WIXY's Gone Bananas

A few notes for this Saturday before the Super Bowl. Mrs74, WIXYjr, and I were in the Evil Big Box Store(tm) to get a few items and it was a mad house there. Really a shame to make a holiday out of a bunch of entertaining commercials. Amias has started a new blog called, The Prayer Hubs . She was astonished at all the response she got from the prayer request she posted on behalf of her daughter Mary Elizabeth. Mary Elizabeth has had surgery and will be going through chemotherapy. Prayer is still needed for that family. And if you have prayed or posted a request on your blog for them, post a link on the new blog. I now own an official Kinky Shovel (tm Wynn and Wilson Morning Show). I called and looked around and finally found it at Lowes. I can now get some relief for my 53 year old back. What I should do is go on Freecycle and see if anyone has a snow blower they aren't using. I doubt if that's going to happen though. A new blog on my sidebar is called Awake in Rochester . Awa...

To those who are unfamiliar with this series, I began this exactly one year ago today. It was only going to be a one shot affair at the time as I was writing the post for the sake of cheering up the one I was writing it about, which was Amias. I got the concept from a recording of motivational speaker Zig Ziglar, who, like Amias, is a native of Mississippi. It became a very popular series on this blog and I ended up writing about 18 posts about bloggers on my list. My goal is to introduce all of my friends to each other and Lord willing, I will do 2 posts of this nature a week for the next few months. Last weekend, Amias told me that I was the Ambassador to the blog world. I kinda like that. I met Amias as a result of my friendship with Liquid . I could see that there was a definite chemistry between the two and I eventually started reading Amias' blog. One day I commented and she come here to comment, almost being apologetic because of her writing style, which she called "so...

Most bloggers in their right minds would do as Maggie suggested in the comments of my last post, "Get a cup of hot coffee and stay warm on the Blogs." But nobody ever accused me of being in my right mind, so I took the WIXYcam, hopped in the WIXYmobile and drove around town, snapping some pictures. In the first photo, is the WIXYmobile in the driveway at the WIXYranch. City crews were out trying to make all the streets passable This photo was taken at the corner of Main Street and Ohio Avenue, considered as "downtown Rittman" Rittman, Ohio is the only town in the United Staates with that name. It's original name was Milton Station, but was changed to it's present name after Frederick Rittman, treasurer of the railroad that went through town. The long time regulars have seen this location during the spring and summer months. I write quite a bit about the Rittman IGA. Too bad Donny Foutty, the owner, wasn't in town to enjoy the weather. He is currently in...

I decided to take a snow and mental health day from work today. I got up early and and left early, but when I get as far as Wadsworth, I decided to turn around and go back home. We had snow, and a nice crust of rain on top of that. 5X5: I've been trying to do this 5X5 meme that Jen has tagged me with and I had a special planned. The photo is on my desktop and it's not cooperating with blogger. I tried emailing it to myself so I could upload it from my laptop with no avail. I will be taking the desktop in for some service. The photo I wanted to use was a shot I took for the Barnbuster.net site. If you ever ate at the old Red Barn restaurants, you will love this site. Rich Perrot has done a fantastic job in posting memorabilia of the chain and there are many pages of old Red Barn buildings and what they are used for now. Going on 2 years ago, I went around and took photos of some. That was one of my first assignme nts with the WIXYcam. I have been given another honor. Matthew ,...

I sit here at my desk at work during my morning break typing this. I keep hearing about a blast coming from the southwest that is supposed to give us 3-5 inches of snow. I would insert a global warming crack here, but I won't in respect to those "green" bloggers on my list. I was supposed to respond to a tag by Jen and I had every intention to, but my desktop at home wouldn't cooperate and I even had a pretty good post planned. It will be posted in the next day or so. I'm also humbled at the number of 12 steppers who have been following this blog. We can all learn something by reading their musings. I'm also impressed by the fact that they realized couldn't handle their struggles by their selves and recognize a need for a higher power. And the fact that they are able to call for help. That's something I have a problem with and I'm not addicted to anything but food, although I do have the urge at times to say "My name is Cliff, and I'm a (...

January's almost over which means we are about over the hump as far as winter is concerned. A week from tomorrow is Groundhog day, the chronological halfway point of winter. The movie, Groundhog Day, is one I can watch over and over. Bill Murray is one of my favorite former Saturday Night Live cast members. I have a meme to do and hopefully I will get this up in the next few days. I think everybody knows that I like to promote other blogs and their authors. Those who have been coming here for about a year or more remember the regular feature I wrote last year called, I Like....Because. The first "I like" post was one to try to another blogger. This grew to a regular series which lasted into last May. Since I have a much larger blogroll which is growing constantly, I will be doing this more often. Look for the first of this series for 2009 to be posted by the end of the week. And to all others who are new visitors, I will get around to visiting you soon.

Betty Ann , of Diary of a Frugal Hen fame, presented me with the Attitude and Gratitude award. Here are the rules: put the logo on your blog or post nominate at least 10 blogs, which show great attitude and/or gratitude! be sure to link to your nominees within your post let them know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog share the love and link to this post and to the person from whom you received your award. How did you get a great attitude and gratitude Now I don't usually do the pass on awards, but this one goes well with some of my philosophy. I'm grateful that I have the friends I do in the blog world, and for those who have come to know me in the past little bit. I'm also grateful that I have this blog where I can express my feelings. I'm grateful that at this time I have a job. And although I have some conditions I could do without, I am in relatively good health. Now I don't know if I will get to 10 people, but I will try. These fol...

Twas the month after Christmas And people are spastic They're getting the bills From using their plastic They open their mail And reach for their pills Relief they will need For running up bills They look at their budget For things they must slash The price they must pay For having no cash The account at the bank Is such a disaster To debt they are slaves And the card is the master I can handle the bills In November they scoff And now two months later These bills set them off The credit card bills Have just reached their maxes The news won't get better We'll soon pay our taxes

During my brief hiatus, I was notified by Michelle Dawn , of Rusin Roundup fame, that she had an award for me. So in her own words: "I have created the Through Thick and Thin Award This goes to all of my blogging friends who have stood by me no matter how negative or positive I get on my blog and that means so much to me." And on awarding me she said, "Cliff has been a great resource of humor and advice or just positive hang in there comments." Michelle Dawn created this award to commemorate post number 250 of her blog. Go on over and congratulate her on the milestone. Cliff Note: Thanks for all the comments on the "Pardon me for a couple of days" post. It has become my personal policy to post here if I might be away from my blog for more than a day. Since August, 2006, the longest I've been away has been a week, and even when I went on vacation to Florida in November, 2007, I managed to access a computer twice. I have some of the best blogging friend...

Life is looking up again. I got through the audit for another year and I now am aiming towards having things ready long before the next one. I just hope the next 12 months is not a country song like the previous 12 were. I'm sure I'm getting some hits from people searching for something else, but I have to share with the "bunch" about the "kinky shovel." I was driving to work this morning and listening to my favorite morning show. They got me started off right by playing some Toby Keith. Sue talked about going into her office this morning and almost tripping over something. It was a kinky shovel. But I need to back up a little. Last week, while I was driving to work, Scott, Sue, and Ryan were talking about shoveling snow. Sue had just changed to another service to clean her drive. He was less expensive, but Sue found out that she got what she paid for, as he would just plow one path in her double wide driveway. She had to go out and shovel the snow in order...

We will be going through an audit at work and at this point I'm fried. Some of my current problems are coming to a head and it will take me a couple of days to get my head back together. Stay tuned.

As you may know, my daughter is an intervention specialist. At the present time, she is still looking for her first full time teaching job. She does plenty of substituting. The reason that I'm writing this post is Sandy Carlson posted yesterday about blogging your blessings. Sandy is a middle school English teacher and she blogged about the bad kids . You know the ones she was referring to. Those who take away valuable teaching time from the rest of the class. Those who may crave attention, but don't know a way to get the positive kind. Sort of takes me back 35 years to my senior year of high school. I took a course called living math. I had to take the class to graduate, as math would be my second minor. The teacher was fresh out of college, sort of a nerdy type. His name was Mr. McCormick, and we called him Cy, after Cyrus McCormick, the inventor of the reaper. We also gave him the hardest time possible. Although I am good at math, I just barely passed the course. I spent mos...

Every week, David McMahon features a blogger as his subject on his Sunday Roast . And since it's already Sunday in the land down under, he has already published it. The blogger he is featuring is........ The Banana Guy! Go over there and check it out. See things like why I use the 74WIXYgrad name and how I came to use this name for my blog. Click here to go to the Sunday Roast . Also take some time to say G'day to David.

Scott and Sue at WQMX decided that today would be Hawaiian day, so I sent Sue an email and told her I would post a Don Ho video. I'm a man of my word....

A lot of my fellow buckeyes will remember the Sohio weather sounder, probably better than the prices displayed on the signs. Some of those who admit to be close to my age will remember "Boron with double ice guard. No fuel line freeze up guaranteed. You go, or Sohio pays the tow." Cliff Note: If my site meter is any indication, Don , of Things that run through my mind fame is now in the Youngstown area. I hope you are enjoying this balmy weather. And don't forget your hat and gloves. I also hope this post brought some warm memories.

Looking at the 980 posts between all three of my public blogs, I can see what Mary Ann at work, who happens to be a faithful reader of this blog, has pointed out to me- I've grown since I have started blogging. Some exchanging of emails between me and the World's Greatest Program Director/Morning Show Co-host, Sue Wilson pointed out,to me, the same. Before I started blogging, I was active on some message boards, usually radio related. One day I was upset because the Salem Radio Network had decided not to air Dave Ramsey on their stations. I went to the Religious/Contemporary Christian board at Radio-Info.com and started a thread by unleashing some very unchristian and uncharacteristic comments about Salem Broadcasting, which included any station not branded "The Fish" was treated like a red headed stepchild, and if they couldn't minister to the public, they should sell the stations to someone who could. I did not realize that this was the wrong board to unleash ...

As all know, I live in Northeast Ohio and I drive over 40 miles to and from work. Well today, the drive home was somewhat dicey. I had to drive I-71 instead of the usual I-77 this afternoon. I got on I-490 and proceeded to get behind this very slow Cavalier(the last time I saw a Cavalier move that slow was when Mel Turpin was at the Coliseum) and when I finally got around, I saw a very scared driver white knuckling the steering wheel, hanging on for dear life. I get around the Cavalier and about a half mile later I'm in the flow of traffic. The flow is about 15 MPH. It continued that way until after I passed the airport. Then it increased to about 30MPH. I didn't get up to speed until I got into Medina County. It took me about 1-1/2 hours to go the distance it usually takes me 45 minutes to drive. This could be my second favorite thing to do. The first would be getting stuck in a crowded elevator at a chili festival. Oh, and I have a new sponsor. This traffic report is brought ...

Update 01/12/09 : Click here to read a related article on Ohio Media Watch, along with a review of the book. Cliff Note: It's the second article in the OMW post. I spent a good portion of my Friday nights while I was going through my preteen and teenage years watching a television show called "The Hoolihan and Big Chuck Show." In high school, I was on the wrestling and football teams. One of my teammates was a quiet young man named Mike Schodowski. His father is Charles Schodowski, also known as Big Chuck. The book I'm about to review chronicles his 47 years as a part of Cleveland television history. The book tells how Chuck come from a family living in the Slavic Village neighborhood in Cleveland, how he went from working in a foundry on Cleveland's east side, to going into Cleveland television, first at KYW, channel 3 to WJW, channel 8, and how he became a Cleveland icon. Chuck started out as a camera man and went into directing. He was a part of the phenomenon...

Amias has posted a hub on Liquid Illuzion for those who have posted tributes for Suzanne. I would like for everybody who come here who posted a tribute to go there and use the Mr. Linky function there and post the link. I have linked 8 of my posts there. Cliff Note: I thought awhile before linking that many. I did it out of love for Suzanne and respect for the family. If you didn't post anything, go there and look at some of the fascinating tributes that come from the hearts of many hurting bloggers. I want you to do something else. Go over to Amias' blog, The Magic of Intregated Circuits , and leave her a comment, thanking her for her work in preserving all of this.

As some may or may not know, Amias is currently the administrator of Liquid Illuzion , Suzanne's blog. Amias and I have also been friends, who met through Liquid Illuzion, for over a year. Amias and Suzanne are two parts of Liquid Plastic Sisterhood . She and Suzanne's family are working together to make an online memorial to Suzanne. Like I said above, I first saw Amias' writing in the comments section at Liquid Illuzion. It was very evident that the two were very close friends. Suzanne told me one day that she had hoped that the two would become next door neighbors. I went over to Amias' blog to check out her writing. I made a comment there and she come by and returned the comment, almost being apologetic about the way she expressed herself. And with this, our friendship began. Amias is a 60 year old native of Mississippi, now living in Houston, Texas. She keeps referring to herself as old, but she's only 7 years older than me. Amias has been another one of those ...

Amias just left a comment on my hall of fame post about the online guest book for Suzanne Horne . Suzanne's father, Jerry White , is going to have the guest book professionally printed for Campbell and Bella, Suzanne's children. The book will be up until January 27 and I wish anyone who hasn't signed it yet will do so. Let the family know what she meant to you, even if you were just a reader of her blog. If you don't care to leave your name, just leave your blogger name. Also take some time to read some of the entries. I think some of the bloggers left some grest tributes. Click here to go to the online guest book.

This morning I was listening to my favorite morning show enroute to work. Sue wasn't there, as she was taking some well deserved days off. But Scott and Ryan Haidet were talking a bout a news article about a man was asking as part of his divorce settlement that his ex wife gives the kidney he donated back . Now that's an idea for a country song-"You broke my heart, now I want my kidney back." Scott was also taking calls from snow plow operators. One of these people was a barber who said that he would give him a shave from a straight razor if he would come to his shop in Doylestown. Excuse me Scott, but as a long time Rittman resident, I need to caution you. I would not trust anyone in Doylestown being close to my throat with a straight razor.

The explosion of hits I have had in the past couple of weeks have yielded some new friends to this blog. One of which calls herself Clean and Crazy . Her blog is titled My Recovery . C&C came here to read my tribute posts and decided to hang around. She also put a link here on her blog. C&C describes herself as an addict. She has also been clean now for four years and is succeeding in putting her life back together. Her blog is a collection of her journey and other thoughts. As always, I urge all to go on over, check it out, and give her some words of encouragement.

Once again the fruit of the morning on the Wynn and Wilson morning show was "bananas." So I had to call them up. When Scott answered the phone I said "I guess it's Wynn and Wilson's gone bananas." Sue guessed who it was and she said that it was nice to hear the voice behind all that good writing. After they played the call, they talked about my blog and all the interesting blogs linked to mine. That's great as not all radio people are too keen on blogs. As I have said before, the Rubber City Radio Group, in Akron are big on pushing blogs among their personalities. And I'm big on promoting blogs. And to those near their computer, WQMX does stream their programming 24/7 just click on listen live. They also stream a classic country channel. Wynn and Wilson are on from 5:30-10:00 Eastern. Also if you are looking for a movie review, Scott Wynn's Window has reviews among other interesting posts. Sue Wilson's Voice Over , is a blog which Sue gives...

Please pray for Struke and his family. Struke's dad passed away suddenly yesterday.

She told me that her daddy would sing her this song and it was her favorite. The talent she had for taking a photo of a junk tractor and maake it look like a piece of art is a talent a few of us have. A friend to us all, she made each of us individually feel like the most important one to her. Her absence is felt in all of "bloggeritaville" but we all are richer for having known her. While she was here we all were felt that she made this more of a wonderful world. Suzanne Horne, aka Liquid, gone but never forgotten, my first member of the Top Banana Hall of Fame!

Lemme tell you, there have been some tired delivery workers coming to Rittman, Ohio and by the looks of things, I think next year there will be even more awards to hand out. I may have to change my venue as the audience will be even larger. Here are some more awards. The I like Bagpipes Top Banana goes to Michelle , of Crow's Feet fame. Michelle comes to us from Scotland, but is a native of South Africa. Michelle to me is one of the best advantages of having the internet, as we communicate by email quite often. It's great having friends I can communicate with in other continents. The Press 1 For English Top Banana goes to Amelia , of Amel's Realm fame. Amel moved from Indonesia to Finland to get married and is now getting very used to her new home. She is learning Finnish, but still likes to communicate to all her English speaking friends. The Cathode Ray Tube Top Banana goes to Tim , of Cleveland Classic Media fame. Tim is one of my friends who followed me from the ...

When I last left you, I was passing out the Top Banana awards. There were so many awards, I could not limit it to one post. Once again, this year's Top Banana Awards are dedicated to the memory of Suzanne Horne aka Liquid. The Doctor Johnny Fever Top Banana, or seeing that I already have one reference to WKRP, goes to Jeremy , of Tri-State Media Watch , and Personal Thoughts/Observations from N KY fame. This is an amazing young man, who has taken to this particular group of bloggers. Jeremy is an internet disc jockey, and a born again Christian. I think Jeremy has gotten this blogging thing down pat. The Starbucks Frequent Flyer Top Banana goes to Melanie , of Me Melanie fame. Melanie is our resident caffeine addict, but she also was a great friend last March when my younger brother passed away. She has also been more faithful to my blog than I have been to her's. The Escape From Wal Mart Top Banana goes to Michelle Dawn , of Rusin's Roundup fame. Yes I'm awardin...

The past couple of years I have presented my blog awards in the week between Christmas and New Years Day. This time, because of the tribute posts I wrote, I had to push them back. Since in the past year, I have seen an increase in friends who are part of "The Bunch," I will be doing this in at least two posts, concluding in a special presentation. I am dedicating these awards this year to the memory of our friend, Suzanne Horne. I hope that the family members who have visited here in the past week can find comfort and catch a smile on your faces. Suzanne loved both receiving and giving awards. I had seen the awards going around the blogs, and I wanted to take it a bit further. Sometimes people ask me what my blog is about and I feel like saying blogging. I think all the blogs I am reading are worth reading and I enjoy promoting them and possibly inspiring others to be a better blogger. Before I begin my presentation today, I would like to recognize Sandy Carlson , of Writing ...

Cliff Note: I would like to introduce you to my wife, Kathy , and her new blog, bipolar supporters unite . As I have mentioned before, our son Adam has bipolar disorder, and has gone through some struggles with it. Kathy has always been an active parent and has always been ready to fight for our children. My name is Kathy and I am trying to help people who are dealing with Bipolar disorder or any mental illness. I have been helping my son for a long time. Check out my blog and let me know what you think.

Cleveland, Ohio television legend, Fred Griffith is celebrating his 80th birthday. Fred was the longtime host of WEWS-TV5 show, The Morning Exchange. This show was the model ABC used when they first launched Good Morning America. Happy 80th Fred!

To all who have been coming in the past week, welcome. You are going to find out what I'm about. To all of my longtime friends, thank you for all your support this past week. I had no idea when I started the tribute posts to Suzanne what was going to become of them. And to Suzanne...Thank you for having such good friends in "Bloggeritaville." I think we will all do a good job of taking care of each other. You won't ever be forgotten. And if there is ever a bloggers hall of fame, you will be one of the first inductees. I picked up a bunch of new friends this past week. Some of these friends I've crossed paths with before, either at Liquid Illuzion or at authorblog . First new friend I want to introduce you to is familiar to many who come here, Sandy Carlson . Sandy writes several blogs, her main one is called Writing in Faith . She is a very talented lady. Sandy also wrote some posts in Suzanne's memory. Next up is Betty Ann . She has made several comments her...

Cliff Note:Suzanne would participate in a meme every Friday, called Flash 55. The participants were to come up with some story for their blogs containing 55 words-No more, no less. I thought it was fitting for me to do this one time only(I don't do regular memes). I am also doing this because G-Man commented on my last post. This will be in honor of Jeri Suzanne Horne, aka Liquid. And if you do want to get in on the fun report this to the boss G-Man. She was a friend to us all Her posts made us smile We looked at her photos in awe She commented a lot Made her friends, our friends And our friends, her’s Made us all feel important We felt her love We all saw her beauty We miss you sweet lady Miss you very much