Back on Radio(for an hour), Growing Up in Venice, Florida the last chapter(from 2008)

Miserable cold, rain, falling this morning...the leaves are sticking to the walks, yards, and roadways....fortunately it is scheduled to end before nightfall, and tomorrow and the weekend, my final football weekend, looks cool, but dry.  Tomorrow the drive to Ironton, on the Ohio River, will take me to Columbus to meet with the rest of the Varsity crew...then another 2 1/2 hours down US 23 to the river town of Ironton as that school takes on it's rival from Portsmouth...it will be a late night, into the early hours of Saturday.  Saturday Night I finish things up for my football season with a Youth League Championship double header at Celina Stadium....then the welcome rest for a few weeks, before basketball starts.

Back on the Radio_____

I had not been behind a microphone since 2003, when I planted myself behind the sports mic with "Wulfie" and Dave last night at the Celina Moose Lodge, for their weekly sports show.  After being on radio and cable tv from 1978 through the next 25 years, both full time(for five years) and part time for the last 20...it's pretty much like riding a bike, or drinking a beer...once you learn, you don't easily forget.  I wasn't nervous once the show began, and the hour went flying by...we talked officiating, then the upcoming NFL games and predictions of same, and finally discussed Ohio State and High School games this coming weekend.  I even got asked by the boss, if I was interested in doing some play-by-play basketball this season....with my schedule pretty well full on Friday and Saturday nights, I'm not sure I can pull that off...but the off the cuff offer was appreciated.

In addition to the show, I saw my niece Megan, her husband Cory, and his grandpa Grinny Fox, a longtime baseball legend himself out of Rockford, Ohio.  I talked with them for a half hour or so, mostly sports and umpires.   I also sat down with some old friends from our Racquet Club days back in the late 90s and early 2000s...so I stuck around an extra 90 minutes and caught up on old times with friends I have not seen in some cases in nearly a decade.  A good time to say the least.... 


Growing up in Venice, Florida, a final look back_____

In late 1958, around this time of year, November, if I recall,  we moved from the Venice By-Way to the house on the Corner of School Street and Pineland Avenue in the Edgewood Section of Venice....it would be our last home in Florida, and a house that mom kept until the 1980s....before selling our last link to those great days of my childhood in the 1950s and early 60s.


Here are the final segments from my look back, written in 2008:  {Click Links Below}


http://patsdailyrant.blogspot.com/2008/05/venice-florida-328-school-street.html


And here is the Epilogue....of a life lived long ago:


http://patsdailyrant.blogspot.com/2008/05/growing-in-venice-florida-epilogue.html


So there it is....a life lived 5 decades ago, on the sunny shores of the Gulf of Mexico...no Air Conditioner, 2 TV stations, AM radio, one car, but plenty of dogs, cats, snakes, gators, gopher turtles(tortoises), and other critters, in that life that really doesn't seen that long ago.

back later>>>>

Photos-{top} A sunset at Venice Beach, Florida, taken by me in the waning days of Summer 2000...Back when I started in radio, you need a license to broadcast, and it always helped going to a short term broadcasting school...these days, small market radio really doesn't care about quality...the early days of my broadcasting career were fun, although the moving and the starvation wages were problematical....and me and sister Marty's old cat, sitting on Dad's Chrysler Wagon, in the driveway at 328 School Street, Venice, Florida, around 1960....
  

Growing Up in Venice Florida(parts 4/5 ....from 2008)...Storms Rolling Through

I was awakened overnight by some pretty loud lightning and thunder clapping, as storms rolled through West Central Ohio...those had to be pretty strong to wake me.  The Winter Beer season had arrived, and with no games to officiate and the World Series on a one day break, I grabbed a six pack of Sam Adams Winter Lager, and proceeded to down a few of those....they do produce a kick, so I dutifully sauntered off to bed about 10pm.  Only to be awakened first by the ancient Airedale, Reagan, wanting out about Midnight, then by the lightning flashes in our upstairs bedroom windows around 3am....those strikes had to hit somewhere close by, because a couple of them rattled the windows and shook things up.

This morning, Patricia took the Van and I drove the Nitro up to the dealer, to have some wheel locks removed...seems they "key" to those theft protection devices was nowhere to be found when Patricia took the Dodge in to get the oil changed and tires rotated....so rather than spend over $100 to get the old ones removed and new ones installed, just get rid of the damn things...another pretty much useless invention, especially if you don't have custom wheels and don't live in or near a large city...ain't many people in small town Ohio stealing you average stock wheels and tires.  So, while that is getting done, I'm driving a loaner, 1996 Caddy with less than 80,000 miles on it....pretty nice ride, if I needed another vehicle, I might consider it, the price seems right...but I don't so I won't.....

Back on the Airway______
 
It been a few years since I worked in radio...I believe 2004 was the last time I got behind a microphone.   My buddy "Wulfie"  asked me to be on his WKKI Radio Sports Show tonight, live from the Celina Moose Lodge at 7pm,....wants to talk Sports in general and Officiating/Umpiring in particular.  So, back on the air for a few minutes tonight....causing me to miss the first Basketball Rules Meeting of the season at Van Wert...still plenty of time to get my required meetings in however.

Growing up in Venice, Florida parts 4 and 5_____-

 Back to looking at my childhood in the 1950s and early 60s on the Gulf of Mexico....links to my posts from 2008 are below{click links}:

Part 4-

http://patsdailyrant.blogspot.com/2008/05/growing-up-in-venice-floridapart-4.html

Part 5-

http://patsdailyrant.blogspot.com/2008/05/growing-up-in-venice-floridapart-5.html

The final two segments coming tomorrow...

back later>>>>

Photos-Top...A view of the old Venice Beach and Casino from about 1950...this photo was taken from what is now the location of The Inn at the Beach....in 2000, I took the second photo from the location of the Beach Casino(a "new" one built in 1960} looking back at the Inn, from where the first photo was taken....in the late 1990s and early part of this new century, we vacationed at The Inn on several occasions, the kids loved the place and location.  Winter Lager from Sam Adams is now in stock...a good brew, with the taste of a hardy stout...the final photo is another I puchased on Ebay...taken from the current location of the beach near The Venice Jetties...a massive Devil Ray was taken by these guys in 1928.  I saw one swimming between the South and North Jetties in the late 1950s...probably bigger than this one.  Sadly those fishing days are gone in the Gulf, fished out by so called "sport fisherman" and foreign interests.

Another "Face" from Radio Found....on Facebook

The rains came in from the south yesterday afternoon about 3 O'clock...the wind then switched to the north at 30 or so MPH, and the temperatures dropped to the low 40s...this made for one miserable afternoon...probably an inch or more fell, before it ended around Midnight.  Today, sunshine and somewhere in the 50s is forecast, and the next 10 days or so, look to be "normal" for November...high temperatures fluctuating between the low 40s to near 60 by this coming Sunday, then cooler next week.

Facebook, finding another face from the past_____

I signed up with the Internet site Facebook about 2 years ago...didn't think much of it at that time, it was basically, or so it appeared, to be a site where the kiddies were looking to hook up with the opposite sex, or BS with friends off at college or out-of-state.  I didn't use it much, until a few of those that blogged in my circles started posting on their sites, so I joined in...things were still slow, at least until the past election season neared...then I started using the site as a compliment to this blog, to get the word out to more folks.  It also became a Political Site for folks with like minded views on politics.  Most of the 650+ "friends" I have, lean to the right...a few lefties remain, and some apolitical types from my past are also on that list....but by far and away, most of those are right wing/patriot types who have the same dislike of the Obama crowd in common with yours truly.

On occasion I do come across a name from the past....and make contact with folks I have not talked with or seen in 20, 30, or in the case of one person, almost 50 years...some old childhood friends, siblings of deceased friends, or guys I was in the Military, College, or worked with back in my broadcasting days of the 1970s and 80s.  Before I left for Wisconsin last week, I came across the name and photo of a guy named Chuck Coon.  I had worked with a Chuck Coon at WJMT Radio in Merrill, Wisconsin, in my early days of radio, at my first full time gig, upon graduation from Ray Szamada's Trans American School of Broadcasting, in Wausau, Wisconsin....I worked at WJMT AM/FM just a short while...from the late Summer of 1978 until the next June, when I headed off to Kokomo as Morning News Anchor WIOU/WZWZ.

Chuck Coon(I forget his on air name, mine was Pat "Rogers", for the only time in radio that I did not use my real name), proceeded me on the air...he worked the midday shift, while I worked the "Afternoon Drive, and Evening Shift...all that glory for a starting salary of $112.00 a week.  The pay didn't matter, I had made it full time in Broadcasting...something I would do for the next 5 years full time, and the next 20 after that on a part-time basis.  The part time portion, which included radio and cable TV work, would be in News and Sports play-by-play, while I was working full time in the Environmental Health field.

It happens that this Chuck Coon was the guy I had worked with in Merrill...he is from southeast Michigan, and has lived in Cheyenne, Wyoming, for the past few decades, working in News and for the past 20 years or so with the Wyoming Department of Tourism:

http://www.wyomingtourism.org/

....It is always good to meet someone from your past, especially someone that has had some success in their chosen field.  Now, I'm not sure if Chuck would be into or agree with my political views and postings, but it is good to add him to the list of old radio and Air Force comrades that I have found on Facebook, and other places on the vast Internet...damn, shouldn't we all just thank old Fat Al Gore for inventing this thing called the Internet{insert major sarcasm here}?

The basketball scrimmage season has arrived for those schools not still involved in the football playoffs...I put off my first work until this Saturday, when I head to Lincolnview for a boys Varsity/JV Scrimmage session...hopefully my legs, lungs, and back, are ready...tonight I head for meeting #4 of the local rules association in Van Wert, that will give me my required sessions, so from here on out, I can attend or not as I please.

back later>>>>

Photo-The old sheepskin from Trans American School of Broadcasting in Wausau, Wisconsin, which was owned by Ray Szmanda, the voice behind the Menard's Commercials....the Late Mike Rockwell, was my main instructor.  I am pleased that the money from the GI Bill I spent to go to TA, as well as Hocking Tech and Wright State, where I majored in Environmental Health. both led to long careers in Broadcasting and EH work.  Not many can say that they followed the career paths that they studied post high school.  I am lucky to say I did.

Cigars, Smoke Rings, and "The(Cincinnati) Reds is Dead"

Bye-Bye-Cincinnati___

The professional baseball season, for all worthwhile  purposes came crashing to an end for this fan last evening...as the Cincinnati Reds were swept out of the National League Playoffs by the 2 time defending NL Champion Philadelphia  Phillies.  3 games to none, without much of a whimper...no hit last Wednesday, error prone loss on Friday, and the top hitting team and top defensive team in the National League got little hitting and another costly error in last nights 2-0 lost in Cincy to put the Reds season at rest.

We Reds fans should, I guess, take solice that they are young, with a bright young pitching staff and some up and coming players....hopefully they will be able to build on this season...after all it was the first time in years that Reds fans were actually paying attention after July 4th...Cincinnati is usually hopelessly out of the race by then.  So it's wait until next year....only this time, we actually have something to look forward to.

Sam, home from Ohio State(who kicked ass on an over matched Indiana team Saturday to take over #1 in the polls after Alabama was ambushed at South Carolina), after working the video for the Buckeye-Indiana game, and I worked the last regular season football double header in the area Recreation League....and headed home for supper.  Then I grabbed more than a couple of beers, a couple of hand rolled torpedo cigars and plopped myself out on the back steps.  I had decided to not watch the Reds and Phils battle, I would catch most of it on radio, by far the best medium for baseball...good broadcasters can paint a picture in your mind...so who needs the yapping lap dogs of WTBS telling you what you can already see?  I'd much rather listen to long time Hall of Fame Broadcaster Marty Brennaman of the Reds.  Marty has been pretty negative the past few years, but with the sad state of the Reds until this year, who can blame him?  He's still one of the best...so it was me, the radio, cigars, and a few beers last night...after all I was sore as Hell after 3 1/2 hours of football officiating, and needed some sort of support group.  Cigars and Miller Lite seemed to be that, and after the Reds fell behind in the first inning...they would come in handy.

Smoke Rings____

I never have been a cigarette smoker, nasty things.  I've watched them kill off and ruin the health of more people, friend, and family,  than I could count...and I watch in amazement at the dumbass young folks who still get hooked the expensive things these days.  Absolutely no reason on this green earth to get hooked on the poison that is contained in those things that cost $5 and more a pack.  Cigars, on the other hand, are something else...now don't get me wrong, I don't claim that Cigars are "safe" or healthy for you...but neither do the have the poisons that are included in their nasty little brothers.  For one, you don't inhale Cigars(unless you're a damn fool), and how many does a person really smoke?  I may partake in an average of 1 per week through out the year...50 to 75 tops...and I only smoke them in the warm weather months, and on our annual Salmon Fishing Trip to Oscoda, Michigan, I may smoke a handful.

So even though I'm not a smoker per say, I have learned to blow "smoke rings"...guess that's how bored I was with listening to the Reds get swept out of the playoffs last night...so Cigar in left hand, camera in right, I decided to see if I could get some "flash" shots of a cigar ring or two.  The results are in the top photos...not some of my best work...but hey, I was about 4 beers and 2 cigars into the evening when I decided to become "Rembrandt" with a camera and cigar.

So that finished off the weekend, which included a 75 mile(each way) trip north to West Unity, Ohio, to officiate a JV Football game on Saturday morning...beautiful weather through the weekend, which will continue today with another summer like day in the mid 80s with bright, intense, sunshine...after that the sun will stick around for the next 2 weeks they say, just a shower or two in the forecast mid week..but temps will drop to the more October-like mid 60s by Thursday.  Today a MRSI Board Meeting, then will help out with daughter Anissa this afternoon...JV game here in Celina was cancelled due to injuries in the whipping they got a Kenton Friday night.  The young Bulldogs were down by 38-0 at the end of the first quarter, en route to a 58-14 loss.  Celina falls into a tie with the Wildcats for first in the WBL...but with a 5 win 2 loss record overall, this team is much farther along than anybody could have predicted.

For the most part, I have a busy week of football on tap, including games on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday Night, Saturday Morning, and a Rec League Double Dip in tournament play on Sunday.....after that, things will begin to wind down, and I can get ready for Basketball season and Winter....not sure I'm really ready for either.  But come they will...and I will get my legs in shape for a different sport yet again.

back later>>>>

Photos-Smoke rings from my 1876 Torpedo, while listening to the Reds season come to an end....and the Celina Bulldogs Cinderella season struck Midnight...now the young Dogs will need to regroup, still tied for first in the WBL.

Vietnam Veterans Reunion Kokomo, Indiana 2010

I took my usual walk around town down to Grand Lake this morning...it's getting pretty routine doing this 5 days a week...the 50 minute to 1 hour walk gets me ready for the day, and the weather of late, along with the pollution and smell being down on the lake, makes it pretty enjoyable.  The photos I clicked this morning pretty much told the story.  It was partly cloudy, mild with no wind to speak of when I set out at 7:45...the lake looked pretty nice in the rising sun, I barley broke a sweat.

Freshman football last night here in Celina, with the hometown Bulldogs coming out on top of Wapakoneta, as the Varsity did last Friday....A close game with a final drive by the Redskins coming up short in a 18-14 Bulldog victory.  Tonight I head north to the flatlands of my forefathers, Blue Creek Township, in Paulding County.  I'm at Wayne Trace, for an 8th grade game...I'm back there Thursday as well, before heading to Toledo Friday Night for a Toledo City League contest.  Another game on Saturday at Spencerville, and a double header Recreational League game back here in Celina on Sunday, will keep me busy.

My one day off will be tomorrow, and I will head over to Kokomo, Indiana, to meet up with a couple of my VSPA cohorts:

http://www.vspa.com/

Tom McCandles and Sam Lewis will be there tomorrow, although the actual Howard County Vietnam Veterans Reunion doesn't start until Friday.

http://www.hcvvo.org/index.html                           

I worked in Kokomo 3 decades ago as the Morning News Anchor at WIOU Radio...doing the early morning news at WIOU and it's FM sister station WZWZ.  I left there in early 1980 and headed to Dodge City, Kansas, as News Director for KGNO out that way....a couple of stops on my broadcasting odyssey, before settling back home and working 20 years in the Environmental Health field.

Anyway off topic...I will only spend the day this time around, visiting with the guys....too many football commitments this year, maybe next year I can stay awhile longer....over 44,000 were there last year, and the camping and hotels are already full in the area this year...my major concern it the traffic along two lane Highway 26 East of Kokomo.

Hopefully I'll get some photos and have a story for Thursday....

Today's Images-Top left and bottom...3 shots on my morning walk along Lake Shore Drive this morning...the view and accompaning calm belies the lake's "problems".   Veterans hoist the Flag at a pervious Kokomo Vietnam Reunion....and my old Calling Card from my days at WIOU in Kokomo, back in 1979-80

back later>>>>

Triple Overtime, Passings/Buddy Holly and Jim Wishner

After officiating about 50 basketball games so far this season, from youth through High School, both boys and girls, I had not had an overtime game that I can recall...last night, I traveled to my wife's school at St. Henry, and managed to make up for the lack of OTs. In the first game of a Junior High Girls double header between Mercer County rivals Fort Recovery and the home standing Redskins, my officiating partner Bob Post and I managed to get a 3 overtime game in, and it was almost a quadruple...a shot by St Henry rimmed out as the final horn sounded, with a Fort win. The Redskins won the 8th grade game, and I survived the extended evening, even with the bronchitis still hanging on.

After a much needed night off tonight, I finish the week with a flurry, double headers on Thursday and Saturday, wrapped around a single JV game at Allen East on Friday Night....hopefully the rest will knock out the final stages of the bronchitis....hopefully!

Passings_____Buddy Holly 51 years ago

On a frigid February 3rd in 1959, rockers Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper(JP Richardson), and Richie Valens, took off from Mason City, Iowa, after playing at nearby Clear Lake...the plane crashed shortly after, and all 3 up and coming artists were dead...by the luck of the draw, country singer Waylan Jennings, had given up his seat to Richardson, and he survived...Jennings went on to a long career in Country Music. Writer/singer Don McClean in 1972 wrote a song about Buddy Holly and "The Day the Music Died" which became a monster hit on it's own:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tr-BYVeCv6U

Buddy Holly, while only 22 when he died, left behind a string of hits and an eternal legend, and is probably best remembered for his Peggy Sue:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ku5UeUT7yIQ&feature=related

February 3, 1959, The Day the Music Died.

Jim Wishner_____

Doubtless few, if any of you, have heard of Jim Wishner. But he was instrumental in my early career in Radio New some 30 years ago. I first heard of Jim when he called me one spring day in 1979, when I was an afternoon DJ at Radio Station WJMT in the small Northwoods berg of Merrill, Wisconsin. I had graduated from Broadcasting School the previous year, and had worked at both WJMT and WRIG in Wausau, Wisconsin.....I had always thought that my voice and personality were suited for News, rather than entertainment, so I sent out a tape on occasion to various stations that were looking for a News Reporter or Anchor...one of those stations was WIOU in Kokomo, Indiana. The station News Director was Wishner, and it's Program Director was a veteran Jock named T. J. Byers. A few weeks after sending out a tape of me reading the news and some writing samples, Jim Wishner called me and asked if I would be willing to come to Central Indiana and work as the Morning Anchor on WIOU and the sister FM Station WZWZ. WIOU was a Top 40 station with a solid commitment to local news, WZWZ was a Rocker that used news as a conversation piece for it's Jocks. The pay was about double what I was receiving in Wisconsin, so I jumped at the chance.

Booth Broadcasting would pay for my move, and put me up in a motel, until Patricia, Anissa, and I could find housing....it was a step up in the "Business", to say the least.

After settling in Kokomo, and getting to know Wisher, it soon became apparent that he was a good guy, a misguided Liberal to be sure, but a good guy....Jim was a Vegetarian, and a chain smoker, strange combination it seemed to me, but what the Hell did I care? Our relationship was pretty good, Jim helped me along{always sticking me on the Democratic political candidates, because he knew I was a right winger, and would give them the business, if needed, no soft ball questions}, and it was sad indeed for me, when he got a call from a major station in Omaha, WOW Radio, to come out and join that staff...a move up on his part, but left me with a bitter old coot, named McKeller, and a conniving female, who went by Melony, and who would step on anybody to move up, as "partners" in the WIOU newsroom...I wasn't going to stick around long, and didn't....it was off to Kansas shortly thereafter.

Having become pretty good friends, I helped him pack up and load the UHaul Trailer he rented for the trip west....that was December 1979, that was the last time I saw Wisher, although I talked with Jim on several occasions after I moved on to KGNO in Dodge City as News Director. Always upbeat and professional is how I remember Jim Wishner.

Fast forward some 30 years, I come across a web page about a show on KTNF Radio in Minnesota:

http://www.am950ktnf.com/node/1306

There he was, the little man with the big voice and big heart, Jim Wishner, my old boss. I typed in the contact information, and sent out a e-mail....(this was in December of last year). I never got a response, and really didn't think much of it. Times and people change, who knows maybe Jim had moved on?...after all, that is the way of Radio.

Having pretty much forgot about the e-mail and what had become of Jim, I was doing some research, and I see in front of me..."Minnesota Farm Bureau Awards Jim Wishner". Humm I thought, Jim doing Farm Reporting? Only in a far left socialist state like Minnesota would they award a Public Broadcasting lib their Reporter of the Year award.....then I open the link and see the words....Posthumously:

http://www.mfu.org/node/409

My old friend and boss Jim Wishner appears to have succumbed to those damn cigarettes...

Jim Wishner the man who got me started in Broadcast News, dead at 61....sometimes, especially in the world of the Internet, it takes death to find those folks you are looking up....Rest in Peace friend.

Will do some research work today, tinker with the look and side content of the blog, and continue to rest up...I think Patricia is taking the afternoon off as well, needless to say she has not had the opportunity to rest from her flu and bronchitis battle...

back later

Photos-The Late Buddy Holly and the late Jim Wishner

Weekend Bugs/Radio Days The D-Day Invasion

The weekend "flu" by to say the least...a recap is in order{only because I have little else to talk about}.


Friday afternoon I got a knock on the door, open it and see my old buddy from my High School and Montezuma living days, Bob Jones....I had exchanged e-mails with Bob, but had not seen him since our get together with Don "Rat" Boyce and his wife at the local Bob Evans, back in September...Jonsey was out and about and we had a nice 90 minute or so sit down talk about the current state of the world in our aging eyes, and times past. He departed and agreed that our next get together with Rat and our wives would happen in March, hopefully the weather will be somewhat warmer.

With Bob gone, it was time to get ready for the first of my 2 weekend JV games, this one at Lima Bath in the prelude to the WBL game with Kenton. The game went OK, just the usual complaining and "The was a terrible call" shouts from coaches and fans...if they didn't bitch, you would think something was really wrong. I worked with Dan Minnich, who has been umpiring baseball since our early days...this was our first basketball game together, although we have done many games on the ball diamond together. Game complete, I got home, downed a couple of Extra Stout Guinness brews, and hit the sack.

Saturday morning I awoke to a cold and clear morning...and the beginnings of what I thought was a routine head cold of my own. Damn! All the winters without a cold of any substance, and since I took up basketball....bam! I manage a couple or more a season....I hate em'!

As the day moved on, the cold lingered on, but not bad{I thought}, so I headed off to my second JV game of the weekend at Spencerville, against Delphos St. Johns. Interesting game...these 2 schools are about 8 miles apart on State Route 66, but had not played basketball during the regular season since 1945. I felt pretty good, despite the cold, and made it up and down the floor in the 22 point St. Johns win. Delphos also won the varsity game...I headed home, down a couple of brews and headed to bed, the cold was hanging on.

Reagan awoke at 4am and let us know she had to go out...early, real early. Patricia got up, with a cold of her own, and said she would rest on one of the recliners down stairs, as her head was "stuffed"...Anissa{home for the weekend} got up soon after, as did I. Seems I was no having a time getting enough air into my lungs to get back to sleep...

As the morning progressed, my breath intake did not get better/the blood pressure and heart rate were up, way up....so about 11 I decided, that with the local clinic closed until 6 and no Doc Bergman's office open...I would gut it up and head to the Emergency Room...was this an "emergency"? I didn't think so in the sense, but I knew I wasn't getting enough air to take care of business...so off we went, all 3 of us. Patricia and me to see the ER Doctor, and Anissa to keep us company...

Bronchitis....and the Flu____

In my 60 years I had never been diagnosed with Bronchitis....the ER Doc asked, "any history of Asthma"? Nope, only Sam, our oldest son has a history of Bronchitis, but none here....until yesterday. So I had bronchitis, Patricia the Flu...so we both get a shot, I get an inhaler, and both a prescription for an antibiotic. Off to Wally World, since our regular pharmacy was closed for Sunday as well....about this time, Patricia's flu had come into my life. After getting home, I sat and watched the Ohio State win over Minnesota, then headed to bed for another 5 hours. By 8 o'clock I was tired but breathing and feeling better...stayed up until 11, and headed back to the sack, got up at 7 this morning, feeling about half assed better. Still weak, but I can breath, and actually see the keyboard.

I wonder when Obama's Meal pieced Health Care plan is passed, will I, being 60, be able to do this.....? And they will pass Health Care, one piece at a time, no matter if we like it or not.

I will take it easy for the day, but should make it to Dartball tonight....no basketball games until tomorrow, a JH double header at St. Henry, but will stay on the Medication and take it one hour or so at a time....and see how things improve.


Radio Daze_____

Those who read this blog on occasion know that before my days at the Health Department(retiring in 2002), and as a RV Delivery guy, and Sports Official, I worked in radio full time for a few years and part time for another 2 decades. In addition to Civil War and WW2 history, I also am a fan of Old Time Radio History...the radio before the crap music that is played out today on the FM side. Bad Music, bad voices catering to "diversity" is the product that calls itself radio these days. It wasn't always so. From the 1930s through the early 50s, before TV took center stage, radio is where we as a nation got our news and most entertainment from. I guess that is why I like XM Radio and it's old classic program channel, #165, on Old Time Radio Classics".

Forward to this morning, I flip on the and heard a show with and announcer named George Hicks. I had never heard of this guy, but being the inquisitive type I am, I immediately Google "George Hicks". Seems old George was a long time broadcaster with the Blue Network(now ABC), and did everything from Variety to Comedy show announcing...but his most famous work would come during World War II when he was a newscaster based in London, and was aboard a ship, and broadcasted from same, that took part in the D-Day Invasion...he broadcast what is considered to be the most famous Radio Broadcast ever:

http://www.otr.com/hicks.html

If you have a Windows or other media player you can listen to the original 13 minute version on the above site.

You tube version can be found here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3K7aaB7O7SM

For all the bad the Internet brings, it can indeed have a wealth of useless and useful information.

That's it for now....for the remainder of the day, I will run a few errands, rest up, and probably head north of town to Mt Tabor Church for our last road dartball games of the season...home for the last 2 weeks of the regular season, and we host the playoffs and tournament at St. Johns. On a similar note, I now lead the league in batting average at .443, but seldom play well on the Tabor board...so we will see how that works itself out.

back later>>>>

Photos-Bob Jones and me, in the summer of 1968, in the Jones living room, the night before I headed out to the Air Force...Bob headed for the Navy a few weeks later and we both served in Vietnam by 1969. Me, "Rat" Boyce, and Bob back in September of 2009....the 40 years have flown by in a blinding light speed. Radio Broadcaster George Hicks, who may have given the most famous radio broadcast in the history of WW2....The D Day Invasion on June 6, 7, 1944.

Weather or not!

4:30PM

Weather seems to be the blog thing...must mean I'm leading one boring life. Hot and humid continues, mowed our lawn today, and got that out of the way, Sam will head over to mom's and mow hers tonight, at least that is the plan. More storms over in western and northern Indiana, moving east and north, so will see if we get those.

Did a Jr High scrimmage last night in the heat at Lima Perry, 2 hours but got through ok..the Miller Lite went down easy after. Tonight the Varsity schedule begins....unlike baseball where almost all my games during the spring are varsity affairs, football, being my newest sport, I do the JV, Freshman, Jr High, and rec league games...money is the same, and not sure I could keep up with the varsity kids....officiating football is a completely different animal than baseball umpiring....tomorrow I stay in Celina to do the JV game with Lima Senior...game time 10AM, some storms around, but it looks to be a bit cooler.

15 years ago

_____________we mentioned Katrina in the last entry, in 1992 Hurricane Andrew made a direct hit on Miami/Homestead this weekend back then.....a destructive storm to say the least, the fragile homes in south Florida couldn't stand up to Andrew, and at the time it was the most costly hurricane in US History....after crossing Florida, Andrew entered the Gulf of Mexico and headed for Louisiana...dropping rain and doing more damage there.

Despite all the rants from the global warming nuts and "The Hurricanes are coming, we are all gonna die crowd"....this year(07), like last has been hurricane lite so far...even with Dean this past week, a large one which did some damage in the Yucatan and Jamaica, as we get ready to enter September(the month with the most hurricanes), we have been basically storm lite....much to the dismay of the folks at the Weather Channel, who seem to live for major "named storms".

Sorry about their luck.

photo...more weather, I think this was May 1970, shot this one at the "Monsoons" in Saigon..a couple of idiots walking in the rain at the 1300 Security Police Sq Barracks.

prh

August!

8AM

The last full month of summer begins, high around 93 with the humidity on the rise and no rain in the forecast. May try to get out and mow the lawn today....the hip/right leg pain is still there, bothered me while sleeping last night, but figure, I might as well move around, could be worse, could be like Mike, on crutches with no relief in sight for his leg problems...guess I should feel lucky at 58...I can move around as well as I do...especially considering the back problems I had for a 6-7 year stretch back in the late 80s and early 90s.

Tomorrow Patricia and I will head to Ft Wayne and take in the Class A Wizards game...Friday, I still plan on heading to Minnesota with Nick, and take in the Indians-Twins weekend games, with Olson.

Heard from both Sam and Hal yesterday, Sam was in Missouri, heading west to Burbank...Hal was leaving DC for New Jersey, then if all goes well, they will drop a load off in NJ, and head back towards Dayton.

27 years ago

_____________August 1st 1980, We had just moved back to Celina from Dodge City....Patricia, Anissa, and me. Not sure Pat was real pleased, she had a nice job at the Dodge City Hospital working in social work....as News Director at KGNO/KDCK Radio, I continued to try to move up as fast as possible...fact was, I was bored, had went from Wausau, Merrill, Wisconsin, to Kokomo, Indiana, then on to Kansas, all in a matter of 18 months...7 months into my Dodge gig, I knew, western Kansas was not where I wanted to be. Celina beckoned, not that I ever felt Celina was "home"...I may have graduated from Celina High, had lived there except for my Air Force years, and a stretch in upstate New York, for the past 17 years...but Celina was not my favorite place, still isn't today, and I've lived here off and on for the past 45 years....and here I will remain, without regrets, probably until the day I check out.

Broadcasting, especially radio, back in the 70s and 80s was a nomadic life, to make it big, you had to keep moving, if you didn't move, you got stuck in a rut,and you starved, salary wise. Looking back, broadcasting was a nasty business, even though I remained in it until 2003, the last 20 years doing part-time news and sports. My final full-time stop in broadcasting was back "home" in Celina at WCSM, where I took on the morning gig on August 4th...after being in news the previous two jobs(Kokomo and Dodge City), being a morning DJ, the prime announcer was a bit of a challenge, I also got to pick up extra bucks doing sports play-by-play(I was named Program Director 6 months into my WCSM tenure)....I managed to put my outspoken right wing independent mouth to work in both the morning show and in my sports for the next 2 1/2 years...never made much money, but I did have fun, despite the nasty business of small market radio, and the cheap conniving souls who run it. Radio and small market cable TV were a large part of my life for 25 years...I still get feelers from broadcasters and broadcast wannabees today....but I have no reason to get back into that rat race at 58.

prh