What Happens in New Orleans...Ends Up On This Blog

Hello Chicago!!

Tons of action these past two months and I got some pretty good stories for ya so stay tuned.

First off, just wanted to thank everyone for checking out this blog. It's been great being able to travel and stay in touch with everyone back home. But because so many of you have seemed to either follow my blog, end up here in the midst of a hardcore Facebook creep sesh, or end up on this page by accident (which I'm sure 50% of the page views come from)....I added a Page View device to this blog and it bounced back with 845 views as of now. Kind of crazy to think that, but since there were so many views, I applied with Google to have this blog feature advertisements. Well wouldn't you know it, it was accepted and now there they are. So if you like any of the sponsors on this page, make sure to check 'em out because I think I get paid per click? However that works--I made $6.00 yesterday ha ha. Too funny.

But many of you are either reading this from your office, your classroom, dorm/apartment/house, or if you are like all of my friends back at U of I right now (or even my Brother), you are on the beaches of Panama City Beach, FL or South Padre Island, TX. I myself have been to both of those places in the past two years and barely survived, so I salute anyone that can make it through a Spring Break there. It makes Jersey Shore look like nap time.

But I hope everyone is doing well back home and just wanted to say I can't wait to be back at it in Chicagoland. Incase anyone was considering visiting, get ready for the Summer. Lake of the Ozarks is part of my territory and you betta be there. Incase you are unfamiliar with it like I was, google "Party Cove", but you probably should keep that Google filter right on there if you're at work. I think I mentioned that before though.

Get to it already Ryan. Okay, lots to talk about and I promise I won't bore ya.

I just want to let you know that I may not have had an official Spring Break, but I went to New Orleans the week after Mardi Gras for a National Conference and that was as close as I will get to a Spring Break. Sure I had to work a lot and go to meetings, but it definitely doesn't feel like work when work is fun.

But in NOLA, everything was great--the conference, the food, the weather, and of course...the beer. We saw best practices from Wholesalers & District Managers from around the nation, hung out with old friends while making a few new ones, and had pickle races at 3:30AM in a Krystal Burger after hitting the bars with meetings beginning at 8:00Am (which means breakfast at 7:00AM, which means shuttle bus from the hotel at 6:45 AM, which means wake up at 6:00AM...Ouch.) Pickle races are where you throw pickles at a restaurant window and whichever reaches the bottom first wins for those of you wondering. Anyways, it was a great conference where I learned a ton and finally was able to put a few pieces of the puzzle together. For my job, there are 10,000 moving parts and I've been catching on slowly, but this definitely helped. But enough about work...let's hear about cool stuff.

So after the conference on our 2nd to last day, we were all invited (and by all, I mean like 6,000 people) next door to this GIGANTIC bar called Sugar Mill. Anheuser-Busch really pulled out all the stops too. The food was amazing, the atmosphere was exciting, and the scenery was sick. They even had the original set from the Budweiser Frog commercial. I was lucky enough to take time during the happy hour to introduce myself to Tom Doyle, our new Region Vice President for A-B in the midwest. He's a great guy and am excited to be working with him in the future.

All in all, NOLA was an amazing time and if you have never been there, I STRONGLY recommend it! Just bring like...3 bodyguards with you.

And as if the week wasn't rowdy enough, hear about how I got home. At this point I had slept a total of 15 hours in 5 days, drinking very little water, and very much beer. Long story short, my connecting flight landed 30 minutes late, resulting in me doing a good 'ol airport run down terminals to catch my final flight, only making it because I jumped into an airport security's golf cart that was driving down the terminal. Too true and I made it as the door closed behind me. Kevin McAllister's got nothing on me. It was exactly like the scene out of Home Alone 2, except lost in Atlanta. I pictured Kevin's Mom yelling once I took my seat in the plane.

Dad, I know you're laughing right now. I'll save the scene where Marv gets electrocuted for another time.

But besides NOLA, work has been steady in Springfield. I spent an hour in the backroom of a high volume convenient store just hanging out with the owner and playing guitar. You may say "that's not work at all", but absolutely it is. People will only buy from other people they trust and like, and if playing guitar is the path to take, hand me the pick. But forming relationships is something I have become very familiar with lately. For example...

• --Hit the links to play golf with a wholesaler on a Monday for a long lunch...instant grown-up status.

--Thanked a bartender for switching tap handles from a competitive beer to Shock Top Ale by buying the whole bar a round.

• Met the staff at Big Whiskey's last night and bought the entire bar a round. Which is a LOT of people when the NCAA tournament is on. OUCH. Thank god we have money allocated to do that.

Which brings me to my final point. If you have never bought a round for the bar (packed bar, not like 11am on a Sunday bar), it is the greatest feeling in the world being called the "Bud Man" and everyone enjoying a nice, Ice Cold Budweiser all thanks to you (Nice little plug for Budweiser there). If you ever, like, find mad money on the street or something...try it out. Cross it off the bucket list type material right there.

Well I know I forgot some things but maybe that will be my excuse to get on here more often and update. Thanks again everyone for tuning in! Talk to ya soon!

Cheers & Happy Friday!

Ryan

And remember...please drink responsibly!