Author: John Bollwitt

The past couple of days at the station, I’ve been working on improving the reliability of the AP news server. Everything comes in via satellite then gets fed through a computer and distributed through the network. Obviously it hasn’t been working the best, so I went to work, trying to get the kinks worked out of the system. I think what puzzles me more than making the whole thing work is the amount of news stories coming in about abducted and murdered children. Maybe I just never paid attention before, but does it not seem like it’s getting out of control?

Last week ramped up just like I thought it would. I think the main problem was that everything was pretty high strung from the get go. It just got to be more and more until Friday night finally rolled around. It was tiring after all was said and done. There’s also something to be said about being seen as some one who can handle the full responsibility of a station when the chief engineer is out of town. Even though the job situation isn’t the greatest, the level of respect I get for my abilities always impresses me. At the same time, that could be a bad thing.

Friday night I was able to go check out The Appleseed Cast at Gabes. What a great set. After such a long day, I couldn’t have asked for a better ending. Four guys from Lawrence, Kansas who make some very melodic sounds. It’s intelligent, yet simple. Really good stuff. A great way to end that week.

Such a series of events going on in my world lately that it’s hard to really convey a lot of them. Nothing huge, but pretty good. Shouldn’t fail to mention the amount of things going on this week at the station. Lots of remotes, lots of projects, and nothing ever seems to ever slow down. First road show of the year kicking off Friday. Should be an adventure.

Brommelkamp and I hung out last weekend. That was a treat to see that guy, especially to hear about what’s up in his world. The guy is back on the radio here and there, doing play by play for the Cedar Rapids Kernels from time to time in addition to his media relations job he does for them. Good stuff. Don Deeley is back on the radio as well with WYEP in Pittsburgh. So strange to hear him say those call letters, but it’s great to hear him behind the mic again.

Some one asked me the other day if I’d like to be behind the mic again. I’m not sure what to say to that. I like it all. Well, except for maybe the managing portion of things. Let me play and make stuff. I’m pretty happy with just doing that.

My dad tells me all sorts of things as to what to expect from the future and what to expect from the types of people that you encounter. Any good parent will tell you these things. You take what they have to say, consider it, understand the meaning, learn what you can, and move on until you can actually have that moment of, “Oh, that’s what they meant.”

My college radio days pinned me up against some of the most interesting characters and personalities that I had yet to encounter in my life. Even though it was just a tiny little radio station full of students, the types of people that I have some into contact with during those days seem to follow me around where ever I go. That’s not to say that they are exact clones, but the elements kind of stay the same. The people change, personalities differ slightly, but there are points where you feel like you have been in this situation before.

Dad said those types of people will follow you where ever you go and end up in life. Every time you run into them, you’ll be just as amazed as the first time and last time.

Here we go again.

You would think that with the fundraiser over, life would tame down and get easier. Not really. Not really at all. I have five remotes next week and no chief engineer starting today. He’ll come back Thursday night, and then we’re off to do one of those remotes Friday afternoon in Cedar Rapids, in a location that we’ve never been to before. It could either be really good or really bad.

Things are not slowing down, but I’m counting down to the Memorial Day weekend. It’s not about getting enough sleep. It’s about just getting away.

I know that I’m guilty of it, but it is really entertaining to watch people walk down the street while talking on their cell phone. Arm flapping at their side, contortions of the face, looks of happiness, sadness, or even anger. It makes sense how there are some reasons that cell phones should be banned from moving vehicles, especially for those people who tend to forget how to walk down a sidewalk while taking or making a call.

What’s more interesting is to drive down a street to see each and every person doing one or more of these things. One right after another, holding their phone up to their ear. I really don’t have much of a problem with it other than finding the behavior interesting through my observation.

If you asked my grandmother, there would seem to be a large amount of people in this town with ear aches.

I like baseball.

That’s right. You heard me. I like baseball. The season has started, and I couldn’t be happier. It’s not the most exciting sport. No wham-bam action. The occasional bench clearing brawl, fractured bones from inside pitches, occasional collisions in the outfield, and what not, but there is something to be said about the lazy days of summer and baseball just getting along. You don’t have to devote your attention to it and be afraid to miss something. If you want a recap of things you missed, catch the replays later. Read the newspaper. Call and talk to your grandpa. It’s not that hard to get up to date on what you’ve missed.

I caught a documentary they made about Boston Red Sox fans on HBO last night at the station with Jim. Even he doesn’t really care for baseball, but it was hard to not get sucked in to these die hard fans talk about how they waited so long to see the Sox win the series last year. The drama is what gets me. Sure, the game doesn’t move the fastest, but it sure as hell isn’t the snail pace of a chess game. It’s just fun.

I ran just over five miles today. That’s nothing new, but the fact is that I wore shorts and had no need for a stocking cap. The mornings are still cool enough that you need something long sleeve, but I’ll take this. I like it. A page is turning and the chapter known as winter is becoming a memory rather than the harsh reality is was for however many months that was. Why put thought into it? Let it be gone for this year.

The sad reality now is that being so warm outside, there’s little time to get out and enjoy it. However, I have to love what I do. When things get slow, we head for the transmitter sites. And suddenly I’m reminded of the heaps of projects that we have to do at said locations, but at least it’s a change of pace. Get out and take a drive. The final destination might be for getting dirty and sweaty, but the ride to and fro are enjoyable.

Tonight I found myself on the roof of the station to install a GPS antenna to replace our current clock system in the studios. Precise time is pretty important in this business, but I think it was also important to take a moment and notice the sunset tonight. Should always take the time and enjoy the simpler things than just… work.

So much going on. Fund drive time keeps everyone busy and stressed out. It progressively gets better and better as the week goes along, but it’s a lot of work. You just keep going until the job is done.

Today is Zach’s birthday. He turns seven today. It’s amazing how fast he’s growing up, and everyday he makes a lot of strides in his development. More importantly, there’s a party for me to get to today. Hooray!

The week of gluttony begins tomorrow. To you, that means we will ask for your donation of money to support the station. To me, that means lots and lots of food. Pizza, sandwiches, coffee, cookies, and lots of other really good things that I would probably never eat aside for this time of year. The work gets a lot easier for me as I usually just wait around until some one needs my help, and that usually consists of getting food from whatever place for whatever meal. For the most part, a pretty easy week. Makes the fact that I have to come in for a little while over the weekend not such a horrible thing, but with free food, I would have made my appearance anyways.