Wednesday, 8/31

As we end the month (and end summer, as least as far as some of us are concerned) change is afoot.

I know some people dislike change because it moves them out of their comfort zone, and, truth be told, sometimes maybe (just maybe) I can be one of those people. But often change can be a good thing, as it allows you to try different things in different ways and maybe—just maybe—find more efficient ways of doing those things

I guess we'll find out soon.

As August and summer end and as September and fall begin I face a ton of changes, and while it'll be pure heck trying to get them all to work I'm hopeful that once everything is settled it'll be a change for the better. At work, our new owners are bringing in a new computer system, which means that the one I've been using for a quarter century goes bye-bye. I know the old system inside out, while I have no idea how the new one works. But hopefully the new one is a better system, without the quirks and (sometimes) cumbersome group things you have to do on a computer system that has its roots in the 1990s. Maybe it'll save me a little time each day, once I figure out how to use it.

That would be a good thing.

My new TV gig is rapidly approaching, as well. While I still can't say anything abut it yet, it is starting to gear up. In a week or two I'll be taking publicity photos for it (yes, me in a publicity photo, believe it or not), and then doing rehearsals to see if everything pans out like we hope and to just plain see if it works the way we want before it begins in early October.

Oh, and I still have to make that decision about hair color, too.

8-)

So between those, getting ready to go to Germany, doing a brand-new walking tour for the History Center, and gearing up for another season of “High School Bowl”, all in the next month, change is afoot. I may grumble about it in the upcoming few weeks, but I really do need to remind myself about one thing--

Once the change is complete, things will settle down. Really, they will...

He says hopefully.

(jim@wmqt.com)

Tuesday, 8/30

It's not THAT big of a project, but it is something I needed to take care of.

Yesterday (in fact, several times over the past month or two) I've talked about a “project” I've been trying to tackle this summer. It's one of the reasons why (until yesterday) I haven't taken or posted many pictures recently, and now, apparently, a few of you are wondering why.

It's all because of my “Summer Stock Footage” project.

I'm sure this sounds dorky and/or a tad too strange, but instead of wandering around on warm & sunny summer days taking pictures I instead have spent time wandering around on warm & sunny summer days shooting video of things I would normally be taking pictures of. So in a way I HAVE been taking a lot of pictures this summer; they're just moving instead of still.

See? Dorky and/or a tad too strange.

Why, you ask, have I spent the summer shooting video I may or may not one day use? Well, every winter when I put together another series of those “Pieces of the Past” videos I do for the Marquette Regional History Center I have to use snowy footage of whatever I'm discussing. And since, as we all know I really don't like winter, I figured that if I spent a little time this summer shooting warm & sunny stock footage that I might be able to use when it's cold and snowy; well, in my book that's a win.

So all summer long I've just been wandering around the city shooting footage of things I may or may not need. I figure that even if I don't use the footage in a history video that I may have use for it some day, in some form. Either that, or some dork 100 years in the future might thank me, another dork, for shooting footage so s/he can see what Marquette looked like in 2022.

You know, the way I drool over black & white still pictures of what Marquette looked like in 1922.

So if you've wondered why I haven't put many pictures up this summer, that's why. I haven't been taking many pictures to put up. However, if we're in the dead of winter and I put up a video where everything is warm and sunny and green, you'll understand the reason why.

(jim@wmqt.com)

Monday, 8/29

Feel like pictures? Good. Because I have pictures!

I really haven't been taking many pictures this summer, instead concentrating on a project that I keep meaning to write about have yet to do. So I took my camera out this weekend and wandered around downtown, south Marquette, and Founder's Landing taking pictures. What did I see?

Things such as a snowboard that obviously belongs to a Pink Floyd Fan...

Of course, seeing as how I haven't done it all summer, here's the obligatory flower picture--

Even though it hasn't moved in over a century, I wonder how many people who used to live in Marquette would recognize the sign by the Father Marquette statue?

Speaking of the statue, I think it's grown a second cape, this one made out of wildflowers.

I don't know that I've ever taken a picture with BOTH Coast Guard stations in it, so I did

Can anything beat a bike path on a hot summer day?

And finally, I present to you the humor of Tom Vear at the Delft, without comment.

I now apologize for sticking that song in your head the rest of the day.

(jim@wmqt.com) 

Friday, 8/26

I saw Santa Claus working on his tan a couple of days ago.

Okay, maybe it wasn’t the REAL Santa Claus, but there was this big round guy with long white hair and a flowing white beard just laying in the sun at Lower Harbor Park, and I thought to myself, “Well, THAT’S not something you see every day”. Then as I was walking home from said beach, I came across a family of tourists, standing on the Lower Harbor bike path, looking in at the city of Marquette. What did I hear the mom of the family say?

“THAT’S not something you see every day”.

Right then and there, I knew I had a blog topic. So here’s your assignment for this weekend--

Go out and be a tourist in your own town.

I mean, sure, you can probably see Santa Claus in any number of parks or on any number of beaches around the country (although he probably WAS in Marquette so he could swing by Christmas for a few supplies on his way back to the North Pole). But like I written in here about many times in the past, do you realize what we have here? We have beauty. We have natural wonders. We have history. And you don’t have to spend several thousand dollars in gas money to see them.

That’s your assignment for this weekend. Become a tourist in your own town, be it Marquette, or Ishpeming, or Houghton, or wherever. Look at your town through the eyes of someone who’s never been here. Don’t act like the typical local, someone who drives past Lake Superior or strolls past the Savings Bank Building and just ignores it? We see it every day, so it’s not that big of a deal for us.

But you know what? It IS a big deal. We live by the largest lake on the planet, surrounded by history and by natural beauty. And it’s not just here in Marquette; there are MANY places in the U.P. where water, history, and beauty come together unlike anywhere else in this country.

So therein lies your assignment for this weekend. Take an hour or two, head to the most beautiful spot in your city, and look at it like you’re experiencing it for the first time. Marvel at the natural beauty of your hometown, explore the history of your local buildings or complexes, and rediscover why you enjoy living in the community you choose to call home.

Trust me. You won’t be disappointed. And who knows. . .you may even see Santa Claus in the process!

Have a great weekend,

(jim@wmqt.com)

Thursday, 8/25

Why no, I'm not retiring. But thanks for asking.

Last night my pal Jack & I wrapped up a two-night gig at the Lake Superior Theater, reprising a few of our big Kaufman shows. As I was speaking to people before last night's show, a couple came up to me and said they're going to miss me, and that I hope I enjoy my retirement. This both delighted and confused me, as I was happy they were going to miss me yet also a bit befuddled as to WHY they'd miss me. After all, I'm not really anywhere near retiring, and unless other people know something I don't, I'm still planning on going to work this morning.

I still need to go to work this morning, right?

Anyway, after speaking with the couple it turns out they were fans of the “On The Town” segments I just finished doing for TV-6 & Fox UP. When I taped the final one last week, I made a quick mention thanking everyone for eight and a half years, and saying “goodbye”. For some reason (maybe, you know, because of the gray hair I keep talking about??) they assumed that my quitting that particular segment meant that I was retiring from working overall. I set them straight, and while I couldn't tell them exactly WHY I quit doing the segment, I assured them that I'd be back on TV terrorizing their psyches before they know it.

And they were happy about that.

Except for when I speak with my financial adviser, retirement is the furthest thing from my mind. I mean, I know I'm (a lot) closer to retirement age than I was when I started working, but I don't see me quitting any time soon. I could joke and say that, because I work in radio and make no money, I can never retire, but that would be just it—a joke. Thankfully, I've taken care of my future, and when I finally do get to retirement age I could hang it up, if I'd like. But then what would I do? I don't have grandkids, I don't garden, and I don't drive a motor-home. Within a few months, after (finally) catching up on my sleep, I'd be like my parents were after they sold their businesses and retired in their 50s.

I'd be getting myself a part-time job or two because I was so bored.

Actually, part of me WOULD look forward to having nothing but time to work on history videos and projects I'd like to tackle but currently do not have the time for. And that would, I guess, be a great reason to retire. But despite what the couple thought last night, that won't be any time soon. Because while I AM leaving one TV gig, I have a couple of others just waiting to take its place.

(jim@wmqt.com)

Wednesday, 8/24

It's been gong on for eight days now, and there's no end in sight.

I work in an old building in downtown Marquette, the Pythias Building, constructed by 1925 and one of the last designs of noted Marquette architect D. Fred Charlton. Like all old buildings, especially those approaching their centenary, it needs work every so often. And that's the case with the Pythias Building, especially the roof, which apparently hasn't been replaced since the end of the first half of that century. So since last Monday, workers have been up on the roof jack-hammering the old material off before replacing it with new material. And even though I'm on the ground floor, four floors below the roof, you know what's pretty much the only thing I can hear day in and day out?

Why, of course it's the jack-hammering.

I don't know how the sound travels through four floors of a building so loudly, but it does. As an experiment, I actually turned the mic on while I was on the air, said nothing, and allowed everyone listening to hear what I've been hearing.

And it came through crystal clear.

It's funny, because even outside the building the sound isn't as loud as it is inside the building. I'm guessing that's because the building itself is acting as a conduit for the sound; the jack-hammering going on four floors above us transferred through the walls and support beams of the building and delivers its full symphony of construction to anyone who's in the station (or in the office next door to us, because they get the symphony, as well). It's just of those freaky things that occasionally occurs because of physics, and we're the recipients of it.

We're just lucky that way, I guess.

The jack-hammering has to end some day soon, to be replaced, I'm assuming, by the sound of the new roof being installed. But once they're done they're done, right? And based on the way the old roof lasted, they won't have to do it again until 2072.

And this is just a guess on my part, but I'm thinking I won't be working here and won't have to deal with it then, right?

8-)

So if we happen to have to speak on the phone and you hear me keep saying “what?”, realize it's not the fault of either your phone or my hearing.

It's just the joy of working in a building being jack-hammered.

(jim@wmqt.com)

Tuesday, 8/23

Well, the song choice was interesting, to say the least.

As I've written in here many times before, we live in one of the most densely packed neighborhoods in Marquette. Houses and yards sit right next to each other, and you're quite aware that you live on a block with an awful lot of other people. Even though we live on the second floor of our building, there's a building next to us where people also live on the second (and third) floors. It's maybe 20 feet away from our place. And on warm days, when we have our living room windows open and they have their windows open, we pretty much know what each other is doing.

Normally, that's not a problem, although it has, on occasion, led to some rather, well, interesting moments. Not recently, though. Recently it's led to a lot of loud music and/or sound effects from video games being fed into our living room whether we want it or not, courtesy of the people who have the apartment on the second floor in the building next door. And it's usually not good music. Usually, it's just some kind of droning techno-beat with no lyrics. It's not my favorite kind of music, and it's led Loraine to wonder if the people living next door know of these things called “earbuds”.

But not Friday night. Fridayy night, when it was still near 80 degrees at 8 pm, I went into our living room to do a little decompressing for the week, and after awhile I heard the neighbors fire up their sound system. Except it wasn't the usual droning techno-beat. Instead, it was the same song on repeat, over and over again.

And that's how I was able to listen to “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” either eight or nine times.

I kind of lost track after a while as to how many times it actually played, which is why I don't know exactly the number of times I heard it. Plus, my mind was reeling with other thoughts—why, after weeks of droning techno-beats, was Gordon Lightfoot all of a sudden on the main stage? And why on a constant repeat? Was the person next door (a college student) studying the sinking of the ship, and needed a little mood music? Were they learning to play it for some reason, and just needed to hear it over and over? Did they put the song on and then pass out, not realizing it was on repeat?

Inquiring minds want to know!

Alas and alack, there was not a repeat performance Saturday or last night. In fact, there wasn't any music from next door last night, even though our windows were still open. I don't know if the neighbors weren't home, or just not in the mood for blaring out their tunes, or were just embarrassed by the non-stop Gordon fest Friday. Or, just maybe, they took Loraine's hint and looked up the word “earbuds” on Google. Either way, I was spared both the droning techno-beat AND a Gordon Lightfoot marathon.

All in all, it was a different way to spend a Friday night, that's for sure.

(jim@wmqt.com)

Monday, 8/22

 I had a moral and ethical quandary over the weekend.  And, believe it or not, it involved Pepsi.

The only pop (or soda, if you're not from the Midwest) I drink is Pepsi Throwback, the one with real sugar.  I won't drink anything with high fructose corn syrup or much of anything that has an artificial sweetener in it. I will, however, drink Pepsi Throwback, especially on days when Loraine and I have been on the soccer pitch and I need to get rehydrated.

Because, for some strange reason, Pepsi Throwback does that.  Don't ask; I have no idea why.

The bad thing about drinking Pepsi Throwback is that it's not readily available.  It's only in the stores at certain times, so whenever I see a 12-pack I pick one or two up.  The past few weeks was one of those times it wasn't readily available, and we were starting to run low on our supply.  So imagine my delight when I saw the grocery store in which we were shopping had it in stock.  In fact, it was on sale--buy two 12-packs and get one free.

So I started to get my three 12-packs.  And that's where the moral and ethical quandary came in.  You see, there were only three 12-packs left on the shelf.  If I were to buy all three of them I might be depriving another Pepsi Throwback fan of their chance to pick up the nectar of the gods.  But if I didn't buy them, then it might be weeks--if not months--before we had the chance to stock up.  I'd be making sure we didn't run out for a long time, but I also might be putting someone else into the very same situation that I was trying to avoid.

Yes, I know I'm strange.  And like all good Gen Xers, I blame my parents, who not only taught me to share but to also empathize with others and the problems they might be facing.   If I had just grown up with parents who were in it for themselves and didn't care about others, I wouldn't have been facing this moral and ethical quandary.

Thanks, mom & dad.

8-)

As it turns out, the moral and ethical quandary was put to rest when I asked someone at the store if they'd be getting more in.  They were; in fact, they had it in stock but just hadn't replenished the shelves yet.  So, in the end, I was able to eat my cake (er, drink my Pepsi Throwback) and have it, too.  But the fact that I was having a moral debate about it, even if it was just with myself, made me realize just what a positive  influence my parents had on me.

Oh, and just how much I really, really like Pepsi Throwback.

(jim@wmqt.com)

Friday, 8/19

Wow. I can't believe it's taken all summer to see one.

When I'm out and about on nice summer days I see all sorts of flora and fauna and, if I have a camera with me, will often take a picture of something that's nice. For almost the entirety of summer I've been waiting to take a picture of one particular thing, a thing I didn't actually see until two days ago.

Specifically, this beautiful creature--

I know monarch butterflies are on endangered species lists, but I didn't think they were so endangered that it would take until mid-August for me to come across one. A couple of years ago, the city of Marquette made a concerted effort to bolster the population, having people plant milkweed and other flowers that draw the butterflies. And for a while, it worked; the past few years the monarchs seemed to be everywhere.

But this year? Not so much. And that's sad.

I have no idea if, because of climate change and urbanization, the monarch will soon disappear from the face of the Earth. I hope not. But we're destroying the planet faster than we could ever imagine. The fact that it took me until August to see one of the butterflies will, I'm sure, one day be supplanted by “remember when we used to be able to see butterflies out in the wild?”

And that, of course, will be a sad, sad day.

****

On that cheery note, have yourself a great weekend. Hope you get to see a butterfly or two!

(jim@wmqt.com)

Thursday, 8/18

First of all, it worked last night. We were actually able to get the pop-up “Great Fire of 1868 Tour” taken care of after two cancellations. Yay!

Second of all, I have to return to the History Center for a meeting about next year's tours in a few minutes, so if you don't mind, here's an entry from a couple of years ago. It's funny, as well, because what I wrote about five years ago is, with one exception, still true.

Who knew??

(jim@wmqt.com)

*****

Today, a weird restaurant story.

As we do once a month or so Loraine & I had lunch at one of our favorite restaurants last weekend, one of the “107 Things to Love About Marquette County”, Sol Azteca. The food is great, the people are great, the view is unparalleled, and we have a soft spot in our hearts for it, if only because Loraine & I were the restaurant's first ever paying customers.

No, seriously. We were. They took our picture and had us sign a dollar bill and everything.

Obviously, we've been there a lot. We've been there as a couple, we've been there with friends, we've been there with people from out of town. Basically, we've been there a lot. And in all the times we've eaten at Sol Azteca, and that's probably in the dozens, one weird thing has occurred.

Only once have we seen anyone we know there.

I'm not kidding. Between me and Loraine, we know a lot of people, especially if you count the nodding “hey, I know you from somewhere, right?” type of acquaintances you make if you're in the public eye. So it's not like we're hermits; we DO know a lot of people. Yet with the exception of the one time we ran into one of Loraine's co-workers, every time we've been in Sol Azteca, when we look around, every single face is unfamiliar.

Go figure.

And it's not just us. We've been there multiple times with my friend Deanna who, I swear, knows everyone who's ever lived in Marquette. Yet even she will look around and comment that she doesn't recognize a soul (excepting, of course, us). And if SHE has gone in there without seeing someone; well, then, I don't feel so bad.

But it's still weird.

Now that I've written about it, of course, we'll be bombarded with friendly faces the next time we're in there. And that's okay; much like all those weird little occurrences I keep writing about, it's just one of those strange things that only I notice. It doesn't mean anything in the scheme of things, and it's probably just been a very long string of coincidences, but the whole thing just strikes me as...strange. Especially because it's been, what, five or six years since the restaurant opened? I mean, what are the actual odds of that happening?

Never mind. Like I said, it's not that important. It's just one of those things. And who know—maybe the next time we're there we'll know every single person sitting around us.

Even if our history says that's not gonna happen.

Wednesday, 8/17

I'm gonna try it again tonight. Let's hope it actually works out this time.

Aside from the regularly scheduled tours I give for the Marquette Regional History Center I also do occasional “pop-up” tours throughout the summer, tours that I decide to do a day or two ahead of time and whoever shows up, shows up. We have quite a bit of fun on these, as the crowd is smaller and the interest geekier.

Twice now, I've tried to do a pop-up on the Great Marquette Fire of 1868, including once on the actual anniversary of the fire itself, June 11^th. Ironically, each of those times rain, not in the forecast 48 hours ahead of time, canceled the walk about the fire that reshaped Marquette in ways we still see today. Tonight we'll see if the third time's the charm, in either a good way or a bad way.

Keep your fingers crossed it's in a good way.

If you're interested and in the area, we'll start at 630 at the History Center and go for a short walk, talking about what Marquette was like before the fire--

And after--

I'll also tell one of the best stories ever about Peter White and just now nationally famous the fire was...or, at least was before Chicago burned to the ground three years later and stole all our thunder.

Way to go, Chicago.

8-)

So keep your fingers crossed the third time is the charm in a GOOD way tonight. Those of us who've tried to do this tour the past few months appreciate it!

(jim@wmqt.com)

Tuesday, 8/16

I've been doing them for eight and a half years, and have yet to see one of the 450+ I've done. And if I don't watch it this week, I never will.

Back in 2014, even before I started hosting “High School Bowl”, I started doing a weekly segment for the Thursday night Fox UP news called “On The Town”. It was just me spending 90 seconds talking about stuff going in the UP the upcoming weekend. For eight and a half years I've been churning them out, including weekly during the early days of Covid when absolutely nothing was going on.

Today, I shoot the final one of them, at least for me.

I'm voluntarily giving them up. The new TV gig I can't yet tell you about precludes my doing them any more. And so after almost 500 of them, as well as outlasting 13 different anchors and reporters who've been shooting them, it's now, like all good things, coming to an end.

And when I say I haven't watched a single one of them, I'm not kidding. For whatever reason I don't watch a lot of local news on TV, and for whatever reason I've had no interest all in checking one of the segments out. After eight and a half years I have no idea what they look like or how dorky I appear in them. I've just never had the inclination to check one of them out.

Yes, I'm strange. What's your point?

8-)

However, I do know that other people have watched them. As with (seemingly) everything else I do in my life I've had people come up to me on the street and say how much they enjoy them, or how they watch them every week. And that's cool. I've been doing the segments for almost a decade to make sure people know what's going on in this great peninsula, and it sounds like I've been able to do that, as least to a point.

So, mission accomplished. And thanks, as always, to everyone for the kind words.

When I finish shooting the last one this afternoon I will entering a very strange place for me. For the next six weeks I will not be appearing on TV at all. Since I started doing “On The Town” I've been on TV at least once a week for almost a decade, but after this afternoon? The UP will have to wait until early October until I'm back.

I hope that span will allow them to recover from whatever trauma I've brought upon them the last eight and a half (non-stop) years.

I do need to thank Steve Asplund and the late Bill Blohm, who convinced me to do it, as well as Andrew Lacombe, who understands why I won't be doing it any more. I also have to thank the 13 different reporters and anchors I previously mentioned, everyone from Rachel (who shot the first one) to Ben, who'll be shooting the last one. It's been fun.

And with that, I'm TV free until a four day span at the start of October, with the return of “High School Bowl” and the debut of...

Something completely different than anything I've done on TV before.

(jim@wmqt.com)

Monday, 8/15

Maybe it's time I got rid of that particular one.

One of the staples of my wardrobe is the black T-shirt. I can wear it as a shirt, I can wear it under a shirt, or, if it's winter, under two or three shirts. For almost anyone, a black T-shirt is a wardrobe must. For me, it's a necessity, which is why I have seven or eight of them that I rotate through.

I went to put one on over the weekend, and noticed something about it. This particular shirt is the oldest one in the collection; I actually picked it up for our European trip in 2011 (don't ask how I remember that) and it has a fit that actually makes me look like I have a physique. And since we all know I don't, it's a T-shirt that I've worn quite a bit over the past 11 years.

Unfortunately, when you wear something over 11 years, even if you take as good care of it as you can, things happen. When I went to put it on Saturday I tore a bit of the bottom hem on it. Inspecting it, I notice there was another hole in the hem, as well as small holes under one of the arms and around the neck in the back. I have no idea when these occurred; for all I know, I could have been wearing it for months with all those little imperfections in it.

But now that I know they're there, I think it's finally time to retire it.

I have no idea how many times I've worn the T-shirt since 2011, although I'm guessing it's a lot. The one thing I do know is that I certainly have gotten my money's worth out of it. Once again, don't ask how I remember this, but I picked up the shirt at Target back in 2011 for $5.99. That's all. So let's say I've worn the shirt just once a month since then (I know it's been more, but for the sake of argument, let's say once a month). That means I've worn the shirt approximately 140 times. Looking at it from a per-cost amortized point of view, that means it has cost me, uhm, 4 and a half cents every time I've worn the shirt.

And considering some people will buy a $200 pair of shoes and wear them once, I'd say that $5.99 T-shirt was a pretty good deal.

So now I'm down to just six or seven black T-shirts. Oh, don't worry. I'm sure I'll survive. But you better believe that the next time I'm Target I'll check their T-shirt collection. After all, if this shirt lasted 11 years, who knows?

If I can find another one as good as the one I'm tossing, I may not have to replace it until 2033.

(jim@wmqt.com)

Friday, 8/12

Wow. It really is almost over.

Monday is the 15^th of August, which marks the halfway point of the month. If you consider “summer” to be the months of June, July, and August (which I think most of us do) that means we are now in the final half of the final month of summer.

Summer is 5/6ths (or 84%) of the way over, and it doesn't even seem like it's started yet.

I know I wrote about this a few weeks ago, but where the heck has the season gone? Just a few weeks ago (or so it seems) we were dealing with increasing hours of the day and (slightly) increasing temperatures to go along with it. Now it's dark at 9 pm and, in some places in the UP this morning, temperatures got down into the 30s.

The 30s. Summer, we hardly knew ye.

When I was young, my grandfather told me many things. I, being young, didn't think he knew what he was talking about, and promptly forgot most of them. But two things he did say stuck with me, for whatever reason. One was that sardines out of a can were delicious. The other was that as you get older, time goes by more and more rapidly. Being a kid, I didn't believe him on that particular matter, but as it turns out he was 100% correct. And that's why, even to this day, when I'm speaking with someone who's much younger than I (like a few nights ago with my niece Sydney) I always preface my “wisdom” by saying “you may think I don't know what I'm talking about, but in a few years you'll get it”.

Just like I now realize my grandfather was right, at least about how time flies as you get older. I'm still pretty sure he was way off base about the sardines.

Hopefully you were able to get something out of summer, and not have had it (like for some of us) slip by in the wink of an eye. And if you didn't? Well, there's still 16 percent of the season left, and hopefully, some of it will still be summer-like.

So enjoy it with all the gusto you can.

Have a great weekend,

(jim@wmqt.com) 

Thursday, 8/11

It's nice to know the “kids” have gone far in life.

Over the years I've probably hired 40 young people to work part-time shifts at the station. Most of them have been NMU or high school students, who wanted a little money and a little experience as they were working their way toward whatever it was they were about to become.

And now I know some of them have been quite successful.

This week, I've had to fill out forms for two of my ex-part time employees, to verify they worked here and to answer a few other questions about how they were then they worked here. That in and of itself isn't unusual; it's the organizations asking for the information that were.

You see, I had to fill out forms for the California State Bar Association and for the Georgia Medical Association. Apparently, one of my ex-part timers is now a lawyer and another is now a doctor.

I guess I chose wisely when hiring way back when, huh?

8-)

It's funny—usually, when I have to hire someone, I usually don't hire them based on the fact that they want to work in radio. I hire them because they're smart, unflappable, and willing to learn and adjust on the job. I've actually bypassed a few prospective employees with an interest in broadcasting because they didn't seem to fill one (or more) of those attributes. Instead, I went for people who I could easily train and who seemed like they would work out just fine.

And the two for whom I filled out forms this week—the lawyer and the doctor—were among those.

I've lost track of most of the part-timers I've hired over the years, although I do know that some have gone on to work in broadcasting, while at least two have become teachers. And while I know their time here was just a temporary way station on the route to their “real” jobs, I hope they look back on their time here fondly.

And now, when they argue in front of a judge or perform surgery on someone, I also hope that a little bit of what they picked up here helps guide them into doing the best job they can.

(jim@wmqt.com), proud ex-boss of all of them.

Wednesday, 8/10

What do you get when you combine a great cheese, a mind-blowing book, and Juice Newton?

(And if that's not the setup for the strangest joke ever, I don't know what is).

Anyway, every so often the Marquette Food Co-op has a very interesting cheese on sale. If you ever see it in stock, I HIGHLY recommend their Lavender Jack Cheese. It's a semi-creamy goat cheese with flecks of Lavender in it. Yeah, I know. I had the same thought as you're probably having right now. But you know what?

It works, and it works deliciously. If you have the chance, definitely check it out!

Now, how does Juice Newton play into all of this? Well, while we were enjoying the cheese, Loraine was also thumbing through one of our Billboard music chart books and came across the name Juice Newton. Since we had no idea if (unlike Olivia Newton-John) she was even still alive (spoiler alert—she is, and is still touring) we had to dig a little deeper, and that's when the song “Queen of Hearts” got stuck in my head, and would not leave.

Trust me—I've had MANY stupid songs stuck in my head over the decades, songs that take up residence in my brain and won't let go. But having Juice Newton's “Queen of Hearts” stuck on auto-repeat in my sub-conscious?

No human being should have to go through that. Unless, of course, you're Juice Newton (available to play your private corporate gig, according to her website!)

Finally, the book that blew my mind? It's called “Deep Future: The Next 100,000 Years of Life on Earth”, written by paleo-climatologist Curt Stager. It's a fascinating read about how climate change is re-shaping life and land on the planet, and it had a concept that blew my (Juice Newton-infected) mind. Stager says we should stop burning fossil fuels by the year 2100 (if not before) for two reasons, the first being that if we keep burning them at the rate we're burning them, we'll irreparably change the climate for the next 50,000 years. The other reason we should stop burning fossil fuels by 2100?

To save some for future humans to start climate change all over again.

According to Stager, 50,000 years from now, the planet's climate will shake off the damage we've done to it and get back to “normal”. Unfortunately, “normal” means things like an occasional ice age or two. And in 60 or 70 or 100,000 years, what can humans (or our robot overlords, or whatever replaces us) do to stave off the ice age? Take whatever fossil fuels we've left them, start burning them like we've been doing the past 200 years, and make the climate warm enough to keep the ice at the poles.

Weird, right? But it makes sense, if only in a very counter-intuitive way. Do what we're doing now, but do it for good, instead of evil. I'm surprised no one's came up with that idea before, if only for a big-budget Hollywood disaster-thon.

But wow. Between that concept, lavender goat cheese, and Juice Newton, it's amazing I'm even able to write today.

8-)

(jim@wmqt.com)

Tuesday, 8/9

Seven weeks from today we should be landing in Germany.

Of course, I'm not holding my breath that we actually will be landing seven weeks from today. There are too many strange things going on in the world, especially Europe, that any number of a couple of dozens things could screw our plans up even more than they've been screwed up already (you know, like having our flight from London to Berlin canceled and the airline not tell us a few weeks ago). But, much like in 2020 when this trip was originally scheduled, we still have to make sure we're ready to go should the stars align and our plans actually come off as scheduled.

And some of those things are items we really haven't had to deal with before, everything from getting another Covid booster to downloading a CBP app that might shave ten minutes off the never-ending wait to get through Customs at O'Hare when we get back.

That is, of course, should we ever get to actually leave the US in the first place.

Both Loraine and I keep checking our flight reservations, just to make sure that things are still scheduled the way they're supposed be. What with all the insanity of flight restrictions and too few workers at Heathrow in London, we just want to make sure we're ready to deal with any eventuality—you know, like the aforementioned cancellation of a flight from, say, London to Berlin.

It's funny; I always thought going on vacation was supposed to be relaxing. Shows what I know, huh?

8-)

There are still many steps left to go, from trip shopping for essentials to getting a European SIM card (and phone number) for my phone. But we're cautiously...well, not optimistic, but not pessimistic, either. Let's say we're cautiously agnostic about our chances. Much like 2020, we have to get ready no matter what.

We just hope that, unlike 2020, this time all the work will actually pay off.

(jim@wmqt.com)

Monday, 8/8

I wonder if I need to start adjusting my pocket change for inflation?

Those of you who’ve read this on a long-term basis may have noticed that I’ve picked up a few, well, strange habits over the years. A couple of days ago, one of those habits popped uninvited into my head, and started me thinking that maybe I need to do something different.

Ever since I was in college (back in the 1880s), I’ve always made sure that I had a five dollar bill stuck in with my ID, or in my backpack, or just thrown in a pocket. That way, I know that I have a chunk of emergency cash, should I ever need it. I don’t think I’ve needed it more than once or twice in my life; more often than not, I’ll actually forget about the five and then come across it months later, after it’s already been replaced by another five two or three times. It’s just knowing that I have the cash somewhere that’s the important thing.

Now, I decided on making my emergency stash a five dollar bill all those years ago for two reasons, the first being that back then five bucks could get you just about anything you needed, and the second being that when I was in college in the 1880s, five bucks was a TON of money. Not only that, but it was basically all I could spare. I have no idea why I’ve kept the amount I carry around at five bucks; I suppose I could always make the joke that I work in radio and don’t get paid much more now than I did as a college student. But unfortunately that joke wouldn’t be 100% true, and I would be forced to admit that I just never considered changing the amount from five dollars in the several decades since I graduated from college.

Laziness 1, Jim 0.

I’m well aware that five bucks doesn’t buy what it used to all those years ago. Trust me, I’m PAINFULLY aware that five bucks doesn’t buy what it used to even just a year or two ago. So I went online to find out how much inflation has increased since I was in college and was kind of surprised by what I found. Since 1985, inflation has only doubled, with some change added on. Prices have, according to economists, increased by a factor of 175%, which means that five dollars back then is worth $13.77 today. Based on everything you read in the news these days I would’ve thought it’d been a lot more, but it’s nice to know I can be wrong about something and have it turn out well, as opposed to what usually happens when I’m wrong about something.

So that leaves me with this quandary--should I bow to economic reality and start carrying a ten instead of a five? Or should I continue the tradition and continue going with the five, knowing full well that it can only buy half of what it used to. In all honesty, I though inflation had gone up by a factor of three or four instead of just slightly over two, which means that if that were the case I should actually be carrying a twenty instead of a five. That’s a change that would be easy to rationalize. But when you’re just going from a five to a ten it’s like, “Well, that’s no big deal”. To my little brain, a five and a ten are pretty much the same even though one’s worth twice what the other’s worth.

You know what? With thinking like that, I could probably make a killing in the financial world, couldn’t I?

At this point, I have no idea what I’ll do. I have no idea if I’ll keep carrying a five dollar bill tucked away somewhere, or if I’ll up it to a ten. When I do figure it out, though, you guys will be the first know to. After all, it’s the least I can do for making you read through yet another example of The Strange Habits In The Life Of Jim.

8-)

(jim@wmqt.com)

Friday, 8/5

Well...this is certainly unique.

I've now been working in my office for almost two decades now. Over those 19+ years things have changed, although not an awful lot. I still have electrical and computer cables strewn everywhere, I still have stuff stacked up on every available inch of real estate, and I still wish I could have a window looking out at the world like we do at the front desk.

But you can't have everything, right? In fact, to quote a great American philosopher, “sure, it'd be nice to have everything, but where would you put it”?

That, however, is neither here nor there. One thing that HAS changed over the almost two decades I've been in this office is the lighting. The office has two overhead lights. Unfortunately, they're lights with rather funky and uncommon bulbs, and over the past few years those bulbs have become harder & harder to find. So, as the bulbs have recently begun to burn out, I've had to improvise, which means that today my office looks like this--

Yup; I have a standing lamp in one corner of my office, and in the other corner I have a table lamp sitting on the floor. Why is a table lamp sitting on the floor, you ask? Well, I answer, it's so it doesn't get in the way of my big wall calendar, which sits right above it. And as I've written about in here before, I live & die by that calendar.

So much so, in fact, that it's better to work in half darkness with a desk lamp on the floor than it is to have the calendar half covered up by a desk lamp on my desk.

So until things get worked out—if, indeed, they ever DO get worked out—should you for any reason visit my office, please cut me a little slack and try not to ask why there's a desk lamp sitting on my floor. Just realize that I'm doing the best I can.

Even if we both know that's a very low bar to clear.

8-)

Have a great weekend,

(jim@wmqt.com)

Thursday, 8/4

There's no way it's been a decade and a half, has it?

As I stumbled out of bed this morning Loraine, about to leave for work, said “Happy 15^th anniversary” to me. And my brain, which as we all know does NOT function well early in the morning, started to wonder. It wasn't our 15^th wedding anniversary; that was at the end of last century. It wasn't the 15^th anniversary of our first trip to Europe, nor was it the 15^th anniversary of something like her “new” job.

Then she let me know—yesterday was the 15^th anniversary of the two of us moving into our current apartment.

My mind, still not functioning, was blown. 15 years in our current apartment? No way. Two years, sure. Three years, maybe. But 15 years. FIFTEEN YEARS?

Wow.

I mean, we both still have boxes of stuff in our closets that we need to unpack, boxes that we figured we'd get to when we had the time. You'd think that after a decade and a half we would've found the time, but nope. Fifteen years has (apparently) gone by, and we're still acting like we just moved into the place.

Sigh.

Another thing that blows my mind, perhaps even more than the fact that's it's been fifteen years, is that I have now lived in this apartment longer than I've lived anywhere else. When I was a kid, my parents kept upgrading our living facilities as our family grew, so I lived in three houses before I moved out on my own, and since then I've lived in (let me count here) eleven different apartments. In those fourteen total different houses and apartments the longest time I spent in one was a little under nine years at my parents' Fairway Drive house. Based on the way I kept moving I figured that would be the longest I ever lived in one place.

Shows what I know.

Our current apartment, while a little small, is in a great location and has great landlords, so I can't say I'm surprised that we haven't had the urge to move any time recently. Plus, the last time we moved (a decade and a half ago, apparently), Loraine and I joked to each other that we really didn't want to move again any time soon.

Guess it really wasn't a joke.

So here we are fifteen years later, living in the same apartment. If you had told me back in 2007 that we'd still be there in 2022 I probably wouldn't have believed you. But then, it doesn't seem like it's been fifteen years. It seems like, at the most, three. So ask me again in, say, 2037 if I'm surprised we're still there. By then it might actually feel like we've lived there for a decade.

Time. Who knew the passing of it could be so...unexpected? Right?

8-)

(jim@wmqt.com)

Wednesday, 8/3

 No wonder it woke me up.

A couple of hours ago a rather intense thunderstorm rolled through Marquette.  I probably wouldn't have realized it, if it hadn't been strong enough to set off a car alarm at the building next to ours, thereby waking me up, but roll through it did.  And when it let up and I was able to go out running, I noticed a couple of things.

Like, it was so strong that it ripped the siding off a house up the street from mine--

And that it was so strong that it scattered recycling bins put out the previous night here and there--

Although, now that I think about it, that may not have been the thunderstorm's fault.  That may have just been Waste Management doing their usual sterling job of putting things back where they found them.

Thankfully, though, no one was hurt, and as I write this around 9:30 there are just a couple of hundred people around Marquette still without power.  But what began with a car alarm, from the looks of it, could have been a lot, lot worse.

                *****

Speaking of cars, remember how I wrote yesterday that the New England states were mocking me because I hadn't seen any while counting license plates last week, only to see four from Massachusetts in 36 hours?  Well, while out on that post-storm this morning I also (finally) saw one from New Hampshire.

See?  The region really IS mocking me!

8-)

(jim@wmqt.com)

Tuesday, 8/2

Sure, for a week I didn't see one at all. Now I see them everywhere I go.

If you recall, when I gave my dorky license plate count update yesterday, I mentioned that one of the weird things was the lack of plates from any New England states save Connecticut.

Well, that was last week. I ended the count Sunday night. In the 36 or so hours since, I have seen FOUR different vehicles with plates from Massachusetts, including two back-to-back on Front Street in Marquette, which I assume were traveling together. Either that, or I had a quick out-of-body experience and was teleported to Boston for an instant.

I'm gonna guess it was the former of those, though.

So, what gives, Massachusetts? You're usually one of the most dependable states in my dorky little count. I usually see you in the first few days of counting. But why not this year? Why did you decide to hide in silence the whole week I was counting license plates, and then burst forth like the slimy creature in “Alien” as soon as the week is over?

I thought you were cool, Massachusetts.

Oh well. The one thing I always say about this dorky little project of mine is that it's not scientific. I have no control over when and where I see the plates; I just count them when I see them. I'm sure there were visitors from Massachusetts in Marquette last week; I just didn't happen to be in the same place with them at the same time. I'm sure there might be ways to make my little survey a lot more statistically valid, so I'd have a better chance of maximizing my chances to see plates, but you know what?

It's a fun little thing I do because I'm a dork. It's not THAT important.

I'm assuming I'll see a bunch more Massachusetts plates in the next few days, like the state is mocking me, or something. But that's okay. It's just one of those things. However, if I start seeing license plates from Maine or Vermont or New Hampshire, which are some of the other New England states I usually see but didn't this year, then I'll know something really strange is going on.

8-)

(jim@wmqt.com)

Monday, 8/1

The results seem to surprise me every year.

Yesterday I finished my annual dorky habit of counting license plates. I've been doing it every year during the week leading up to Art On The Rocks for two decades now, and it's allowed me to realize two things.

One, I really AM a dork for doing it for two decades. And B—gas prices and a weird economy don't seem to have slowed down tourism into Marquette one little bit.

I ended up seeing plates from 41 different states and three Canadian provinces this year, which is down just a little bit (like two or three) from years past. The addition of the Canadians—who haven't been visiting since the Before Times—partially made up for the...strange lack of any visitors (at least that I saw) from most of the New England states. Normally, I see all six, but this year only Connecticut was represented.

Weird.

The other thing I noticed? For the most part, when I saw a plate from a certain state I saw LOTS of plates from that state. In fact, for a couple, like Virginia, Colorado, and Washington, I actually started keeping track of the kinds of vehicles that had the plates, just to make sure I wasn't seeing the same ones over and over.

So if you saw at least 11 vehicles with Colorado plates over the past week, you weren't the only one.

Like I said, none of this really has a bearing on anything, other than, perhaps, that Travel Marquette is doing a darn fine job marketing the area. And that gas prices, for all that people complain about them, don't seem to have an effect on people's driving habits one single bit.

(jim@wmqt.com), dork.