I blew it today.

If you’re looking for our weekly “Checking In” feature in the Pilot today and can’t find it that’s my fault. I’m in charge of coordinating our “Checking In” feature each week. You might have seen it on our weekly shopping page — it goes with Greer Wylder’s terrific column. It’s a relatively new chore for me that I’ve picked up, but I get a kick out of it. Generally, ideas come from all kinds of places. Sometimes I time it for a holiday or an event — like the time I did the Q and A with a matchmaker to coincide with Valentine’s Day.

This week I was planning on doing an e-mail interview with PM Tenore, the president and creative director of RVCA, an apparel company in Costa Mesa that has grown fast enough to catch President Obama’s attention. Tenore was among many small business owners invited to the White House to meet the president and hear his plan to revitalize small business in the country.

When Tenore’s father e-mailed me about it I thought it was a terrific idea for a story to coincide with our coverage of the president’s visit here last week, especially since Tenore was also at the town hall meeting at the fairgrounds. But I tried to no avail to contact Tenore and his staff.

They finally responded to me after Obama’s visit and I thought, well, it’s not a lost cause. I could use it for the Checking In feature. I usually e-mail questions to my interview subjects and they respond through e-mail. It’s a lot easier than conducting a personal interview when doing that Q-and-A format.

So I sent the questions and waited for a reply. And waited. Then Brad Blankinship e-mailed me back saying he wanted to make this happen, but did I send the questions? So I sent them again. And I made it clear we needed a picture of Pat Tenore and those replies on the questions by Thursday.

So I waited some more this week. I got nervous yesterday, but then this morning one of his assistants e-mailed me to tell me they would get it done today. Thank God, I thought. So I waited through the morning and into the afternoon, but still nothing. I called, left messages and e-mailed them. Nothing.

Finally, out of frustration and panic I drove over to their offices on the Westside. The receptionist said, “Are they expecting you?”

“Well, no, but I’ve tried to contact them over the past few days and no one’s responding.”

So she scampered up the stairs to the offices and Brad came down to get me. He introduced me to Tenore and we had an interesting conversation about his visit with Obama and some of the work his artists are doing. It was an off-the-record conversation so I won’t go into details, but I was impressed and thought I was glad I had driven over there because I could see potential for all kinds of stories about what’s happening over at RVCA. When I told them about my homeless project and the articles I had written, Tenore was particularly intrigued. I mentioned to them that I’m trying to organize a “Game Night” for the homeless. They seem to be covered locally with food, clothes and some shelter when the weather’s very bad, but what do they have to look forward to in any recreational sense? When I was a kid in high school I would volunteer at a home for senior citizens and it was good therapy to play cards with them and just talk to them. I’m hoping to do the same for our homeless neighbors. But my biggest hurdle right now is finding a venue for that. I thought I might have that problem solved with RVCA’s huge warehouse. Blankinship told me there’s plenty of room there and Tenore’s big on giving back to the community.

Perfect, I thought.

But then I got back to the office and waited and waited and waited. About 7:10 p.m., hours after my deadline, I finally got Blankinship on his cell phone. He said he had gotten tied up with a chore and it took longer than he figured but he would call me back in 10 minutes.

Guess what? I waited and waited and waited until I had to make the painful decision to plug that hole in the paper with a house ad.

But, again, it’s my fault. I should have had a Plan B. I usually do. I let you, my readers, down. And for that I apologize.

The saddest part about all this is it looks like I’ll have to keep looking for a home for my “Game Night.” If anyone has any ideas or can help, please let me know.

P.S. Brad finally e-mailed me just now at 9 p.m. with his apologies. He hadn’t completed the interview. Reminds me of what Sister Margot, my favorite teacher who taught me art in high school, used to say: Give an artist two weeks to do a painting and they’ll take two weeks. Give them two years and they’ll take two years.

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