Goodbye for now!

Rather than starting fresh with this blog I have started a new one with my current address. I no longer have the e-mail address that I log into this account with.

Here is the new blog site --> come here.

Come one come all!!!

Sorry about the delay!!!

I'll be back up very quickly. Stuff has happened around here starting with a three week case of the flu back in April.

Stay Tuned!

It always feels good to see this...

It's not looking as good as I'd like, but the point is clear. With my income tax check coming in last month, I have finally paid off my old student loan bill.

The date on this says 1999, but this is a consolidation loan for student loans going back to 1991. Then, I completed my time at Indiana's Anderson University and started paying these bills 6 months later. I frequently ran into trouble on these loans with them eventually going into default sometime in '97 or '98.

Unless you have struggled with making student loan payments, you have no idea how good it is to see this. Now, I'm working on paying off my credit card bill. If all goes well, that should be gone by early summer.

Not since I was a kid / teen have I been debt free.

Recent changes in Saginaw Valley radio...

There are times where you really do need a playbook just to keep up with changes in radio industry. One station has a new owner, another changes format, one announcer moves to another radio station, and a longtime program is dropped. An example only but you get the point...

The latest changes... (according to a variety of local media)

• WYLZ (100.9 FM) - When Citadel Communications stations merged with ABC radio, the FCC ordered Citadel to sell some of its existing stations. This Pinconning based station was one of those put up for sale. The buyer - the Great Lakes Loons baseball team for only $325,000. With the change in ownership comes a new format - sports talk, as supplied by ESPN Radio. Now known as ESPN 100.9 FM, the Loons hope to eventually acquire the call letters WLUN. Get it?
  
• WTKQ (100.5 FM) - Again. This station has made more changes to its format than any other station (combined) in the Tri-Cities in the last 10 years. The station will keep its daytime talk radio lineup of Mancow, Dennis Miller, Bill O'Reilly, Glenn Beck, and Laura Ingraham. But from 9pm to 6am and on weekends, it too will broadcast sports talk radio as supplied by Fox Sports.
  

WYLZ (WLUN) was the flagship station for Loon's baseball last year. Buying this station secured a broadcast home for Loons' broadcasts for as long as they own this station, at least. I think the Loons ownership of this station will provide some security and stability for this station for many years to come. The future is less clear at 100.5 fm. I know the changes are well documented (just need to find out where I can find this list). By the time we reach, say 2012 or 2013 (only 5 years from now) will we still be listening to a talk / sports hybrid or will we be listening to something totally different. We will see.

Media musings...

1. Here I am watching last night's "Price is Right Million Dollar Specatcular" showcase round. I watch Showcase 1. I even price it myself. I make it a third of the way through showcase 2 when it dawned on me. A Jaguar. The show hasn't offered an import in something like 15 years . It'll be interesting to see if this becomes a trend or not.
   
2. This week's other media news comes from this blog's favorite comic strip hottie: "For Better or For Worse's" Elizabeth Patterson. As production of first run strips starts to wind down in the coming months, we finally get to see her engagement to her long-time friend Anthony. Congratulations and about time.
   

Could he be the first...

Clayton Kershaw has a strong chance to be the first Great Lakes Loon to reach a major league baseball team, the Midland Daily News revealed in a report today.

Kershaw, 19, started last season as the ace pitcher for the inaugural season of Midland's minor league baseball team. In August, he was promoted up to the Dodgers' AA Jacksonville team. This spring training, Kershaw is amongst those battling for the fifth starter position on the Dodgers pitching staff.

New Dodgers' manager Joe Torre is impressed and believes that there is a very good chance Kershaw will start the season in his team's rotation in just a few weeks.

As the start of the season gets closer, I will be keeping track of Clayton's progress as I get it. I may do some hunting as to the progress some of last year's Loons are making in their trips to the major leagues.

Read more.

Dream Time (03-11-08)

Here's a theme that has popped up in several of my dreams. Not quite sure what to make of it...

...the discovery of a long forgotten sealed off room, part of room, or in one dream a long forgotten floor. These discoveries are usually made in places I'm familiar with.

Here's the latest dream in this series:

I am in my church where I discover a hole in the floor. Peeking through the hole I discover a whole new level to the building I had never seen before. It turns out this level is below the church's basement. I go down to explore. There are others and this level is lit. I find the spot where the stairs to the basement level were and those have been sealed off and blocked for a long time. I find another set of stairs and those take me to a level below the church's narthex (also known as the lobby, foyer, etc). Again, this level has been long forgotten but activity is taking place here too - including a formal dinner happening in one corner.

Not quite sure what this all means but hopefully one of you has some insight...