And so this is Christmas...

It's funny how busy you get around the holidays, even when you really have no reason to be. Christmas went fine although we haven't had it yet with the Nebraska side of the family. We always celebrate with them near Christmas. That will be New Years Day, just in time for the Husker's bowl game.

The shopping was a little exhausting, but not nearly as bad as when the credit card bills start coming in. We haven't had any credit card debt for 3 or 4 years and that felt pretty good. But, all good things must end.

Then Jelly Bean got sick. Jelly Bean is our cat. We got Jelly bean in 1991, right before we moved from Wichita to Lincoln. He was a great cat. When I started having heart problems but didn't know about it yet, he started sleeping with me every night, like he was trying to take care of me or something. He stopped sleeping with me when I got home from the hospital. He stopped eating on Christmas eve and finally passed away in Stacy's arms last Wednesday morning. We don't know what was wrong with him but we do know he was 15 years old and had lived a long life and a good life, except for when we had the vet rip his toes off and remove his rear hangy downs. I don't think that was very fun for him. He was the only cat the kids have ever had as a pet. He's now buried in the garden.

So, that is how Christmas has gone so far. Merry Christmas! Ho, Ho, Ho.

That is all...Peters out!

Hey Verne....

I was reminded of a friend of mine whom I haven't spoken with since his 40th surprise birthday party some 12 or 13 years ago.  We have been friends since baseball at Hillside little league.  His name is Vaughn, or as I called him for years, Verne.  We always get Christmas cards from him and his wife Jean, but ours to them always come back. 

Anyway, Vaughn and I worked together as bouncers at the Aquarius lounge at 72nd and Pacific in Omaha.  The building was round and is now gone, just for some background info.  The front entryway was made of plexi-glass because too many people were thrown through the glass when we were asking them to leave for poor behavior.  It was one of the last big clubs in Omaha to have live bands playing at that time...circa 1975.  We would always go out to breakfast or get a six pack of beer after work and unwind. 

One night we decided to unwind with a lot of beer and eventually finshed it all atop the construction crane on the University or Nebraska at Omaha campus.  Probably not a great decision.  No one fell off,  luckily.

Vaughn is the one who took the call from my mother on June 25th, 1975 teling him to bring me to her house after work.  She told Vaughn why but he never told me.  That was the night I found out my best friend John  had been killed in a construction accident.  News that would change the course of my life.  I never thanked Vaughn for handling that situation so well.

Eventually I moved away, went to school and ended up in Scottsbluff Nebraska working for a radio station.  (Not the end of the world, but you can see it from there.)  Vaughn came and visited me one summer.  He limped into town in his camaro with a blown engine.  We then went to a carnival thing in Gering.  I was with Ellen Ramirez and I don't remember his girlfriend's name. We got as far as a game of chance to win a TV.  That is all the further we got that night.  They wiped us both out of all our money.  I think Vaughn lost over $200.That was the end of that vacation.

Vaughn is someone I need to get hold of one of these days.  Not just for friendship, but I think he owes me like 5 bucks.

That is all...Peters out!

 

Memoriesss....

It's hard to believe that Christmas is just days away.  There have been some pretty crazy Christmas' in my life. 

When I first got into radio after graduating from Brown Institute in 1976, I got hired on immediately at KNEB in Scottsbluff.  I had everything I owned in the back of my parent's '72 Nova Hatchback, Special Big Red edition, because my 1962 Nova was still sitting in Bloomington Minnesota without a clutch.  Since my family was more than eight hours away and I didn't really get much time off for the holidays, I always volunteered to work the holidays so the folks who had family close by could enjoy their holiday.  My Mom would always box up my presents and send them to me.  One year I opened my Christmas presents on the counter at the local Kwik Shop with the lady I always talked with when I would stop before work.  I opened my gifts right there on the counter and her and I shared a Christmas memory.

My first year in radio I was working at KNEB on Thanksgiving night and there was the usual amount of listeners, between zero and none.  Well into the evening there was a knock on the station door and lo and behold, a local restaurant sent me a complete turkey dinner.  So I guess there was one listener that night.

When the kids were little we would always get them up after they had been asleep and take them to the living room so they could see Santa leaving the presents.  They would wake up the next morning not really sure if it was real or not.  It was fun to listen to them speculate.  Someday they will believe in Santa again.  I know I still do.

For years we have always travelled on Christmas so relatives could enjoy our company also.  I can't count the times we have spent Christmas day on the road.  I'm hoping one day we'll have Christmas at our house.  Maybe after the grandkids start popping out.

I just read where the people at the station where I worked all got $400 bonuses because they hit their December sales goals.  I also read where two of my former workmates were planning on giving their bonus to one of the fired employees.  That truly is the Christmas spirit. 

It's kind of funny, but I think there may be a message here.  As I was being fired,  I landed the biggest voiceover job of my career.  I was hired to narrate a unified version of the Gospel of Jesus.  I truly enjoyed reading and recording the 200 plus pages.  It paid me almost double what I would have made working at the station.  Plus I learned so much just absorbing the information.  This is going to be a GREAT year!

As for us, we again are glad to have each other, together for Christmas.  You never know when the time will come when we won't all be here together.  Make every moment count.  God bless and Merry Christmas!

Worst to First....

The Ron Eric Taylor story reminded me of another incident that was kinda funny because of him. 

I don't remember exactly why, but the owners of the radio station at that time decided that Ron Eric getting us to and keeping us at #1 was not good enough.  So, they kind of forced RET to quit and brought in this schmo named Steve Allen Br**ks.  He told them he could get us to a 25 share.  We were at a 14.1 share as I remember when he started at the station.  His first arbitron took the station down to a 12.5 share. 

Now this part is going to be hard to believe,  but I was in a real smart a** mood one morning after I got off the air.  I went and stuck my head in his office door and said, "Congratulations Steve, you are halfway to your 25 share!"  His reaction was priceless.  I probably would not have done that if he hadn't been such a jerk to work for.

Anyway, shortly after that encounter he talked the owners into buying a new jingle package.  We had a jingle premiere party at his apartment and strangely enough, all the jocks had their own jingles except for me, Wichita's number one morning show.  Well, it wasn't long before I was pulled into the General Manager's office and told that I had "polarized" the audience and that they were bringing in a new morning show. (Little did they realize then that polarizing an audience doesn't mean they quit listening)  I was going to have to move to afternoons.  I said "OkeeDokee", then left and called Jack Oliver, the program director of the new top 40 station in town, KKRD.  Jack and I had been talking for a while and I told him if he wanted me, now is the time.  He agreed, I gave my two weeks notice and started at KKRD, much to the KEYN management's surprise.  They actually thought I was going to work for RET in Tampa.

It took us exactly 6 months to go from worst to first at KKRD.  In fact, KKRD and KEYN almost switched ratings.  KEYN fell to the bottom of the pack and KKRD was at the top.  I guess I showed them!

If your good, next time I'll tell you how I screwed that deal up along with my entire career.  Stay tuned!

That is all.  Peters out!

Deja Vu to you too...

I was invited to share my memories on an old friends final radio show in Wichita Wednesday morning. First of all, 7:30 is a bit early for people to be up and doing things. Why can't they do their morning show say, right after lunch. That way I've had time to be up for 15 or 20 minutes and be alert.

Ron Eric Taylor is moving to Louisville KY, (pronounced Loo-uh-vil) to rejoin his wife Kitty. He has been on the air in Wichita for over 20 years. Now, here's something else I didn't know. Radio stations let you stay in their employ for that long? This is all starting to make sense to me now.

Ron Eric was my second Program Director after I moved to Wichita. The first one quit to move back to Colorado to sell drugs or something. Anyway, Ron Eric and I didn't hit it off. One day he sat me down and basically told me that if I couldn't play nice with him that I would be like Columbus, history! I thought about it, determined I was being an ass and told him I was on his team. I just decided that he was doing a pretty good job and I was being an ass. Shortly after that, KEYN and the morning show shot to #1 and we never looked back. We have been friends ever since.

RET and I have decided to be self unemployed together. Good thing we have successful wives. I just found out my successful wife has filled out an application for me to work at Taco Bell. She is so proactive.

That is all! Peters out!

YOUR NECK IS HUGE!!!

Well, the weekend is almost over and what has happened?  I'm glad you asked!  I'm still self unemployed but enjoying severance.  That's where the radio station pays you to not come to work.  I could live like this forever!!!  Stacy just told me that you only get severance once so I guess I'm not that happy about it.  Here's what else is going on.

I am in the home stretch for the BIG narration project I've been working on.  It will wrap up early this week hopefully.  It will occupy 5 cd's when completed.  It has been very enlightening and a fun read.  It will be very lucrative financially also.  More lucrative that severance pay! 

Last Thursday night we were sitiing around the kitchen table when the right side of my neck started enlarging.  It was getting bigger by the minute and within fifteen minutes I looked like I had swallowed a small child.  Off to the emergency room, again. 

The doctor wasn't too concerned as it was just a blocked salivary gland and my neck was filling up with excess saliva.  So, when the gland becomes unblocked, I can expect to expell the largest loogey ever, or if I am asleep,  I will probably drown.  Swell! 

It has gone down some as of this afternnon.  I no longer look like I am storing a casaba melon in my neck for the winter.  Now I just look like I have had too many quarter pounders in one sitting.  But the fact that I have not eaten any McDonalds since my heart surgery, my doctor would prefer to hear that I am storing a large melon for the winter.

That wraps up the week's activities.  We're going to gather around the table this evening and count our blessings.  Though they not be many, we can rejoice in our gratitiude.  Amen amen, I say to you....oops, I've been doing that narration too long. 

That is all!  Peters out!

 

Merry Chr..whack Whack, WHACK...

     I have to apologize for not contributing my usual hilarious banter here in the last couple of days.  Have you ever heard the saying, "When God closes one door He opens another"?  Well, right before I got the axe at KFKF (along with 20 other nice people) I landed the biggest voiceover job I've ever had.  In fact, as of 3 am this morning I was almost halfway done with it.  Interestingly enough, it is a narration of the Bible.  Not the whole Bible, but a simplified Bible written to read like a novel.  I actually enjoyed the hours of reading.  I'll let you know when it is available on the market.

     In addition to that, I haven't been driving through Westwood Kansas anymore on my way to work.  I have really started to miss getting pistol whipped for having a faulty taillight.  Or getting tasered for changing lanes without a formal invitation.  I haven't had a single warning shot to the leg for a worn out windshield wiper.  Man, I never knew I would miss Officer Friendly so much.  His gruff, you are a criminal you Johnson County scumbag attitude.  His I can play as dumb as I want in the court room playfulness.  I still chuckle when I think back to his not knowing what a dash cam was because his cruiser had a "cruiser cam".  What a knucklehead!

     I decided since absence has made my heart grow fonder, I will try to find the perfect Christmas gift and hunt down Officer Friendly and give it to him.

     I was thinking maybe industrial strength pepper spray, the kind with just a hint of cyanide.  Or a new nightstick with the spikes made to pierce your skull when you get uppity during a strip search.  Maybe a new throw down weapon in case he wants to arrest you on a weapons charge but you have no weapon.  So many possibilities.

     Well, I'm off to the police supply warehouse for some Christmas cheer.  This is the kind of gift that keeps on giving.  Since he can't use it on me anymore, some other lucky holiday traveler will have the pleasure of his whimsical style of police brutality.  Merry Christmas Officer Friendly!

Happy Holi...WHAT?

Well, here we are again.  Do you sometimes wonder if your luck will ever improve?  Today I received the phone call....THE phone call.  It was my boss at KFKF.  GUESS WHAT Tim?  The new owners of the radio station want to make more money so they are going to take your job so they can have every last drop of blood on their hands.  Merry Christmas Tim! We all knew these guys were in it for the BIG money, yet, since it didn't happen right away, some started to believe that people can change.  WRONG!  Yesterday there were a few cuts.  Today came the bloodbath many of us knew was coming.  I'm kind of surprised they didn't wait until Christmas morning.       But the good news is...wait, there isn't any good news.  What's really great...my mind just went blank.  I'll have to get back to you on this.