Thursday, 3/18

 Tomorrow is big for two reasons.

The first is that I get to take the day off. That's right; it's another one of those “let's try to use up all my unused vacation days “ three-day weekends, which means, among other things, that there won't be one of these posted tomorrow.

I hope that's okay.

The second reason is a little more profound. And when you think of it, it's kind of tied into why I have all of those unused vacation days. Tomorrow will mark the last time in a year that I had co-workers. Yup...a year ago Saturday marks the day my co-workers were either furloughed or moved off-sight, which means I'm been roaming the musty halls of the station all alone for a year now.

Wow.

I've been reflecting a lot on that recently. When all this silliness started we were hopeful that in what—two weeks?--the virus would be gone and we'd all be back to normal. Fifty weeks after that, we've all adjusted to living in our “new” normal and would, in all likeliness, return to what we did in the Before Times the same way a time traveler might head back to the 1950s and wonder how people ever got along back then.

With a shake of the head and a bemused grin.

What does the future hold? I have no idea. I have no idea when we'll finally make our way out of the surreal life that's taken over the planet. I have no idea when we'll get to do the things we used to do in the way we used to do them. And I have no idea when (or even if) I'll get my co-workers back. But you know what? If all fifteen months of 2020 (so far) have taught us anything, it's that we've all gotten quite good at adapting to change, whether we want to or not.

Have yourself a great weekend. Before I start my weekend tomorrow—in fact, before I even go to work today—I have to go get a shot. So maybe tomorrow (and today) is big for three reasons, and not just two!

(jim@wmqt.com)

Wednesday, 3/17

 Well, it happened again.

First of all, happy St. Patrick's Day. As someone who is 14% Irish, I suppose it's a day I should celebrate. And I am, but in a very weird, Jim-like way. Remember a few weeks ago when I woke up with an idea for a video on the history of the ore dock fully formed in my head? Well, I was sitting at work yesterday afternoon. I was just a few minutes until I was supposed to leave, in fact, and I was thinking about what I have to do today, St. Patrick's Day.

And that's when it hit me.

A few minutes later, I had a script written. I recorded the audio before I left work, and then I multi-tasked at home, eating dinner while editing video. Ninety minutes after I had an idea while staring at my big wall calendar at work, this was done--

I don't know where these bursts of inspiration come from. I don't know if I should be happy I get them, or if I should be worried that they're starting to control my brain. It's just....strange to have these things happen. I guess I means that I'm in some kind of zone, much like an athlete might be on a good day.

I have no idea.

Hopefully, they'll keep coming and I'll be able to do something good with them. If they disappear; well, I have no idea how I started to get them in the first place, so I guess that's fair. But if they do keep coming, maybe one will pop up that'll make me, oh, a million bucks. I mean, if I can put that request into my subconscious, maybe it'll listen.

And maybe, just maybe, some day pigs will fly and the Lions will get into the Super Bowl.

8-)

(jim@wmqt.com)

Tuesday, 3/16

 I had forgotten all about the pictures.

First of all, happy St. Urho's Day. Hope you're wearing purple and, if you're Finnish, eating whatever it is that would be considered a Finnish national dish. So...squeaky cheese for everyone?

I'll go for that.

Now, onto the pictures I had forgotten about. I used my phone over the weekend to take a picture, a picture you'll see in a second. While I was looking for it, I noticed a whole bunch of pictures taken during the same month, but a different year. Apparently, I used my phone to take a bunch of shots of life as the pandemic was just starting a year ago, kind of my way of documenting what we were going through during an unprecedented time.

Little did I know we'd still be going through it a year later. Back then, there were empty streets--

And messages of hope--

And at least we now have toilet paper. I wonder how many people actually took this store up on their offer?

The state of Michigan's first lockdown began a year ago today. It's been quite the 365 days, hasn't it?

*****

The picture I took this weekend that caused me to notice all the other shots? Well, Loraine and I received a package from daily blog readers Floyd & Betsy in downstate Reese. Mom & Dad #2 had a few Christmas gifts they found but hadn't send, and included among them a bag of chips they found at their local Aldi store. Now, I don't know if they're aware of my obsessive love of these particular sandwiches, but I do have to say—these chips are almost as good as the sandwiches themselves--

Thanks for the yummy gift, Mom & Dad #2!!

(jim@wmqt.com)

Monday, 3/15

 Beware the Ides of March!

Sorry; I just always wanted to write that and actually have it make sense. And since today IS the actual “Ides”, I can now rest happy. I just need to figure out what color to wear. After all, if tomorrow (St. Urho's Day) is purple, Wednesday (St. Patrick's Day) is green, and yesterday (Pi Day) was the color of whatever pie you last ate, what does one wear for an “Ide”?

I'm going for black. I'm assuming Julius Caesar would agree.

And yes, I do need to know I need to get a life. You don't need to remind me!

8-)

Today's gonna be one of those days, I think. Maybe some of that is because I'm working ahead trying to take this upcoming Friday off. And maybe some of it is that fact that I was awakened early this morning in perhaps the one way I don't mind getting awakened early—by the chirping of birds. I don't know if you've noticed it, but at least in my part of Marquette there's been a marked increase in the number of song birds plying their trade during the early morning hours. In fact, after being awoken early today, I went running without my usual iPod, and was astounded by the amount of bird chatter I heard all throughout my little jaunt (which included a lot of downtown Marquette, believe it or not).

In fact, sometimes the birds were even louder than the cars, muffler-less pickup trucks, and Marq-Tran buses that usually interrupt whatever I'm listening to.

I also have to admit I like the fact that evenings that are now longer, thanks to the time change yesterday. Instead of walking home in the fading light or even the dark I'll get to walk home in the light., and for some reason it just seems to make the three-block jaunt a little easier. Not only that, but now that it's light out when I walk home I can see the proto-buds on my favorite lilac tree, and know that Spring will be here for real sooner rather that later. And who doesn't want that?

Okay; seeing as how I've already accomplished so much waking up a few minutes early I'll stop babbling now, go find something black to wear, and get ready to head to work. And with any luck, I won't run into anything (or anyone) I'll need to “Beware” of today. Wish me luck!

(jim@wmqt.com)

Friday, 3/12

 My new camera's here. My new camera's here!

Now you know what I'M doing this weekend.

8-)

Another thing I may be doing this weekend is seeing just how dry and in-shape some of Marquette's parks and soccer fields are. What with the lack of snow all winter (as we discussed yesterday) Loraine and I are wondering if we can get out and kick a few balls around a month or so earlier than usual this year. I know I wouldn't mind; I know she wouldn't mind, so with any luck maybe we can get out and get some extra exercise.

We'll see how that turns out.

Yet another thing I'll be doing this weekend is working ahead a little, as I'm hoping to take next Friday off. I've been trying to take a Friday off once a month, not only for my mental health but because I have all these vacation days to use up. I've written about that before, so I'm not going to complain about that, but it might be an appropriate day to take off, anyway.

You see, next Saturday will be the one year anniversary of me working alone. One year. That's almost, on occasion, too long of a time span to comprehend, yet it also seems like it's been, what? A week or two since all this insanity started? So perhaps having a few free seconds next Friday to contemplate that might be a good thing, as well.

One of the final things I might be doing this weekend (well, aside from changing the clocks at home and at work) might be trying to figure out which local non-profits might profit from my latest stimulus check. I said I wanted to spread some of that money around to groups who need it more than I, and I'm sticking to that. So if there's one you know needs the help, pass it along so I can put it on the list.

That's YOUR chore for the weekend. Well, that & changing the clocks, waking up Sunday morning and hoping you put them forward and not back. Not that I'm speaking from experience or anything, but you know me...

Have a great weekend!

(jim@wmqt.com)

Thursday, 3/11

 No, I wasn't kidding.

Yesterday's blog about my farting shoe seems to have piqued the curiosity of a few of you in a way I really didn't consider. I mentioned I wore the shoes because the snow's gone here in Marquette, and despite the notes I received wondering if I was insane, I wasn't kidding.

Don't believe me?

I took that yesterday, even before the rain we had melted whatever snow we had left. When I say that we've had a really mild winter this year, I'm not kidding. I know someone who keeps track of weather statistics in the city of Marquette, and this may be the first year in the 172 years Marquette has been Marquette that we won't have a storm that dumps over a foot of snow at one time (although, to be scientifically accurate, she's missing a dozen or so years from the mid and late 1800s, so that may not be 100% totally correct). Not only that, the National Weather Service office moved from downtown Marquette to the old airport location between Marquette and Negaunee sixty years ago. Because it's six miles west of and almost 1,000 feet higher than the city, they get a lot more snow that we do.

But for the first time in the sixty years since they moved, there hasn't even been 100 inches of snow out there yet. See? I'm not kidding about all of this!

When I went running this morning, though the lack of snow, I noticed the smell of fallen pine needles in Shiras Park for the first time since whatever snow we did have started to fall. Now that it's all gone, even Mother Nature is starting to get into the Spring frame of mind. That doesn't mean that we won't get more snow; that doesn't mean that the National Weather Service will get to that 100-inch mark. It just means that, despite everyone's incredulity, we've had a mild winter that, hopefully, will lead into a warm Spring and an even warmer Summer.

Then think how many minds will be blown.

(jim@wmqt.com)

Wednesday, 3/10

 My shoe squeaks.

And when I say my shoe squeaks, I don’t mean a cute little mouse-like ”pip” if I step on a warped tile on a floor. No, when I say my shoe squeaks, I mean that every time my right foot hits the ground, it sounds like the Lower Harbor foghorn on the most humid day of the 21^st century.

Yes, it’s that bad.

Last year I bought a new pair of dress shoes from a local store (with some of my stimulus money, of course), and I'm very impressed by them. They look good, they feel great, and they don’t hinder me when I have to make that 4-second dash from my office to the studio after realizing that a song is running out and that I should REALLY be in the studio to say something because, after all, that’s why I get paid. I didn't get to wear them much last fall because I didn't have a TV show to shoot, but when I did try them out before the snow started to fall there didn’t seem to be a problem.

Flash forward, now, to yesterday. It was nice out, the snow was FINALLY melted off the sidewalks between my apartment and the station, and I felt like wearing a jacket & tie to work. What would go well with melted sidewalks and a jacket & tie, you ask? Well, I answer, my new shoes. So I stuck ‘em on, and walked to work.

I guess I should’ve noticed things were amiss when, even while walking down a rather loud city street, I heard. . .something. I wasn’t sure what it was, but I noticed it was kind of rhythmic in nature, and that it wasn’t going away. And then when I walked into the station, away from the street noise, I noticed that I heard it every time my right foot hit the ground. And when I started walking down the tiled hall to my office, a tiled hall where sound bounces a little, I realized what it was.

I realized my right foot was farting.

Well, it wasn’t literally farting; that’s just what it sounded like. And the sound continued even when I walked through rooms with a carpeted floor. Every time my right heel hit the ground, that sound was there. Didn’t matter what kind of surface it was; every step I took brought forth that sound. The only time I got around it was to tip-toe on my right foot while walking normally on my left. Trust me--if you ever wanna look like a dork, trying walking normally on your left foot while tip-toeing on your right.

And, as you may be aware, I am pretty good at making myself look like a dork.

Now, I have no idea why my right shoe started to squeak. Maybe it just needed to get a workout after several months of sitting idle. Maybe I wore it just enough last fall and broke it in just enough to have brought its natural sound out. Maybe there’s too much humidity in the air. Maybe it just wanted to bring a little attention to itself.

I dunno. All I know is that I probably want to avoid wearing the shoe until I figure out what the deal is. After all, even though I'm working alone I still feel embarrassed when I walk around, singing and talking to myself while occasionally running into doors & walls because I’m not paying attention while singing and talking to myself. And then throw a very loud shoe into the mix?

Some days, it’s not easy being me. It really isn’t. Especially when I have a shoe that farts.

(jim@wmqt.com)