The Obituary

Some people might call it morbid fascination, but ever since I turned 50, I always check out the local Obituaries,

"...wow Jonah you have waayyyy too much time on your hands."

The scary part is when you read about these folks and they are your age or younger. He was a gardener, blah blah blah, he enjoyed the outdoors, blah, blah, he was an accomplished bingo player, blah, ba-blah, blah-blah! Ironically, you never hear how the dead bastard used to beat his wife or lock his kids in the dark basement, they are always loving...

So I decided to write my own Obituary...I really had a difficult time coming up with anything worthwhile, sort of sad really but a great exercise and a wonderful motivator to get my ass in gear and make a difference dammit!

Jonah Parker Cummings II, a radio broadcaster also known as Jon Robbins died today. Jonah was born on March 13, 1954 and is survived by his wife of ten years Florence Joy Cummings, Raleigh, a saint of a woman who Jonah should have treated better; Son Jonah Christian Cummings, Chapel Hill; Son Connor Scout Cummings, Raleigh; Sister, Tracy Cummings; Sister Carmela Sasaki; Brother David Phillips; Brother, Andrew Cummings, Brother, Norman Cummings and Celene Edmonds, a horrid, blood sucking little troll who lives off of pond scum and was his trailer trash ex-wife and mother of his youngest son. Jonah was predeceased by his Father Jonah Parker Cummings, Mother Zela DeBarro, Sister Coral-Ann Cummings and his oldest Son’s Mother Ruth Krauss-Cummings.

Jonah was born in Gulfport, Mississippi and called California home. He played football, made ok grades, did really stupid stuff and graduated from Huntington Beach High School in 1972. He enlisted in the U.S. Army and served as Missle Specialist for the 1st Armored Division in Schwabach, Germany. Following three years of active duty Jonah was honorably discharged in 1975 as a Vietnam Era Veteran. Jonah Cummings attended Humboldt State University, Arcata, California majoring in Journalism and had aspirations to become a serious journalist and writer exposing corrupt politicians and making the world a better place. Instead he dropped out after three years became a low-life Radio DJ spinning everything from Rubber Band Man to The Grateful Dead. Jonah began his broadcasting career in Eureka, CA at KFMI-FM and spent thirty plus years in Radio as an On-Air Talent, News Director, Program Director and Regional VP/Programming in Washington D.C.; Seattle; Spokane; Portland; Eugene; Corvallis; Minneapolis; Sacramento; Raleigh; Detroit; Springfield/Hartford and Charleston, SC. He was active in various charities and organizations including Make-A-Wish and Crimestoppers. He left radio in 2007 and became a political blogger, human rights activist and ball shagger at Rusty’s golf driving range. Golf was a game Jonah passionately enjoyed; he never had a hole in one or scored a round under par, but he did play the Princeville Course in Kauai and holed out an Eagle on a par 4 one time. He also loved to travel throughout Europe, Hawaii, and North America wreaking havoc and conducting classes on wine tasting with the locals daily at 6pm. When Jonah died he was an unemployed loser living off the wages his wife made as a Dog Groomer forced to squeeze anal glands on stupid stinking little dogs. His rotting body will be placed in a Hefty Garbage Bag and set out at curbside this Wednesday evening for Trash pick-up on Thursday morning. In lieu of flowers, send money to pay the Garbageman.

Golf-The Game That Comes and Goes

Was invited out to Eagle Ridge by Bob "The Blade" Robinson. He owed me for a round last year at The Preserve-so now we're even.

Had the pleasure of working with Bob up until I accepted a nice severance package from CC in September last year. The Blade has been around for years in Raleigh radio on WRDU. After the new guys from Charlotte came in and RDU flipped to Country & Western back in November, Blade lasted for maybe a week before walking off the set to the sounds of The Who...bold ballsy move, but I think everyone who knew Blade appreciated the gesture...screw the man...chalk one up for the working stiff. Isn't it funny how they don't call it Country AND WESTERN anymore?

Blade ended up in New Bern-Greenville on Classic Rock WSFL where he is happy, though broke to put it in his words. He's working and he's living close to The Atlantic---not bad in my opinion...it's always nice to have more money, but as I commented during our Golf Game yesterday, it's amazing how long you go without any money and cited myself as an example.

The Golf Round included Mark Brown a friend of Blade's who works at Heritage in the Pro Shop, a funny guy who apparently loves Sammy Davis imitations...Blade and Mark had fun talking up the Lounge Lizards...we'll be here all week, try the prime rib, tip the waitress and don't forget Fish Fry Friday...the impressions were endless...we all had trouble remembering who exactly was in the Rat Pack...Frank Sinatra of course, head rat, Sammy Davis Jr., Dean Martin (he was not even mentioned by anyone during the course of this meandering conversation), Peter Lawford---but the elusive "rat" I could see in my mind's eye but could not remember his name was Joey Bishop. Joey Fucking Bishop. I can rest easy now, but maybe should consider buying some ginkgo.

Saturday Golf was decent until the back 9, (a double on a par five and a triple on a freaking par three--13 fucking strokes in two holes---should have quit after nine) in fact had a 42 to Blade's 43 on the front 9 which I knew just pissed him off---Blade is very serious about his golf which is cool, but it's just a game to me and I know I am just a weekend hacker who lives in the eighties and low nineties---every once in a while this blind squirrel finds a nut and I'll shoot a sub 80 score---let's see--three times in ten years...did I say Weekend Hacker? Hey when you play once maybe twice a week and seldom practice what can anyone expect? There won't be any fantasies of Senior PGA floating around in my head...maybe a weekend at Pinehurst, just to say I've played it. Golf does not define my life---like it, love to play, respect the game, enjoy the camaraderie, like to compete but will never play for money, will never throw clubs into a lake and will never give myself a score higher than an eight unless I am in a Tournament like member-guest or in a rare instance of playing "Follow The Wolf".

Golf is a difficult game. Everything must come together perfectly to have a decent round and score. You can drive the ball a mile one day but suck at putting or you could be sinking all your putts but you spent three or four strokes trying to get on the green...you could have driving and putting down but spend the day chili dipping your chip shots or dealing with the dreaded "S" word. When you consider what pros must do (putting four good scores together on consecutive days)--it's a game you certainly learn to respect. Don't get me wrong, I aspire to be better, but only within the context of what I have invested. If I am not playing and practicing everyday, my expectations are not going to be high-I don't want to be miserable all the time. If I am at the range everyday working on my game fundamentals and playing three to four rounds a week and I am still not very good, then I need lessons and a lot of them!

91 today. A 13 stroke swing from just a few days ago...now that's consistency.

Ouch babe, that hurts. We'll be here all week....

78

Golf is an elusive sport. It's one on one---you against the course. Sure you may play with others and you may even play for money at times, but the real game is within yourself. I've been practicing my miserable "short" game in our backyard...chipping the ball to be specific. Practicing a chip with a 56 and 60 degree wedge that goes up in the air and a specific distance (about 15-20 yards) to a target I laid out in the grass...it helps. Today I was on the course, hole #17, drove it a good 275 yards, probably rolled another 50 yards and I had maybe 70 yards to a pin which was ten paces from the front of the green, tucked in the left corner. I hit a pitch shot off of a slight downhill lie with a 60 degree wedge, just as I had practiced it these past few days, the ball bounced twice and went into the hole for an Eagle 2, the guy I was playing with said he never seen a shot like that in person...first Eagle hole out for me on a par four-what a rush-yes, practice, practice, practice.
We're not moving to Fredericksburg, VA. Lovely quaint historic village surrounded by urban sprawl. Literally Fredricksburg is a bedroom community for Washington D.C. Lots of FBI given the proximity to Quantico, lots of Military, lots of Federal Government worker bee types making the two hour commute to downtown D.C. dealing with the white knuckle traffic and the constant road rage...wow, who would want to do this? Everyday? Crazy! I would not have to commute, in fact I would have been on a reverse commute if I had accepted the job. The reason I turned it down is the Housing costs. $300,000 will get you a shack on a piece of dirt in a crapped out neighborhood---the difference between Raleigh and Fredicksburg was mind numbing. It's really too bad, it would have been a great gig with a locally owned group of radio stations, but you cannot pay people small market wages when everything around you screams Washington D.C.---well I guess you can, and there are people who are working there, scratching out a life...I'm done scratching.

Was on the phone the other day with a fellow radio professional who was recently "laid off" and I joked with him about the irony of severance pay. You really cannot accept any new employment unless it is for a whole bunch more money that what you're getting in severance. If you decided to accept a gig with "another company" for less salary, they are quick to pull the plug on severance...sort of a Catch 22. Literally you need to wait until you've exhausted your severance before you can seriously look for a gig---there is no point in turning gigs down and wasting everyone's time. Here's what really KILLS you though. COBRA Insurance payments. If I ever do this again...have the company pay for the COBRA for six months, if not a whole year...1258.42 a month for a Family to maintain health insurance. If you have never coughed blood, you will start to cough it up around the five month mark and when your severance is done it begins to get pinched out of whatever savings you might have, pieces of your lung come up with whatever blood you might have left...not a good idea. Health Insurance costs are unreasonable by any standard...it plain SUCKS!

Here's the score. I've been sitting on my ass for Eight months now. Six of those months I got paid. The last two months has been a real test. Joy is working at a grooming shop in addition to doing her own customers at home. My website is still down and the business has not been marketed to date. I have demos for Talk Radio, Music Radio and am now working on a general VO Demo for Narration and Commercial work. Maybe I can pull some change down doing commercial voiceovers, at least temporarily. Gigs are out there and they've been applied for---some I've turned down, others are still "in process". I told a guy today that stability is important and that I'm not interested in chasing down another radio gig...I'm looking for a four year stay minimum so I can get Connor through High School...this gig looks decent out in Bend, Oregon...worth a look. Good area, good climate, lots of outdoor activities, small town, good schools...real estate is a little inflated but like I said...worth a look.

Radio has changed dramatically. The more I hang out on the outside and look in, the more change I notice, there's a lot more change coming I suspect but that's what keeps it interesting. So can I keep it interesting and look at the Mountains at the same time?

Did I mention that I shot a 78 today?

The Past, The Present and The Future

There is a local Morning guy on the radio here in Raleigh, NC, who I used to work with. He is very popular and is a talented man. One could say he has made a very good living pushing the envelope...he's one of those guys you hear on the radio that you love or you hate. Today I loved him.

He left the airwaves 26 days ago with the announcement that he had to undergo some urgent, unexpected surgery and would be out from 6 to 8 weeks. Many people speculated what it might be, others blew it off as a radio stunt for which Bob is very famous in these parts. For whatever reason, I was worried for the guy, call it a gut feeling, but I thought something was not right and that it could be serious....there aren't many things with today's medical technology that can lay you up with 8 weeks recovery time. I think most everyone thought it might be something related to his ticker.

Then came talk on the radio that Bob was about to return and tell his amazing story...they even had a countdown produced.

I tuned in, like everyone else this morning at 7am and heard Bob tell his story for close to 90 minutes before he said...I have a brain tumor.

The pain of the Past returned.

On my Son's Birthday, June of this year, it will mark 24 years since my 28 year old wife Ruth delivered our Son Jonah Christian Cummings to this world via c-section in Sacramento, California and then was wheeled upstairs for eight hours of brain surgery to remove a brain tumor the size of a tennis ball. My life forever changed on that day.

My wife was in the intensive care unit recovering from brain surgery, my son born two months premature, was in Pediatric Intensive Care fighting to stay alive. I remember being in the hospital chapel with my grandmother Ann sobbing uncontrollably and asking God why?

My three year old sister Coral Ann died of a brain tumor when I was thirteen and now this...you're damn right I asked why...I was angry, I was sad, I was scared, I heaved with emotions never before experienced in my life...I was a complete basket case unable to comprehend the events that were taking place as this was not something we prepared for.

It was sudden. We thought it was just a bad pregnancy, the headaches, the pain and the OB doctors not really knowing what was going on, until we had an intern at one of our emergency room visits say to us-

"...look, off the record, with the amount of Demerol in your wife's system, to still have this kind of pain in her head is not right, you should see a neurologist..."

We did, and in those days, Neurologists did not want to submit a pregnant woman two months from full term to a CAT Scan so it was a wait and see. The wait and see turned into another visit to the Emergency Room and when they looked into her eyes with a light, they immediately put consent papers in front of us for a CAT Scan and possible emergency surgery...it was all a blur at the time, but hearing about it on the radio this morning, 24 years later, brought it all back as if it happened just yesterday. The memory was crystal clear.

Painful.

Certainly, I do not know any details about Bob's surgery except what was shared today and honestly, I don't want to know. It's not that I don't care for the man and his family, it's the prospect of reliving those painful emotions and memories. On one hand I would like to reach out to him and his family, on the other hand, the selfish hand, I just want to move on from what was a terrible experience in my life and in my Son's life--painful memories of...

The radiation treatments that kill the tumor cells but also destroys the surrounding healthy tissue; the Dilantin that prevents your brain from swelling but can cause blackout and seizure; the Chemotherapy that causes your white blood cells to disappear, your immune system to weaken and takes away your body's ability to clot blood; the second surgery because the tumor returned; the loss of my wife's short term memory, her appetite and her inability to sleep; "experimental" Interstitial Implants of Radioisotopes in San Francisco to kill the tumor from within; the fear of the unknown; having to choose between further debilitating treatment or maintaining the quality of the life you have left; the counseling groups; the attitude that we will stand and fight and beat this thing; raising a young child who spends a lot of time in Hospital and Doctor Waiting Rooms while we wait for treatments or wait for news, the latest progress report...Brain Cancer is a horrible, insidious and unforgiving chronic disease...at times it seemed relentless and overwhelming, yet my wife, Ruth, was the most positive fighter of this disease anyone had ever seen at that time. A constant source of inspiration for all who were lucky enough to be in her presence; a tender and caring soul who loved life itself, a woman who was not just going to walk off and leave her little boy and her husband without a fight. Her fight lasted six years.

The Cancer beat her body but it did not defeat her mind, her spirit or her soul.

Today I was reminded about a painful past. I have learned to make my Present as positive as possible, to live life fully, in the moment and to appreciate what I have been given. I try to not worry too much what the future will bring. Each and every day I am thankful for one more day...one more day to experience the precious gift of life.

My heart goes out to Bob and his family. God bless.

ITS ABOUT DOING WHAT IS RIGHT

Two stories caught my eye and caused me to think...

Does anyone care? How does a person to get to a point in their life where no one notices that you're gone? Do they choose to not have any friends who might care about them? Have they chosen to be "Off the Grid"? Is this person asocial? Where is this man's family? How often have you heard that an entire person's family is dead?

Here's the worst part, how can you (or anyone) be dead in a room somewhere for seven years and have no one notice? Sad. A sad commentary on our society. This story, motivates me to think what could I do to improve my role in society? What could I do to insure this does not happen to anyone? What, if anything, could be done? What could you do?

BERLIN (Reuters) - The decomposed corpse of a German man was found alone in his bed after nearly seven years, police in the western city of Essen said Thursday.
The police said in a statement the man was 59 and unemployed at the time of his death. He most likely died of natural causes on November 30, 2000, the date he received a letter from the Welfare Office found in the apartment, police said.
Next to the dead man's bed police found cigarettes, an open television guide and Deutschemark coins, which came out of circulation after the euro was introduced in 2002.
The man's apartment was in a building with offices and apartments, many of which are now empty.
"No one missed him. No missing person report was ever filed," the police said.

NO FRIENDS, NO FAMILY, NO ONE CARED AND NO ONE MISSED HIM.

...then there is this story about Homeless Veterans. This story really puts me over the top.

People who served our Country, forgotten and thrown to the curb.

Sure the Military takes care of their own...the thousands who retire on great military pensions after 20 or 30 years of service...but God forbid you had to leave the military because of a disability incurred while serving your Country--or maybe you left the military to return to your family and your job back home or maybe after serving you discovered that a career in the military just wasn't something you wanted to pursue....

Veterans of military service should not have to endure the lack of quality care at Veterans Hospitals, the lack of mental health services for our Veterans. I'm sorry but if you served this Country as a member of the Armed Forces, YES, you should have special privileges; with jobs, with education, with learning a craft, with health care and medicine with social services, with buying a house and these benefits should be not be available to those who did not choose to serve their Country and they should be the kind of benefits that the "others" wish they had access to...but that does not seem to be the case.

Please take a moment to review The Services to Prevent Veterans Homelessness Act of 2007 and call your elected representative to ask them to support if not co-sponsor this ACT. Props, kudos and hoo- yahs to Senator Richard Burr!

From the News and Observer (RALEIGH, NC)

The issue of homeless veterans is not likely to help politicians win a lot of votes or lead to happy photo opportunities to make them look good.
In fact, when I asked Sen. Richard Burr about his championing of homeless vets, he couldn't even come up with a decent sound bite.
"It's doing what is right for the vets," said Burr, a Republican from Winston-Salem.
Homeless vets are one of those issues that can easily slip under the radar. They are often troubled men, fighting a multitude of demons -- physical disabilities, booze, drugs, mental illness, or maybe just some very bad luck.
There are more homeless vets than you think. The Department of Veterans Affairs estimates that on any given day 200,000 veterans are living on the streets or in shelters. In the course of a year, as many as 400,000 veterans experience homelessness.
"To put it in perspective," Burr wrote recently in a letter to his Senate colleagues, "conservatively one out of every three homeless men (and many women) who is sleeping in a doorway, an alley or a box in one of our cities or rural communities has put on a uniform and served this country."
It is easy to dismiss this as a big-city problem. But it's everywhere. The Department of Veterans Affairs estimates 1,600 homeless vets live in North Carolina. And 40,000 vets in the state live on incomes below the national poverty level -- not homeless, but living on the margins.
No dramatic reason explains Burr's involvement with homeless vets -- no family member living on the streets, no plea from a constituent.
Burr serves on the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee. And he is heavily involved in medical issues, so he understands something about the costs of the homeless -- veterans or otherwise -- showing up in hospital emergency rooms.
Which is why Burr has introduced the Services to Prevent Veterans Homelessness Act of 2007, which is expected to be considered in committee in June.
The measure authorizes the spending of a modest $15 million per year -- rising over several years to $25 million annually -- to provide stipends to get homeless vets into permanent housing and then provide support and counseling to help them stay there.
Homeless vets are often people with a lot of problems who need help on many fronts.
Burr, being a conservative, wants the program to start slow to see how it works. He also wants the government to include nonprofit and faith-based groups in the effort.
"When you look at this as a national challenge, clearly it's not enough money to solve every chronic homeless victim," Burr said. "But it would be enough to begin to collect the data we need to prove the success of it."
In the long run, Burr argues, such a program could save taxpayers money by cutting what is now being spent on the homeless arriving at emergency rooms.
But, as Burr says, this homeless veterans initiative is not about money. It's about doing what is right.

This bears repeating-

ITS ABOUT DOING WHAT IS RIGHT