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)