Glad the weekend is here, because I’m about out of energy.
Ahh, so glad that it is finally Saturday. I still have a remote and some voice tracking to do yet today, but all in all, it’s gonna be a nice, slow day. Seriously nice, though they’re talking 70 for the high today. Which for mid November I will take it!
All this week I’ve been so far behind at work. I took Monday off to spend some extra time in SWK, and came back to work with a stack of stuff. And a deadline of Wednesday to get our auction page up on our new website. In the end, what happened, was I worked All day Tuesday until about 2AM Wednesday morning. I slept for a couple hours at my desk and got up at 5AM to do the morning show. That 3 hour nap though did wonders (even if it wasn’t the most comfortable) because I made it through a full day Wednesday and stayed up until about 5PM before konking out again.
So I don’t want to spend every week like this. But I look back and can at least say I got a lot accomplished. Next week will actually be pretty fun. My workload won’t be as strenious and our live radio auction will be Friday, which is always a good lot of fun.
For as much as I’ve gotten done at work, I feel like I haven’t got anything done at home. I come home and grab lil’ Luke and feel like I should really give Andrea something of a break, so I try to help there. Next thing you know, it’s 10:30 and my bed time.
I did fix the grill on Andrea’s Cutlass. When we headed out to Cimarron last weekend, the wind was blowing 40mph and a g.d. tumble weed blew straight into the front of the car. Busted the driver’s side grill. I super glued it back together we’ll see if it holds. JB Weld is the stuff to use, but I was out. Although the superglued hood ornament on my Toro is still holding together 5 years later. Hehe. Geeze, didn’t realize there was so much glue keeping our cars together!
Holy Haven’t Posted!
Wow, I never anticipated how hard it would be to keep up with the blog after Luke got here. I can’t really blame it all on him though. It’s not like I was making regular updates before! But it’s been a while so figured I should do a general update.
First off, Luke is doing great. That’s always the first question everyone asks, so I should get it out of the way. Ha ha. Really though, he’s healthy, he smiles a lot. I don’t think we could have realistically got any better of a kid. Andrea says she still is enjoying being a stay at home Mom. At least it hasn’t been bad enough yet to complain about.
Work has been really busy. Lots of remotes and just got back from the Kansas Association of Broadcasters’ convention. I won a second place award for our station website khokfm.com. It’s nothing special though. And actually the website will be going away here in the next few months as we merge all the station websites into one. Anyway, rather than recognition for the award, I mostly went to see some other folks from our company. It was funny though. I’m such a boring person. The first night of the convention after the banquet I went up to our very nice hotel room.
I mean here ya go. I started writing this one hour ago and this is as far as I’ve gotten. Where was I? Maybe I should keep track of the interruptions?
Okay, so I finish eating and head up to the hotel room. I kick back and relax a bit and turn on the World Series. My roommate for the night decided that he was going to go for a run on the
Sorry interrupted again.
He was going on a run on the KU campus and go see some of the landmarks. I’m more of a walker than a runner, and didn’t bring anything besides my dress shoes anyway. So I watched some football and figured if anyone is going out they’ll text me. So I watch about an inning and a half of baseball and the big supper is really starting to kick in. The comfy bed is feeling better every moment. So I decide that if anyone was heading out, they’d already done so by now, and I wasn’t missed so I was gonna settle in and enjoy a little solitary time. I get the PJ’s on and almost immediately thereafter, I get a
Sorry about that.
I got my pj’s on and right away
Dang it.
PJ’s were on and THEN I get the message to come down and hang out… Sorry guys. That ship sailed. I’m anchored to the bed now. Haha! So I finished out the game while playing a little Zelda: Oracle of Sea
Back.
Oracle of Seasons. I did make some progress! Then I finished up listening to a podcast I downloaded over the weekend and drifted off to sleep.
The funniest part of the trip was the drive home though. I was driving the station van and we got off the turnpike in Topeka and immediately after the toll booth, the road was closed. (We later found out someone had attempted suicide on the interstate and that’s why the closed the road).
Okay, hold on. I have to make a small aside here. I think suicide is the most selfish act a person can commit. I understand there’s disorders and mental conditions that can lead to tragic suicide. But I have little compassion for someone who uses it as a way to escape what they choose not to deal with by committing an act that only effects those around them and not themselves (they’re dead). Take this guy. Forget any family and friends who have to clean up the mess of finances, family, and are emotionally scared. But closed down the busiest road in the state for hours and collectively wasted hours of people’s time. So forgive me if I don’t think of a suicide as tragic. I just makes me think that person was an irresponsible asshole. But with that said…
We were guided off the highway to some north bound four lane and I said, “Well I’ll just follow the detour signs”. But after about 5 miles it became apparent that there were no detour signs. So we jog west a bit
Back.
We went west and then headed back towards I-70 again. Got on, but noticed that the hiway was pretty desolate. Sure enough, next exit, they had another road block set up. So we got off there and were in pretty desparate need of gas as we’d planned on stopping in Topeka to get gas, and couldn’t really afford to be running all over town just trying to get from one side to the other. So I pulled in to a Phillips 66 station, but what seemed like a decent neighborhood at a glance started
Sorry.
We pulled in and slowly started noticing bars on the windows and the sketchy nature of the clientele. Well, too late, we’d already committed. They card reader at the pump didn’t work. Infact pre-pay was the only option. The gal at the counter said too many people were driving off so it was pre-pay only (go figure). So after several swipes and two different gas pumps we finally got 3/4 of a tank of gas which was enough to get home and we got the hell out of there.
We headed south until we found something… anything that looked like a major through road that headed west in Topeka so we could get around the dang road blocks. We found Topeka Blvd. which was the only street that sounded familiar to all three of us in the Van. Of course road construction had this down to 1 lane a lot of the way. Basically by the time it was all said and done it took us an hour to get through Topeka.
Once on the interstate the rest of the trip was really pretty uneventful.
I’ve been doing a lot of gaming lately. I’ve found that now that my free time is divided up a lot more, it’s a lot easier to play console games and just hit pause when needed and come back whenever I can. Maybe even the next day. Guild Wars you can do that to an extent if you’re not playing with anyone, but if you’re going to be gone for an extended period, you have to stay logged in then hope that you haven’t got disconnected by the time you come back. So console gaming is just easier.
And even better beyond that, I’ve found that
Hold up… baby is getting grumpy.
I’ve found that portable gaming is really awesome. If Luke is hanging out upstairs and Andrea is on the laptop, I can grab the DS or Game Boy and go hang out with them and if something comes up with Luke I can just pause and help out, or if Andrea and I start talking, it’s easy to just put it down and come back to it later, no matter where we happen to be in the house.
So that’s got me on eBay now looking at a lot of old Game Boy stuff trying to figure out if I can fill out my portable gaming collection any more. Because unlike my console game collection, I’ve actually beaten and completed most of my handheld games. The only one I haven’t, Zelda: Oracle of Seasons
Poor kid…getting squirmy.
I’ve gotten pretty far in that Zelda game this time around. Farther than
Well I walked him around for a while, I think he’s hungry, but momma doesn’t think so. She’s probably right.
Anyway, I’ve gotten farther than I ever have before on that game. Thanks so much to backloggery.com for bringing to light this great game I still had and never beaten.
Hey, what do you know, he was hungry!
Well it’s been three hours since I started this… I’d better get to bed. Work tomorrow!
11.29.10
Status Update
What a windy good for nothing day. You know those pictures NASA sends out of the Martian landscape they get from the rovers up there? Desolate, windblown, frigid… yeah, that’s today here in Great Bend. I opted out of walking to work today. Take away my street cred if you must, but I just wasn’t feeling it.
Andrea and I have been talking about whether or not to get our free membership to the gym going again. I’d hate to get it and not use it because it costs the station money whether we use it or not once we sign up for it. I know it’d be a good thing, but that place just closes too early. If you’re not wrapping up your workout by 8:30 then you’re liable to get locked in. And heading down anytime before 7:00pm is just madness. I know I’d be good for us though.
Everything at work is really starting to come together. It’s hard to believe the hell we were going though back in September with the whole system change. There’s another radio station here in town that has been stuck on the wrong satellite all day. Been giving Charlotte traffic reports all day. Nice to know that we’re not the only place in the world that’s had a rough time.
Other than that, just plugging along. I’m so darn proud of myself. I’ve got almost all of my Christmas shopping done already. Between the radio auction, and Black Friday deals online, I’ve knocked out about 90% of the Christmas list. It’s a big stress reliever actually. The money is spent already, so that’s behind us, and I don’t have to fret about what I’m going to bring as gifts for that trip to someone’s house we’re making THE NEXT DAY. I know nobody’s suprised, but there’s been several years I’ve been wandering Wal-Mart at 8PM Christmas Eve hunting with all my might to find a somewhat reasonable gift. This year… a breeze!
So keep on keepin’ on. And I’ll try to do the same on my end!
11.27.10One last shot of the RCA
Off to Dad's from here. Kinda cool when you look back at what it was when I got it!
You can’t have mine… So here’s yours!
Well, a while back Dad, Carrie and Jake came up to visit and I was showing off my little speakeasy down in the basement and they were admiring my old GE Console radio. While probably joking, they offered to buy it. First of all I really didn’t want to sell it… and second of all they offered WAY more than it’s worth and I just can’t go about ripping off family like that. Co-workers? Sure! But you gotta draw the line at being a shuckster somewhere, right?
So I had it in my mind that I’d keep my eyes peeled for something for them. Good ol’ Trading post came through for me eventually (same place I got the Blazer… watch out)! A guy north of town was selling this old radio. He was asking $75, I got it for $60 and felt like I paid too much…
Here it is:
$60.00? WTF was I thinking?
It's old. And unearthed from a tomb apparently.
What a gift. Who's gonna want this crusty old junk? Even for free? The wood might make good kindling for a fire I guess.
Speaking of starting a fire!
So I’m committed at this point. I figure worst case scenario, the radio sounded decent and if I couldn’t get it halfway respectable I’d just toss it in a corner and use it as a work bench or something. If the record player isn’t too far gone and it cleans up okay it might turn out halfway decent. The knobs are looking pretty ratty, and Brasso has always done me right in the past. You have to start somewhere, right?
They won't be original with the silver trimmed knobs and all. But they look a heck of a lot nicer! At least it'll have nice knobs!
Then I start hitting the cabinet with a rag to see what’s just dirt and grime, and what is really damaged. Then some Old English. I’m no woodsmith so I’m not coming within 10 feet of this thing with sand paper. I’d destroy the damn thing, so whatever is broken is going to have to stay broken. Turns out once all the crud is scraped away, and the Old English brings some of the shine back, it’s not in too bad of shape!
Thar be shine! Haven't cleaned the speaker grills yet.
I'm starting to feel better about this project!
The most frustrating part has been the record changer. I got a new needle no problem. But the mechanism itself just didn’t have the gusto to run through a whole change cycle. The old springs were weak. And once I got it taken out to grease it, I found that one of the mounts that holds the motor on was busted, so I had to fab up some new ones out of hardware store parts. It seems to be working now, but there were some hairy moments getting from there to here.
So without further adieu. Here it is in action: The 1964 RCA Victor Console Radio!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVwO30oHgL0]
11.19.10Up early
I’m getting today’s blog out of the way early since it’s AUCTION DAY! It’s a big project we’ve been working on at work that all comes to life today. So it’s going to be nuts and I might not get to the internet for the rest of the day.
I put together a whole new auction website this year using Google Sites. It’s over at eagleradio.net, just click the auction banner. And if you feel like bidding on some stuff, just check the item listing and give us a call during the hour it’s on!
Here’s to a super quick day!
EDIT: Oh yeah! You can listen to the auction online too at the auction site.
Blog from the pocket.
Blogging from my phone. Trying this out since maybe it will help me ignore the blog a little less. We’ve been doing a major software upgrade at work, and its pretty much consumed my life. It’s been somewhat of a disaster until recently. Starting to finally get things squared away. Andrea was getting grumpy with me putting in long days for about three weeks. But this week I’ve been getting home at a fairly reasonable hour. Basically I’ve come to the point that I realize that the job will 100% consume my life… if I let it. Don’t misunderstand. I love my job, but I also love Andrea… and occasional sleep. So for now I’m getting as much done as I can in a reasonable amount of time, and making sure we stay on the air. No matter how fast things get done, it still needs done yesterday.
First post of July. Randomness to follow
Aye carrumba. What a crazy few weeks it’s been. I haven’t posted, and really I haven’t been online much at all. The biggest factor has been the promotion I got at work. Our Operations Manager took a new job so I had the opportunity to move up to that position. It’s going to be a new challenge, and one I think I’m definitely ready for. But right now, I’m still carrying a lot of my old duties while we get people trained and it’s a lot of extra hours for now. Eventually though it won’t be too bad.
A family friend, Dave Boyce died this past week and I was hoping we could make it up for the funeral in Woodlawn. I was hoping we could make it up, but our Camaro giveaway and the extra workload would have made it real crazy. I wasn’t that close to him personally, but he’s one of those guys that I just remember always being around when I was a kid and always there whenever I went back to Sabetha. It just goes to show ya that we could all take our last ride any day.
I’ve been walking to work alot lately. It’s only about 5 blocks from the house so 10 minutes is about my daily commute by foot. I don’t know if it’s really contributed, but I’ve lost about 5 pounds in the last month. The last few days have been so damn hot though, 100+ and if I walk home for lunch, I’m just a stinky sweaty mess by the time I get back to work. And nobody wants that.
I finally broke down and got a smart phone. The HTC Hero. Andrea has been dead-set on an Android phone since Nextech Wireless got them in. And I’ll admit, I’ve been sorta itching to jump on the smartphone bandwagon. Having my gmail and calendar with me all the time is REALLY attractive. So I’ve been messing with it for a while so far and really been liking it. The typing on the touchscreen is going to take some getting used to though.
So I think I’m just laying low this weekend. Kinda re-grouping. I have tons around here that needs done, but none of it right away. So for now, back to piddling with this damn phone!
06.30.10Possibly the greatest ad ever.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0vyx9sa99E]
This is part of an entire campaign for Dos Equis about “The Most Interesting Man in the World”. Presumably the idea was originally based on Chuck Norris, but Chuck held out for more cash (as well he should).
The thing that makes this ad so great is the power it delivers in just 15 seconds. He points out a truth that you may, or may not have considered. The “complimentary” salty nuts you find in many bars are actually there just to make you more thirsty… and also buy more beer. Somewhat scandalous if you think about it. But of course if that beer is Dos Equis… that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
Notice he doesn’t even say Dos Equis. Hell, he doesn’t even say beer. But the message that Dos Equis is a good beer, is obvious.
It’s stuff like this I wish I could get away with at the radio station. But here… if you don’t say the advertisers name at least 3 times and recite a street address and a telephone number… then to the client it just doesn’t make sense.
05.4.10Whew, busy!
Man alive!
Ever since our radio auction at work I feel like I’ve been playing constant catch-up. That was several weeks ago yet, and still I find myself scrambling to fit everything done I need to do into a short day. Now with a short week I’m trying to squeeze as much stuff in as I can. I need to be able to let a few things slide and deal with the recovery when I get back… but for some reason I keep thinking I can do enough not to be behind when I return. Yeah right!
So I’ve been sacrificing some time on the net to get some other things accomplished around the house. Got the valve cover gasket changed out on Andrea’s car this past weekend which seems to be holding well. Got my old cracked tail light lens swapped out on the Toro. Did a bunch of dishes and laundry the past few days. So I’ve been productive, which when you’re busy I guess that’s all you can ask for!