Winter = Comfy!

Yeah, winter hasn’t arrived but I LOVE, spell it with me, L-O-V-E, this time of year.

I do get a little crazy with going wicked bundled up.

I love my place cold. Not bone-chilling but cold. I sleep better I feel better when the blood is racing through my veins like Jeff Gordon drives his #24 car around the track. Throw on 18 comforters on that bed. I love snuggling up with all of that cotton and down all around me. Makes me feel like I’m invincible, just try to come and get me muggers, robbers and theives, your bullets and knives will never penetrate this fabric fortress.

When I’m up and outta bed, I throw on all sorts of clothes and not in a good fashionable way.

For instance, right now, I’m wearing the most ridiculous slippers, bad cotton socks that I got for Christmas, lounge pants that apparently were marketed for men but cut for a woman, a blogger t-shirt that’s made partially from bamboo, a big blue bathrobe that slightly too long for my arms AND a scarf. I don’t know why the scarf is necessary but most definitly is.

Yesterday, if someone had been peering up at my balcony they would have seen me sitting out on my fold up chair freezing my fill-in-the-blank off. Did I love it, certainly. I’ve sat out on my porch (with no walk-up steps, that would be a long walk up) more in the past week than I have the entire summer. Why because it’s cold, I’m dressed (although, not in a way, Kristen would approve of!) so warmly. Oh, I just remembered I was also wearing a bucket hat at the time, one like my Grandfather wears when he mows the lawn.

The get-up makes me feel like some crazy writer whose books make the best seller list everytime they crank one out. Er, maybe it’s more like a crazy homeless man. That’s how my mother described me when we talked on the phone. Actually, I just feel more like an old man who lost his fashion sense after John Travolta took to the dance floor in “Saturday Night Fever”.

But really, who cares, I’m comfortable, I’m warm and I’m happy,

Your Table Is Ready, Sir…

I normally don’t get the “sir” part but I have a favorite table at Rock Bottom, which for those of you keeping score at home is now “Roc Bottom” right now.

The servers know it as 241 and my favorite place in the restaurant to people watch. George Wendt ain’t got nothing on me. If I’m there, I’m looking out the window at the people entering and exiting the Powerhouse. If you come dressed appropriately, I probably won’t say a word but if you come looking like Aretha Franklin dressed in BeyoncĂ©’s outfit, you probably won’t want to hear what I say.

Last night, I saw 241 was open from outside the door and I actually sprinted up the steps to claim it. If I was another 10 minutes late, another group would have claimed it. Their friends were sitting at the next table, don’t know if it was 240 or 242. They were going to push the two tables together. Hmmmpf, the nerve!! Anyhow, last night was a treat because a lot of people were dressed up for Halloween. Don’t get me started about the “holiday”, I’ve never been much of a fan. I stopped dressing up a long time ago. There’s also too much pressure associated with having the perfect costume. I always stink at my final choice. Someone asked me what I was dressed up as and I said “a high schooler, don’t you see I’m wearing Hollister?”

Back to the table, I’ve been known to get a little upset when someone’s sitting at my table. No, I never say anything to them but I have shot them some dirty looks. I’m sure they don’t know why but maybe they just think I’m a jerk. That’s okay, they’re in my spot. I have talked to Marco about putting my Mug Club medal on the front of the table. He’s apparently still mulling that decision over. He wants to put them on the backs of chairs, I’d be okay with that but it would have to be on the back of MY chair at MY table.

I first discovered the sheer awesomeness of 241 when Rebecca and I were sitting there one night. We were relentless to a part of the universe where rentlessness lived and frolicked. Since then, it’s my place to dine, partake, and watch the people who enter/exit the Powerhouse.

The game “Who’s dating up?” is also played at 241. It’s a great game for sociology. The rules are simple, either he’s dating up, meaning she’s hotter than him or vice versa. There are exceptions when there is parity between the couple. Of course, that doesn’t mean they’re hot/average/ugly, it just means they’ve found their appropriate looking mate. Good for them!

If I’m not there, please feel free to sit at 241 and experience the totally tubular experience. If you see me come in, I hope you’ll at least have the respect of getting up and moving to an open table so I can enjoy my time at the Rock.

(a lot of what I said is for your enjoyment, I really do love 241, it’s a great view but you don’t really have to move for me. I will probably shoot you dirty looks from another table tho.)

Rabble Rousing

Nope, it’s really rabble rousing, not Rebel Rouser, the Duane Eddy classic from 1958.

I was up this morning rousing the rabbles. My body loves to get me up at this time of day. During the week, I don’t sleep during these hours so my body is a little bit confused.

I’ve become a weekend blogger. I’ve been so busy at work and other things during the week that it’s tough to have enough time to post an entry. I do get to read some of my favorites though. I read so much faster than I write.

So here’s a little weak week recap:
Tuesday – My facebook friend, Renee, invited me and mom2amara to the Cuyahoga Community College’s annual scholarship luncheon. Bob Costas was the featured speaker. He did nothing but tell jokes and hilarious stories during his speech. Everyone there got a copy of his book. I’m interested in reading it. Thanks, Renee for the invite!

Rest of week: busy. not much else to say.

Let’s talk weather for a second. Yep, it’s getting cooler here in Cleveland. Here’s what I’m looking forward to, snow! I haven’t got the chance to go out skiing since I got back to Cleveland. Northern Ohio doesn’t have the best trails in the region but they will provide a day of fun for you. I love Boston Mills/Brandywine. I prefer Boston Mills however. I learned how to ski at Snow Trails and Clearfork down in Central Ohio. It had a lot to do with attending college at Ashland University. I have the skis but I have to get them fitted to my boots. I think I may try to do it myself. Why not, I’m handy that way. There’s even snow in the forecast.

Call me a nut (please don’t…) but winter has always been one of my favorite seasons. I do love them all but there’s just something safe and comfortable about bundling up, drinking hot cocoa and sitting next to a fire (whether it’s real or gas ignited).

Well, I hope the lack of posts haven’t stopped you from visiting my little place on the Internet. I’m going to have to get better (that’s a little less than a promise) to start blogging again more regularly and even working out more than I’ve been.

Here’s to your weekend, hope it’s filled with everything you want out of a Saturday and Sunday,

Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?

Does anybody really care? Apparently I do. I got this $45 clock for $11.24 at Target. I mean do I really need a clock that takes 9 AA batteries to tell me the time around the world. With all of the ticking from this thing, MacGyver will end up showing up at my place to disarm it.

At least it looks good on the wall…

Traffic Annoyances

Blinkers, turn signals, flickers, flashers (no, not that kind!) What every you call them, please use them.

I wait at an intersection for a slow moving car coming my way, only for that car to turn onto the road where I’m stopped. He could have used a blinker. I could have been moving.

I’m driving behind someone who suddenly slams on their brakes to turn right. I almost hit them. She could have used a turn signal. I wouldn’t have had to restart my heart.

I don’t have ESP, folks. I do drive and protect myself and car like the Tennessee Titans protect their end zone. I’m always trying to guess what the driver in front of me and behind me are planning on doing. It ain’t easy. People are crazy when they get behind the wheel. They drive like I did when I first started learning. Sure, I took an occasional turn at 25 miles an hour but I was having fun. That’s the story I’m sticking with. My mother and sister would tell another story, one they still admit to having nightmares about.

But… after a few years of driving you should learn the rules of the road but for some reason they’re different for different people. It’s like a game of cornhole, everyone has their own rules but shouldn’t. Same thing goes for driving.

By the way, if you don’t know where you are going, I can’t know where you are going either. Just don’t slow down abruptly, suggesting I ram my car into the back of your vehicle. Pull over. Stop. Ask someone who knows the area. Gas station attendants once were well versed in this sort of advice. Now if you’re lucky, you might get an “I dunno know…” from them.

Here’s a piece of advice, there is this new fangled technology called the Internet and gosh, if they don’t have a way for you to map directions to where you’re going before you even get in your car. Heck, it’ll even tell you how long it’ll take you to get there. Of course, the directions don’t tell you when to turn on your blinkers.

I can’t cover GPS’s to these drivers because it’s too far advanced. Think 500 level courses in college when talking to a group of high school freshman, that stuff just ain’t getting through Hoss!

Summary: Use you turn signal, pre-plan your route and I guess don’t get in my way. I have places to go as well as you do!

Thanks and happy driving!

Animotion Ain’t Got Nothing On Me

Yep, I’ll admit it, I’m a little bit of an obsessive person.

I’m sure that comes as a great shock to people who know me. When I do something, I do it all the way. There’s no half way, just jump in feet first.

I’m playing this travian game which is the worst for someone with an obsessive personality. Thank God they never had webkins when I was a kid. I’m pretty sure I would have never seen the sun.

I go through cycles. Music obsession (which never quite ends), TV obsession (talk to me about Charmed, Family Guy and Heroes), Working out (we won’t talk about that right now) and just relaxing (I hope that cycle comes around again soon).

I got obsessed by blogging. I love it but as of late have been a little less than loyal to my hobby. I went through the myspace phase. I have facebook but I’m not as interested in it. I love the twitter. Follow me if you aren’t already!

My place is a mess right now. I was supposed to have an inspection today but it was postponed. Good thing too!

I am loving life right now even though it’s doggone busy. I can’t believe tomorrow’s Friday already. I need a weekend like nobody’s bizniss.

Good point of the day, filling up my vehicle for less than $40! I even got a car wash. Yup, I know it was a gray day and rainy to boot but what the heck. Car washes (the no non-touch kind) are like a moth to a candle for me. I could sit in one of those little tin boxes all day and watch those brushes spin around.

taawd memory alert
: when I was a kid my parents would get their car washed at this one place that had what we called the “hula woman” at the end. It was big row of red strips of cloth that would dance back and forth. I think for a hot second I actually thought there was some fat woman up above shaking her moneymaker. I mean after all it was her job right?

Maybe that’s why I’m still obsessed with car washes. You didn’t see that ending to this post didja?

Role Model?

I remember when I was in high school and people would come in and talk to us. They’d push going to college, which I did. They’d talk about what they did in life and how they became successful. Now, it’s my turn to be that person.

I can remember how mature and old (dare, I say) those people were. I’m going to talk to students at my alma mater tomorrow. Of course, it’ll be a mere twelve hours after the Browns game. Oh, did I also mention that I have to spend time at work as well?

People love to hear that you work in television but I always downplay that fact. Working is television news isn’t exactly an uplifting job. You have to report about the good and the bad. A lot of time it’s the bad. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to call a family after one of their loved ones died to see if they wanted consent to an interview. Many times they will tell you they aren’t interested, either politely or with a gentle slamming down of the phone. Many other times they’ll be interested in talking about their loved ones life. Different people, different decisions.

Sure, you get to work with people who you see on television. People who have the same problems as you and me. People who put their pants on one leg at a time. There’s a mystique about them though. Viewers feel like they know the people on television but they’ve never met them so when they do, many people are impressed that they’re not 2-D but actually 3-D.

The same issues that happen in any other workplace happen in a television newsroom. There’s talk around the proverbial watercooler. There’s storytelling in the halls. There are cliques. Everything you know to happen other places happen at a television station but sometimes with a lot more intensity. That is what happens when you put a lot of creative people under one roof, I’m surprise more tops of stations don’t blow off from it.

So what will I tell these students who will one day help shape the world for generations to come? I’ll hammer home the fact they need to get higher learning. It helps for so many different reasons. There’s the educational side, the social aspect and how it helps you mature. I’ll also say they have to know computers, webpage design and least of all, typing. I learned how to type by myself. I took typing in high school but I cheated and looked at the keys. Yes, they didn’t take them off. I hunted and pecked with one finger. I suffered through college trying to finish term papers quickly. Now, typing is essential to what I do and even if you surf the Internet. It’s the way we interact with computers so we can interact with the rest of the world.

I’ll tell them if they go to college, take business classes. Almost everything you do in life has a business angle to it. It’s bartering in many cases to get the desired outcome you want. I learned so much in my Organizational Behavior and Business Behavior classes. Still after college I didn’t know much even after those course. A lot of what you learn comes after you get your degree.

So tomorrow, I get to stand up in front of a lot of students, talk to them about television, an exciting industry that’s trying to keep up with the times and not go the way of newspapers. We’re adapting to TiVo, DVRs, Internet viewing, cyber newsgathering and changing ways people get their information.

Sure, I’ll get the question about how do I become a news anchor. Sure, I’ll answer it with the response of “a lot of hard work”. By the way, so few people come out of college and become a news anchor. You have to do a lot of reporting to get elevated to that rank. You also have to add in timing, the right boss and a lot of luck.

Tomorrow, it’s my turn to hopefully be the role model that I looked up to when I was in the same school some 15+ years ago.

Oh, this probably means I have to dress up again…