Friday, 1/6

Since I have to be at NMU in a little bit to resume shooting the 44th season of "High School Bowl", I'm going to take the cheating, easy way out and leave you something that I wrote a couple of years ago, although considering yesterday WAS a snow day, it's actually pretty appropriate.

And...since I'm in the middle of a string of four Mondays in a row when I'm not working, there won't be another one of these until Tuesday.

That's okay.  Just call me "Mr Good News".  Or "Mr Not Making an Effort".  Either one of those would work, right?

8-)

Have a great weekend.  Like I said, back with something new on Tuesday!

(jim@wmqt.com)

                                            *****

(as originally posted 1/8/19):

I miss shoveling. And because of that I was almost—almost--tempted to take up Jen on the offer she made yesterday.

Yesterday on her daily station promo our morning personality said she'd offer up my services if anyone needed the 8 inches of snow we received removed from their driveways. I had no idea she said that; then after a listener called and (jokingly) wanted to hire me, I figured out what was going on.

Sorry, but I think I'll have to say no.

For a ten year span in the late nineties and into the 00s I was a monster shoveler. If there was a shoveling hall of fame, I might have made it in on my first try. During that 10 or 12 year Loraine and I lived in buildings where we had to remove the snow ourselves. And for some bizarre reason—especially when you consider that I abhor winter—I really got into it. I actually looked forward to getting out & shovel. But now we live in a building where the landlord also lives, and he removes the snow each & every day. And while it blows my mind, I actually kind of miss doing it.

I know. I'm a freak. What's your point?

Actually, before you call be a freak (well, okay, before you call me a freak for THIS), hear me out. First of all, even though I REALLY dislike winter, shoveling was one of the few parts of it I did enjoy. I liked it because shoveling is a GREAT aerobic and muscle-building exercise. It’s a workout that works out parts of your body you never knew you had. It builds up your heart, your lungs, and your endurance.

It’s a great way to sweat.

I also liked shoveling for another reason. In my line of work, I don’t often have a way to measure what I accomplish every day. Sure, you guys may tell me you liked (or didn’t like) something in particular, and once every year we get a book that tells us how many of you listen on a weekly basis, but I don’t have a sense of “accomplishment”. It’s not like I can sit back at the end of the day and say “look--I made 88 widgets today”. With shoveling, I DID get that sense of accomplishment. When I was finished removing the slop from the driveway or the sidewalk, I could sit back, look at the end result, and say “look--I removed ALL that snow”. I won’t get that now.

So that's why I was tempted, if only for a second, to take anyone up who was interested in Jen's unsolicited offer yesterday. Thankfully, sanity kicked in before I could do so, but there was a moment, and it's all because I'm apparently a walking oxymoron.

And yes, as always, you can leave the “oxy” part of it out, if you'd like.

8-)