HOME Visit

First let me say there are too many user names and passwords in our lives...WTF, who is going to remember all this crap?!

I have returned to the land of the working stiff. It's been four weeks since I accepted the Operations Manager position with Adventure Radio (read: Triad Broadcasting) in Savannah, GA/Hilton Head SC.

It is a job. Not the best job in the world, but it allows me to pursue my Voiceover business and we get to stay in the Southeast. The cost of living in Savannah is cheaper than Raleigh. The housing market has slowed and we have reduced the price of our house twice since we listed it. The houses we have seen in Savannah have been so so.

We are downsizing by choice since Connor will no longer be living with us--which makes me sad. I know he wants his Mother but his Mother has made my life miserable...she is a poor excuse for a parent and now she is living off of other people in the name of her Son...such a pathetic existence; I feel sorry for Connor that he does not see through her bullshit.

Lucky, Joy's horse has been given to Kim's daughter, Brittany. Kim is a friend of Joy's and her daughter lives literally above the barn that Lucky will be living in. Brittany has a non-profit and she will utilize Lucky for children who are handicapped...this is good for Lucky. So Happy Lucky is getting on in age almost 29 years old and making the move to HOT Savannah climate probably would not be good for him. Joy can see Lucky anytime she wants when she is back in the Raleigh area.

Birdie has kicked the bucket. She was an older cockatiel which we all enjoyed. She could be onery and bitchy but she was a good bird. Joy returned home from Savannah, Birdie laid a rotten egg and keeled over.

Simba our Siamese Cat has a heart murmur. I am NOT going to be sending our cat to a feline cardiologist...we will see how it goes. Joy of course is showering him with attention because of his new found illness...sounds like GUILT.

Rocky is Rocky is Rocky. I missed that dog. Coming home for a short four day weekend visit, I was amazed at how much I missed having the animals around and they missed me as well...LOVE is all around.

We bought a vacuum today. After ten years the other KENMORE bit the dust so to speak...but hey ten years is a long time for a vacuum cleaner. When I was growing up we had the Monster STEEL and Iron Kirby...that thing was solid...you could drop it from a ten story building onto concrete and it would still suck the dirt...amazing piece of machinery. Now these things are made of plastic, but Kenmore continues to be a brand that delivers. It's funny how a good vacuum makes your world a better place to live.

Maureen is our STAGER. We decided that maybe we need some help in staging the house to sell. She came in and made some immediate suggestions which Joy and I have executed...de-cluttering by eliminating books from the bookcase; taking the curtains down from the doors to allow light into the living room; getting some "props" to add color to the various rooms, getting rid of a Persian rug under the dining room table to better showcase the hardwood floors; removing the weight bench from the boy's room and making it into a "girls" room with brighter colors; taking a leaf out of the dining room table and making it smaller to increase the "size" of the room; getting rid of some of Joy's plants that were cluttering the room...it's amazing how someone can come into your house and point out things that may be negatives to a potential buyer and to add things that can be pleasing to the eye. I hope this helps our cause...if not the price needs to come down again.

Did some yard work. There is something Zen about cutting grass and putting things in order...or at least it seems things are in order when you trim the grass and and weed whack the weeds and blow leaves off the sidewalk...pleasing to the eye I suppose and it gives one a sense of accomplishment for however brief a moment...yard work unfortunately never stays done. The FALL days are a little cooler, not so humid and very pleasant...of course I would rather be playing Golf, but we have work that needs to be done...maybe tomorrow.

Time for some wine.

ACTING WITH VOICES

Well the GOOD news is that I do not think I will be "On The Beach" for a year. September 6th 2006 is the day I got laid off from Clear Channel Radio Raleigh. It was amicable for the most part, they gave me a six month severance to shut the hell up and go stand in the corner. They allowed me "resign" my position because they hate the word restructure which is what ALL of Clear Channel is doing restructuring, downsizing, cutting expenses...call it what you want but it is what it is and I got caught in the cross fire. It's funny when I think about the fact that Clear Channel Raleigh is no better in the ratings than when I was the OM "almost" one year ago. They switched WRDU to Country (which I advised against), they put John Boy & Billy on in the Morning and spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on Television advertising and the best that they have come up with is a 2.5 share 12+ Persons...only slightly better than the 1.9 share the Class A 6,000 watt "third" country station is pulling down...I think someone's head will roll on this decision, but it won't be mine, I'm already gone! The only upside is that G105 is now #1 12+, it's a terrible thing that they generated so much interest in the station during the Spring Book because the very popular Morning Guy revealed that he had a brain tumor---great..."The Brain Tumor Book". Clear Channel is a piece of work.

The picture at the top is my new LOGO for my Voiceover business and it was designed by Nancy Romness, a very talented Artist and friend who resides with her husband Mark in Charleston...I really like it and have already made up a whole bunch of business cards that also turned out very nice. The Voiceover business is very competitive. I will be starting Voice Coaching lessons (15 weeks) with Nancy Wolfson out of Los Angeles...from what I hear in the voice acting world she is one of the best. Had to cancel an L.A. Audiobook seminar with Pat Fraley, also a highly touted voice coach--maybe next year, he holds this workshop only once per year...damn!

By the next posting I should have GOOD News to share.

No Patience

I read the other day that the police arrested Travus T. Hipp for possession with intent to sell. I think these days he lives somewhere in Nevada and does political (left) commentary on a few radio stations. In the day he was the beacon of the hippie philosophy and his stories and commentary always reflected that. Today Travus is still at it and he is 70 years old...the only thing I can think of is that he pissed some Republican off. What a waste of taxpayer money...leave the old man alone!

Speaking of getting old, it seems that my patience with everything is waning. Life seems especially short these days and I don't have time for stupidity when it shows itself, which lately has been often. Stupid people like George Bush, stupid people who say stupid things, stupid people doing really stupid stuff...stupidity sucks and it is such a big waste of time and in some cases skin. People who drive recklessly and feel entitled that they should go faster than anyone else and not stop when everyone else stops--they stupidly endanger everyone else on the road and they should be stopped, say with a missile launched from my 1996 Honda Accord...yeah I could do that and feel no remorse, that's how I feel about stupid people...so don't piss me off by doing stupid things, I just don't have the patience for it anymore!

There should be a movie made about angry, pissed off women on hormones suffering from menopause that take out the gangs of L.A. and clean up the city once and for all. I would pay money to see that movie and might even buy the DVD when it comes out. Racist? Naw, just tired of stupid people fucking up the world we live in. The movement is so strong and effective in Los Angeles that gangs all over the U.S. disband, turn in their guns and go to Disney World for the first time in their miserable lives. After the three days of fun and frolicking in Orlando, they're gathered up and sent to IRAQ for the next three years and we bring the National Guard home...how's that for a freaking plan?

Here's a joke my wife sent me...made me laugh out loud. I think people should set aside an hour each day to laugh out loud, laugh until tears come to their eyes, until their stomachs hurt from laughing...sure would be less prozac being dispensed.

A lonely widow, age 70, decided that is was time to get married again.
She put an ad in the local newspaper that read:

HUSBAND WANTED:
MUST BE IN MY AGE GROUP (70's),
MUST NOT BEAT ME,
MUST NOT RUN AROUND ON ME,
AND MUST STILL BE GOOD IN BED!
ALL APPLICANTS PLEASE APPLY IN PERSON.

On the second day she heard the doorbell. Much to her dismay, she
opened the door to see a gray-haired gentleman sitting in a wheel chair.
He had no arms or legs. "You're not really asking me to consider you,
are you?" the widow said. "Just look at you! You have no legs!"

The old gentleman smiled, "Therefore, I cannot run around on you!"

"You don't have any arms either!" she snorted.

Again, the old man smiled, "Therefore, I can never beat you!"

She raised an eyebrow and asked intently, "Are you still good in bed?

"The old man leaned back, beamed a big smile and said, "I rang the door
bell, didn't I?"

The wedding is scheduled for Saturday...

There don't you feel better now?

Gene Simmons

What the HELL is so fucking special about Gene Simmons?

KISS? They sucked!!!

Reality Show?! Are you fucking kidding me?

Who am I to complain? He has a multi-million dollar house and I do not.

Gene Simmons has the KISS legacy and I do not ( but who fucking cares?)

He has a Playmate for a girlfriend (that's right not wife-girlfriend and they have two kids!)

He's making lots of m0ney. (Jonah you are a freaking loser dude!)

Seriously, I don't fucking get it...kill me now!

Smart guy though...he makes it work for him.

Fucking ROCK STARS...I HATE them!

I am Feeling a Little White & Nerdy

The i-Phone

Las Vegas

Recently I did a quickie Business trip to Lost Wages. Brutal. Got on a plane at 6am. Waited in Charlotte for an hour and a half, then got on the connection for a four and half hour, fun filled and uncomfortable flight to a large speck in the middle of nowhere. The high that day in Las Vegas was 104 degrees, whew, toasty!

Have you noticed that the airlines have turned into the old Mexican bus companies? I remember seeing the old blue buses in Tijuana crammed with too many people and they all had chickens in cages and goats on leashes. Usually the buses were so overcrowded that some of the bus riders were hanging out the windows. Now it seems anyone and everyone flies. The airlines pack you in like sardines in a tin box. 150+ people sitting three across with their chickens in crates and over sized personal carry on bags crammed beneath seats designed for people with small butts. Absolutely no room to move, very painful and a little smelly-The airlines should pay us to fly. Thought I was on the Mexican Blue Bus to Ensenada!

How about that airline food? Or maybe the lack of airline food. I opened the smallest raisin box in the history of mankind, it might have had twenty raisins tops o.k. maybe it was twelve raisins. Bottled Water now comes in the eighth of a bottle size---I call them two gulps and you're done. Airlines must import in their food from a parallel universe where people are all 13 inches high...why bother? Every time I fly there is some new innovative way to cut costs...the air conditioning is barely on as we taxi out to the runway and they don't start up the other jet engine until just before they are #1 for take-off---enough already!

There are also waaay too many "guys" posing as Flight Attendants...who wants some hairy guy who shaves his back asking you if you would like coffee or Hot Tea? I don't even know of any women who have that desire; besides most of these guys are gay...I hardly ever see Hispanic or Asian women as Flight Attendants on Domestic Flights, very few African Americans, what's up with that?

I arrive in Vegas and get a cab to the Hotel. Thought it wise to check-in, freshen up by throwing water on my face and change into a business suit for the business meeting. I wrestled long and hard with this "suit and tie" notion, given that even birds were not flying that day because of the intense Summer heat, but hey, it's Vegas and you gotta look good. The majority of people I ran into that day in Las Vegas looked like they just got out of bed, even the guy I met with had no tie...what was I thinking!? Anyway, I go with the suit, I go to hail a taxi and the very same woman who just dropped me off 45 minutes ago is the same cabbie picking me up to go to East Tropicana--what are the odds? In fact, she starts freaking on the whole event. Friendly though, a chatty older woman talking about her dogs in Vegas...during the ride, I made a phone call, put my phone on my belt clip and guess what? It pops off as I was getting out of the cab and now I have no cell phone. I immediately call the cab company to let them know I was just dropped off and my phone is in their cab...they don't really give a rats ass about it. They make a lame attempt of hailing drivers over the radio and saying no one responded...Freaking wonderful...I'm in Las Vegas, it's a Million degrees in the shade and I've lost every phone number in my cell phone...it's not really losing the cell phone that bothers me, it's all of the numbers stored in the damn thing...gone, lost, adios, too bad, tough luck. I had turned off the ringer in anticipation of being in a business meeting--so forget telling me I should have just called the phone.

What happens in Vegas Stays in Vegas. What's lost in Vegas, also stays in Vegas...money, jewelry, cell phones, wallets, your feeble mind...nothing is safe. Money seems to disappear with each step in Vegas. What's really painful to watch are the poor bastards waiting to leave Vegas at the airport feeding the slots with their last five dollars...whoops that would be me. Pathetic.

Meeting went well. Could not wait to leave. Getting a cab to leave seemed like an eternity. Got back to the hotel, changed into normal desert survival clothing and took a quick tour of the Hotel and Casino. It seems like everyone around you is losing money in the casino...you can really see it some of these poor bastards' eyes; that glazed over, empty, I just lost my entire life savings type of look. You can find them hovering around the many ATM machines in the casinos...or the bars...they ain't drinking, they are wishin they were drinkin...if they just had some money, they could have a nice drink and win all that lost money back....yeah right.

Let's face it. Las Vegas is designed to take your money and keep it. The odds are in favor of the House....ALWAYS. They may let you have the temporary "happy" feeling of winning, but in the end the casino will get back any money they "gave" you and then some. You WIN in Vegas if you can take in a show for FREE, eat a couple of good meals, get a "comp'd" room and break even on the alloted gambling money you may have brought along on your little family vacation or business trip. Never believe though that you will actually take a big wad of cash from the casino and deposit in your Des Moines Iowa Bank account back home--NOT gonna happen.

I ended up having some cheap pizza and a Corona for dinner and turning in early. The temptation to sit at a blackjack table was pretty strong though. I was proud of my "just say no" attitude and was content watching TV in my room...besides, I had some thinking to do about what brought me to Vegas that day, the meeting I attended and what the potential results might be. My internal time clock was a mess, so I really needed the time to chill out, rest and think...hmmm no cell phone now what?

I have to say that not having a cell phone for 24 hours and traveling was driving me a little nutty, however, I realized just how idiotic a cell phone is, especially when you observe and listen to others using their cell phones..."Hi, I'm at the airport, yeah uh huh, waiting for the plane, picking my nose hairs, you know...hopefully it won't be late, well gotta run, bye." As soon as they hang up they are talking to yet another person about "nothing". You begin to wonder if there isn't a greater need to just be connected to someone familiar at all times, especially when you are in unfamiliar or uncomfortable situations like an airport...too weird...now my head hurts.

As my favorite comic Denis Leary would say, "Shut the Hell up, just get your whiny ass on the freaking bus...uhhh the airplane!