taawd's thoughts

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…

Does this mean I go to Rock Bottom too much??

You might be wondering where in the world is taawd?

We’ve been doing a lot of retooling of the morning newscast at work and it’s taking up a lot of my time. I’ve been doing work from home. Work at work and probably work in my sleep. It’s all good because I think our newscast looks better. I hope you’ll watch one morning!

These weeks are flying by and I can’t believe it’s fall already. Yes, it is October 8th. I apparently got a lot of sleep today, not that I even remember what time I entered the land of zzzz’s.

I know my computer wasn’t too happy with the way I left it. Something like this was in the address bar of my Internet browser.

http://asdddddddddddddddiiiiiiiiiiiiiiawwwwwwwwwwwweeee (repeating)

That’s not the worse of it, I’m going to start developing bruises from when my head keeps hitting the top of the laptop. Surfing the web, blogging and checking e-mail tires me out. The problem is it could also be detrimental to my health.

I’m going to workout, something else that’s sort of gone to pot recently.

I’m tired, nope, wait, I’m good.

I have all sorts of memories growing up in Wayne County, Ohio. It was a bit strange when I moved to Detroit and resided in Wayne County, Michigan.

To me, Cleveland was a metropolis. I never shared the childhood memories of growing up in the big city that I now call home. Instead, it was growing up “Green Acres” style down in Wayne County. The locals knew you weren’t from their “parts” when you rhymed Wooster with rooster. It’s pronounced like Worcester, Massachusetts. If you don’t know how to pronounce it, click here then on the speaker to hear a man say it.

Some of my first memories were of the Wayne County Fair. My father was a Wayne County Sheriff’s deputy and we spend a lot of nights going to the fair to see him and all of the attractions. As a deputy, my father got to escort Jerry Lee Lewis to the fair, ride Evel Knievel’s motorcycle and introduce me to Mel Tillis and Lynn Anderson. I still remember my conversation with Mel Tillis, who did, by the way, stutter as he talked to me. I was only about 4 or 5 years old but I won’t forget it. I missed the fair this year but there’s always next year.

My mother worked for Bishop’s Fine Foods growing up. It was a fifties style drive-in but she didn’t do the rollerskate thing. She did deliver the food including those awesome onion rings to people’s cars. Sadly, the original haunt is no longer there. Apparently, it’s moved to Orrville. The onion rings are unrivaled. My favorite sandwich is the Nutty Muffin. It’s a double cheeseburger with cole slaw and peanuts. It may not sound good but believe me, you’ll want another one.

I’d never heard of Rini Rego’s or Heinen’s growing up, if you wanted groceries, you went to Buehler’s. Their Milltown location touted a restaurant when it was built and made headlines for days in The Daily Record. Let’s not forget Hawkins Supermarket. That’s where we went most of the time to get our food in Wooster.

I mentioned in another post about Bauman’s Orchard in Rittman. It’s another place where my mother worked growing up. I can remember going there to get apples and cider. I can also recall getting to see how they sorted and cleaned the apples after picking them. I was amazed at the process. It didn’t take a lot to make me happy then and it doesn’t take a lot to make me happy now. Some things, just like Wayne County, don’t change much.

While we’re talking about food, there’s Dravenstotts Restaurant in Orrville, it’s the home of the world’s best strawberry pie. That is, after my grandmother’s recipe. Dravenstott’s pie was good but believe me it doesn’t come close to hers!

If you haven’t been to The Barn Restaurant in Smithville, it’s worth the drive from Cleveland. It’s country cooking in a place you’d never thought you’d eat… a barn. I’m sure I didn’t have to spell that one out for you.

Of course, Wooster is known for its college. The golf course is also nice. My friend, Kevin, owns it. Not literally, but he spent more hours on that course than the time I spend blogging twenty times over. I believe he got a hole-in-one there. He’ll correct me if I’m wrong, just watch or even if I’m right.

Finally, I’ll wrap up this promotion of my home county by mentioning two places I knew as big department stores. One of them was in Rittman. It was called Conley’s. We went there all of the time. I remember getting lost in that big department store more times than I care to remember. I’d walk up to the front and tell them to page my mother. I’d often times be in tears. Hey, give me a break I was probably only 4 years old. We’d shop there everything from clothes to paint to records (even then I loved music) to Star Wars figures. Yes, that movie trilogy was a big part of my life. I even got to meet Darth Vader there. He wasn’t any two-bit Darth Vader either. All of the lights on his chestpiece flashed and he even had the breathing thing going too. I still don’t know to this day how Rittman landed him but I know that I was certainly freaked out by the process. I remember him not being nice at all. I mean, what else would you expect? Here’s a picture to commemorate the situation. By the way, going back there before they closed I wondered how I could ever get myself lost in such a small place.

What was the department stores of all department stores to me was Freedlander’s. It wasn’t just all on one floor either. History shows Freedlanders Department Store has been in business since 1884 when David Freedlander decided to settle in Wooster. I remember my mother paying for something. There were no cash registers. The clerks sent the sales receipt and payment up a pneumatic tube. Seconds later, it would arrive back and we’d be on our way. That was always magical to me as a kid.

Ah, the memories, I guess I’ll always be a small town boy trying to make it in a big city,

I love summer and all of the fun that comes along with festivals, get-togethers and parties but I have to admit loving autumn and winter.

I’ve mentioned this before on the blog (this shabby space on the Internet) about my love for the seasons especially in Cleveland. Working in TV, you get to do the stories each year. “It’s cold out there, bundle up, it’s dangerously chilly.” “It’s hot out there, make sure you drink plenty of fluids.” All of the warnings and advisories that come along with summer and winter. But with the exception of thunderstorms, you don’t hear too much from what I call the off-seasons, spring and fall.

I love autumn. Northern Ohio will soon be rich with color as the leaves start to change. It’s harvest time. Farmers will start their hayrides and corn mazes. Cider season is almost here. What’s better than some Bauman’s cider with some donuts? I love that the orchard I grew up near now has a website. How awesome. This reminds me I need to write a post about Wayne County and all it has to offer.

At any rate, I’m so happy I’m not in South Texas anymore. It’s going to be near 90 degrees there tomorrow. Nope, I’ll take the forecasted high of 57 degrees here tomorrow.

I love Ohio is seasonal. It’s called variety. Ain’t that the spice of life?