Tuesday, 4/30

At T-minus one week and one day, I have my new European toy ready to go.

These days it seems you can't walk out the door without having a phone in your pocket. You use it for messages, for directions, to watch cat videos, and, on increasingly rare occasions, even to call someone. Unless you want to pay for it, when you're an American in Europe your phone doesn't work. There is, however, a simple way to get around that.

Get a phone (or a SIM card) that works in Europe.

When we were in Leipzig a year and a half ago I actually bought a German SIM card that, sadly, didn't work in the phone I had, one “locked” by my American carrier. So a couple of months ago I bought an unlocked phone, one into which you could insert any SIM card from any company and use it anywhere. A few days ago I took the new unlocked phone, inserted the SIM card with a German phone number, and within seconds was received a bunch of texts (in German) telling me (I think) that my phone was active and did I REALLY want to use up all my minutes and all my data in the US?

So I shut it off. But I now have a phone that works in Germany.

In all honesty, I don't know that I'll use my German phone number that much while we're there. It's mostly for emergencies, or if we have to call a hotel and tell them we'll be late, or to simply send my mom a text to let her know we made it to Germany safely (Moms are like that, you know). But it's ready to go and, depending upon where we end up in the future, is also ready to have any number of SIM cards from any number of countries ready to be inserted.

Technology really is a good thing, isn't it?

Eight more days!!

(jim@wmqt.com)

Monday, 4/29

That's quite the number.

At the end of every April I start wearing a new pair of running shoes, changing out my old ones because, well, that's what you're supposed to do every 500 or so miles. That, of course, led me to start thinking about something, which led me to do some math in my head, and as we all know, whenever math and I get involved, dangerous things can happen.

Here's what I figured out. I started running when I moved back to Marquette in 1988. That’s been (gasp) over 35 years. If I run on average 10 miles a week, an average which takes into account that I used to dial back in the winter when I skied, that takes into account those times when (ahem) I injure myself and can't run, but doesn't take into account the fact that I now run around a soccer pitch for an hour or two each week, that’s 520 miles a year. And if I’ve been doing that for over 35 years now, you know what that means? It means that I have run, in my life, just over 18, 720 miles. I have run over three quarters of the way around the Earth.

My feet hurt just typing that!

As far as I can tell, 18,720 miles from Marquette is somewhere smack dab in the middle of Middle east, at least if you left Marquette and headed west. That’s a long way. Or you can put it in space nerd terms, if you want. That’s like running 1/14^th of the way from the Earth to the Moon.

18, 700 miles in 35+ years. Wow. And you know what’s scary? There are SO many people who’ve run further than I in the last three decades and change that it boggles the mind. I mean, I’m just a recreational runner. There are people out there who’ll do 500 miles in a month, and don’t even break a sweat. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to do that.

I don’t remember most of the 18,700 miles I’ve run, mostly because my mind is occupied with thoughts other than running while I’m out running, but there are several jaunts that definitely stick in my head, and probably will forever. One would be the three miles I ran by myself, early one Saturday morning through the winding and narrow streets of Bayeux, France. Another would be a sticky & sweaty few miles in Washington DC. And the third would be a VERY sticky & sweaty 8 miles in Marquette a decade or so ago, one of my long, meandering Saturday runs when it was 80 degrees at 8 in the morning.

Trust me--you DON’T forget runs like that, even after racking up 18,000+ miles.

I supposed I should set a goal of running at least 25,000 miles in my life, so I can say (at least in jest) that I’ve run around the world. So far, it’s taken me 35+ years to get three quarters of the way there. I still plan on running as long as I can, so the goal is possible. We’ll just have to see if my feet, my knees, and the new shoes I’m using hold out.

Wish me luck!!

(jim@wmqt.com)

Friday, 4/26

If a picture is worth a thousand words, let's wrap up the week with 3,000 words.

First of all, a picture that tells a story. This is a picture I used during my “Life in the 906” Monday--

What's the story about it, you ask? Well, I answer, this isn't a new picture. It's one I took waaaaay back in 2005 when gas prices were at the high point of one of their endless price cycles. I did a little calculating, and the price of gas using that 2005 per gallon cost in 2024 dollars?

$5.56 a gallon.

The next picture?

The Marquette City Police do periodic door checks for downtown businesses, and when I came in to check on things last Saturday morning the card was sticking in the door. It's nice to know they're keeping us safe.

It's even nicer to know they appreciate what we do, if the hand-drawn musical notes are any indication.

8-)

Finally, this picture--

Do I have to say more? They're just a few weeks away!

Have a great weekend...

(jim@wmqt.com)

Thursday, 4/25

You know, you might want to actually watch something before you unleash your internet comments about it.

If there's one thing I do know, it's that you never read the comments section of anything on the Interwebs; after all, it's where some of the “finest” examples of humanity dwell. Yet I broke my own rule this week, and now I'm wondering why I did.

My “Life in the 906” Monday was a joking piece on gas prices in the UP. I used jokes to actually make a point about how arbitrary prices are up here (as an example I used the real time shocker from a week and a half ago when Loraine & I went to Negaunee and found that gas prices were 30 cents a gallon cheaper than they were eight miles away in Marquette). Part of the humor in the piece (I hope) came from my admission that I don't own a car myself.

Most people got the piece. A few didn't.

It doesn't matter at all to me if I get criticized for something. I've worked in the media long enough to know not to pay attention to it. But if you're gonna criticize someone, at least watch (or listen to) what you're criticizing. There was a whole torrent of insanity released in the comments on WZMQ's Facebook page under the video, from people that only read the copy the station posted as a tease--that I don't own a car. Mostly, they sarcastically marveled that the station would “send out a reporter who doesn't even own a car to do a story on gas prices” (and, by the way, that's the cleaned up version).

If they had actually watched the bit they'd know how I used my not owning a car as part of whole thing. Of course, if they had actually watched it they'd know that I'm not a reporter, I'm commentator. And I didn't do a story on gas prices; I did a humor piece on gas prices. But that would, you know, require someone to actually watch something, instead of just unleashing vitriol for vitriol's sake.

And where's the fun in that?

Like I said, it doesn't bother me; it just makes me wonder what's up with a certain segment of humanity and how, no matter what the situation, they find the need to express some kind of...well, that word I talked about earlier this week that I don't use. And that's all I have to say about that.

Wanna see the piece for yourself? Just CLICK OR TAP HERE . And feel free to leave whatever comments you want. Just please actually watch it before you leave them.

8-)

(jim@wmqt.com)

Wednesday, 4/24

Because I have to be at the dentist in a bit for my 10-month checkup I'm going to take the easy way out and leave you with this week's new “Pieces of the Past”, which may be of interest to daily blog reader Chicky-Poo of Melbourne Beach, Florida, who, if I'm not mistaken, may have broken a bone or two at the location it talks about.

But then he's talented like that.

Tomorrow, the story of my TV bit from Monday night, and how some people either don't pay attention to things or just really don't seem to care.

With that, I'm off to get my teeth cleaned. Here's the video!

(jim@wmqt.com)

Tuesday, 4/23

Words can get you into trouble. Ask any politician, any celebrity, any person, in fact, who’s ever opened their mouth. Everyone has, at one time or another, uttered something they probably wish they hadn’t. So I wasn’t totally surprised when, a few days ago, I was asked by someone if there were any words--outside of the obvious ones--that I would never say on the air.

My answer surprised the person who asked the question. But I hope it doesn’t surprise you.

There are words that some people use all the time, and words that people use all the time, yet never think about why they use them. In that latter category falls a word that I can’t bring myself to use, even though it’s a word that people bandy about freely, like the sound of it is the sweetest thing on the face of the Earth.

It’s a word that’s been around forever, and it’s a word that, sadly, seems to be part of our genetic makeup. I know it’s in the Bible, I know it’s in Shakespeare, and I know it’s been used by half the country while describing the other half.. It’s four simple letters that, on their own, mean nothing, but when you put them together, it just doesn’t seem, well, right.

The word I’m talking about, the word that surprised the person asking me the question, is “hate”.

Is it just me? Is “hate” that bad of a word? Am I just strange in that I feel uncomfortable using it? Even when talking about food that makes me gag, or people whose political views make me gag, I can’t bring myself to use “hate”. I may “dislike” them, or find the food “repellent”, but I have yet to meet a person, a food, or a situation so bad that “hate” comes into play.

Of course, maybe I’m lucky. Maybe I’ve lived enough of a charmed life that I’ve never been forced into a situation where the actual use of the word “hate” pops up. If that’s been the case, just ignore me. But it sure seems that so many things on this planet would be, I dunno, better if “hate”, both the word and the emotion, weren’t part of who we are. I mean, think of everything we as humans have done in the name of “hate” (a list that goes on and on and on). You may (to quote a great philosopher here) say that I’m a dreamer, but just think of it. Imagine a world without hate.

Nice place, wouldn’t it be? I mean, it'll probably never happen...

But just imagine it.

(jim@wmqt.com)

Monday, 4/22

Does this describe you?

90% of Americans say they recycle or turn their thermostats down.

85% of say they buy energy efficient cars & appliances, & wash clothes in cold water when they can.

70% say they’re willing to walk, bike, or carpool to cut down on their driving.

I'm hoping those numbers are true, although some days I look around and wonder.  But I bring this up because today is Earth Day, and what with a rapidly changing global climate and various ways you can help the environment in the news these days, it seemed an apt time to share those interesting statistics.

Having grown up in the 70’s, when people actually seemed to care about the environment and pollution, I’ve always tried to live an environmentally friendly life. It's just ingrained in my brain. As you know, I walk and bike almost everywhere; when I do drive, it’s in a car that gets 40 miles per gallon. Cold water laundry? Check. Recycling? Despite the occasional stupidity of Waste Management, I put out plastics & metals & paper every week, and when I have enough glass lying around I hop on my bike and bring it all to the city recycling station. Air conditioning in the summer? Are you kidding? Enjoy the heat while it’s here!

Major reports the last few months from the U.N. and from researchers worldwide have backed up the fact that, as humans, we’re having a severe impact on Earth’s environmental systems, and most of the impact is NOT good. In fact, the past nine months have been the warmest stretch of months on the planet since records have been kept (with our non-winter winter as proof). Not only that, but areas of droughts and storms have been among the most severe in recorded history. So if you find yourself getting a little tired of all the information, dire warnings, threats, and pleadings to cut back that you’ll hear over the next few days, remember. . ..

For now, at least, it’s the only planet we have!

So on that note, have a happy Earth Day, do what you can to help stabilize and repair the environment, and think good thoughts for Mother Nature. I'm sure she'd appreciate it!

(jim@wmqt.com)

Friday, 4/19

There's no way it's been that many years. That's just not possible.

Is it?

Sunday's a big day for me and Loraine; it's our wedding anniversary. And despite the fact that I can't seem to fathom the quantum mechanics of the whole situation, it's a rather big anniversary for us.  You see, we were married 35 years ago Sunday.

Told you it's not possible.

While it doesn't seem like it happened yesterday, it sure doesn't seem like it was that long ago that we stood out on the steps of the Marquette County Courthouse on a sunny Friday afternoon and said our “I do”s. And when I look at the picture of the two of us from that day, the one sitting in our living room, we don't look that much different. But then I look at the other people in the picture—Loraine's sister, who was 8 at the time, and my grandmother, who passed away 18 years ago, and I then realize--

We've been married for 35 years!!

When we got married, I don't think there was any way that I could fathom we'd be celebrating our 35^th anniversary. I mean, 35 years? That's, like, a lifetime. That's how long your parents have been married, or that's how long your grandparents were married. When you first get married, or at least when I first got married, a time span such as that just did not register in any meaningful way. Yet, here we are, 35 years later, and still together.

I think I've mentioned in here before about how we have anything but a “traditional” relationship, yet among most of our family and friends we're the only couple of our generation still together. I don't know if that's because we don't have a “traditional” relationship, or if we've been lucky, or what, but when I look at all the people we know of our generation, and we're among the only ones still together, it makes me feel two things—it makes me feel very happy, and it makes me feel like the past 35 years have been a gift.

Which they have.

And it's funny; if anything, both the passage of time and seeing other people battle with marital difficulties seem to have made our relationship stronger than ever. Oh, sure, I'm sure (okay,. I know) there are times when Loraine wants to throttle me, but those pale in comparison to the times we find ourselves embarking on some adventure or just marveling at the occasional sheer insanity of our lives. But that's a good thing; it means we've found our groove.

It means that I wouldn't have wanted to spend the last 3 decades-plus with anyone else.

We'll probably spend our anniversary doing o few of the things that has connected us over the past 35 years. You see, we're a perfect match in that I like to cook, and she likes to eat. So I'll whip up something, but not before we spend part of Sunday on the soccer pitch, running around and burning off the calories we'll be eating.

Because that's what we do.

Happy early anniversary, Loraine!!!!!!!

Love,

(jim@wmqt.com)

Thursday, 4/18

It's going well, thanks for asking.

Yesterday was T minus three weeks until Loraine and I (hopefully) hit the skies and head over to Germany. As you may recall, for me to take any time off requires a LOT of work ahead of time, and aside from all of my Q107-WMQT work that also now entails programming our two stations up in Baraga AND getting a couple of “Life in the 906”s ready for TV-19.

Yes, I realize that for some people that's just a recipe for screaming and jumping off a building, but I think we all know I'm a little different than that, right?

8-)

If you were to visit me at work right now you'd notice legal pads with notes & instructions spread all about, and if you were to visit me at home you'd notice index cards and pieces of paper with notes and reminders spread all about. Believe it or not, that means I'm organized. That means I know what I still have to do, how I'm going to do it, and when I'm going to get to it.

It's a system that works for me. What can I say?

Jim's system, work version

As far as radio stuff goes, everything's all planned out. While I haven't gotten to all of it yet, I still have three weeks (well, okay, two weeks and six days) and as long as nothing blows up or sets me back a day or two I'll be fine. As far as the TV stuff goes? Well, that's a little different. Because it was one of those ideas that came to me in the middle of the night a few days ago I've written the piece I'll be recording to air the Monday I'm in Europe, and I know what I'll be doing this upcoming Monday, even if I haven't written that one yet. That just means I need one for the 29^th, one for May 6^th, and, maybe, an extra one for the 20^th just in case I'm, like, stuck in Europe or something.

But since these things seem to (for some reason) come to me out of nowhere, I'm hopeful I'll get them done in time.

That's how things are looking now. With any luck, no extra work or tragedies or anything will get in the way, and in three weeks—excuse me, two weeks and six days—I'll be able to leave.

Now, as long as the airline cooperate on that day, we'll be set.

(jim@wmqt.com)

Wednesday, 4/17

This was a story that I had no idea about.

This week's “Pieces of the Past” video details a story with a story. Here's the “story” part; we'll get to the actual “story” in a second. It starts back a few months ago when we were shooting the first round of “High School Bowl”, and Negaunee was one of the teams. I have students fill out a form with six or seven potential questions I might ask them during the halftime interview segment, and one of those questions was “tell us something we don't know about the place you live”.

Well, Riley Williams, who was the captain of the Negaunee team, told me something about his home town I had never heard before. It intrigued me, if for no other reason that the sheer improbability of it, so I did a little research on it. The more I discovered about the story the more I was drawn in, and was so fascinated by it that I ended up making it a segment in the “Legends & Lore” show Jack & I did at Kaufman in January. Since the story's so cool, I also decided to make it a segment this season on “Pieces”.

THAT'S how both totally strange and totally unknown to me it was.

Okay...that's the story, and now the “story”. See if you're as intrigued by it as I was.

(jim@wmqt.com)

Tuesday, 4/16

I guess I know one thing I'll be doing every day when I'm in Germany next month.

A couple of days ago I mused about whether or not I should write a blog each & every day while Loraine and I are visiting Kaiserslauten & Freiburg. I asked for your opinions, and got them--

Everyone who responded said I really DO need to write something every day while we're there. So...I guess I'll be writing something every day while we're there.

Isn't democracy a wonderful thing?

Most everyone disagreed with me when I said one of the reasons I was thinking of not doing them was because they seem (at least to me) humble-bragging. Almost everyone said that they enjoy seeing the pictures and hearing about the weird things we come across, and that we're not bragging. We're just reporting, said most of the people who responded, and allowing people who can't (or won't) travel to another continent to travel vicariously through us.

So by writing, I guess, I'm performing a public service? Think I could write the trip off of our taxes because of that?

8-)

The first one, then, will appear on May 9^th, the day we get to Germany. And before I leave the topic I need to mention two things. One is a musing from one of the voters who, out of nowhere, made me laugh when he joked about William Shatner saying something along the lines of “Captain's Blog, Stardate...”.

But then, I'm easy that way.

The other thing to mention? My niece Sydney is making HER first venture to Europe tomorrow. She and her boyfriend Ricky are going to Italy, and she's more than excited. In fact, she was even fully packed on Monday, which is much better than her well-traveled uncle. Way to go, Syd. Have a fantastic time!!

*****

Finally, I had promised a link to the championship match of this year's “High School Bowl” and, as always, I keep my promises. So if you wanna watch the first ever overtime championship match, just CLICK or TAP HERE!

(jim@wmqt.com)

Monday, 4/15

It was as exciting in person as it was on TV.

First of all, if you have any interest in this season of “High School Bowl” and have not yet watched the championship match from this past weekend, DO NOT READ THIS. It contains spoilers, and if you have yet to watch the match you SHOULD NOT GO ANY FURTHER.

Okay?

Okay.

“High School Bowl” is a great show to host, if only because every so often something cool happens. Oftentimes, especially in the early rounds of a season, the matches are blowouts, as a good school goes up against a school that's a little weaker and the final score ends up along the lines of 400-10 (an actual score this year). But as the rounds increase the number of blowouts decrease, and in the last few rounds you have close matches, just like in our championship game this past week.

How close was it, you ask? Well, I answer, at the end of the match the two teams that made it to the finals—West Iron County and Houghton—were tied. It was so close between the two teams that the 25 minutes of questions asked of both of them could not separate the two. For the first time in the 45 years of “High School Bowl” the championship game ended in a tie score.

It was cool.

Now, of course, you can't end a match, especially a championship match, without a winner. So after building the suspense for a minute or so by explaining what was going on (even though the suspense probably did not need to be build any more) I asked the question that would determine the champion. It was a winner-take-all question; whoever answered it correctly walked away with the title. When I asked, five out of the eight students gave it a shot, all incorrectly. The West Iron County captin bided her time, sifted through the incorrect guesses, and gave the right answer.

And that's how West Iron County became season 45 champs on “High School Bowl”.

We shot the match two months ago, so it's a secret I've been sitting on since early February. I'm amazed at the amount of people who watch the show but don't know how it turns out, so I in no way wanted to spoil it for them. I just hope they enjoyed watching Saturday; if you wanna see just how suspenseful it was—and trust me, it WAS suspenseful, especially when we were shooting it live—I'll post a link to the show tomorrow.

In the meantime...how about a dorky host and the two teams who helped put together the most exciting and memorable “High School Bowl” finale in the 45 years of the show--

                                        ******

Also tomorrow?  Whether or not I blog while in Europe, based on YOUR votes.

(jim@wmqt.com)

Friday, 4/12

You know, it would be one less thing to worry about.

At T minus three and a half weeks before we (hopefully) leave for Germany things are starting to kick into high gear. I've started working as far ahead as I can at work, I have enough episodes of “Pieces of the Past” produced to carry me through the end of May, I've started writing my “Life in the 906”s ahead a few weeks, and I've already started to try and decide what goes where in luggage, backpacks, and carry-ons.

Plus I'm wondering about the blogs.

Here's the deal—as you may recall, every time we go to Europe I'd write a blog on a nightly basis about what we did that day. People seemed to enjoy it, even if it does seem (at least to me) to be a little humble-bragging about what we were doing. But seeing as how it's been a year and a half since we went anywhere I'm starting to wonder--

Do I need to do it any more?

There are several points behind my pondering the question, not least of which is the fact that we have no idea whether or not this trip is either going to come off as planned or even come off at all. Because of strikes in Germany we could find ourselves stranded at Frankfurt Airport for four days or find ourselves struck in Charlotte or Chicago because of tight connection times (thanks, American Airlines). We just don't know.

Not only that, but we're not actually doing much this time around. We're just going to two cities, one we haven't visited before (Kaiserslauten) and one that's actually one of my favorite places in the world (Freiburg) and just hang around. Of course, without a lot of concrete plans for the days we're there I might have the extra hour or two it takes to put one of the blogs together.  And, I have to admit, I do enjoy going back and reading them after the trip's over, even through I have no idea if anyone else enjoyed them, so...

See why I can't decide anything yet?

Thankfully, I still have a couple of weeks left to make that decision, as I probably wouldn't be able to write anything until we get to Frankfurt on May 9th. If you have an opinion on the matter, please let me know, as I don't write the blogs for me, I write them for anyone who wants to read them.

So vote early, and vote often. Your voice is the one of the most important as I ponder whether to do these again or not. Thanks, and have a great weekend!

(jim@wmqt.com)

Thursday, 4/11

Facebook sucks.

Yes, I know complaining about the world's largest social media service is a hobby for some people, but it really does suck, and I have the hard, quantifiable data to back it up.

Here it is--

Your Facebook feed is set up by the company's mysterious “algorithm”, a formula that is supposed to give you things that want to see. As anyone who's on the service knows, that algorithm is highly subjective and highly variable; what it thinks you might find interesting one day doesn't come anywhere near what it thinks you might find interesting the next day, and can lead to all kinds of bizarre things popping up in your news feed, like the two or three days recently when my feed consisted almost exclusively of posts not from friends or pages I follow but instead from what could (literally) be every single Hooters restaurant in the US.

Me? Hooters restaurants? Really, Facebook?

So their algorithm is bizarre, to say the least. Like I said, what it determines people see varies from one day to the next. It's what drives people on the service insane (yet, conversely, may also be what keeps some of them hooked). I promised proof that it sucks, that it varies from one day to the next, and here it is--

I posted another “Pieces of the Past” video yesterday. When I did one last week it reached thousands of people and had almost 600 views. The one I posted yesterday, at the same time of day? It reached 40-ish people and had about a dozen views. I asked some people I knew had enjoyed the first one if they liked the one from yesterday, and to a person they said--

“You put up a new video yesterday”? Why yes, I did. Facebook just decided not to show it to you.

Stupid Facebook.

So, since only 12 people saw it, here it is. At least a few more people should enjoy a story of fire and how people entertained themselves before the internet.

And, have I mentioned—Facebook sucks?

(jim@wmqt.com)

Wednesday, 4/10

The turnaround is kinda quick. But I like it that way.

You may recall that it's been a weird winter up here, capped off by the two feet of snow most of the UP received last week while we here in Marquette received none. So it's probably not a surprise that things seem to be happening a little earlier than usual. As evidence I present this--

And this--

The buds of some of the flowers around here actually started to pop out several weeks ago, and now that the flowers themselves are blooming I have a feeling that “Spring”, which usually only lasts a week or two around here, might be an actual season this year.

We didn't have a “winter”, after all, so why not follow it up by actually having a “Spring” for once?

Usually when we do get a “Spring” it pops out all at once, blazes brightly for the aforementioned week or two, and then gives way to what passes for “Summer” around here. But this year, I'm sure because of our lack of a winter, it's been a more gradual thing. Like I said, flower buds started appearing a few weeks ago, followed by the flowers now. Instead of seemingly occurring overnight, the grass has been turning a beautiful shade of green slowly (but surely). And the amount—and variety—of songbirds trying to wake you up in the morning has been multiplying at a steady pace the past few weeks.

There were many benefits (to some of us) in not having a real “winter' this year. Could actually having a real “spring” be one of them? This year, nothing would surprise me.

Now, if we can make sure our “Summer” is everything it can be (and, hopefully more) then we'll be all set.

8-)

(jim@wmqt.com)

Tuesday, 4/9

 So...did you enjoy Eclipse Day yesterday?

As you may know, yesterday was the last total eclipse that'll hit Michigan until (I think) 2099, and it was supposed to be a big deal. Here in Marquette, while it wasn't a total eclipse, we were supposed to get 80% coverage, which is nothing to sneeze at. And for a while, we didn't think we'd get to see it--

Yup...clouds were more prevalent than anything else yesterday, although it wasn't as bad as originally forecast. At one time, we were supposed to be overrun with rain & thunderstorms during the time of totality. As it turns out, we just had mostly cloudy skies but, luckily, right before totality was supposed to hit, the skies cleared and took on a weird glow, and thanks to Leah, who works next door at Superior Health Foundation and loaned me her eclipse glasses. I was able to see a mere sliver of a sun as the city around me was cast in a strange light you don't normally see at 3:11 in the afternoon.

It was awesome.

It was a good thing, too, that skies cleared a bit, seeing as how the next one in Michigan won't occur for another 75 years, I'm guessing that if I ever do want to see another total solar eclipse outside of Michigan in my lifetime I may have to travel to do it.

Bummer.

Anyway, hope you were able to (indirectly) see and enjoy what went on yesterday. It doesn't happen very often, and when it does, you have to take advantage of it.

Unless, of course, you plan on being around to see the next one in 2099.

8-)

(jim@wmqt.com)

Monday, 4/8

The ham is finally gone. Thanks for asking.

Like many people for Easter, I baked a ham. It actually wasn't a whole ham; just one of those chunks that weighed four pounds. I slathered it with a brown sugar/orange/ginger glaze, and it made for quite the nice main course for our Easter feast.

Little did we know that six days later, Loraine & I would still be eating it.

Seriously—that hunk of ham must have had some kind of self-replicating feature to it, because no matter how much of it we ate there seemed to be more that we needed to consume. I have no idea how that happened. We started with a four pound hunk of it, ate a large portion on Sunday, had leftovers on Monday, threw more of it into a salad Tuesday, used some of it for omelets Wednesday, took a break for a day, and then finally finished it off Friday night when Loraine threw in the towel and tasked me with eating the last piece.

That's five days of consumption for a four-pound hunk of pig. Short of self-replication, how exactly does that happen?

Now, don't get me wrong. I like ham, and it really doesn't seem to be Easter or any other holiday without it. I don't mind eating it at all. I don't even really mind having to eat it for five out of days in a row. I just want to know the how & why we had to eat it five out of six days in a row. It was a four pound hunk. How can it last five days? It's not like we cut off a little slice, had one bite, and called it quits for the day. Nope; we attacked the ham (pardon the pun) whole hog. We ate big chunks of it eat and every day.

And yet, it still took us five days to finish it.

I'm guessing we won't be eating any more ham any time soon; I think we're both looking forward to a ham-free meal or three. But the next time we do, I'll be curious to see if we can get through it like a normal couple does, or if we've picked up another one of those magical self-replicating hams.

Just like the one we finished Friday night.

(jim@wmqt.com)

Friday, 4/5

Like all good Gen Xers, I blame my parents.

Don't worry; I'm really not blaming them for anything other than warping me for life, which is the duty of any parent. But at least when they warped me it was in a good, although in this case, a time-consuming way.

Let me backtrack a little. As you know, I've been producing another series of those “Pieces of the Past” video history shorts. The latest one (which the public will see in a month or so) I did pushed the boundaries of the equipment I have—namely, a camera and a laptop. Yet I tried to include digital effects, HD video, and a screen split into four different shots. I'm really happy with how it turned out, and thanks to the way my parents warped me it only took eight different attempts to get it right.

Thanks, mom & dad.

I put the video together the first time and then rendered it, which is basically digitally mastering the master file so people can watch it. It's a process that takes a little time. So when I watched the mastered file the first time, I wasn't quite happy with an edit. So I changed it, and then re-rendered it. I watched it again, and noticed another slight change I could make. After re-rendering it again, I pondered changing the rhythm of it a little, which is something no one else would have noticed but was something that was slowly driving me insane. So I changed it, re-rendered it again, and then watched it again.

You can guess what happened after that.

I blame my parents for being a perfectionist. After all, they were the one who told me “If it's worth doing something, it's worth doing something right”, which is the reason I watched a video eight different times and noticed something that absolutely no one else would've noticed. But to me, it wasn't right, which is the reason I re-did it eight times.

In the end, though, I'm happy with the way it turned out. Given endless time and endless chances I'm sure I would make many more changes to it, but seeing as how it's just a three minute piece with a bunch of old pictures, I'm going to say the eighth time is the charm and leave it at that.

See how my parents warped me for life?

8-)

*****

Now, speaking of one of those two people, it's my mom's birthday today. As you know, we don't acknowledge age or anything else along those lines, which means I'll simply say “happy birthday”, have a fantastic day, and I hope Dad & Mel do something nice for you. I'll give you a call in a little bit!

Love,

(jim@wmqt.com)

Thursday, 4/4

To quote a dude, it apparently was much ado about nothing.

As I wrote during it “worst” of it yesterday, our apocalyptic April storm ended up being anything BUT apocalyptic, at least here in downtown Marquette. To prove my point, here's a picture I took Tuesday afternoon before it started--

And then here's one I took 36 hours later, this morning at 9:55--

Like I said on the air yesterday, I realize that I took these pictures less than a thousand feet from lake Superior, and than means it was in no way indicative of what the rest of the UP's weather was like, but geez...

That is NOT apocalyptic at all.

Yet schools (including NMU) were canceled all across Marquette County for the second straight day today.  Now, I realize that in some places they're dealing with 2 feet of snow in the past two days, as evidenced by this picture from station Facebook fan Linda Carilli--

But here in downtown Marquette?

Zip.  Zilch.  Nada.

Have I ever mentioned this has been a weird year?

8-)

*****

I gave you a video yesterday, and since we released two of them to everyone else, we don't wanna leave you out. Here's the second. Enjoy!

(jim@wmqt.com)

Wednesday, 4/3

I don't know whether to be disappointed or not.

Right now, we were supposed to be getting all of our winter in one 24 hour span.  There was a blizzard warning in effect, and depending upon where you are in the UP you could see up to three feet of snow.  So what does it look like in Marquette, as of 9:30 this morning, just a few minutes ago--

I'm underwhelmed.  How about you?

I'm not really serious; after all, to the west of Marquette there's a lot of snow and in the southern UP roads are almost impassible, especially in Menominee and Delta Counties.  But every single school and many businesses preemptively closed last night thinking today would be horrid.  Instead, at least here in Marquette, it's merely inconvenient.

But it's also the winter of 2023-24, when nothing has gone the way it normally does.  So why should we expect anything different than what we're getting today?

But since most of Upper Michigan IS dealing with weather worse than what we're getting there is a bright side to it all.  Most of the UP won't want to leave their house or apartment today. That means they'll be looking for something to do, which means that the premiere of our new season of “Pieces of the Past” might actually draw a few eyeballs. We're releasing two of them today (and then one a week through the beginning of July). Here's the first, with a recommendation that you watch it on as big of a screen as you can, as there are a lot of details you can see.

With that, I'm off to venture into the "apocalypse". Hopefully, I'll live to write another one of these tomorrow.

8-)

(jim@wmqt.com)

Tuesday, 4/2

Based on what she wrote, I had no idea who she was talking about.

A month or so ago I mentioned in here about how a writer for Marquette Monthly wanted to do a profile on me. (And no, I have no idea why, either). I spent 45 minutes talking to her, put it in the back of my mind, and promptly forgot about it.

At least until the new edition came out this past weekend.

There it was in block & white, four pages of me, complete with pictures. I'm not quite sure if anyone would actually WANT to go through all four pages, but from what I've heard from a lot of people they did (and, by the way, if you ever need anyone to testify as to whether or not people read the Marquette Monthly, I have the answer to that). The interview was mostly about History Jim, but other aspects of my life were included, as well.

The thing that got me, though, was the intro to the interview. It was six paragraphs long, with phrases like “local luminary”, “a comforting companion”, “affable host”, and someone whose “zest for life mirrors the vibrancy of his beloved community”.

After I stopped laughing, I figured out she was talking about me.

As you may have picked up over the years, I'm not really comfortable having someone make a big (or any kind of) deal about me. I don't do what I do for fame, nor do I expect anything to come out of it. Yet every so often something does come out of it, and when it does it makes me...uncomfortable, for lack of a better word. I don't know why; I'm sure a shrink could probably make something out of it. But I don't feel like it's needed or necessary. I just do what I do.

I don't expect words like “stalwart guardian” to be uttered.

But uttered they were, and now they're there for posterity. If you wanna check it out for yourself, you're more than welcome. Just CLICK HERE, start on page 21, and get ready to chuckle to yourself as you try to figure out exactly about whom the reporter is writing.

8-)

(jim@wmqt.com)

(PS--”Pieces of the Past” season four premieres tomorrow...you'll get to see the first of the TWO videos that kick it all off.  Unless, of course, the winter storm we're supposed to get is SO bad I feel the need to whine about it!)

Monday, 4/1

My perspective on reality has been altered, and that doesn't often happen. Especially when it's because of car tires.

First of all, hope you had a great Easter. I know we did, especially with all the goodies I whipped up yesterday, including a ham with an orange-ginger glaze that turned out a lot better than I thought it would. Between that and all the chocolate the Easter Bunny (who did visit) left, it was a good day.

But now, back to the blown mind. One of the things I did on my day off Friday was to bring Loraine's car in for an oil change. While there, I asked the service technician to check and see if her tires needed replacing. He said “no”, that they look fine, but DID mention that the treads didn't have a “great winter pattern” to them. When he said that lots of things clicked in my brain, especially regarding the fact that Loraine's car doesn't seem to handle as well on the snow as some of her others.

And that's how I discovered “All Season” tires are really just “Three Season” tires.

Her car came with “All Season” tires, which we figured were just fine for winter driving because, you know, winter is a season and “All Season” is in the tires' name. But after the guy at Fox Marquette Chevrolet pointed out what he saw, we did a little digging, and found that “All Season” tires really aren't made for winter and don't work really well when the temperature is under 40 degrees. Their name is, basically, a lie. Sure, “All Season” tires may work in places like Florida where every season is pretty much the same, but in the UP where we actually DO have four seasons? Not so much.

Now, “All Weather” tires apparently work in all weather, including winter. And that's what we'll put on the car. But Loraine's a little upset (and rightly so) that when she bought her car she wasn't given the choice between the two kinds of tires. Basically, Chevrolet is assuming that every car they sell is going to someplace where “All Season” tires will be okay. But there ARE places—especially in Chevrolet's home state—where it might be better to offer “All Weather” tires. Yet, for some reason (and I'm quite sure it's because they're cheaper) her car only came with “All Season”, and for people (like us) who don't pour over the minutia of cars and think “All Season” actually means, you know, ALL the seasons, getting “All Season” tires would seem to be fine.

Until you notice that whenever you have to drive through snow and/or in temperatures under 40 degrees (a possibility 10 months of the year around here) things just don't seem right.

I'll be the first person to admit that I don't know everything, especially when it comes to things like (and I can see my dad cringing right now) cars. But when I DO learn something new, especially something that really makes no sense or could lead to actual danger while driving, my perspective on reality gets altered.

And not always in a good way.

Tomorrow, the story of how my very weird life has gotten even weirder. And slightly embarrassing, as well.

(jim@wmqt.com)