WIXY's Gone Bananas

Today, being a day where I didn't have to be at work, is one of my busiest days of the week. I normally call these my (non) days off. Nice thing is that I can usually sleep until I get up. Down side is that one of our cats decides when I get up. Goober does this by turning off my CPAP. Yes, he takes advantage of my sleep apnea. Cliff Note: Here is a link to a post I wrote in 2009 about my sleep apnea . He wakes me up, I feed him and his mother, Peanut, and my world is at peace. So I'm up, posting the Morning Show and the Question of the Day on Facebook and decide to enjoy one of my Christmas presents, first season of WKRP in Cincinnati. Then my wife gets a text message, and off I go to my daughters house. On the way, I had to get some money out of the ATM, and since I didn't eat breakfast yet, stop at the golden arches place. I figured it was better to stop than to risk my blood glucose dropping. When I got there, I noticed the parking lot was icy. I went in, ordered my

With all the political correctness from one side and making sure we don't deny our Lord, many of us have really forgotten the true reason for celebrating. I speak now as a born again Christian, something I have been since June 6, 1980. The Christ I serve does not live in a manger. He was placed there right after his birth. He was taken out of there, grew up and was a carpenter. Then for 3 years, went around His small area of the known world primarily with 12 others and started to change the world. The Christ I serve is not a dead man on a cross. He was there for several hours suffering for all those who accept His sacrifice for our sins. He was taken from that cross, placed in a borrowed, guarded, tomb, where He rose from 3 days later. The Christ I serve sits at the right hand of God almighty interceding on my behalf whenever I stumble. And that's a full time job if was just for me. But He will do it for you too. All you need to do is ask Him. Cliff Note: the photo in t

As many of you know, my younger brother, Richard, passed away in March, 2008. He had been wheelchair bound for the last 20 years of his life and I thought it was somewhat poetic justice that the day he went home to be with the Lord was March 4th, or march forth. I was thinking about Ricky today as it's a week before Christmas. He was always one of the easiest people to shop for as he was happy with just about anything you get for him. A true personification of "it's the thought that counts." One of Ricky's life long passions was sports. The reason he became a sports fan was because I became a sports fan. You see, when we were growing up, Ricky was my shadow and my best friend. As he spent the last years of his life in a nursing home, people were amazed with his knowledge of all things sports. And on any given fall Sunday, he probably expressed the emotions of Browns backers everywhere. In 1975, I decided that for his Christmas present, we would go see the Cl

Okay, so it's the second half of December. As a born again Christian, I celebrate Christmas, which is generally observed by most on December 25. I have this friend who, though she knows Christ as her savior, same as I, feels that she should not observe this as Jesus' birthday. Sandi points out that the only time in the Bible when a birthday was observed, it was a sad occasion. I think no less of Sandi in believing that way, and she respects my belief as well. Now there are others who take issue in Merry Christmas, as Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, and the winter solstice are all  observed during this time. They would prefer we all say "Happy Holidays." I don't have much of a problem giving that salutation during the time between Thanksgiving and New Years Day. I work in telecommunications in consumer service. I was talking to a customer today. I normally switch between Merry Christmas and Happy holidays. I said have a happy holiday season. I was mocked by the customer....

This story starts this past summer. I was searching for friends on Facebook, mainly those I went to school with. I had thought of one in particular, I had an image in my mind of high school football games. The game announcer was born in Scotland and he still had a very thick accent. One of the players on our team was named Bob Buesch, pronounced "bush". However, Mr. Cranston would announce "tackle by Bob Booooosh." Anyway I thought I would see if any of the Buesch brothers were on Facebook. I found George. George is about 2-3 years older than I.  I requested to "friend" George. George was on line at that moment and immediately accepted. I then looked at George's profile and found that he had Parkinson's disease. About that time, George started chatting with me.He told me that he was now living in a nursing home. He asked me to come see him. Several weeks later, I went to see him on his birthday. I also asked those who went to school with us and w

As those who read this blog and follow me on Facebook know, I'm recovering from a broken ankle. My specialist has, as of yesterday, allowed me to start putting weight on my left foot. I have been on crutches since my release from the hospital, October 23. And for that reason, a rant I express in some form on a yearly basis has taken a new meaning to me. In addition to the plate and 9 screws I had placed in my left ankle this past October, I also have an artificial left knee. I had the knee replaced February 22, 2001. I credit that to 2 things: heredity and me not taking care of myself as I should over the course of my life. Anyway, for most of the past 10 years, according to my doctor, I have had the legal right to use a handicap parking space. Many people do and it comes in handy on days when your joints are barking at you and you need bread and milk. Other days, the extra steps you need to take do you some good. Since I broke the ankle, I have had the moral right to use these s

One of the friends I have made while blogging is Teri Ahlstrom, also known as Cathouse Teri. We became associated with each other through other blogs. Teri has also become one of my crossover friends, as she has become a favorite of many of my Facebook friends as well. Teri writes a blog called "The Road Lester Traveled." The only way to effectively describe her writing style is naughty, but nice. Naughty, in  the fact that she covers topics I would be embarrassed to cover, but nice, in the fact that she's a friend when you need it. In December, 2008, when our friend Liquid decided to end her life, Teri wrote me a very nice email to comfort me. But as I have stated earlier in this post, Teri has also became friends on Facebook as well as being friends with several of my high school friends. Teri is very active in contributing to the Question of the Day as well as being one of the administrators. While I was laid up 3 weeks ago, she stepped in and posted the QotD for

As many of you know, we have been through a rough time at my home. And I was pretty much confined to home for a couple of weeks as my bones have started to heal. I do thank God for all of my friends, especially those I have never met. One friend I reconnected with during my recovery time is Leesa Garcia . For those unaware, Leesa is a blogger from France, originally from the San Diego area. Leesa has done much traveling around Europe and doesn't hesitate to share her adventures with us. She is also a cupcake devotee. And most importantly, Leesa is a teacher. Not being specific, Leesa has been going through some rough patches in her life of late. Sometimes it helps just to let people know that you care and that you are lifting them up to God as you present your other requests to Him. If you get the chance, check out Leesa's blog, News From France .  Also leave her a message and let Leesa know that you are praying for her.

Yesterday I went to the doctor's office with my wife, waiting while she saw the doctor for some back problems. I went in case she got a pain shot and she needed a driver.  No shots, just needed 2 prescriptions filled, so it's off to Giant Eagle. Giant Eagle is probably the most handicap accessible retail establishments in Wadsworth. We get prescriptions filled because of their reduced prices on generics and some diabetic meds being free.  Anyways we got there and Kathy had to go back to the pharmacy while I grabbed motorized cart and picked up a few items for supper. I got what we needed from the grocery dept and then went to the pharmacy. The scripts from the doctor hadn't been received as yet, so as Kathy was waiting for those, I went to the check out. As usual, I used the self check out. The cashier overlooking the self checkout area, bagged my groceries, put them in my cart and offered to help me to my car. I figured that since it was only 2 bags, not heavy, and I was

Yesterday I got yelled at at work. I was told to stay at my booth while I need to use crutches. This not being able to walk under my own power is somewhat new to me. Yes, I have had my knee replaced, but the surgeon told me that I could bear weight on that leg 2 days after surgery. I won't be able to bear weight on my broken ankle for about 6 weeks so I have to use crutches for that length of time. At my job, the break room is one floor down from the call center where I work. Under normal circumstances, I go down one flight of stairs and I'm there. Now I have to go across the building to catch the elevator to get to the break room. I was on my way to the break room to eat a salad my wife had packed for me when I was informed that the elevator was out of order. I was told to go back to my call center and one of the good folks from HR got my salad and a fork for me. that was also when my supervisor "yelled" at me and told me to stay at my booth. Don't get me w

I guess I have had an epiphany of sorts today. I was out for the first time yesterday since my ankle surgery. I went to the specialist for followup. The soft cast was removed and replaced with an ace wrap. I've also been cleared to returned to work next Monday. So, since my first day back will be a 12 hour day, I figure I need to use the rest of the week to ease back into action. Yesterday evening I went to the Rite Aid to get a prescription filled. As I shared on Facebook last night, I thought of the old musing "Only in America does a sick person have to go to the back of the drug store to pick up their prescriptions, when a healthy person can buy their cigarettes in the front of the store."  I was informed that this is primarily a security issue. I made the decision that for the next little bit, I will mainly go to the stores that have the motorized carts. Now I have had the legal right to park in a handicapped spot now for over 10 years due to the fact that I have

Well, I haven't been able to find much time to blog lately. Shouldn't be a problem for at least the next couple of weeks. To those who aren't on Facebook, I will now explain this to you. This past Saturday, after I got off work, I went over to my in-law's house to assist in sweeping up leaves. My father in law was finishing up mowing grass in front, so I decided to go in back to see how wet it was. I found some branches lying on the ground and decided to carry them to the brush pile. I slippred, then fell, twisting my leg. I felt something and thought it was my knee which I had replaced in February 2001. After seeing my ankle swelling, I knew then that I broke, or at the very least, dislocated it. I started screaming and when it was evident nobody was hearing me, I took out my cell phone and called 911. Montville Twp EMS took me to Medina hospital. After 2 fruitless attempts to reset my ankle, it was determined that I was going to be staying the night and having sur

Cliff Note: the first comment is a response from Jeff Kinzbach. He sent it to me via Facebook and gave me permission to copy and paste it here. First a tip of the hat to longtime WMMS morning show host, Jeff Kinzbach, who I had the pleasure of meeting last night. The post I'm writing is based on a post he made on his website, jeffkinzbach.com. His post links to a story about Chris McAlister, former cornerback for the Baltimore Ravens. In 2004, he signed a 7 year contract worth $55 million. Now McAlister is broke and living with his parents and needs to pay $11,000 in child support. Question is, what happened to the money? Next question is. should we be feeling sorry for him and others? Most pro athletes nowadays are mercenaries. We in northeast Ohio are painfully aware of that, as we are only 14 months removed from Lebron James "taking his talents to South Beach." Good news is he also took his entourage and mother to South Beach.  I just wonder how much his entourag

I know...Been awhile.. When I last wrote here, Rufus, our dog, had been at the vet's after being severely attacked by another dog. He spent a total of 8 days there. He's now back home, all stitches and staples have been removed, and he's about as good as new...Now on to the post. When I worked in Cleveland, I was fond of saying that I was going home to civilization. This started after my car had been broken into and was within seconds of being stolen. The police were too busy to come to my work to take a report. I think they were working on a case...of donuts. I was told that my car could have been stolen just as easy in Rittman. My further contempt for Cleveland's finest was cultivated when I got a ticket for a loud exhaust. Funny, there were cars traveling the streets in far worse shape than the car I was driving. And many of those had expired temporary tags on them. The icing on the cake in C-town was when I was caught in a speed trap. I paid $190.00 f

This week started out on a very good note. At church our pastor had preached on Genesis 15 where Abram was promised a blessing from God.  Abram was instructed to set out a sacrifice, but had to chase away buzzards which gathered around the sacrifice. We felt real good and blessed as we left church. We also claimed the promise that there were better days ahead. Then the buzzards started coming. First on the way home from church Sunday we get a call from our daughter. She had hurt her back and couldn't get up off the couch. I had to go get her kids and bring them to my house. On the way there, getting on the interstate, my car spun out and I "kissed" the guard rail. I straightened out the car, then pulled over to check to see if there was any damage. No visible damage, so I moved on and got the grandkids. Kids back at my house with no further incident. One buzzard chased away. Rufus in happier times. Monday while at work I get this text from my wife along with

1971 Highland High School football team. I am in the middle of the second to last row. The other day I had a message on my Facebook wall. The post was from a high school friend, John, who was tagged in a photo I posted of the 1971 Highland football team and John was one of the captains of the team. John wanted to send it to one of his high school friends, Bill, who was also on the team. John and Bill graduated 2 years ahead of me. I graduated with Bill's brother, Mark. Anyway some of us folks in our mid to late fifties haven't grasped the concept of attaching photos to our emails and John needed my assistance. So John wrote a message on my wall, giving me Bill's email address. So I wrote Bill an email, explaining why I was sending the photo. Here was Bill's reply: "Cliff, Thank you very much for the email and photo.  I will call John and thank him as well.  Also, I read some of your articles on some seek first and I was really excited to see that God has b

It's a rarity nowadays for me to write posts on successive days. But  I was asked to write my thoughts on an article written in 1937 by Napoleon Hill. Cliff, of Views From Sandhausen fame, posted his views on his sit e. There are many people who feel like prisoners in their daily situations. Because of these feelings, they only want to do the minimum of what's required of them, all the while wondering why others seem to get all the breaks, maybe wishing to make the sojourn into the land of plenty. Russell Conwell's book, Acres of Diamonds tells of a man in Africa who wished to find his fortune in diamonds. He sold his farm and searched the African continent for the elusive jewels. When he ran out of money, he decided to take his life, despondent about his inability to find diamonds. Meanwhile, the person who bought his land discovered diamonds lining his creek bed. This discovery turned out to be one of the largest diamond mines in Africa. The first man could have had

Okay, I shall admit that I'm a bit prejudiced when it comes to this book. I'm prejudiced because one of the authors has a really cool name. And I also had the privilege of meeting the authors on a couple of occasions. Views From Sandhausen, Experiences from a Foreign Service Assignment in Germany is a book written by Cliff and Lynn Feightner. It is a series of emails sent to friends and relatives during a three year period while Cliff was assigned by his Fortune 100 company to head some projects in Germany. Very little is said about the job itself, most of these letters dealt with what the Feightners went through as they were making the adjustment to life in a foreign country at a time when it wasn't popular to be an American in Europe. When it comes to creature comforts which we take for granted here in the USA, Cliff and Lynn  found that even to simple phone service and internet took months and several trips to get things right. Care packages from home went through s

 Let's go back to a time where things were a little less stressful in my life... It was 1965, and my family was living in Breiningsville, Pennsylvania . My dad had been transferred there from his job in Cleveland. We lived there a total of 14 months as my dad also lost his job at that time. Anyway, I was in the third grade at Fogelsville Elementary school. It was the last year for the building we were going to school in, as the finishing touches were put on the new building. The one I attended was located across the street from the dynamite factory and we would hear testing every now and then. It was also the school year I decided that I hated school. The third grade was the first year that I would have to do homework. I hated homework then, I hated it all the way through the 12th grade. 46 years later, I wish I would have learned to like it or at least tolerate it. Cliff Note: To the teachers who read this blog, I apologize. I never have let the things I needed to do get

I'm still around and I'm enjoying summer some. Also, after 9 months on the job, things are going quite well. There are opportunities presenting themselves. In the past 18 plus months, I have learned quite a bit about patience. And it is true where it says in the Bible that tribulation brings patience. And I'm also realizing that I'm not too old to advance anymore in life. Many time in our life we impose a glass ceiling over ourselves that starts with the word "too", as in too old, too young, too inexperienced, etc. Zig Ziglar likens it to putting a lid on a jar of fleas. The fleas start out by jumping high enough to hit the transparent lid. They keep on doing this until they realize that they cannot make it out of the jar. We do the same things, but after listening to enough SNIOPs (Susceptible to the Negative Opinions of Other People) we have a glass ceiling that we feel we can't make it above. We have to clear our minds of all this and fill our min

I heard about this news story yesterday: A man went into a bank. When he got to the teller, there was a note handed to the teller. The gist of it was, "This is a holdup. Give me $1 dollar and medical attention." The man then calmly waited for the police to come and arrest him. He is now sitting in jail awaiting his doctor's appointment. The "bank robber" is in a situation similar to mine about a year ago. Like myself, he had recently lost a job after being there for 17 years. And like me, he had a hard time finding another job, and he wouldn't get one paying like the job he lost and he definitely wouldn't have the benefits of the job he was forced to leave behind. He had to take a job in a convenience store, one he couldn't handle some of the physical demands of. He had to leave that job and also needed some medical attention. He couldn't afford to go to the doctor and that's what lead him to his "bank robbery." Now before you

A few posts ago,I mentioned about my new iPhone. I thought I would try to write a post with it. The one finger typing takes some getting used to, but the portability makes it worthwhile. Still doesn't beat the laptop I normally use,especially when it comes to uploading photos. Now my distant relative in Florida with the same name told me that he wrote a book using his iPhone. Maybe the poetry will be easier to compose than a regular post. Maybe I can get the hang of this and I will returning to posting on a more regular basis. Time will tell....

Riding on the bike path Taking a little time Crusin with my grandson Not costing me a dime Seven miles one way Might seem to you too long Quality time is priceless And you never can go wrong We then stop at the west end To rest and get a drink We turn around and go home Not too long a ride I think And now I start to wonder If I will make it back Grandson stays ahead of me And now I start to slack I start to stop more more often To rest and take a drink No doubts that I will make it Just longer than I think Back home at last, I make it My legs are very sore Another time I'll ride the trail And go through this some more

Over the years, I have collected a substantial quantity of motivational material.  It's in the form of books, cassette tape, CD, and now in mp3. It started around 1982, when my cousin got me involved in Amway. He told me that I was going to be rich! All I had to do was follow the plan and that included listing to a tape a day and read a book a week. All that was well and good, but I also had a full time job and was a new father. But the books sounded good. And they must have been popular since the shelves at Goodwill have several copies of any popular self help title. But there are 2 things about me that are important to this post: I have always been easy to persuade, and I'm a pack rat. The latter is an inherited condition. I'm still going through belongings of my mother and brother. Mom's been gone 7 years and Ricky, 3 years. And now back to the post. My cousin told me to read some classic titles, such as Psycho Cybernetics , by Maxwell Maltz, and Think and Grow R

...You just have to share them with the right people. Case in point, it's who you share your weight losses with. I have this relative who thinks I need to lose a ton of weight, which I do, but expects to see it off all at once, or so it seems. Some time ago, I had lost about about 5 pounds and I was proud of it. I let this person know about it and the response was "Well whoop de do! I could have done that by (performing a certain bodily function.) This person is a Jerry Maguire type, you know, "show me the money." So I have to find others who know the real value in a 5 pound loss. Just about all of us will never get the chance to have Bob and Jillian get in our faces. We will also not have others prepare our meals for us who know the total value of proper nutrition. We will also not go into Subway and have their ad agency pay us for making sandwiches. And we also won't have the whole country able to see us lose up to 20 pounds in one week. Welcome to the real

With the Summer months starting, the need for blood everywhere will be high. If you are able to, please donate. My friends over at WIXY/100.3 in Champaign-Urbana Illinois, have kicked off the WIXY 5000, where they are trying to get over 5000 pints of blood donated. And boy, do they have some incentive. Folks donating will go into a drawing for iPads, and everyone attempting to give will get a special WIXY 5000 t-shirt. I contracted hepatitis when I was working in a health care profession back in the 80's. I can't give, but if you can, please give a pint. Even if you don't have the incentive for an iPad or t-shirt, give some life. Wherever you are. It's needed everywhere. This has been a WIXY's Gone Bananas public service announcement. And maybe I've kissed up enough for them to send me a t-shirt. XXL please.

The following is from an email I received earlier this week: "I was recently searching online to see if I could learn information about Dr. Harvey Kassebaum, and came across a blog entry which I believe was from you. It indicated that Dr. Kassebaum had passed away in 2007, and that he had been the next-door-neighbor of your in-laws. I currently work for the Ohio Board of Regents in Columbus, and was recently discussing the value of transient undergraduate college coursework that can be done at our state’s community colleges. I told my colleague who deals with these topics daily that, though I attended Ashland College for my undergraduate degree, I took some transient courses at Tri-C and that Tri-C was where I came across the man who was easily the greatest professor I had, hands-down. That man was Harv Kassebaum. I took a series of three American literature courses from him in 1989-1990. If you might have any remaining contact with his family, could you pleas

Being one who is in my mid fifties, and someone who recently, by no choice of my own, changed careers, I have found that one thing came relatively easy to me. That's burnout. Life has been happening at a quicker pace than I would like to see it, with family obligations, and trying to make the best possible impression on the job. Other things out of the job and my family needs have pretty much taken a back seat. Don't get me wrong, I like my job and I love my family. But I feel that my Cliff and Kathy time has suffered. One thing I do know: I have got to start prioritizing my time, beginning with my Bible study time, then on to exercise time. My doctor told me yesterday that I may have to go on insulin soon. That's why I have to start working out more. I need to return to my passions. Writing is one of them, as all of my blogging and Facebook friends know. But as Jeff, one of my high school friends, put it, in response to a recent Question of the Day, I need to relight.

AT&T and Apple made it possible for me, by making the iPhone affordable. I added the WIXY 100.3 app on my iPhone about 1-1/2 weeks ago. I've been listening to that and WIXY Classic 99.1, both from Champaign. Illinois. Being a fan of the WIXY call letters and country music fan, I thought those would be cool to have. I also thought when the time was right, I would give the morning show, Holstein and Company, a call. This morning was the right time. Steve Holstein and his cohorts were discussing a story about vacation usage, and how some would like as much vacation time as the French, which was 6 weeks. all my friends know that a year ago, I had way more time off work than I really wanted. Time to call. I introduced myself as Cliff from Rittman, Ohio, told them about my internet ID as 74WIXYgrad and also told them that I liked that they were taking good care of the call letters. And we had a good brief conversation about the topic at hand. And my prayers go out to the WIXY 100.3 l

The Cleveland Cavaliers have been awarded the first and fourth picks in the upcoming NBA draft. My reaction? Yawnnnn. But Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert gave me another reason to respect him. Gilbert's teenage son , Nick, represented the Cavs on stage for the draft lottery. Nick is suffering from neurafibromatosis, an inherited condition that causes unsightly growths inside and outside of the body. My older sister, who passed away in 1997, and my younger brother, who passed away 3 years ago had it as does my younger sister, who lives at my home as her epilepsy caused by it makes it impossible for her to live independently. When someone can give a face to this horrible condition, maybe research will be aimed a little harder in it's direction and possibly it can be eradicated some day in the not so distant future. Now as far as the draft lottery is concerned, my feelings is that it's not on the up and up. I think maybe the Cavs got the number one pick because of the outrage of

...I watched perfection. I was not there, but I saw it on the tube. In 1981, the Cleveland Indians were an early season surprise. Most fans knew at that time they were playing over their heads at this point of the season, but we would take the wins as they came. I figured during the day of May 15, 2001, the Tribe wouldn't be playing their scheduled game that night against the Toronto Blue Jays since it was raining all day. That evening, I had nothing planned since the part time job I was working was a landscaping job and it was too wet to be doing anything. Kathy was going to a baby shower in her honor as we were expecting out first child in late July. So I decided to go visit my parents in Cleveland. After we ate some supper, I decided to check on the television to see if the baseball game was going to be played. To my surprise, it was. The WUAB broadcast team of Joe Tait and Bruce Drennan were in their places, Tait proclaiming "It's a beautiful night for deep sea fishin

Kathy and I were shopping at Evil Big Box Store(tm) 2966 this afternoon. We just got our tax refund and decided to do some stocking up. We went into the store with 2 carts and first headed for the pet food aisles. We have 2 cats and a dog, and all 3 animals are picky. Matter of fact, one of the cats will turn my CPAP off at night if he's hungry in order for me to wake up and feed him. But back to the shopping. As we were stocking up, I put 6 trays(24 cans) of cat food in the cart, then one bag of dry cat food, along with 2 bags of cat litter. Then I went to the dog food aisle and put 6 boxes of moist dog food in the cart. At this time the cart was full. I told Kathy that I would take the cart to the checkout and pay for it while she shopped for the rest of the items. Now keep in mind that EBBS(tm) 2966 is being remodeled and things are not where people aren't used to the changes. Also inventory is evidentially down due to things being moved around. Customers aren't in an o

To those who aren't familiar with "WIXYspeak", here some terms I will use in this post and a quick definition: WIXYcam- My digital camera. WIXY/at&t/phonecam- My cell phone. Okay, I decided to take the time and finally ride my bike on the new bike bike path between Rittman and Sterling. Due to how busy I've been, this was also the first time I was on my bicycle this year. But after the week I've just been through, I owe d it to myself to do something I wanted to do. Anyway, the new bike path was where a railroad track once existed. In some sp ots it runs parallel to tracks owned and maintained by CSX. I told Kathy aka Mrs74WIXYgrad that I was going to ride un til I got tired then turn around and come back. I was pacing myself and getting off my bike to take photos. First I got out the WIXYcam and tried to take some pics, but to no avail. I then got out the trusty WIXY/at&t/phonecam, and proceeded to take the pics that will be featured in this post. It w

...And I write a blog. At least part of the time. I do like being heard, and that takes many avenues. Anyway, for those of you not on Facebook, things are going well with me. Extra hours are available for me at work, which I'm gladly taking. With the skyrocketing price of gasoline, I have no other choice. It also helps me hone my skills, as the job is still new to me. Neatest thing about being in telecommunications is the theater of the mind is always open. This is especially true given my voice, which is much younger than my hair. I was talking to someone over the phone yesterday, and they mentioned a product that the client I call for produced at one time. She had mentioned that I probably wasn't old enough to remember it. I chuckled and informed her that I was 55. She said that I sounded like I was 25. I get that often when I mention over the phone that I have grandchildren. I guess I can credit this to either the fact I exercise my voice quite a bit or that I gave up cigare

Yesterday I was walking through the Summit Mall with my wife and our son. As we were going past the Cleveland Indians gift shop, I noticed a rack with some t-shirts. On the shirts were an illustration of the old Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Over the illustration were the words "Ten Cent Beer Night, June 4, 1974." Quick summary: The Indians played the Texas Rangers in front of about 25 thousand fans, most of whom were getting quickly inebriated. The game ended in a riot on the field and the game was declared a forfeit in the Ranger's favor. For an accurate description of the night's activities, click on the Wikipedia link given below. Now why do I need a t-shirt to commemorate a low spot in the region's history? Since I got laid off from my last job, I have been within Cleveland City limits about 4 times, only 2 of those for my own business. But being a life long, except for 1 year, northeast Ohio resident, I think I can find something else to put on a t-shirt t

......Writing a book? I understand about 85% of everybody has expressed the thought, and possibly the desire. I have been getting together my thoughts and writing them down. I also have fresh batteries in my digital recorder. Between all this and editing some of what I've written on my blogs over the past 4 years, the skeleton of a book is now coming together. I will then be putting some meat on the bones and hope there will be people interested in what I will write. About 99%+ of all books written never become best sellers. I plan on taking the same advice one of my media friends gave me when I first launched this blog in August, 2006. That is don't worry if you don't have anybody reading your blog, just express yourself. Of course in the past 4-1/2 years, I have made many friends as I have done my thing on the internet. I have also reacquainted myself with many friends from my youth, several of whom have become better friends. Hopefully they will either be interested in w

It seems that the only time I can get any rest is when I'm sitting in a hospital. Right now I'm typing these words while sitting at Akron children's hospital awaiting my grandson having minor surgery. Update: Grandson went through surgery well and will be back at full strength in the next 10 days. Work seems to be going well for me. I am approaching 6 months on the job and starting to feel somewhat secure there. The client I'm now calling for is about to go into one of it's busy seasons and it's consumers are very passionate about the product. I have also seen the new hires given the tour of the call center. Several are just like myself, mid 50's, male, and not knowing if they were marketable anyplace before hired on at the call center. I feel like some of the motivational material I have studied over the years would come in handy in a training environment. After 6 months I can bid on open positions in the company. Hopefully the compensation portion of the

I'm kicking around the possibility of writing a book again. Update 11:30am: The idea has been a recurring thought, I haven't written any book yet. Sorry If I led anyone wrong. Seeing that in the past 4-1/2 years, I've not only written over 1300 blog posts among my 4 public blogs, ranging from life in my favorite small town(Rittman, Ohio), my favorite radio stations, potshots at a local radio host, dealing with losses in my family, my blogging friends, my high school friends, etc- Cliff Note: I've written about alot of stuff since August, 2006! I think that I should write about my lifelong passion, communication. In my mind, this book would have some fact, some fiction, much poetry, and recognition of many friends who have become a great means of support. I was with several alumni of my high school this past Friday. During the course of the time I spent there, I talked about my brother, Richard. I told Karen, who graduated a year ahead of me about him. She was crying a