GA seats that were first come, first serve. I was going to try and get there when the gates opened to get the best seat possible. Of course, heavy rain moved in right at 5:30, a half hour before gates opened. The rain stopped at around 6:15 and was a light drizzle for the next hour. I arrived at 6:10 with a couple towels and umbrellas. The start of the show was delayed until 8:30 so the field could have time to dry. I sat by myself in the first seat to the left of the reserved seating section right on the 40 yard line. The seat was great. 

The Blue Knights of Denver took home the top score at the
Drums Across the Tri State DCI competition Monday

There were so many walls of sound that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up and gave me chills on multiple occasion. It was a feeling that I missed and one that had me on the edge of my seat for most of the night. That was the best investment that I made all summer, even if I did choose to go by myself and sit in the rain around a bunch of high school students. It was fantastic. 

I spent the last few nights that I had free at and around the Capitol Building. Its peacefulness combined with its beauty makes it my favorite place in Charleston. 

My final homestand kicked off Thursday night with "Back to the Future" night. I spent hours watching clips from the trilogy and cutting up pieces of the three films to show during the game. I even created a special graphic for pregame. Well, our video board went down right before gates opened. After a couple hours of fighting with cables and troubleshooting, we solved our problem and had the board up and running for first pitch. 

The night included a post-game concert and a jersey auction. After the concert, I stuck around to help take down the stage. While we waited for the band to move their stuff off, we had a nice moment with the remaining staff members. I finally left the park at 1:00, only to return at 10 the next morning for game two of seven. 

My last Fireworks Friday. I made sure to include the inflatable chuck in the background of my Power Minute for the game.  I developed a love-hate relationship for that thing. I finally figured out how to get him to stay up. It only took the entire summer. He survived a few wind gusts and children playing on him two nights in a row, so I think it's safe to say he's invincible now. Knock on wood. 

Right around the same time as Thursday night, our video board went down again. This time, we could not find an easy fix. After my boss's phone died while talking to tech support, he used mine for the next two hours. It took a couple hours longer than the previous night and a journey up inside the board, but we fixed the issue during the fourth inning and had it running like normal steadily by the sixth. Coincidentally, we had a no-hitter going up until the seventh inning. 

The first thing I did when I got into the press box Saturday was turn on the board. It worked. We kept it on for the entire day after getting it turned on. IT STAYED ON ALL NIGHT. I started the night on wireless camera, moved to high-home and then took over in the directors chair for the first time. I spent about two innings there and went back out on the wireless camera. 

Saturday was also the day the team posted my final project video to their YouTube account and shared it across social media. For the few that have seen it so far, I have heard good things. Watch it by clicking here. 

It's a good way to go out. On a high note. My goal entering the week was to not be a lame duck as I finish my time here. I laid out a detailed report on the space on the computers in order to save and preserve space on our hard drives. I'm laying out a bunch of templates for future projects. I've done a lot this past week to help people in the future here and I'm satisfied with my work thus far. I still have a few days left and I intend on making the most of every minute. 

Because, why not?
Josh

Hours July 26 - August 1

7-26 Sunday: Off
7-27 Monday: 10-3 (5)
7-28 Tuesday: 10-6 (8)
7-29 Wednesday: 9:30-5:30 (8)
7-30 Thursday: 10-1 (15)
7-31 Friday: 10-12 (14)
8-1 Saturday: 2-10:30 (8.5)

Total: 58.5