WIXY's Gone Bananas

I was given notice this morning that I have been laid off from my job. Kathy, understandably, isn't taking this well at all. We need your prayers. This puts a very big exclamation point on two very lousy years.

I am taking a very quick break from awarding Top Bananas at this point to pass on a message from Jerry White, father of Suzanne Horne, aka Liquid. Amias asked me to post this, as it was from an email she had received. "One year has passed and I really don't know where to start. We have all had a hard time. I guess Campbell has been the biggest man of all. He accepted his mother's death very well. Isabella on the other hand has had a rough year. To this day she is still somewhat withdrawn from our love and compassion. I think she is afraid of losing us. She is however, very close to Betty. Betty has also had a very hard time and it showed up again as we were putting up the Christmas Tree. Suzanne had always helped." "We went and spent Christmas with Greg, Ronna and Madelyn. Please pass along to all of the bloggers how much we appreciate their kind words about Suzanne. She was all they said to those that knew her personally." As we end 2009 and go into 2010 re...

When you last left me, I was in North Carolina awarding the last Top Banana. I decided, against my better judgment, to head up I-95 and pass out awards to those deserving in the Eastern United States. Cliff Note: In case you didn't figure it out, I-95 is not my favorite highway, especially between Baltimore and NYC. Speaking of Baltimore, the "If I give you some steel wool, will you knit me a BMW?" Top Banana goes to Margaret, of Bellathena's Blog fame. Margaret is also an honorary Buckeye Baby Boomer Blogging Buddy(tm) , having attended college at the College of Wooster, which is located about 20 minutes away from me. Margaret's blog is about life in suburban Baltimore, Md., her family, dogs and her knitting. She evens manages to make mention of the football team that Baltimore stole from Cleveland on occasion. All in fun, of course. We manage to have some off blog dialogue, as she likes to keep up on things around Wooster, Ohio. Leaving Baltimore and heading u...

The response over my European awards is one important reason I just give the Top Banana once a year. I like keeping the award unique and fresh. I also like keeping my posts somewhat brief and that's the reason I do several during "award season." I am now back in the United States and this post will be about the winners down south. Y'all in Kentucky are not included in this batch since you both are honorary Buckeyes. And even though the graphic on this post is smaller, you are no less winners than your European counterparts. I'm going to start today in sunny Florida. The first award is the "Ho Ho Ho Green Blogger " Top Banana, which is a take off on the Green Giant commercials and not a commentary on her personal life. This goes to Busy Bee Suz , of Day by Day With Suz fame. Suz is a guardian of the environment and is very active in blogging about it. Suz also writes about her family and pets, using her loving sarcastic style in her daily musing. The com...

For the next several days, I want to end 2009 and begin 2010 with a little fun and put smiles on faces. Yes, it's time for the 2009 Top Banana awards. This is the 4th year that I've handed out end of year awards. The first year, I called them the Golden Banana and my friends on the message boards were the recipients. The following year, as I was looking for a graphic, I found the first Google reference to "Golden Banana" was a strip club. I then renamed the award the "Top Banana." The origin of the term is headliner in a Vaudeville act. All who participate here are headliners in my book. You have all been invaluable friends to me in 2009, helping me through a difficult year and these awards are a way to show my appreciation. Your comments here, reaction to comments I've made on your blog, emails, and notes through the USPS, have given me more encouragement than you could imagine. As I have noted earlier in this post, these awards are given out in fun and...

It seems that I got away from some of my passions in writing this blog. Like some of you, I've been in Facebook more than I really should be and some of my best thoughts have stayed inside of me, going stale. I take a look at my sidebar and it reveals that I'm at 311(as of this writing) posts for the year. Last year I wrote 427 posts. Yeah, in some cases, life has happened. Some of it has choked off my creative juices. I noticed in the past couple of weeks that my life is somewhat a mess and I have nobody to blame but the one currently at the keyboard. One of my goals for the coming year is to get more organized. Maybe with that, my other goals might fall in place. Maybe the book will finally break out of me. If my laptop was waterproof, I would probably have written a chapter in the shower this morning. I don't know if I want to surpass my 2008 total of posts in 2010, but I do want to have some good quality reading for all of you who stop by.

Last night my daughter was at church with her kids, attending Christmas Eve services. As they were leaving, her youngest child, age 2, handed her a blue feather and said that "This is for Pa-paw". Martha didn't know where it come from. The following is a poem written almost two years ago by Suzanne Horne. This will be the third time I have posted it here: Sleeping Under Her Wing At night when all is quiet I notice my toes are warm despite the snow on the ground beneath me. I curl into a ball at the foot of my bed hiding the hurt and the tears from little patters of feet. I wail so hard silently my head wants to explode. She with her wing wipes my tears. She with her words sings to me and twiddles my hair. I rub a single feather I plucked from her wing and stroke my cheek with it. It soothes me. I am warm. I am safe. I pull it together. I send her that same feather. Although she has tons. ~Liquid

To your house from the WIXYranch, I wish you a very merry Christmas. Enjoy Mark Lowry's version of "Mary Did You Know?"

Most Dave Ramsey listeners are familiar with that phrase. Dave tells that to those who call him and tell him about being deep in debt. Or specifically: "Beans and rice, rice and beans. Christmas is a craft , anniversary is a card. You don't see the inside of a restaurant unless you are working there." Anyway, since things have been very tight at my home this year, I decided to take this somewhat to heart. A friend at work always gives me something for special occasions, not expecting anything in return. I had told Charlie I was going to do this for others, and I decided also to do it for him. Thanks to the digital age, it's easy for someone like me to craft a gift for someone else. And since it's podcasts from iTunes which I get for free, I am not doing anything illegal. And I did make two CD's of the Dave Ramsey show. Another thing I got for Charlie, who happens to be an avid NASCAR fan, was a Dale Earnhardt hat, which I found on clearance at Kmart. Charlie i...

Last year about 1:30 Christmas afternoon, I was checking my email when I got a message that had numbed me. Chelle wrote to tell me that Liquid had passed away the day before. I then posted the news here, then went to my in laws as my grand kids had more gifts to open. When I returned home that day, I called Chelle to get the details, she told me what had happened. Over time, I had heard from other friends and family. I found that some of her family had been reading my tribute posts, even before Amias took charge of having people link their posts on Suzanne's blog . The past week or so, I've been in contact with other bloggers and former bloggers who have been thinking a lot of her lately. Leesa left a message in the online guest book last week. Amias just left one today. Suzanne is still missed. Michelle had asked me to send out a prayer request for Suzanne's family and I'm using this post for that. Suzanne left behind her parents, Jerry and Betty White, her son Camp...

For many years, the Kobilarcik's have transformed their house in Wooster, Ohio to a Christmas wonderland. Their home, located on Milltown Road, between Melrose Rd. and Cleveland Rd, state route 3, is a fantastic display of their Christmas spirit. We took out kids there when they were young and have returned many times. Last night I took my grandson, Ben, there for the first time. There is space for plenty of parking, as the public is welcome free of charge. The sign pictured above, is behind the soldier on the left. This is the walkway to the house. As we walked towards the house, we were welcomed by an array of Disney characters, all in their Christmas finest. As you get closer to the house, you will see displays of dolls and stuffed toys, all in the spirit of the season. The front and side of the house fully contain displays that took years to come together. Some of these brings to mind department store windows from years past. And yes, there are displays that show the reason fo...

The year has gone so quick I say It's just one week till Christmas Day I hope you all have love to share And wrap it all with so much care This whole weekend will be so hazy Christmas shoppers all going crazy To me it really seems so funny I won't be there, I have no money

I haven't been doing much serious writing in the past several days and my last two posts were from YouTube. This means I have also not seen my dashboard lately. I missed a comment made 6 days ago until this morning during my coffee break. This comment was made on the classic post about my brother that I had reposted last week. It was from one of my high school friends. Gary had reminisced about the days when we attended Highland High and brought back some good memories and reintroduced me to some of his humor. He also made mention of some old classmates he has seen over the years. One of the good things about writing on the Internet and not being anonymous is that you can catch the attention of folks you haven't seen in over 30 years. However, I sometimes wish that they would click on my profile and drop me a line. I will have to tell Beth about this. Maybe she will start reading my blog.

Genesis is one of the next induction class in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. They go in with ABBA, Jimmy Cliff, the Stooges and the Hollies. Enjoy my favorite Genesis hit, Invisible Touch.

Here is Larry the Cable Guy reading a politically correct version of "The Night Before Christmas."

Yes, you can probably tell by the title, this is a post about my latest adventure at the Evil Big Box Store(tm). I had to go there after work to pick up some things for my lunch for the rest of the week. I also got some Reeses bells and Crunch and Munch for Kathy. I finally got everything I went in for and headed for the register. I decided to use the self check out. I went towards one and noticed the lady about to use it either couldn't read or was unable to count above 20. The signs say 20 items or less. I went another register where I had to wait almost the same amount of time that I would have had I been behind Miss 20 items or whatever. The lady two spaces in front of me was taking forever ringing up her few items, seemingly in a trance as she was scanning her items. I finally got my turn and took it and left. I did hope as I was exiting the parking lot that the customer who was mesmerized by the self checkout wasn't going my way. Actually, I was hoping that the BMV didn...

This morning there were random drug tests at my work. That always worries me. I'm afraid I won't pass one. You see, I know very little about drugs.

....And there are times I need reminded of that. Brenda left this comment on the prayer request post from this past Thursday: "Thanks for posting for me Cliff. We got news that yesterday (Sunday) she(Sonja) finally woke up, and so far seems to be clear headed. Thanks to all that visited the hub and said prayers for them!!" And yes, I needed this news today, as I was feeling sorry for myself. Brenda didn't know this, but once again she has provided me a big pick me up. I also want to thank everybody for their prayers. Let's all pray for each other.

Today's birthday shout out goes to fellow media geek and baby boomer. Tim Lones , of Cleveland Classic Media fame, is 52 today. Tim is one of my original internet friends, as we have interacted on the media boards since before we became bloggers. Although we live within a half hour ( Cliff Note: Always proofread before posting! ) of each other, we have never met. Hopefully someday that will change. Tim works hard at something he really loves and his blog is one that is both entertaining and informative. His latest post is about Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol . Check it out and while you're there wish him the best on his day.

Today's birthday girl is Shelley aka Shellmo, of Building a Log Cabin fame. Our cabin dweller and cabin seller told me via Facebook chat yesterday that she's already visualizing a multi layered cake. You can either head to Michigan or click on the link above to wish her all the best on her special day. I'll send this poem as your treat I hope your birthday's really sweet I hope your dog and cat and man Have a real special birthday plan I hope your cake tastes so grand No other like it in the land So sweet so light and so fluffy No calories to make you puffy To the state that's north if me I write this with a lot of glee A poem where I want to say I wish you a very blessed day.

And I have posted it over at the Prayer Hubs. Hey, My friend Deb's sister Sonja is really in a bad way. She went in hosp. last week, she had scar tissue blocking her colon, and now they have found blood clots in her brain, they fear she's had mini strokes and possible damage to her brain. Things aren't looking so good for her, she's not coming out of her drug induced coma, been off the meds for 3 days now. Please remember Sonja in your prayers and go over there and link up to it and show Brenda your support for her friend.

Cliff Note: My earlier post today got me to thinking about a series of posts I wrote in March, 2008 about my younger brother, Richard, who had passed away at the age of 49 on March 4, 2008. Ricky never had a fair shake at life in my opinion. In my own fashion, I had posted that I may not be posting in the days following the phone call I received at 3:07am from the nursing home where Ricky had been living for the 4-1/2 years prior to that. I ended posting about him for the next several days and the comments I received, along with what my friends told me after they read the posts were very touching. The following was posted March 7, 2008, which by the way, would have been our mother's 80th birthday. Most folks knew him as Richard, Rich, or Richie. We had a cousin named Ricky, so some of the relatives called him "Little Ricky" even though he was 4 months older than his cousin. But when my dad first called him "Dick," my mom put her foot down(in her words) so the on...

I was blogging about 10 months when I put the current site meter on this blog. Since then, I have had some fun with it, and I have also been able to see what some come here for. Unfortunately, my higest traffic days come when someone passes away. But when I've done tribute posts, I get some first time visitors. Thanks for the links on Liquid Illuzion, I am still getting people coming here to read the tribute posts I wrote for Suzanne 11 months ago. Although it's been months since I've heard from the family, I get the impression by the traffic I get here that my writing made some difference. I also get hits for people wanting to read about my brother Richard, who passed away March 4 of last year. On a lighter note, I get hits every day for those looking for Lawson's Chip Dip. It's only available at Ohio Circle K stores. I also think Circle K owes me some advertising money for as often as people come to this blog to read about one of their products. Then there are tho...

I thought I would weigh in on some issues of an entertainment nature. Some things that have gotten my morals wondering . First, Adam Lambert: I really don't care about his sexual orientation and I didn't see the awards show where he performed his acts lately. But I do understand that it was a very suggestive, sexual nature. If it was a man and a woman, a woman and a woman, or a man with a man, this display, or anything that suggests anything that should be performed in a private setting only, should not be performed on free TV. Next: Recently, I was flipping around the channels and a Miley Cirus video, "Party in the USA" caught my eye. Keep in mind that I am a grandfather of three, and my four year old granddaughter loves Hannah Montana. I also realize that Miley is only 16, which is ten years older than my oldest grandchild. I am shocked by the way she was dressed in this music video. I would like to kick Billy Ray Cirus in the butt for allowing his underage dau...

I belong to a Yahoo! group called Wayne County Free Cycle. It's a group where you can offer things you no longer want. Kathy has gotten many books and clothes from those who have offered. I have had her give away some things, a television, VCR, and a composter. We have also given away books and clothing. This past Saturday, I went into my email and found someone was giving away a couple of VHS camcorders. I got one of them, an RCA, model CC414. For the most part, people get tired of camcorders before the thing wears out. Biggest problem is with the batteries, especially if they are lead acid batteries. If you don't charge your battery every 6 months, the battery dies. The advantage lead acid has over ni-cad batteries is that they don't develop a memory. Well, I've been checking online for that and other accessories. I was able to power it up with my AC cord from my laptop. Cliff Note: Please pray for my laptop as it died on Saturday. Good news is that it's still und...

Two days, two birthdays. Today the special one celebrating their personal holiday is Amelia, of Amel's Realm fame. Amelia comes to us from Finland, but like yesterday's birthday girl, Leesa, she's originally from somewhere else. She moved from Indonesia to be with her one true love "R2". Amelia has a very sweet spirit when it comes to blogging and is good to visit many blogs in different languages. So, go on over and wish her a happy birthday.

Today is Leesa's, of News From France fame, birthday. Leesa has been a good friend to many of us who visit on the internet. She is also our very own cupcake queen. Originally from San Diego, she moved across the pond and now teaches in France. Also an avid traveler of Europe, she shares many of her adventures with those who visits her blogs. I won't reveal her age, but she does on her blog. I will say that she looks good for her age. But go on over and give Leesa some good wishes for today.

Today in the United States, we are celebrating Thanksgiving. This is the holiday where the Pilgrims got off the Mayflower, stuffed themselves full of turkey, dressing, rolls, and pumpkin pie. All these were provided by the native colonists up the street. While all the womenfolk were cleaning after the feast, the native and Pilgrim men retired into the living room and watched an afternoon of football. This was long ago, so I guess there wasn't cable television. TV must have had rabbit ears. But fast forward to 2009. In a few hours, we will be going over the creek(fitting that the creek is Chippewa Creek) and up state route 57 to the inlaws house for some turkey, stuffing, pie, and other goodies. After this we will watch some football. Here are some things, I can be thankful for this Thanksgiving. The first one is an update: Our son, Adam, started at the workshop this week. He now has things to occupy his time. Since he was taken off the medicine which caused his suicidal thoughts la...

I just received an email from Jeremy, as many of you did, telling me that his mother is home from the hospital. Quoting from the email They did an angioplasty this morning at 0945 and found 2 blockages. However, they are less than 70 percent and as such do NOT currently require stents. We are monitoring her closely to watch for signs she's bleeding out of her leg. Hopefully she won't - the blood thinners will be out of her system fairly soon. Jeremy wants us to keep praying for them, as they need it. Go on over and offer up some support . He has another reason to be thankful tomorrow. Praise God!

Jeremy has posted on his Personl Thoughts blog that his mother has been hospitalized . It's been confirmed that she has some heart problems and will be hospitalized during the Thanksgiving holiday. Please pray for Jeremy and his mom, as well as the rest of his family. Also go on over and offer up some words of encouragement, as Jeremy has been having some medical issues of his own lately. Thank you.

Yesterday, it was revealed that one of the talk show hosts in my area, Maxwell from WMMS/100.7, was gone from his show. This got the message boards in motion. Of course, I got in on the action, as it had to do with radio. And then I got pulled into the action, as I got a mention on one of the chat boards. Someone had posted that I (WIXY) should have the show on WMMS from 3-7, as I get under Triv's skin more than any other poster. I politely declined, saying that they have to find another screwball moron, Triv's term of endearment for me. For those out of the area and the loop, Triv is Mike Trivisonno , afternoon personality at WTAM/1100. He also recently lost his wife to cancer. Mike and Linda had been married almost 40 years. Cliff Note: Someone please correct me on this if I'm wrong. Anyway, I think fun is fun, but I still wouldn't enter in that opening. I also don't believe in kicking someone when they're down, as I would think somebody who is recently widow...

I thought that I would bring out my inner rocker with this classic by the J. Geils Band. For us in the US of A, this is a short week, and I want to start it off with a bang!

I thought I would share one of my favorite quartets ever, the Cathedral Quartet. They originated in my home area, northeast Ohio, singing for Rex Humbard at the Cathedral of Tomorrow. From this video, Glen Payne, George Younce, and Roger Bennett have already moved up to gloryland. Enjoy one of the all time classic hits from one of the all time classic quartets.

As I've been going around to the other blogs on my list, I am finding some places that need recognition. First, a double shout out. Shelly of Building a Log Cabin fame was the first to bring this to light, and Suz of Day by Day fame is following suit. Send your used special occasion cards to St. Jude's Ranch. Click on either, or both, links for details. Sue , of Sue Wilson's Voiceover fame, has posted her musings of an article she read. Check out her post, Top 10 Things the Internet has Killed (or at least changed) . Good for exercising your thinking muscle. Clean and Crazy , of My Recovery fame , has given me the Dragon's Loyalty Award. Here's what she has to say about the honor:" Cliff of 'WIXY' fame. Cliff is a wonderful person who always takes the time to use his blog to introduce us to so many new bloggers, he is a great piece in the blogger community as he connects so many people to each other. it is an amazing gift when he gives you a sh...

This week I decided to listen to more music than usual, and I was given some Gold City CD's a few weeks ago. I downloaded these into my laptop and put them on my mp3 player. This happens to be one of my favorite Gold City songs. And for those unaware Gold City is a southern gospel quartet. Listen to the words and let the song bless you as it's done me this week.

I guess I officially hit my breaking point these past few days, when Murphy's law was in full force. I knew that I hit it yesterday when I wrote a post where I struck some nerves of some reading between the lines and read something I never intended to infer. I meant what you could read in black and white, but my anger was never directed towards anyone I didn't identify. Normally the public relations person in my will not write several posts in a row about myself. I usually like to write about others, especially other bloggers. With more and more going to Facebook and Twitter to post their feelings, the blogs are getting read by less folks. Back to the breaking point. I took a vacation three weeks ago, thinking I was going to get some rest and maybe get some things done around the house. Our son, Adam went into the hospital the first day of the vacation and became our focal point. We were both really stressed, Kathy more than I, and any quality rest time became impossible. The d...

This past Thursday should have been my first payday in two weeks. I got my vacation pay in advance. That was a mistake. I now think I should have taken the week's vacation pay but worked the week. Because of the holiday on Wednesday, my check wasn't direct deposited on Thursday. Then came the drive between the plants that got me caught in Boss Hogg's speed trap. That relieved me of about two day's pay. Then yesterday, Kathy was checking out our account at the bank. Because of the @&#%*##!! federal reserve and not transferring funds at the right time for us, we had to incur some overdraft charges. Once again me being stupid has been costly. Once again the harder I work the behinder I get. Too bad I didn't work harder when I graduated from high school. I woudn't be a loser QA inspector in a factory in one of the roughest neighborhoods in Cleveland. But some pay more in stupid tax than others. I happen to be a regular payer of stupid tax.

Today I was given the option of adding $190.00 to the Cleveland city coffers. I was driving between the two plants and was clocked in a 25MPH zone doing 37. I will now add that I was guilty as charged, but I also feel that this was more for fund raising than law enforcement. Especially when, as I didn't produce my insurance card, but they checked the box that I did. the officer also told me that they were controlling traffic under the direction of the mayor. There were also speed traps on another road I drove on. Now comes the vitriol. Where are these officers when I'm driving to work and there are hookers on several street corners flashing motorists? Where are they when there are panhandlers on the busy corners since panhandling is illegal in Cleveland? Were these speed traps set up because the city has to pay a ton of overtime to those having to do all this forensic work due to the ongoing investigation on Imperial Ave., where that piece of scum sexual predator had, at last c...

There are times when I get my paper in the morning that I'm glad that I have a flexible work schedule. This morning was one of them. Yes, I had a conversation with Beth this morning. The main part of this was when I mentioned my "great head of hair". Beth replied that I always had pretty hair. I said yeah, unruly, but pretty. She told me about this guy she dated in high school who had great eye lashes and made her jealous. Our conversation soon evolved to people we graduated with and some of the choices they made in life. Beth mentioned one that she had saw a few years ago who was paying the price of some very poor choices(drugs and booze). I had mentioned one who I met several years ago who had recognized me, but I didn't her. I could guess that she had spent a good amount of time since high school on bar stools. Beth is one who has aged very gracefully, and if not for God's bleach job, I could probably pass for being younger myself. We could attribute some of th...

Many good people come to this blog and read these words. Many of you have been praying for my family, as we have been going through some very rough times lately. These prayers have come from very unselfish hearts. I'm sure that if I knew what some were going through, I wouldn't fault you for not thinking of my troubles. And a couple of you lost some folks dear to your hearts. HappyWife replied to an email I sent the other day. She had told me that the good news I sent "Lifts my spirits from the sad news that I shared on my blog last night ." The news she was referring to was a blogging friend of hers had passed away after suffering from end stage cystic fibrosis. The good news is that he is now with the Lord. And he now breathes with no trouble at all. Deron was also a blogger with assistance from his wife. Read about his struggles and his love of the Lord by clicking here . Annie shared with me personally and all her Facebook friends that her father in law passed awa...

Today has been a good day so far..... As I was driving to work, I was listening to Scott and Sue. Sue had asked Scott to read the poem I wrote especially for her birthday. Unfortunately, I got to work before I heard it, but to show my appreciation, I left another poem on the Wynn and Wilson website , pertaining to a contest being run on WQMX. Shortly after 8 o'clock, the plant manager walked into my office and handed me a book, called "The Best of Hal Lebovitz." Hal was a sports-writing legend in this area for many years. And John, my plant manager, thought I'd appreciate this book that he picked up at a yard sale. The book contains many of Hal's columns he wrote over the years, many of which I remember reading as I looked for the previous days scores in the Cleveland Plain Dealer during the 1970's. I started reading this book during my lunch break(after writing the poem at wynnandwilson.com ) and already can say that any Cleveland sports fan would enjoy the...

Yes it's that time again. Time to wish a very happy birthday to a blogging, Facebook, and Twitter buddy. And today, the birthday girl is Sue Wilson , of Voiceover fame. Sue is also program director and morning show cohost at WQMX-Medina, Akron, Canton. So, to commemorate this special occasion, here is a poem: She's a friend to all the cats and dogs And to all of us who write our blogs The radio folks speak of her well One of the nicest, we all can tell Programming all the country hits Country stars love her to bits Taylor, Reba, Toby, and Brad All the tunes that make us glad This special day, November nine I have no time to paint a sign So poem on this blog should do Happy birthday to our sweet Sue! So everyone now go to Sue Wilson's Voiceover and wish her a happy birthday!

This week has been a Facebook week for me. And because of this, I have to introduce a new, old friend. Eric is the author of Speedcat Hollydale Page . He has a unique sense of humor and also shares a bunch of blogger friends with me. Another thing "Speedy" shares with me is a love of chicken. Also check out Leesa from France . She is posting photos of her vacation. I asked her how things were in France and she corrected me. She was in Italy at the time. Leesa also sent me a link to her vacation photos . Enjoy the view. I've also contacted others of my friends and have had good chats with them. I just need to get some creativity back so I can update here on a more regular basis. And once again, a huge thank you to all that have prayed for my son, Adam.

One of the best things about Facebook is connecting with people. Among my friends are relatives, Rittman band members, band parents, coworkers, and fellow bloggers. One of these bloggers is Anne Haley. Annie originally contacted me through my Seek Him First blog, telling me about her ministries. Among her many endeavors, Anne is a Christian/folk singer. We had emailed each other several times in the past but didn't continue contact. this past July, Annie sent out a friend request to me. I knew who she was(Cliff Note:My friends number 67, she has 463, so I would have a better chance of remembering) and she thought she remembered me. A few messages later, she then remembered. Annie is from "Beautiful North Carolina" and proud of it. She has taken the past year off from her music because she needed to just sit back and collect her thoughts and spend time with her extended family, which includes dogs, cats, and all sorts of livestock. Annie writes about her life in her blog ...

It's my second day back to work from vacation. Even though I only left my area code once, I am suffering from the results of jet lag. For those who don't know, I usually wake up between 3 and 4 am during the work week. During my vacation time, I was rising between 7 and 9 am, and one night I went to bed at 3am. I had designs on getting much done, but didn't accomplish much. At least the leaves are on the treelawn. Oh well, in 3 weeks many of us will be looking at a 4 day weekend.

I felt the latest Sunday Musing was better suited for my faith based blog, Seek Him First , as I started thinking about it in church this morning. The subtitle is "If My People."

Last night was the final game of the season for the Rittman Fighting Indians, losing 56-14 to the Hillsdale Falcons. Due to tending to an emergency yesterday, I didn't have time to get the WIXYcam. Too bad, as the band was in costumes for their performance. The band opened with Wild Cherry's "Play That Funky Music". The second Song was Abba's "Mama Mia" The band closed with "And All That Jazz" from the musical "Chicago." After I made my final announcement-"The Rittman Indians Maarrrching Band!" The band replied by shouting in unison "Happy birthday Cliff!" And speaking of birthday greetings, I want to thank everybody who wished me a happy birthday, both on this blog and on Facebook. Many of you know that I've been having a very trying week and the greetings helped make it better. I will be playing catch-up in posting band photos from this all too short season.

I was born! Happy birthday to me! And one of my best friends, personal as well blogging, Brenda of Snicker*Snicker*Snort fame , has posted a happy birthday greeting to me as well as a photo of her daughter from the homecomecoming game from a few weeks ago. check it out.

This past Friday night, the Rittman Indians faced the Smithville Smithies at a very waterlogged Rittman Stadium. This is the last home game for the varsity this year and the field has had more than it's share of use this season. Couple that with the very rainy October we've had and it gives the traditionalists high school football at it's finest. This was also the 4th straight halftime of no marching for the marching bands, though both bands brought their share of entertainment. The Smithville Band included in their show a tribute to Michael Jackson and their rendition of "Thriller". Being senior night, the Rittman band featured their seniors in their show, with a trumpet solo on "Espana C ani,". Senior feature twirler, Aimee was next on Bob Seger's "Old Time Rock N Roll." all senior band members stepped out front as the cheerleaders and majorettes performed a dance routine to Fleetwood Mac's "Tusk." The show closed with the ...

If someone is hopelessly optimistic, or a pollyanna type, they are described as looking at the world through "rose colored glasses." Nowadays we don't have an overabundance of these people. Now there are no shortage of another type. They see nothing right with the world and it's always someone else' fault. They can never see much good in most people, and if they do acknowledge any good, "there's always an ulterior motive." These people are the type who brighten up a room by leaving it. These are the type of folks, whom I describe as those "looking at the world through crap colored glasses." I like to think I wear glasses with a small tint of rose coloring, otherwise clear. Realistically, I've been wearing glasses since I was 11 years old, so they are a little dirty most of the time. What color glasses do you view the world through?

I had some running around to do this afternoon and I stopped at Evil Big Box Store(tm)1812 to pick up a few items. After picking up a few items, I went to the register to pay for them. The cashier asked me how I was and I told her that I was fantastic and improving. She rung me up. I paid her and after she gave me my change, I gave her my now customary "thank you for working at Walmart." As I was leaving the store, I realized I was thirsty and went to the pop machine to get a can of Coke Zero. I put a dollar in, made my selection, took my quarter change, and reached down for my product. There were two cans there. On my way to the WIXYmobile, I was thinking about how I was going to blog about getting this deal from, of all places, the Evil Big Box Store(tm). Then in the back of my mind, I was reading the comments that I would potentially get:"Why didn't you return the other can, WIXY?" "Do you think this was the honest thing to do WIXY?" "Cliff, y...

Watching the latest Rittman football game, led me to wonder if the players on the sidline were told it was respectful to be quiet. How come when I was on the Highland football team in the early seventies(I won't say I played, as I spent most of my time on the sidelines) if we weren't supporting our teammates we would be getting our helmets slapped by an upperclassman and the headache my be gone before we caught the bus...on Monday morning. How come the coaches cannot instruct the upperclassmen to be leaders. Okay, the Rittman team is now 1-7 after the 47-6 drubbing from Dalton. The one good thing was that they treat visiting announcers well in the pressbox. They also treated the visiting announcer's grandson well. Ben and I both got pizza. For the third week in a row there wasn't marching, but I would put Rittman's band not marching against other bands marching anyday. Hopefully the Rittman field will be in good enough shape next Saturday for the band show.

On Fridays I work at a different location. The QA lab at that plant doesn't have a radio, so I usually take my MP3 player and have an amplified speaker. I also have my earbuds, as I sometimes listen to things I want to pay extra attention to, or if another radio is playing. Problem is my MP3 player doesn't have an FM tuner. Yesterday I had my Sony Walkman AM-FM cassette player with me. My supervisor walked into the lab and told me that I needed to upgrade. I asked him why, as my Walkman still works fine. I'm also assembling myself a neat collection of cassettes from thrift shops. I also found a new reason as I looked around the Salvation Army thrift shop in Barberton today. I was looking for something else when I came across this 20 cassette set called "The Pros Speak About Success." The collection of tapes was $1.99. I looked at the speakers in the collection and there were a few I recognized. One of note to long time readers of this blog is Mark Sanborn . Mark...

One of my oldest online friends is Tim Lones. Tim and I first got acquainted with each other through the media message boards. He is one who can be really called a media geek, which in his case is a compliment. Tim writes a blog called Cleveland Classic Media . In it he relives the old days of television. You see, we were both in our infancy during the inancy of television. He also posts a bit about radio. As I have wrote before, Tim puts a lot of effort in his blogs. He lives with his wife, Linda, in Canton, Ohio and due to physical problems doesn't drive. But he will take the bus to Cleveland and Youngstown in order to do research for his blog, which for him is a labor of love. He has an extensive collection of TV guide magazines and also goes into microfilm files at the library to get material for his blog. In fact the newspaper article in my last post was gleaned from his blog. Another thing Tim keeps up on, is events happening around the area pertaining to television history. ...

Seeing that this is post 1100, I thought I would do something fun with this post and write about an 1100 that has had a presence in most of my life. At night it can be heard in 38 states and half of Canada(in the right conditions). Now currently doing business as Newsradio WTAM/1100. It started out in 1923 as WTAM. It was said that the call letters meant "Where The Artists Meet" and the original owner was the Willard Battery Storage Company. NBC eventually became owner of the station and shortly after I was born, NBC coerced Westinghouse to trade with them their Philadelphia AM, FM, and television stations. WTAM-AM& FM became KYW AM & FM(105.7) and WNBK-TV3 became KYW-3. This was in 1956. As I was getting ready for elementary school in the morning, we would listen to the morning show on KYW, hosted by Harry Martin and Specs Howard. I remember some of the skits played during my wait for the school bus, such as Congo Kirk(takeoff on Tarzan) and Sponsor Place. In 1964,...

Normally at this time, I'm brushing my teeth and getting ready for my almost hour on the road to work. This morning I've been given permission to arrive an hour later as I was doing computer work for the plant manager on my laptop at home last night and then emailed it to several people at the shop. Sometimes having a five year old "Linux box" at work can be a blessing, but those are rare occasions. A small progress report: I got home from work last night and checked my blood glucose and it was 99. That's the first time in quite awhile that it's been below 100. We were also able to treat ourselves last night and went out for supper. I got the soup and salad bar and behaved myself as I didn't make myself a "lettuce sundae." I also stayed away from some of the other goodies, such as rice pudding. Sue Wilson's latest post on her Voiceover blog is called " Can't We all Just TRY to Get Along? " In this post, Sue muses about Presid...