NOT Eating Good in the Neighborhood!

It is my fault. Sunday night, I was going through some things and found a white envelope with my name on it. My radio name. I opened the envelope and it was a Christmas card from my old boss at WCRZ – Cars 108. I must have just returned to the station as she had written, “Glad to have you back as part of the team.” This was probably from four years ago. Inside the card were two gift cards. Two Applebee’s gift cards.

I turned them over and the area for the pin number had not been scratched off. In my mind, this means that I never used them. My first thought was that I would be able to use them to take my wife out for dinner on a date night. I had no idea how much was on each card, so I called the number on the back of the card.

Each time I tried to call, the call would not connect. I tried numerous times. I thought maybe it was something wrong with my phone. So, I decided to try to check the balance online. I typed in the numbers on the first card and entered the pin. The website stated that there was an “error.” I tried the second card and it did the same thing. I decided to try the number again. It still wouldn’t connect.

I decided to see if someone at the local restaurant could look up the balance. I called the local restaurant and they were happy to help. I gave them the numbers and the pin numbers of both cards. Both times I was told that nothing was coming up. I had to chuckle. Of course they couldn’t find anything.

According to all the Applebee’s sites, the cards never expire. I really find it hard to believe that our boss, who gave these cards to everyone on the staff, would have given us all cards that were never activated (which is what the restaurant suggested). If that was the case, I am sure I would have heard about it.

I have no idea how much would have been on the cards, I’m sure it was probably no more than $50. But it sure would have been a nice little treat to have found out that they were still good. I’m glad I didn’t take my wife there and find out as we paid that there was an issue with the cards.

I Made It 15 Days! A New Record!

I’m out! I got “Whammed” on Tuesday by a co-worker.

Another co-worker and I were just talking about this on December 1st. Do you play Whamageddon? Do you even know what it is? If not, I’ll tell you.

It’s probably one of the stupidest and silliest games of the holiday season. The objective? Avoid hearing Last Christmas by Wham from December 1st to December 25th (although there are some people who try to avoid it the entire month of December).

Here are the rules:

When I was working part time at Cars 108, it was especially difficult to avoid hearing it, because the station played all Christmas music during the holidays. However, now that Covid has pretty much forced my retirement from radio, I have a bit more control over things.

Yes, I still do flip through the channels on the radio, but it is mostly Sirius XM stations that probably wouldn’t play the Wham version. However, there were times that my wife and I were driving where we were scanning through local stations and the risk factor was higher. I thought for sure if I was gonna be “Whammed” it would be driving in the car, but that is not what happened.

One of our co-workers was listening to a variety of music on YouTube Tuesday night. I know for a fact that she was here the night me and my other co-workers were talking about Whamageddon. Whether she heard the discussion or not, I don’t know.

She was playing Christmas songs of her choice – meaning, she was searching and then selecting the songs to play. She literally turned to us and said, “Here’s one for you” and started Wham! My buddy and I looked at each other and were like, “Really!? Why would you play that?!” She said she had no idea about the game. That was NOT the way I thought I’d lose the game! I am sure that there was a look of disgust and defeat on our faces!

I suppose I’ll give it a go again next year … Maybe I can go longer than 15 days!

Behind the microphone….

I am in one of my happy places today. I am in the on air studio at Cars 108 doing a live show. It’s different than when I am here on the weekend. Today there are salespeople scurrying around the building, the prod guy is producing commercials, and the boss is here. It’s an amazing feeling that I miss on a daily basis. It feels good to be in the studio and catching up with people here that I only get to see occasionally.

Planning a show and prepping where to do bits was something that I did full time for almost 30 years. I used to walk around with a note pad and eventually a small tape recorder so I could jot down those things that I observed in every day life – things that my listeners might find interesting. I made notes of the funny things the boys said, things I found annoying, and things that I wondered if anyone else had noticed. I miss sitting and thinking on things, writing punch lines, and creating comedy bits or fake commercials with other radio people.

Don’t get my wrong, radio has it’s problems – job security and salary being the biggest! The thing about radio is this – you don’t do it for the money. You do it because you enjoy it. That’s one thing that I give my parents credit for – they supported my choice to do it. It didn’t take very long for me to get fired from my first gig for no reason other than “we’re making some changes”. My folks knew how much I loved it and could have easily said “you need to focus on something else, because radio just isn’t going to help you get ahead.” Instead, my dad, who hated getting up and going to work every day, saw how much I enjoyed it and encouraged me to continue.

“Find something you love to do and do it. You’ll never regret it.” There’s some advice that holds true for everyone. As a matter of fact, when I talk to kids at schools for career day or at job fairs, I make sure that advice is always presented. Life is too short to spend the many years that you will be working doing something you hate.

While I radio I helped to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars to help find a cure for childhood cancer, helped collect donations for the people in New York after 9/11, helped boost the blood supply with numerous blood drives, laughed and cried with listeners, read stories to kids from kindergarten to 6th grade, interviewed legendary celebrities and future celebrities, and loved every second of it. I have made lifelong friends of listeners, record reps, artists, and former co-workers.

Some people look back at life and see time wasted, not me. I look back and see experience, lessons learned, accomplishments, and more. I am who I am today because of where I have been and what I have done. I wouldn’t change a thing.

Today, I am enjoying being back “at it”. Gotta go … song is fading ….

Thanks for listening!