I Saw The Weirdest Thing

Walking down a hall at work I looked out the window and saw the weirdest thing yesterday. An older woman (around 70) was standing next to a brand new Cadillac Escalade. She reached into her purse and pulled out what turned out to be lipstick. She then proceeds to write, in big letters, "Oink!" on the drivers side of the windshield. She then turns away and literally hauls ass down the street, looking over her shoulder every few feet. Turns out the Caddy was taking up 2 spots in the parking lot.

Funniest Event Ever.

You Say It's Your Birthday

Another birthday is here, no fanfare, fireworks or marching band. Just a nice quiet day. Cards and calls from family, e-mail from friends and a gift or 2 from the boy and wife. That's all. I want/need nothing else.

I have decided to do my year in review today and hopefully every year on my birthday.

The past year was a hard one. Lots of change and uncertainty. The two biggest event were moving to Indiana and the boy's brush with death. Both made something very clear to me, family is the most important thing in life. PERIOD.

We left a pretty good life in New York to move closer to my family and we are the richer for it. It was a big risk and it is already paying off. We are happier and closer out here. We sacrificed some free time. I no longer get home at 2pm and the wife works longer day hours as well but the time we have together is our time. No unions, no district stores looking for help, no rushing home to get the boy because he is sick or has no school. We had a full house as the boys first baseball game, everyone one was there down to the family dogs. We have dinner with the parents, or my sister or my brother, or everyone at least once a week (sometimes twice). We've been to more movies and plays and 'date nights' more these past 6 months than the past 6 years. It was a tough choice but we made the right one.

The boy is doing great, his condition was a lot more serious than we knew. Kind of puts you on edge when the surgeon calls at 3am and 5am to check his vitals and doesn't take a day off in 2 weeks. However, all is healed and he is doing great. Didn't seem to affect his swing as he knocked in 2 runs at last weeks game and caught 2 innings and warmed up to pitch with no discomfort. We go to church every Sunday and try to sneak in those Holy Days of Obligation as well cause we are truly blessed.

Personally I feel great. I enjoy work and can leave it there. I do not miss the union stress of dealing with contract issues, grievances and such. Less stress, less tension at home. When the phone rings it is a friend or family member not a co-worker with yet another issue. My e-mail is less crammed and my desk is virtually empty. Thank God.

I feel better all around and am glad. Talking with a New York friend the other day I guess it was a ballsy move. Up root in a matter of days and off we go into the wide blue yonder. We are just happy we actually did it after talking about it for so many years.

Rethinking Yesterday

About yesterday's post, the one thing I am sorry about is the fact that I didn't think about the consequences to my friends still at my old station. I only talk to one member of the night crew and the 'clique' will blame him for 'ratting' on them. I also have a hit counter and ISP tracker so I can see who is visiting the website, but I never said they were smart. I am sure he will be punished for no reason other than he might have tipped off some guy that doesn't work there anymore and will never see them again. I guess they just wanted to sit behind my back and laugh, as always. I hope they are not THAT petty. I was just upset because since I left New York I haven't thought of any of them. Fresh state, fresh start and no need to haul around old garbage.

E-Mail Response

The following is a response to an e-mail sent today:

Denise,

No I would not change what I am writing now that I know people that know me might be/are reading. You take that chance when you start a blog and I have nothing to hide. I write this to vent and chronicle my life as I see it (or feel it). I've gone back and viewed some posts to get a better perspective on a situation with some time past. I can see if I acted out of anger or did the right thing. It also helps my memory as days/dates flow into one another sometimes. A few of my new co-workers do know I have a blog and have visited. One even help edit a post, she corrected a quote I had posted incorrectly.

If some of my friends there do know of the site I hope they do read it and comment. I still e-mail several members of my old AM crew and talk on the phone to a few others. So I am still in touch with them.

If you worry about what some who know you might think about your blog then be careful what you write. Me, I could care less and will write what I want/feel.

And that is, as they say, the end of that

The Time Is Now Again

It's funny. It's all about timing. I've been thinking of my old job in New York. Thinking of the people and comfort zone I left. There are a bunch of people I miss. Some were friends, others co-workers, and a few I don't miss at all.

See I left rather quickly, my 2 week notice coming out of the blue for some and then I was gone. I gave my 2 weeks, spent an extra few days packing then I left the state. Gone forever. Some took the time to say good-bye. I got a few calls from old evening co-workers and some old friends stopped by at my going away party. I was a little disappointed my boss said nothing. He would make a big deal about the summer intern leaving but the guy who was employed for 8 years got nothing. That's fine, I had to send out my own "He's Leaving" notice and got several nice e-mails from people who worked upstairs.

I miss my old AM crew. I got along with all of them, some better than others but all in all enjoyed working with them and always had a good time. It was like working with your brothers, sometimes you fight and are pissed at each other but at the end of the day (or week) you were OK with each other. And that's the way it was then. Sure we had our disagreements but by 1:50pm we were all hanging out in Master joking, laughing and ready for quitting time. These are the same guys I hear from, a phone call or e-mail every once in a while. Friends.


The Evening crew was another story. I worked that shift for several years and had some good times and made some good friends, but something happened and the shift became undesirable. Most of my fellow co-workers can narrow down that 'something' but thankfully this happened after I went to mornings. And during layoffs, when schedules had to be changed, most of us in the AM were dreading a shift to nights, noone wanted to work that. At night they had the favorites, the unwanted and the "I just want to do my job and go home" people. Just imagine going to work everyday just to sit at the same position for 8 hours/ 5 days a week because you pissed someone off, or had the wrong opinion. I would hate work too.

For some reason this group was the same group that disagreed with me as Union President, yet I never saw the loudest ones running for office. Just sneaking round back planning sabotage during negotiations, then lying about it to me, our national rep and the company. Very mature, and wouldn't they love to know that one of their own turned them in!!.

So here we have a group of people who had a low opinion of me, wanted nothing to do with me (personally or professionally) yet now they read my blog and it is apparently topic of conversion at the water cooler. I hear that some of my opinions are bullshit (my Easter/church rant) and my work posts are full of lies. When I heard (and saw) that they were reading, my first reaction was "oh, shit', but just for a moment. Then I realized that a) I never gave a rat's ass about what these people think and b) that for a group of people that didn't want anything to do with me when I was there, they sure are keeping up on my life now that I have gone. Guys, I never knew you cared!!

Bottom line is I write this for me, always have always will. The opinions are mine, what I truly believe. The stories are true (with names changed to protect the innocent). I started this blog to get things off my chest, then to throw my opinions into the virtual sea. I never really expected it to be read by others, but it has been and I thank my loyal readers (all 2 of you) for coming back every once in awhile. Thanks!

Now here's the funny thing. I feel sad for some of these old co-workers. If you are one of them, who have by now heard of the site, and are reading this because you truly want to see what is going on here in Indy, then please read on and drop me a line sometime. You others, who have nothing better in their lives to do, go find something. Move on, get a hobby, enjoy life, hell even start a blog. You can call it the "My Life Is So Miserable That I Only Feel Better Ripping On Bryan's Life" Blog. Send the URL so I can visit.

With That I Am Done

Alicia, my final pick, was voted off last night. My hometown hommie, Rupert, is still going strong but damn that Boston Rob, he must be stopped.

Aside from the fact I like Survivor (and The Amazing Race), I feel that 'reality' TV is destroying television. Networks are canceling quality shows without the benefit of a full run, even 3 episodes (ie Wonderfalls) but would run full seasons and sign extensions for shows like Fear Factor, The Apprentice, Average Joe and The Swan. What bullshit is that. Meanwhile shows with great writing and good acting like Wonderfalls, Firefly, Murder One, Family Guy, Freeks and Geeks to name a few are tossed onto the junk heap.

They did it, Network executives gone and destroyed it all, damn them!!!! Damn them all to hell!!!!!!!

Auntie Emm, Uncle Owen.....

Experienced my first twister yesterday. We went from Thunderstorm Warning to Touchdown in less than 20 minutes. We got a major thunderstorm hitting north of Indy when it turned into the 'classic coma' and we had funnel cloud reports on the ground. We went to all coverage all the time. The weather department took over the newscast and the chopper was up and heading north. When they got there we saw a damaged shed, some roof half off and an 18 wheeler off the highway; but as the copter got a better angle on the storm path I saw the line of destruction it had created. Homes crushed, trees uprooted, and that 18 wheeler was actually one of five tossed off the highway. You could actually see the storm's path in the soil of a newly tilled field. The sight was surreal, I had never experienced anything like it. I was stuck to the TV for over an hour until another director asked if I wanted to go home and he would take over (I was at the end of my shift.) I got up but hung around a little while longer while we followed the storm front a bit further north. I was amazed at the power of these tornadoes, now seen first hand and not some quick vo in the news or on the big screen in Twister. This we mere miles from my new home and hit places I knew.

While I was stunned and amazed the rest of the crew was oh hum, just an F1. Just you wait until a good F3 or F4 (rare around here, not nit uncommon), then I would be amazed. Thinking on that I sure miss my 140 inches of snow back in Rochester, NY.

The Little Things

They are catching up with me.

Baseball has started but I am not too happy with the new little league. We have practiced twice for an hour each and our first game is Saturday. We are not allowed to practice outside our scheduled times and they shut the power down at 7:30. I was still in the batting cages with one hitter left and they pulled the plug. We get one hour on the field and there is no room off to the side to continue practicing....We'll see how this goes, I am not optimistic about this.

Driving is also killing us, we have to drop off and pick up the boy everyday for school. We leave the house at 7:15am and get home at 7:30pm....Pretty much sucks right now, but we need to get into the rhythm of things. Stuff just flows when you've been doing it for 10 years, then uproot the whole world and you need some adjusting time. A few more weeks and then summer vacation, then another new school but in our town with buses and shorter than a 40 minute round trip to get to school...........

Did a lot of home things this weekend. Mowed and wacked, cleaned and unpacked and started on my workshop. It is 3/4 of the way up and looking good. I need to get some more rooms done, like my office. It is getting there, but we had a wind storm Sunday and it was beautiful all weekend long and I left some windows open. Well Sunday night I find all the paperwork I organized all over the office!!!! Shit on a stick! At least the boxes are gone, I just need another few hours to put everything in it's place.....

Today I made a pact with the wife, we will get up every morning at 7am, have breakfast as a family and one of us will drive the boy to school, while the other straightens the first floor (dishes, blankets, vacuum, etc.). Sounds good, but will it work?? I think so.

The Friday Five

1. What do you do for a living?
I am a Television Director for a CBS Affiliate. I direct and technical direct local newscasts, news specials and sports shows.

2. What do you like most about your job?
Live TV. Nothing is like it. We sit around for a few hours getting ready for that hour and a half of live news. Sometimes it is quite a rush.

3. What do you like least about your job?
The blame game. It is in every station I ever worked for, people cannot step up and be accountable for their actions. If I make a mistake I admit it, others can't and that is very apparent in a lot of newsrooms from the Asst. News Director down.

4. When you have a bad day at work it's usually because _____...
Either a) my head is not into it. You need to be 100% alert going into a live newscast, if you are 'elsewhere' you are done. Or b) mistakes are made and me (or my department) is held responsible even though we didn't do it and usually saved this person(s) more than once in the past week.

5. What other career(s) are you interested in?
Teaching. I've done this with the intention of getting my teaching degree and teaching at the college level someday. My Television Professor in college told me to do this thing called TV for awhile to live television in the real world, not teach it from a book. And when I become a teacher I will be better for it.

Play Ball!!!

Baseball has started on all levels in my life. The Bigs started last week, as did my Fantasy League. Wasn't able to make it out to New York for our draft. I missed it and the boys. We are just a loose collection of friends. I asked a few from work, they asked some neighbors, family friends and even a few college buddies, but now every year we get together for the draft at one of our homes and have a great few hours drafting, chatting, grilling, drinking and watching baseball or Final Four basketball on TV. It's always a great time, and I missed it. Next year I won't!

Minor Leagues started the other day and I moved from a town with a great AAA team (Rochester Red Wings) with a great parent club (Twins) to a town with a great AAA team (Indianapolis Indians) with a terrible parent club (Brewers). We'll be in the park nonetheless..........

Little League started yesterday and the boy is excited, I am too as I am an Assistant Coach again. First time in the new town so it should be interesting. We have like 3 practices before the first game and we only practice for 1 hour, once a week. We are used to practicing 2-3 times a week pre season then having 2 games per week. Here we have 1 game per week. Seems a little weak, out practice only runs 1 hour and we have to have it at the league fields, which really limits runover time as the teams are packed up on time. One team at 9am, the other at 10am, 11am and Noon....then that's it. Cross your fingers!!! Plus they make the kids wear those cages on their batting helmets, the boy never wore those before and can't see well.........

That's it for today, my all your hits find the gap!!!

Happy Easter!!!

To those of you who celebrated, Happy Easter!

WE had a great one, the wife invited my family over for Easter Dinner and knocked our socks off!! Turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, stuffed peppers, peas, corn on the cob, hot rolls, candied yams, string beans, chocolate cream pie, cup cakes, strawberry pie, all of it AWESOME. Everyone sat around after in a daze trying not to move too fast. A great time had by all and the first major holiday in our new home.

On the church side we were a little upset. Seems for Easter our new church decided to change service times. We misunderstood and showed up 45 minutes late to mass. Here's what upsets me, why would you change times so drastically on a major holiday. Now mass is usually 7am, 9am, 11:15 and 5pm. This Sunday they did 8am, 10am and Noon, WHY?!?!!?!?! People were walking in for the 11:15 as others were leaving. We showed up 45 minutes early and found ourselves 20 minutes late!!! And don't get me started on the "C&E Catholics". You only see them at church on Christmas and Easter. Why should I and my family have to either get to mass an hour early or risk standing crammed in the back of church for people who come to mass twice a year. Half of them don't take communion and the rest leave before mass is over. Now I am not a pushy church gore. You have your faith and I have mine. We try (and mostly succeed) in going to church every Sunday. I don't think I am better than you because I do and don't judge you if you don't. But what bugs me is every Easter and Christmas everything a church is turned around because of the quick influx of people. Parking is horrible, we've been in some churches were you need tickets to get in to mass, people don't know the mass and have to be told when to stand or sit or kneel. The "C&E"'s are usually rude and their children terrible as they do not go to mass regulally and are bored in the first 5 minutes and let everyone around them know. We once sat behind and father and his 2 teenaged sons and watched as they compared serial numbers on their money all through out the mass. Their is a mass exodus during communion and people are honking, swearing and cutting each other off to get out of the parking lot.

and then you wonder why I seem angry all the time.

DST

For the first time in my 33 (almost 34) years I did not have to change a single clock this weekend. I now live in a state that does not believe in Daylight Savings Time. The reasons are unknown to my many native Hoosier friends. All they know is now we must watch non-local shows an hour earlier. Soprano's, The Shield, Trading Spaces and SpongeBob are all on an hour earlier. Saturday I was the same time as New York, today I am the same time as Chicago. Takes a little getting used to.

I remember being a kid (around 6th grade) and arguing with my folks about how I didn't have to be at school until 9am because what was 8am last week was now 9am this week and since I had to be at school at 8am I don't have to be there until 9am because 9am this week was last weeks 8am.....sounds normal right?

The most hated part of DSL was when I worked overnights at the TV station. See when we 'Fall Back" everyone is happy because you all get an extra hour of sleep. But for the person who works say 10pm till 6am at 3am it became 2am again and you had to wait until 6am for your relief to get there. Yea the reverse was true when we "Sprung Forward", but you work overnights, counting the hours only to have to recount an extra hour. It wasn't like something good was on TV either, the networks just ran an extra hour of their 30 minute multi-repeating generic overnight newscast. Watch that 6 times in a row and never wonder why some worker went 'postal'.

I'm The King Bee Baby......

Busy, busy is how I can explain it. After the hamster incident I had hoped things would settle abit but that is not the way when you are the next Garp. I get a call at work on Wednesday that my parents basement is flooded. Seems that when they cleaned for the open house the threw some stuff into the already over crowded storage room. Well one tower cam tumbling down and unplugged the sump pump. The problem is that no one had been in the basement since my parents left for Japan a week earlier. My Grandmother was looking around the house, marveling at the beauty of a nice clean, freshly painted, it so wonderful why are they selling it home when she decided to look at the finished basement. And found 7 inches of water. Aside from the water there was a sectional couch, 60 inch flat screen TV, Drum Set, Tread Mill, exercise Bike, Brand New Weight/Muli-Station Center and our past in enough boxes to fill a 2 car garage.

Add to that my Fantasy Baseball draft, which I couldn't visit New York so I sat on the phone for 5 hours. My parent's dog, whom we are watching, pissing on every carpet in our new home. Me ripping my side mirror off the Jimmy while leaving our garage and that damn partrigde in a pear tree and I had one hell of a week. Oh did I mention the mold they found in the basement and know have to rip the bottom 4 feet of dry wall all the way around the basement. Thank God it is almost Monday, fresh week, fresh start.