Friday, 8/29

I would like to know the story behind the shoe.

When I was walking to work yesterday morning I saw the shoe, just as it was pictured above, on the steps of the Peter White Public Library.  When I walked past the library again on my way home last night, the shoe was still sitting there.

I want to know why.

The shoe must've been left on the steps some time Wednesday night after 930 or so, when I walked home from a show Jack & I did at the Lake Superior Theater.  I'm pretty sure I know how it got there, and in case you didn't know how I'll share a little secret with you--

On any given night something happens in downtown Marquette.  On any given night people consume alcohol in downtown Marquette.  I know it's shocking, but as someone who lives and works in and near downtown, I can tell you it's true.  And that's why I'm fairly certain that the shoe on the steps of the library probably has something to do with alcohol being consumed.

So we've established that.

What I'm a little more curious about, though, is what happened to the person who lost the shoe?  Was she carrying both shoes in her hand, had to sit down because (and I'm guessing here) she drank a little too much and just forgot to pick one of her shoes up?  Or did she somehow lose one of her shoes while standing on the library steps, then end up making her way home with one foot bare and the other in a shoe with a 3-inch heel?  I'm guessing that wouldn't have been the most comfortable walk home, but depending upon the amount of alcohol consumed that may not have mattered.

By the way, have I ever mentioned that people drink alcohol in downtown Marquette on any given night?

Now, when I walked to work this morning the shoe was gone, which means that either the person who lost it retraced her steps and found it, or (more likely) someone from the library saw a shoe on their steps and got rid of it.  While that's probably a good thing for the environment, it still does not answer the most pressing question of our time--

Just how DID the shoe end up on the steps of the library?  It's a mystery to ponder over the long holiday weekend, I guess.  See you Tuesday!

(jim@wmqt.com) 

Thursday, 8/28

The kids I saw in Lower Harbor Park Tuesday are the reason there's a meeting being held tonight.

Those of you who live in Marquette are well aware of the e-bike problem we have here in the city; especially with teenagers riding where they shouldn't on bikes they shouldn't. Many of the e-bikes causing problems are throttled e-bikes; they're basically little electric motorcycles that people who don't know how to use are using.

And causing problems by doing so.

Anyway, I spent a little time down at Lower Harbor Park Tuesday putting together commercial logs for the start of high school football on our Rockin' Eagle station, and while I was doing so a group of 4 14 or 15-year olds decided to invade the park with their electric motorcycles, riding up and down the grass (which you're not supposed to do) and weaving in and out of people who were trying to do whatever one does in a park (also something else you're not supposed to do). I think someone must have called the police on them, as a patrol car soon showed up. By then, however, the kids had ridden away, leaving a wake of angry park users in their wake.

You see what the problem is, right?

Bad cell phone picture I took of some of the kids zooming across the grass at Lower Harbor Park

Because of situations like the one I witnessed, the city of Marquette has set up an "E-Bike and Multi Use Path Task Force", which has been charged with gathering public opinion, and then setting up rules on where e-bikes and their riders belong and where they don't. It's a good idea, although there already ARE rules in regards to the bike paths and what you can or can not ride on them. I'm hopeful the task force can help curb the problem; I also know that, with kids being kids, it might take something a little stronger than that, like, you know, parents actually getting involved in what their kids are doing and letting them know the difference between having fun and being a complete jerkwad.

I mean, both you and I know that that's probably not gonna happen, but a boy can dream, right?

Anyway, the Task Force is looking for public input at several meetings they're having the next few months, including one today at 530 at the Citizen's Forum at Lakeview Arena, and you're more than welcome to help them out. If you can't make one of the meetings, they're also soliciting comments online at the city's website. So if you have an opinion on the matter, or an incident you'd like to recount, do so.

Who knows? Maybe Marquette might be a safer place because of it.

(jim@wmqt.com)

Wednesday, 8/27

It was something I didn't want to see, yet something I knew was coming.

As I mentioned yesterday, I got a lot of stuff done Monday on my day off. One f those things was shooting video (something I'll explain in a day or two), and while I was out shooting said video I came across something that I did NOT want to see.

Namely, I saw this--

It's always a shock when you see the first leaf (or 12) changing, even though they start to do so this time of the year. We don't want them to, and I'm guessing that if they had a choice they wouldn't want to, either, but change they do...

And change--or at least starting to change--they have.

This was actually something I talked about on TV this week; namely, about the exact day summer ended, which, of course, leads to things like the sight I saw earlier that day. It's just another one of a long list of signs that summer is, indeed, coming to an end, and now we have nothing to look forward to in the next seven or eight months except gloom, cold, rain, more cold, snow, ice, and even more cold.

That should be fun, right?

I also find it a bit ironic that as soon as the weather starts to turn fall-like the fire haze & smoke goes away. I mean, I know from a scientific standpoint that one has nothing to do with the other. But still, when you think about it...

It's ironic. And that's all I'm gonna say about that

Although we both know it's not gonna happen, I'm vowing to make this the last time I whine about the weather. Although, maybe just to be on the safe side, I should make a vow that it's the last time this month I whine about the weather.

Either way, the change I saw on Monday is yet another sign that, indeed, summer's over.

(jim@wmqt.com)

Tuesday, 8/26

Look. I'm still a freak!!

First of all, I'm back. I had a good long weekend, and despite the (occasionally) crappy weather got a lot of stuff done (which these days, is always an important thing). One of the things I did was come across a new fact that I had not yet come across.

This new fact? I weigh less than the average American woman.

I was leafing through a New York Times article about the marketing of plus sized fashions when I saw the statistic that the average American woman weighs 164 pounds, and that clothing designers are, in some cases, trying to come out with lines that reflect that fact. I don’t remember exactly what the rest of the article was about, because of the fact that I realized that I weigh four pounds less than the average woman in this country.

And it’s funny; at 160 pounds, I feel like I could drop a pound or two myself, probably because I have an idea of how I want to look (you know, like I have muscles) yet don't actually have the body type to look that way. Yet I still weigh less than the average American woman. Now, me being me, I had to look up the weight of an average American man, and what I found blew my mind--

I weigh 31 pounds less than the average American man, who clocks in at 191 pounds.

Now, admittedly, I’m somewhat small boned, and you all have an idea of my exercise and eating habits. But to be 31 pounds lighter than the average American man, or four pounds lighter than the average American woman? I don’t know if that says something about me or something about the country as a whole, but I sure know it says something.

That’s just the strange fact, one in an ongoing series, blew my mind. And it's more proof as to why, although in a much different context than usual, that my life is one weird thing after another.

It's not easy being me. Really, it's not.

8-)

(jim@wmqt.com)

Friday, 8/22

It really can't be, can it?

It's been a weird summer, as we all know, one that hasn't really felt like “summer” thanks to the fire haze, sometimes violently wet weather we've had, and the temperatures that have sometimes fluctuated 40 degrees in one day. (Although thankfully yesterday, our “ripple” day out at Lake Michigamme, was quite nice). So I'm not quite sure how I feel about something I've been working on this past week--

I've been working on high school football broadcasts on our Rockin' Eagle station, which starts next Thursday...six days from today.

Yup; one of the most cherished of American fall tradition kicks off in a mere six days when the high school football season gets into gear. I haven't really had the chance to fully enjoy summer yet, and apparently the season has just passed us by.

Why, oh summer, why???

Even though it doesn't seem like it's even begun I'm in no way ready for summer to end. It seems, at least to me, like it just started. It seems, at least to me, that I've just finally started to thaw out from the winter we just lived through. It seems, at least to me, like we should be, at the most, halfway through the most glorious season of the year.

But alas, that's not the case. The sun no longer sets at 10pm nor rises before 6am. The flowers that bloomed in polychromatic majesty are now drying up. And if you look closely, you'll notice that leaves on trees aren't quite as green as they used to be.

In fact, in some cases they're orange or red. And no matter how much you try to ignore that their numbers just keep growing and growing.

So I probably shouldn't be surprised that high school football season starts in less than a week. Pretty soon it'll be joined by a crisp feeling in the air, leaves falling, and that inevitable day when the first flakes pop up in the air. Even though it seems like summer just started, we all know we're closer to the first day of snow than we are the first day of summer.

The beginning of high school football season is, sadly, just another reminder of that.

Have a great weekend.  Due to corporate holidays I have Monday off, so back with something new Tuesday!

(jim@wmqt.com)

Wednesday, 8/20

Tomorrow, we get to experience a “ripple”.

It's been a while, but I think I've written in here before about the concept of a “ripple”. It's what happens when do you something, and some time in the future something entirely different comes from that occurrence, much like what happens when you throw a stone into a pond, and the ripple moves a leaf sitting on the water feet away from it.

Except, you know, in real life.

Loraine's World War II research and my history work has given us so many different “ripples” in the past two decades that we've lost track of all of them. We really appreciate the ripples, and each and every time one of them reaches our “shore” we're grateful that it made it to us.

Another one of those “ripples” will be explored tomorrow, when we're both taking the day off to head out to Lake Michigamme to visit the daughter of one of the guys Loraine's researched. We actually met her fifteen or so years ago, but she texted Loraine out of the blue a few weeks ago and asked if we'd be interested in spending the day at her camp.

And since the weather's supposed to be nice that day...why not, right?

So when you come back here tomorrow and wonder why there's nothing new, that's why. I won't be working. Instead, I'll be taking advantage of one of the great things about dealing with people, the past, and their reactions to what we find.

The ripples.

Back, though, on Friday!

(jim@wmqt.com)

Tuesday, 8/19

It's a good thing Kevin has a sense of humor.

It's been about a year now since Kevin Hodge took over sole responsibility for TV 19 news, and in that past year I've tried to educate him a bit on "Life in the 906", on what it's like to live in the UP and to be a Yooper (or as much as you might consider me as an authority on being a “Yooper”). So last night I gave him a little tongue in cheek quiz on stuff I've tried to teach him, and like the good sport he his, he played along, even revealing a deep, dark secret about himself that previously only he & I knew.

We'll get to that in a second.

If you're curious (and I know you are) I DID ask him a couple of weeks ago if he's be willing to play along, which he was. (We also needed the time to put together the special game show graphics for it). Bis only request was something along the lines of "Don't make Upper Michigan hate me", which I think we pretty much accomplished. We were able to play off his seriousness and my goofiness, and at least from my point of view--and, I hope his--we succeeded.

Check it out for yourself--

As for Kevin's deep dark secret? Well, after over a year in the UP, he has yet to try a pasty. Shocking, I know, but true. And this is something he and I have been discussing since the turn of the year. Our plan is to actually tape a piece for TV where I take him out for his first pasty and get his reaction to it, but between our respective schedules we just haven't been able to make it work...yet.

But it's something we both REALLY wanna put together.

So congrats to Kevin for passing the quiz with (relatively) flying colors, and for playing along in the first place. Not every news anchor would be comfortable doing that. I'm just glad this one was.

8-)

(jim@wmqt.com)

Monday, 8/18

It's amazing the reaction that one picture can get.

As you know, we've been suffering through a summer that's had more fire smoke and haze than it has clear skies, so both Thursday and Friday when we had nothing but blue skies for (perhaps) the first time in a long time I went out and took a picture.

Specifically, this picture--

I stuck it up on Facebook and forgot about it. When I checked my news feed before bed Friday night I was astounded to see that over 700 people had clicked “like”.

I guess having clear skies for once really makes an impression on people!

I totally get it. We have had so much haze this summer, and when we haven't had haze we've had rain, which has all led to people getting a little, I think, desperate for any sign of normal weather. And when you see a picture that shows blue skies and nothing but blue skies, you think one of two things--

Is this a picture from a couple of years ago, or is it generated by AI?

The answer to both, of course, is no. And seeing a sign—a real sign—that summer hasn't totally forgotten us led people to embrace that picture as they rarely embrace anything you can find online.

So, thanks Mother Nature. It would be nice if we could do it a few more times before summer decides to bow out for the year.

8-)

(jim@wmqt.com)

Friday, 8/15

I'm curious. How many of your celebrate your date-i-versary? How many of you even know what, assuming you're part of a couple, your date-i-versary is?

How many of you are wondering just what the heck a date-i-versary is?

Like I said, I'm curious. Loraine and I are celebrating our date-i-versary tomorrow, a date-i-versary (aside from being a word that no spell check program ever recognizes, much less authorizes as being a proper word) being the anniversary of your first date. Loraine and I went out for the first time (as a couple, as opposed to in a group of friends) on August 16^th, so that's our “date-i-versary”. And I'm curious because to the few people with whom I've discussed the subject, they either give me a blank look because they don't remember, or they give me that “Jim, you're weird, you know that?” look I seem to get a lot in my life.

It's funny, because if you're part of a married couple or in a long-term relationship, your date-i-versary is a big part of your life. It's when the two of you became “the two of you”. In fact, I would even posit that it's more important than an actual wedding anniversary. After all, that's just marking the date that you signed a piece of paper, whereas your “date-i-versary” marks the beginning of whatever kind of relationship you're in.

Yes, I'm weird, I know that. But that's why August 16^th is always a big date for me.

What's more, you can't walk into a store and buy a date-i-versary card. You can buy a crapload of anniversary cards, but nothing that marks the real beginning of your relationship. It's not fair to people who celebrate that milestone, and it's certainly not fair to people who've decided that marriage just isn't for them. I know people who've been together for years, who are incredibly happy, and yet who can't buy a card that marks the beginning of their relationship because no one seems to think that a date-i-versary is a big thing.

And in case you're wondering...yes, I have been pondering the design of a line of date-i-versary cards. Seems like it would be a home-run idea of a business decision.

I'll shut up now. After all, when I get home from work I don't want Loraine to give that “Jim, you're weird, you know that?” look that other people give me when I start talking about things like date-i-versaries. Just let me say that Loraine is an amazing woman for putting up with someone who goes on and on (and on) about things like date-i-versaries.

So happy date-i-versary, Loraine. Thanks for being someone who actually knows what something like a date-i-versary is!

Love, your favorite dork,

(jim@wmqt.com)

Thursday, 8/14

Even if I could, why would I WANT to be normal?

Yesterday, when I was rushing to get out of my apartment and downtown to shoot some B-Roll for the next season of "Pieces of the Past" (which I'll discuss either tomorrow or Monday) I made a joke about not being "normal". As we all know, I'm really not, based on what I do, how I do it, and well, everything else in my life.

And, in all honesty, I wouldn't have it any other way.

It also reminds me of one of my dad's favorite stories to tell about me. Now, my dad has a TON of stories he likes to tell about me, but one of them involves a button I wore on a jacket pretty much the entire time I was in college. I even wore it pinned to my gown when I graduated 100,000 years ago. What did that button say?

“Why Be Normal?". And, just to make the point, "normal" was on the button upside down.

Much (I'm sure) to my dad's disappointment I lost the button shortly after college, but as you well know I've pretty much lived by its ethos since those days 100,000 years ago. I have not followed the "normal" path to adulthood (or whatever phase of my life I happen to be in right now). I have no house, no mortgage, no kids, no expensive toys, and no pretentious job title. Instead, I do stuff I love doing, I hang out with people who themselves are a bit askew, and, if given a choice of a zillion dollars or continuing to live the way I do, I know what the answer would be every single time.

"Normal" and "Jim" just don't seem to go together. Although I probably could do some good donating the zillion dollars to people who really need it.

I'm not quite sure at what point the slogan on the button stopped being a slogan and became a lifestyle; it was probably a gradual evolution over the years. But just between you & me, it's an evolution I wouldn't trade for the world. I'm sure for some people "normal" is all they've ever striven for and it's something that gives them comfort. If that's the case, good for them. I'm glad they have that in their lives.

But me? “Normal” is just not normal. Never has been, and I'm pretty sure it never will be.  But I wouldn't change it for a thing. I LOVE how things have turned up, and I love the fact that they're still constantly changing and evoking, even at this late date in my life.

If you had told the college "me" that the phrase on the button would have become a slogan for life, I'm sure he would have chuckled a little, but inside would have been as cool as heck about it. I hope I'm doing him proud, even after all these years.

You take a lot of things from your college years with you. I guess in my case, the most important of those was a slogan on a button.

(jim@wmqt.com)

Wednesday, 8/13

Because I need to go do some stuff for one of my four jobs (the History Center gig) before I go and do my regular job (the radio gig) I don't have a lot of time to write, but I've been carrying around a picture on my phone I keep meaning to share with you. I took it, oh, a week or so ago at McCarty's Cove--

I have no idea why someone built this little diorama-type thingee of a tropical beach hut, but I found it quite charming. I'm also thinking that if they built a few more huts, added some palm trees, a wrecked ship, and a telephone system made out of coconuts, they could make a miniature version of “Gilligan's Island”.

But that's just me.

Okay. I don't mean to cut this short, but it's one of those days (actually most days these days are one of those days, but that's neither here nor there). So with all apologies, that's it for today. I promise we'll be back to normal tomorrow.

Well, I don't know if I could EVER be normal, but you get the idea...I hope.

8-)

(jim@wmqt.com)

Tuesday, 8/12

You know, I don't even remember the last time I was at the UP State Fair purely as a spectator.

It's UP State Fair week here in Upper Michigan, one of the few iconic events remaining that still draws people from all over the area. I did my TV bit on the fair last night, and that started me thinking, which, as we all know, can be a dangerous thing.

I don't think I've been to the UP State Fair purely as spectator since I was a kid.

That's probably not a surprise; I'm really not much for eating elephant ears and then hopping on a ride called “The Barfinator”. In fact, I don't think I've been at the Fair at any time in this century. I was there (it seems) almost every year in the 90s for concerts that we were promoting, but before that, as just a paying customer?

Like I said...maybe the 1970s.

My mom's friend Judy used to love going to the fair, and when I was quite young it seems like I went down with her and a bunch of other kids several times. That would have been the 70s; I was out of the UP in the 80s, there for concerts in the 90s, and like I said, since?

Nope.

Hopefully, that won't disqualify me from whatever Yooper credentials I've managed to accumulate. And, if nothing else, I hope it doesn't disqualify me from saying things like I said on TV last night. But I'll be the first to admit--

It's been a while since I've been to the UP State Fair. And I'm guessing that, for whatever reasons, it might be a while before I'm back.

(jim@wmqt.com)

Monday, 8/11

Okay, you know how I always say my life is weird? I can actually prove it.

First of all, hope you had a great weekend. I myself had the usual blast doing one of the start line and part of the finishing line announcers at the Ore To Shore, and it was at the finish that I received proof that my life really is weird.

To wit–

During a lull in the finishers coming in a couple walked over to me. As it turned out, they were visiting from New Mexico, where the female half of the couple was riding in the race. While her husband was waiting for her to finish, he was listening to me talk, and realized something. They had to come over and check out for sure, and then when they found out there were quite shocked.

You see, when looking for things to do during their vacation in Marquette, they stumbled upon the History center’s You Tube page, where they proceeded to watch a BUNCH of my “Pieces of the Past” videos. The husband recognized my voice and, believe it or not, they wanted to come over and meet a “celebrity”.

You know…me.

First of all, as we're all aware, I’m not a “celebrity”. I’m just someone who has an irritating habit of popping up in the media each and every day. Sabrina Carpenter is a “celebrity”. I’m just, well, me.

But I get how they might have thought I’m a “celebrity”. It’s a classic example of those of those “big fish little pond” situations, meaning that, I guess, I AM a “celebrity”, as least to a small group pf people.

A group that, apparently, includes a couple from New Mexico.

After talking to them, I wasn't quite sure if the bike race or meeting me was the highlight of their trip so far. I certainly hope it was the race but these days, you never know. I guess I’m just happy that the videos have made enough of an impression upon people–even people from New Mexico–that more than one individual thinks the person–the voice–behind them is a “celebrity” because of it.

Considering some of the things people do these days to achieve stardom, I’m thinking I should be pretty happy with that.

I hope Ronny & Tamara enjoy their stay in the UP, and that they come back again and again. After all, there aren’t too many places on the planet where you can, apparently, meet a “celebrity” at the finish line of a bike race.

(jim@wmqt.com), whose life really IS weird.

Thursday, 8/7

I thought it would slow down after this upcoming weekend. One look at the calendar tells me that I’m wrong.

As you’re well aware if you been reading me doing the written equivalent of whining recently, this summer has been a busy one, with family visiting, tours to produce and then pull off, weekly TV gigs, and , oh, this job I do every day. What’s usually the last big gig of the summer–Ore To Shore–is coming up Saturday, and I really thought that I’d then have a few weeks just to relax and enjoy the final few days of nice weather (hopefully, without the haze, but that’s a whine for another day).

But as usually happens these days, I was wrong.

Oh, the Ore to Shore IS this weekend, and then I do have a few days off. But a look at my calendar then tells me Loraine and I have something scheduled on the 21st, I have to work ahead for Labor Day, then we’re going to Chicago for a long weekend the weekend after the holiday, and then “High School Bowl” starts shooting a few weeks after we get back.

What’s that old saying? No rest for the wicked? Or, at the very least, for someone who has an inability to say “no”?

As always, I know I have no one to blame but myself for this. I could have said “no” to something. I could have blacked out a few weeks to make sure that I could at least have some semblance of a “summer”. But, for whatever reason, that didn’t happen, and now, in looking at my calendar, it appears that the next time I have more than a week without something scheduled is, uhm, the end of February.

Shucks.

What does that mean? Well, another summer (and, for that matter, another year) is slipping by, and while I did all kinds of really cool things, I apparently didn’t do what I hope to do every summer, and that’s just do…nothing.

To quote a great American philosopher, I guess, I’ll sleep (or at least relax) when I’m dead.

*****

I won’t be here tomorrow; it’s a combination of a corporate holiday and set-up for the big bike race. I’ll be back Monday with details on how it went and, if history is any guide, a rough estimate of how many names I butchered as riders came speeding across the finish line.

It’s a skill I have, after all. I might as well make the most of it.

8-)

(jim@wmqt.com)

Wednesday, 8/6

You know...I don't even know what color MINE are.

I had an “Instant Request” yesterday that did something almost all requests never make me do. This one made me think. The guy who called wanted to hear “Brown Eyed Girl” because his wife has brown eyes. It was a sweet call, and I was more than happy to play it, but that's when I started to think.

And that, as we all know, can be a dangerous thing.

I could not request that song the same way in which Jay in Republic could because (and I'm almost ashamed to admit this) off the top of my head I don't know what color Loraine's eyes are. I'm pretty sure they're green, but I can't say that with 100% certainty. Her eyes are actually pretty cool, in that they seem to change shades depending upon what color clothes she's wearing.

But with 100% certainty? Well, if nothing else, now I have an excuse to gaze intently into her eyes, right?

8-)

I mean, I actually don't feel too bad about the fact that I'm not 100% sure about the color of Loraine's eyes. In all honesty, I'm not even 100% sure about the color of MY eyes. I think they're brown, but whenever someone asks the color of my eyes I usually say “bloodshot” and leave it at that.

But now I'm curious. Hang on a second.

(Yes, I'm heading to a mirror to take a look).

Okay, I'm back. They really ARE bloodshot, thanks to all of the fire haze, but they also appear to be green. That actually surprises me a little; I could have sworn they're brown. Maybe it's the light in our bathroom, or something. But, I guess, that goes to show just how much I don't pay attention to them. So if I don't know what color MINE are, I'm not surprised I'm not 100% sure Loraine's are green, as well.

Thankfully, there's not a song about green eyes that I could ever request, right?

Oh, wait. Crap--

(jim@wmqt.com)

Tuesday, 8/5

It takes a lot to make a TV news anchor laugh. I think I may have cracked the key.

This week's TV piece is one of those strange apparitions that came to me while I was letting my mind wander while walking on South Beach Friday morning. I had an idea of what I wanted to do, but it just didn't seem to be coming together in the way that I had hoped. So while I was staring at the lake (and all the haze on the horizon) something else popped into my head (that had nothing to do with lakes or haze).

Five minutes later, it was fully written in my head. As I've written before, I have no idea how that happens, but I'm being serious. What popped into my head in those five minutes is pretty much what I said last night, with just a few small cuts for time.

In all honesty, how I wrapped up the piece was the first thing that spilled out of my brain; the rest of it wrote itself to feed that ending. I had no idea how the ending was going to play on TV, and I really didn't want to spoil what I hoped would be an honest reaction on Kevin's part by telling him what I was going to do.

Thankfully, his honest reaction was pretty much what I hoped it would be.

So without further ado, here it is—the piece that popped into my head without warning on Friday, that came off rather flawlessly last night, and can serve as a template as to how you can make a news anchor, a person who's supposed to be serious for a living, laugh, if even for just a second or two.

(jim@wmqt.com)

Monday, 8/4

50 years ago today was a very big day for my parents.

I'm about to share a direct quote from my dad, who remembers that morning in 1975. He was standing outside of a new building and talking to himself. According to Chicky-poo, he said “Okay, you dumb Finlander (one of his preferred terms for himself), now you're going to have to work your a$$ off”. The new building was the auto body shop my parents had just opened, Koski Collision Center, and they had no idea 50 years ago today if it would work out

Spoiler alert—it did. Over the next two decades my parents poured their heart & soul into it to make it the success that it became. And still is, actually, as it continues to go strong being run by my ex-brother in law and nephew.

I guess both my parents ended up working their a$$es off.

I see different parts of parents in me, my sister, and my brother. None of us seem to share the same parts, with one exception—we all seem to have this incredible work ethic. My sister is one of the owners of a grocery store, for gosh sakes. My brother loves get his hands dirty and fix things or build things and is currently driving trucks across the country. And I seem to have this habit of having three or four projects going at once, whether I want to or not, like today when I do radio, TV, AND give a tour. And I can state without any doubt that all comes, in part, from what my dad said to himself standing in front of that new building 50 years ago today. Or what my mom would tell me when I was young and still at home, getting my start in radio, and leaving to work an overnight shift--

“Do a good job tonight”. And I always did my best.

In fact, to show you the work ethic my parents have, they wanted to retire early, which is why they sold Todd the shop in the mid 90s. They had plans to do all kinds of things and have all kinds of different experiences. However (and I do have to chuckle about this) they became so bored that they both got jobs—my mom as a bookkeeper, and my dad as a certified furniture installers. They kept doing that for another decade before retiring-retiring.

To paraphrase something I say on occasion...parents these days.

Anyway, it all started 50 years ago today. So on that note, happy work-anniversary Mom & Dad. And thanks for setting such a good example.

(jim@wmqt.com)

Friday, 8/1

I hope they're not on to something here..

I came across a weird fact I'll use on the air today, a weird fact that has really got me to thinking. And that, as we all know, can be a dangerous thing. The fact?

That almost sixty percent of Americans consider August 1^st to be the end of summer.

The reason that fact seems to be resonating with me is that here we are, j on the day many people consider “the end of summer”, and it really doesn't seem like summer's even started yet. I don't know the reason; I don't know if it's been the less than optimal weather we've had here, the ever-present smoke in the air, or the packed schedule I've had recently. But for me, at least, here we are—on the day some people consider “the end of summer”, and mine doesn't even seem to have begun yet.

Yikes.

That's not to say I haven't enjoyed myself the past few months, because I can really say that I have. I've been playing outside and taking time off here and there like I normally do, but something just seems...different. I can't put my finger on it, nor can I even say if the difference is a good thing or a bad thing. But whatever that difference is, it just makes it seem to me, at least, like summer has barely started.

Even if sixty percent of Americans think it's now over.

And on that note, I'm taking a few hours off today, so I have to get into work to, you know, work, leading me to cut this (a little short). Have a great weekend; assuming the smoke doesn't hang around, it should be a nice one!

(jim@wmqt.com)