Useless

There are some things in life that you just don't expect. Sometimes it's because it is not a logical conclusion that you would jump to; others because they are things that are beyond your perspective to view without aid.

Okay, so enough with the vague metaphor... I never thought that I would meet someone who has difficulty relaxing. Someone for whom things are always "Go, go, go" and who does not have a tried-and-true method for destressing. To go back to the [really bad] metaphor above, this was beyond my point-of-view. I tend to be a pretty mellow guy; why? because I take time to relax as often as I can. I read a book, meditate, play a game, watch a movie, stare into space and daydream. Multiple ways for me to relieve stress because not everything works the same. Sometimes you don't feel like reading a book because you're dealing with visual overload.

Khasa, it would seem, is not as skilled in this area as I. She has a lot of legitimate stress right now (class, post-graduation plans, 2 jobs) but no way of releasing the tension. All she's ever had are books--and right now it seems that all the books are doing is putting the stress on hold. Like a magical "Pause" button she seems at ease until the moment she puts the book down--then it all comes crashing back again.

The kicker to the whole situation is that there really isn't anything I can do to improve things. I've told her that she needs to take time to unwind other than just reading, but she tells me that she just doesn't have the time. It's just so frustrating to know what a person needs, but not know how to make it happen.

A Return Never Felt So Tiring

Per request (and I honor requests as often as I can) I am returning to this blog. Hopefully with a [once again] semi-regular pattern of updating it with the happenings of my life. So what have I been up to since my last post?

Well, earlier this summer I was [unfairly] evicted from my apartment on the west side of Eau Claire. This led to a scramble for housing that included living in a campground as well as crashing at a friend's place for most of August. I was finally able to sign on a new apartment with Chase mid-August... but we were unable to actually move in until the last couple days of the month. So currently we are [almost] fully moved into our new home, and finally one where we can have our cats with us. A few pictures to put up yet, some boxes and assorted bags to unpack--but generally everything is there.

In other news a full-time position has opened up here at Maverick Media. With luck I will be selected for it (two other internal applicants and I don't know how many external ones also applied for it). I could really use the extra money; and by that I mean that if I don't get the full-time position then I need a 2nd job to help pay bills. I currently have all of my time available for Maverick Media, but because of company policy regarding part-time employees, it is very difficult for me to get more than 30 hours a week. At $6.50 an hour that is extrememly stressful and not at all helpful with bills that need to get paid. Thankfully my parents have been willing to help me out the first couple months here while I see if I will need to get a 2nd job or not.

I'm also quite tired at the moment because I was in Baltimore, MD for the weekend with Chase and my family. Today (Sunday) was made worse by the fact that in order to do some last minute walking around before we had to leave Chase and I got up early to have breakfast and such with the family. Which equated to some time around 0800 Eastern Time... which would be about 0700 Central, and I'm working until 0500 on Monday. So essentially 22 hours with minimal sleep (bits and pieces on the two-hour plane flight and on the car ride home). Obviously this means that my phone will be OFF until such time as I wake up. ^^;

The Downside of Live Radio

I think that almost all of us can agree that there are many benefits to live radio, i.e. when there is an actual human body in the studio:

• Someone to answer phone calls
• Requests handled quickly
• Up-to-the-moment information on local happenings

I'm a big fan of live radio. In fact, one of the things that bugs me about Maverick Media here in Eau Claire is that of the six stations they own, five of them are almost entirely automated using voice-tracking*. However, until now I failed to realize the one major downfall of live radio--there needs to be someone in the studio.

In case you're not following me or got lost, let me give you some context. Normally on Monday nights I work from 7PM - 12AM, then the next jock comes in and works from 12AM - 5AM. Radio shifts are short because it's actually a very draining job. You might only hear us for a fraction of every hour, but we're putting a lot of energy and effort into that time, as well as stuff behind the scenes. Anywho, my replacement hasn't shown up... SOOOO, I'm basically working 7PM - 5AM. Ten hours. Without caffeine.

Check that. He just called. I'm outta here ASAP ;)

*Voice-tracking: This is the professional term for pre-recording a talk break. Using specialized software, this allows the voice track to fit seamlessly into radio programming and give the illusion that there is actually somebody in the studio. Commonly used by large radio corporations to save money.

Being a radio personality

It just occurred to me after the last post that people probably don't realize the depth of the profession that is being an on-air radio personality. There are so many different levels to it that it's kind of hard to nail them all down, and when you start listing them, they seem overwhelming. For example:

• Proper enunciation
• Conversational tone
• Energy

I'd go into the specifics of these three big things, but those are each posts unto their own, so I'm not getting into that. Because I'm getting extremely tired. So I'll just leave you with the following little tidbit: radio personalities may only talk to you for 10-30 seconds at a time... but they are focusing the energy of a short conversation into that small timeframe; they're putting everything they have into those 15 seconds.

Update

Almost a month and a half in the books. Khasa and I have only really had one fight, and we both laughed about it a couple hours later. So no worries there. =D Mostly I'm just waiting for our sub-leaser to move out at the end of the summer. 'Cause... well, plain and simple because he's a slob and dumb as a rock. Honestly, I knew my way around a kitchen when I was in middle school than this dude does--and he's older than I am. o.O Khasa and I have already told Sparks that she owes us big time for [at the very least] the mental anguish of living with this guy. In other news I've kind of been working full-time making minimum wage. I say "kind of" because I'm putting in 16-25 hours at 2 different jobs, one paying $6.50 (WI minimum wage) and the other paying $6.76. I guess it wouldn't bother me so much if even one of the jobs was at like $7.50 or something... or if it was just one job full-time, so I'd have regular hours... *growls* It's been particularly rough the last couple weeks at WAXX-FM because I was getting trained and then working overnight on-air shifts (midnight-0600). Not really a problem because I'm a night owl anyways, but when I'm also working at Wilson's it can get a bit hectic. And let me tell ya, it's hard to sound professional when you're tired.