A Few Days Early

    It's a few days early, I know, but since Christmas falls on a Sunday this year, I figured I'd jump the gun a bit.

   I'd like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas, and a happy and prosperous New Year. May all your dream be fulfilled, and I wish you all health, happiness and prosperity in 2023.

   And let's hope the new year is a damn sight better than the old!

TTFN

It's Hallowe'en!

    In the past since working at GX94, I've dressed up as a zombie, Australian (twice), zombie hunter, "lantern man" from the Led Zeppelin 4 inner sleeve, a "rock star", an Indiana Jones knock-off and a mish-mash off all of them.

   Last year, I was stymied, and couldn't think of a thing. So, for the first time, I did nothing. I wasn't going to let that happen again this year. But despite wracking my brain trying to come up with something, I was running into a blank wall, and thought 2022 would be the 2nd year I did nothing.

   Until inspiration hit one night, and I decided to come in this.....

   My Birthday suit! Not stellar, I agree, but the staff seem to have been getting a good chuckle. And, it's better that doing nothing!

TTFN

Been Far Too Long

    It's been months since I posted anything, but honestly, there hasn't been much going on. At least not until this past summer.

   We had a couple of huge, violent hailstorms roll through, which destroyed my wife's flower garden, and my old car, a 2012 Mitsubishi Lancer

   After the 2nd storm, I took it to a hail insurance appraiser, and was told the cost to repair it was more than it was worth. A "ding" count showed 51 hits alone on just one door, and many pieces of bodywork would have to be replaced.

   So, after consulting with my wife, I decided to let them write it off, took a cheque for the value, and went car-hunting for the first time in 10 years. And I ended up with this

   A 2015 Honda Civic. It does have a few more miles on it than my old Lancer, and yes, there are a few hail dents, but nowhere near as many. Still, I'm more than happy with it, even though gas-mileage wise it's not as efficient as the Mitsubishi. At least not on the few runs we've taken to Regina.

TTFN

Picked Up My Hardware

 

   It was a very quick trip to Toronto last weekend to attend the RTDNA National Award Dinner to receive my Lifetime Achievement Award. How quick? We left home last Saturday morning at 8:00 eastern time, picked up our flight about 10:30, landed in Toronto and had less than 45 minutes to check in to our hotel, change and go to the President's Social. Then, it was down for the dinner about 6:00 p.m eastern. Back to our room about 10:00, and tried to sleep.

   Didn't have much luck, and woke up about 3:30 a.m eastern. We decided to simply jump in a cab and head back to the airport for the flight home, since we'd heard horror stories of people waiting to get through security for up to 6 hours. We pre-checked in when we left Regina, and I'm glad we did, since there were line-ups at all the check in counters for our airline.

   There were maybe 10 people in line at security (it was about 4:30 by then), and we made it through quickly. By the time we actually boarded, the line stretched right down the concourse. Got back to Regina about noon eastern, went for a bite to eat, and were back home by 4:00, eastern.

   Was it a quick, hectic experience? Yes. Would I do it again? Yes. But I'd take an extra day to simply avoid rushing around. And maybe get to see Canada's largest city.

TTFN

I'm Being Honoured

 

   The group, of which I was the Prairie Regional Director for Radio a few years back has bestowed a Lifetime Achievement Award on me, recognizing my nearly 45 years in the broadcast industry. To say I'm honoured is a huge understatement. The award is given annually to people who have worked in radio, T.V and digital news for at least 30 years.

   In my case, I've now been in the broadcast industry in 6 different decades, the 70's, 80's, 90's, 00's 10's and 20's. My very first job was in 1976 doing radio and T.V news in Red Deer, Alberta. And while I didn't last long, the bug bit hard, and I was back in the game in 1979.

   I've lived and worked in 6 different markets in 4 provinces, but have spent 28 years of my career in Saskatchewan.

   I'll not bore you with a highlight reel of the past 40+ years, but I will say the time has flown, and technology has changed the business in a mostly positive way.

   Am I thinking about hanging up the headphones? Not yet. I feel I still have  a few years of productivity left, and I do enjoy my job. But there will come a time when the mic will be clicked "off" for good.

   I will be receiving a nice plaque from the association commemorating the LAA, and we'll be heading to Toronto June 11th for the awards banquet.

   Once again, I'm honoured and humbled to get this prestigious award.

TTFN

Still Alive And Kicking

    No, I have not gone anywhere, and, yes, I've sort of ignored this for 2 months. But I'm still alive and kicking, with no thanks to this fur-baby.

   Recently, she decided that at 2:30 A.M, it'd be a real good idea to use my toes as playthings, which she hasn't done in at least 2 years. There's nothing like having a nearly 15 pound kitty cat pounce on your tootsies, with claws extended, at that hour. Making it even worse was it was a weekend morning, meaning I didn't need to get up at 03:15 to go to work.

   Maybe that was what she wanted, was to say "time to get up Daddy!" If so, I'll stick with my regular alarm clock. It's much less painful.

   And if you're wondering, no, she wasn't banished to the bathtub as any kind of punishment, although some very foul language was directed at her. For some reason, she actually likes the tub, even if it's still a bit wet.

TTFN

Okay, Sure!

    This popped up in my "junk" email folder this morning. I have no idea at all what to make of it. I've blacked out the senders name (a chap I worked with a long, long time ago in Regina). The only thing I can think of is someone's cat lay on the keyboard.

   At least it was good for s chuckle:

M****** H******* frilling Herminia toreutics taiga Silvano cabalistic marimbas disinheritance visage capsize purist affront rearming Clint inexpert Almach slavery's crapper Izanagi precisian deceptiveness's subapically remigrate egoist's bygones redye babbled Croce's Frost zooms Jaguar's Laocoon's brachycephaly laggard Nicolette backing griffe Ciliata gamic manioc Fourier's nanoseconds metabolised progressionist proselytizers Willi deriving still physiognomies summoning Aglaia nonintellectuals crabbily dint marshier vulturine misdiagnosis's conic's uncrushable propagate endomorph source's stutters endorsable disturbs leakage's jornada Bahrein histogenesis godliness misstatement's DeGeneres desisted ragouts inadequately unloosed codas tabooing luxuriance's nonfat homemaking Hanuka puller's backchat woof's abrogated shoer guaiacum smallholder doggie salinisation fingerboard folksinger disturbances leek script's subprogram lobotomizes flusters rending 

TTFN

This Is Ridiculous

    Bit if a rant here, so sorry. Got into our building today, and when I walked into out newsroom it was (and still is) cold. Not chilly, cold. Walk into the master control suite, and it's hot. Not just warm, hot. There has to be a 15 degree Celsius difference in temperature between the 2, which are less than 50 feet apart.

   I'm having to wear my big parka as I sit keyboarding this in, even though I've got the thermostat cranked to 34 C. Why? Why is there such a big difference in temperature? Turns out, 3 of the motors in the heating plant are shot, and they have to order new ones (it's an old building). How long it's going to take to get them replaced is anyone's guess. Compounding everything, I have a heating/cooling vent almost right over my head, which is now pumping cold air.

   What to do? Well, with a few exceptions of websites, I'm moving into the news booth for the rest of my shift. Not ideal, but certainly a damn-sight warmer than it is in the newsroom. I just hope they got this sorted out sooner, rather than later.

Rant over: TTFN

Happy Holidays

    Here's hoping you all had a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Our household held a traditional low-key holiday once again, with our son coming up from Regina for Christmas dinner. With just the 3 of us, there was no big turkey dinner again this year. We simply opted for a roast chicken for my wife and myself, and a vegan entre for our son.

   New Years Eve was spent in front of my computer, and I called it a night just after 9:30. We don't bother ringing in the new year, and truthfully, we rarely do. Old age and weird hours are part of the reason. The other is we just don't care that much.

   About the only excitement over the past week was making sure my car would start. We had some bitterly cold temperatures (-37C0 and windchills of -47 to deal with. It meant I was out warming up the beast at least twice a day. She'd start the next morning, but didn't want to. And no, I don't have remote start, though I wish at times like this I did.

   I was also off last week, meaning there were no posts to wrap up 2021.

I wish everyone a safe, happy and healthy 2022.

TTFN