WIXY's Gone Bananas

I guess you have noticed a lack of activity from this blog and blogger lately, unless you happen to be on Facebook. A couple of posts ago, I mentioned about the possibility of a class reunion this summer. I didn't know how it was going to fly with others. After sending out a message via Facebook to those on my friends list which graduated with me, I found that there were many who were excited about the possibility of this happening. Next thing I did was to set up a page on Facebook with the reunion information. We now have 18 members on it. And knowing that there are some who are not on Facebook for whatever reason, so I started a blog to convey the information . Cliff Note: Facebook's a little screwy at this time, so I couldn't post a link to that page . Tomorrow we will have our first committee meeting, myself and several others, equally excited about seeing our classmates for the first time in many, many years. And everybody likes my hair....

This is a special post in number of blog post 1220. The first cars I owned had AM radios, and on the mid to late seventies one of the stations I had set on mine was 1220/WGAR. Matter of fact, for awhile I worked across the street from their studios in Broadview Hts., Ohio. Owned by Nationwide Communications, it was a special spot on the dial for the listeners, and a special place for those who made their living there. John Lanigan was the morning personality. When he first come to town, he was replacing a legend, Don Imus, and he did so admirably. Lanigan in the Morning was a mixture of music, interviews, and plenty of innuendo. 6:50 every morning brought the Flex Club, a way for callers to say hi to others, usually spouses or boyfriend/girlfriend. And Lanigan would always ask if they had an unusual place. you probably get the picture. 10:00 brought "Emperor" Joe Mayer to the mike. But not so fast. There was the crossover, where Lanigan would give Mayer a daily roasting, to ...

I had to gas up today on our way to the in laws. The place we stopped offered a scratch off game. The sign said if I took in my receipt with a purchase of 8 gallons or more, I could get my game piece. In small print at the bottom of the sign it said "No purchase necessary". Uh..What's up with that? Another station has a sign on the pumps that say "Please prepay in advance." Anybody for some redundancy?

Aren't class reunions the time you go to see how the star athlete has gotten a pot belly and the guy with the nice head of hair now has none? I don't know because I've never been to any. But one of the guys with the nice head of hair still has his and several who have seen my profile pic on Facebook or have seen me in person tell me that they would to love it if they would go gray like I did. Anyway, one of my classmates from Highland High School, Medina, Ohio, class of 1974, when dinosaurs roamed the Earth, and I were having an exchange of messages on Facebook. We were talking about our families and how life has been treating us in the past 36 years. Then the topic of the lack of class reunions surfaced. Up to this point, I hadn't been to any reunions and didn't really want to go to any of the scheduled ones. Having the insecurity issues that I do, I think you understand why. Well Sandy told me the same thing via Facebook message, that Beth has told me in person: T...

A glowing example of a growing trend among pro athletes today. Millions of dollars worth of talent, and not a nickel's worth of common sense.

I have worn glasses since I was 11, and for good reason: I need them. Now at the age of 54, I wear trifocals for pretty much the same reason. Fact of the matter, if lenses were still made from glass, mine would be pretty thick. Last night, I was returning two of my grandchildren home and my daughter asked me to go to the store and get her some Diet Coke. I won't mention the store, but it's two doors west of my favorite country music radio station. It also shares the name of the company that the Coyote buys his gadgets from when he wants to catch the Road Runner. Anyway, Kathy and I walk into this locally owned store with overpriced merchandise(#1) . Kathy needs to go to the restroom, so I stop by the soft drink aisle. I see Diet Coke 12 packs on the bottom shelves. Right above them is a shelf tag that had some small print on it, but the large print said "2 for $7.00" I assumed this meant that 12 packs of Coke products were all 2 for $7.00. So I picked up 2 twelve pack...

I was reading the publisher's notes in this week's edition of The Post. Bruce Trogdon was musing about what the reaction will be for their publishing a story about the TEA Party rally in Medina this past Thursday. He feared the liberals would fill inbox's of Post staff because of the coverage in some of the editions and feared conservatives would do the same because the story wasn't run in other editions, due to deadlines. I have to agree with Bruce on one thing: The story was run because it was news. If the Ku Klux Klan held a rally in a community covered by the paper, it would have been run for the same reason. Problem with many people nowadays is they think everything happening is a conspiracy. He also mentioned that people complain because of the political slant of letters to the editor. Bruce went on to explain that the letters get published in proportion to the percentage of views. I read some of the letters, some have good points(whether they are conservative or ...

Today being tax day, I had to do one tax form and that was for Rittman city taxes. Having received all of my 2009 income from Cleveland, where they tax at a higher rate than Rittman, I owed no taxes. I couldn't get the extra money back from the mistake on the lake either, but then again they have one less person to catch in one of their speed traps. Anyway, back to the topic at hand. I had to do my chauffeur duty for my son this morning and when I was finished, I went to Aldi to get a few grocery items. I like Aldi for some things. It seems that they are a little better than Save A Lot as far as their healthier foods are concerned. I've also noticed that their stores are a little more orderly. When I went inside the store, I didn't notice anyone at the registers. After I picked up a few items and got back to the front a line had formed about the third of the way through the store. I got a box to hold the items in, seeing I didn't get a cart when I entered the store. As ...

This post is dedicated to my classmates from Highland High School , Medina, Ohio who have helped me to relive some memories. I want to thank my costars Brian Avery , Janet Malek Henderson , and Sandra Ziebro Hughes , along with Gary Webster . You gave me many smiles as I relived one of my best evenings as a teenager. To my other readers, these I have mentioned are some very classy folk, as are you who have supported this blog since I started writing it in August, 2006. In the past week or so since I reconnected with many of my old high school classmates via Facebook, we have been reliving some of our better memories of high school. Probably my best memory of high school was our junior class play, "Life With Father." I was Clarence Day , aka father. I probably got the role because of my booming voice and a booming body to match. The faculty advisor, Mrs. Ludwig , rest her soul, probably did me the biggest favor of my high school years by casting me in the role. Instead of bu...

I have been feeling like crap the past few days. All my Facebook friends know that I've been suffering from bronchitis since midweek. I am in the middle of a post but haven't had the ambition to type in more than sound bites. That one will remain in draft for a few more days. And life has been happening. Lord willing, I will be back posting here in the next couple of days.

I have wondered in my mind the past couple of days what to write about. One topic that come to mind is something I thought of from some dialog I had on Facebook with some I attended high school with. That will be upcoming. What I'm writing about now is what I've seen by watching The Biggest Loser. Yes, this season it has won over American Idol in my house. What has appealed to me on this season's edition is the care the contestants have for another. The one who was in the "game play" mode this week was sent home. Melissa tried to use her skills as an attorney to stay at the ranch. During the show's run, I have watched it off and on, as I have had an early bedtime due to my previous work schedule. I know the show needs the "game play" element in order to give it a bit more entertainment value. I was also glad when the show added the opportunity for the eliminated ones to earn their way back on campus. The first time this happened, Ali Vincent, who wa...

As a diabetic, I know the dangers of too much sugar inside me. And after raising 3-1/2 kids and now having three grandkids, I know that too much sugar ON you can't be a good thing either, especially on a big candy holiday. We had the grandchildren over today and had them all an Easter basket apiece, along with some extra candy. In the past several years, one of the biggest faves here at the WIXYranch are Peeps. As I was getting redy to take the little ones home, I had put all the baskets and candy in the front seat. All three had asked for some peeps. I sent the packages to the oldest two, but only sent two peeps to Silas, the youngest. What I didn't know as I was driving, Silas had gotten hold of some of his sister's peeps, th en fell asleep. When I finally got them home, I got oiut of the car, looked into the back seat, and saw, what looked like pink and white gloves on Silas' hand. Silas is one who loves a good photo op, and he loved it when I got out the WIXY-at...

And today the name of my conscience was Beth. Yes, I admit I've been having some good feelings after seeing photos of some I went to high school with. Especially considering that some have caught up with me in the weight department and others have surpassed. Many of the guys have surpassed me in regards to the size of their foreheads. In some cases I think that some higher power has worked on my behalf. Leave it to Beth to bring some perspective to the table. I was reveling in my role as Grampa early this afternoon and had all three of my grandkids with me as I took them in to the store for fountain drinks. I introduced them to Beth. Ben, the oldest couldn't believe that Beth and I graduated the same year. Well either that or he couldn't believe there was anything other than a one room schoolhouse back then. I told Beth about all my new Facebook friends and some of the photos I saw and why I felt good about some of that. One of the folks I saw was my best friend one day and...

Lately there has been way too much drama, caused by other people, in our lives. As some of you read on Facebook last nigh t, Kathy and I decided to have a day for ourselves, some "us time" if you may. We decided to head south. To Amish country. But first, a stop for breakfast. Kathy loves the cinnamon raisin french toast served in the Main Street Cafe, in Buehler's supermarket. I had a southern sausage skillet. The main breakfast rush was over by the time we got there, so we had a nice quiet meal. Beautiful weather, and we had a view of the school kids at recess. Good to see them out getting some fresh air. After we finished our fine dining, it's off to Kidron, We were going to stop first at the outdoor flea market, but we couldn't find a parking space, so we hit the road again. Next stop was Country Salvage Ltd., formerly known as Bent and Dent. Our last stop there was over two years ago and then we got some great deals. I suspect since then, because of the reces...