Hi everyone,

I'm proud to be joining Jay on this expedition we're calling World Cup 2006. It's funny, I'm 4 days away from making my first World Cup trip and all I can think about are the mundane things. Are the cats fed? Did the bills go out? Did I check all the faucets? Is the refrigerator running? Oh it is? Crap, I better catch it. And, who dropped off all these cats anyway?

Which brings me to the serious point of my participation with this site, to ramble on and on from time to time about my experiences involving the competition. So let me give this the quick rundown then.

1. This is my first World Cup, live in person as I'm sure it will be for many. Let's all remember to have fun and represent our country in the best way possible. Be courteous to your fellow travelers, wherever they may have come from, and your hosts. Give max respect, you should get max respect.

2. This is a vacation. Try to keep that in mind if your bag gets lost or your drink order is messed up or your food isn't exactly what you wanted.

3. Make the noise that the folks back home would make if they were in the stadium, make some more for our compadres who are going over without tickets, make even more for our boys in the red, white and blue, and then make some more for yourself. As both Slade and Quiet Riot once said, come on feel the noise... or if you prefer, Chuck D, bring the noise.

My point is this, on your way to Germany and in your travels throughout, you're bound to encounter a few mishaps and inconveniences but try to always look on the bright side of life.