Wishing You A Happy 2007

This could be my final post for the year.

Beginning tomorrow, I'll be totally booked up with holiday things..tomorrow will be a big baking day. After that..family get-togethers, parties and such. I'm making home-baked goodies for the majority of adults on our Christmas list, becaise we had only a small amount of cash to spend for gifts, so we bought for the young kids. Most of us grown-ups have too much stuff as it is.

We are also going to travel a little and get out of the house. We are going to spend Christmas morning at my folks and have dinner there, then later the grandsons will be coming over to open their gifts.

After that, it's off to see Marianne's parents in Tennessee, then over to Easley, S.C., to visit Marianne's oldest son, Tim, and his family. They have two foster children and are hoping to adopt them. It will be our first time to meet the kids. We'll be there for New Year's events before heading home.

I don't plan to check email, post on the blog, or anything of the sort until Jan. 3. From Christmas Eve until Jan. 3 I'm going offline, EXCEPT to briefly check on the internet radio station. I am
feeling a definite need to re-connect with people and be away from the computer.

I have a MAJOR project mail-out scheduled for Jan. 3 and 4 with EasyLife/Universal Direct, so
that will have top priority. I'm planning to have it ready before Christmas. Then, right after New Year's, pop it into the mail..and viola..done. So far I'm on schedule with this project. Of
course, after that, the cycle will start all over again.

For some reason, I'm feeling a deep need to succeed with this particular venture, with as little help as possible. Maybe it's a guy thing. I know it's tied to my self-esteem and need to earn a decent living from home. I like the fact that it's not radio-related. It's not online. And unobtrusive. Except for having to work a few evenings, no one even has to know I'm working
on it. Often I don't turn on a radio or anything else while I'm in the dining room/office setup over in GG's house. Sometimes I can almost sense that she's encouraging me with it.

Whatever your hopes and dreams are for 2007, don't give up. Keep trying. For a while I became unwilling or unable to dream anymore, and I felt stagnant and hopeless. And, when you're there, nothing much changes. My dreams have changed somewhat, yes. After all the hurricanes and shark attacks, I don't want a beach house. I don't want an outside boring job
pushing buttons for Clear Channel or Cumulus, while someone from syndicated talk land rambles on and on over the air.

My dreams are more like:

A more secure financial footing and security by being my own boss
Providing better and safer housing for my family
Ultimately earning enough to bring Marianne home if that's what she still wants

So, it's less about "stuff" and more about peace of mind, to put it in a nutshell.

So, until next time, MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

See you next year.

A Few More Memories..

The list of broadcasters I wished I'd met, from the previous post, brought back memories of my first radio job.

I became an overnight board op for WTAL-AM 1450 on October 12, 1979. My job was basically just to keep the Larry King Show, then broadcast over the old Mutual Network, on the air. I
did get to play 30 minutes of music, from 5:30 to 6 a.m., when the morning show officially began.

Within a few weeks, I was assisting in picking out the oldies to play, as every third song in the format was supposed to be an oldie. That not only kept me awake, it gave me my first experience at programming.

When the ratings came out, our hybrid light AC/country/oldies format ranked #8 out of all the stations..13 or so at that time. I added 9 pm to midnight, a music shift, to my schedule for a while before eventually going from 6 to midnight after the Larry King Show was taken off and we signed off at midnight instead.

I have fond memories of WTAL and that format, which I have never heard another AC station that sounded quite like that. The old Mellow 105 came sort of close but wasn't quite the same.

I'm debating the possibility of bringing this format back to life with a 32 kbps stereo stream sometime next year. I have access to all the oldies I need, plus I have the bulk of the old WTAL songs in my personal collection of music, so it wouldn't be difficult to replicate.

This might be my next radio project..

Broadcasters I Wish I'd Had the Chance to Meet

Through my years in broadcasting, I have met a number of fine folks - announcers, board operators, sales reps, newscasters - and I'm all the richer for it, for the most part.

When I was in 7th grade, "Bob Richards" delivered the 7:00 AM news each weekday morning as we waited in the car with Dad for the school bus. He was
on the old WTNT-AM 1270 "full service" format - heavy on info with a few very lite songs here and there. In 1979, I did meet Bob - real name Rich Froemke - and we were close friends for many years, up until his death a few years ago. Great man, great voice - and I still miss our regular get-togethers and fellowship.

A few other folks I wish I could have met along the way:

Wayne Hodges, announcer on country WOMA-FM 94.9 - sparked my early interest in country radio.

Bear Bradley on 1510 WLAC Nashville - Top 40 picked up on skywave. I didn't really even like Top 40 but I loved listening to "Bear with the Hair" on LAC. He's
in Illinois now and we've corresponded in the last year.

The late Brody Timm - owned a number of stations, including Tallahassee's Gulf 104. Only had the chance to speak with him by phone. He was very encouraging, despite the fact that I did not have the voice they wanted on Gulf!

Vic Swan - was part of the Swan and Jacobs morning show on WONS AM 1410 when I was growing up.

Richard Harris - announcer and engineer on the old WLOR in Thomasville

The late Dan Trout, whose last gig was at WTUF-FM in Thomasville

Meredith Braswell, who also used 'Mike Evans" and "Dale Mitchell" on several local country stations. He was my all-time favorite country DJ.

There are probably countless others..but these guys were the ones I most respected for their talent and profession.

Thanks for your inspiration.

2007..The Year of the Facelift

I have a MAJOR New Year's resolution and goal for 2007.

The goal is to replace our mobile home with a different one. The new one is slightly smaller
which I'm starting to think could be a good thing.

Because..I also want to have created and built, two outdoor living areas. A front porch, which will be at least covered and furnished with a couple of rocking chairs, and possibly screened in..will be the first. The second will be a completely screened in and covered back porch/deck large enough for some furniture, a table and room for the boys to play.

If things go according to schedule, this will take place in the spring. This mobile home will be
pulled out and either hauled off or donated to a ministry. Then the new one will be placed on our same homesite, but angled differently, which will create a better backyard layout.

The radio station will have to be relocated. There won't be any space for it in the new house.
So it will get a makeover as well, which is also a good thing. There is simply not enough room
here for it to stay uncluttered. It most likely will move next door, at least for a while. That will
give it plenty of room, along with my EasyLife business.

I'm sure that this will push us into getting things better organized. That in itself has just GOTTA happen.

That's such a lofty goal I don't hardly need others! But here they are..

1.) To build the EasyLife business up to a viable income producer. I've already set up goals
to meet, so that I know exactly what to strive for each quarter.

2.) To work on my self-esteem. Our financial situation has destroyed my self-esteem, which was never that good to begin with. Since leaving WCVC in 2004 I've felt like I have never quite figured out what it is I'm supposed to be doing with my life.

3.) To work on "connecting" with people. I feel so detached and isolated since leaving commercial radio that I have not been able to really develop new friendships. I'm finding
it difficult, since my answer to "What do you do" is "Stay home with the two grandsons."
That's not a career, it's a temporary deal to help their mother get her career started. I feel like I don't have much to offer anyone.

4.) To complete my writing course. This will happen, but I felt it was important to put it in writing along with the other items.

Thought I'd get an early start on these resolutions, since the cleaning for the facelift is already
getting underway. Why wait??!!

Have A Holly Jolly Christmas!

The house is getting all decked out for Christmas.

The tree is up, our front porch has outside lights, and the Christmas baking is underway.

Despite the fact that our Christmas budget is barely hovering above zero, I feel more in the Christmas spirit this year for some reason. Maybe it is because the boys are enjoying everything more this year.

I like the fact that the living room area looks really nice after getting it cleaned and the furniture rearranged. It looks less cluttered.

From our family to yours..Merry Christmas!

Okay, Here Goes..Again...

The FedEx truck pulled up today around 5:00 this afternoon with a couple of heavy boxes. But these weren't Christmas presents.

They're holding my latest project/business. A direct mail project for Universal Direct Mail, the mail-marketing arm of EasyLife Marketing. I've been doing small tests of this promotion, and now, it's time for the next phase..

The roll-out. Actually, the company has already done the basic roll-out. I'm
getting involved with the company once again to help with their actual mailing
and promotion.

My last involvement with EasyLife was in 2003. I actually made some decent money at that point, until they closed their direct mail program. It turned out to be an unwise decision on their part, as Internet-only just didn't pull the numbers like direct mail did.

Well, I've jumped in again. I hope thay keep this going for a long time, as I just have not found another company like this one that pays so promptly. The pay is based on results, so no need to punch a time clock or keep a time card. I really like that part.

I've set up an office area to work in at GG's dining room table. If she were still living and in good health, don't you know she'd be right there with me, putting
letters together and going off to get more stamps?

GG used to always tell me I had the brains to make things work. I'm working on this project, plus one involving a housing grant for us, in addition to keeping Benjamin and Daniel during the day and running the radio station (at least it is only one station right now.) If everything just clicks now, maybe we can be in a safe house by late spring. I sure hope so.

I'm working this venture hard..for my family, and for GG.