President Bill Clinton
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Imagine my surprise when I came back to work from lunch Tuesday. It was Super Tuesday Two and Senator Hillary Clinton was in the fight of her life to stay alive in the Democratic race for President. So, on my voice mail was a person from the Hillary Clinton Campaign asking if we’d be interested in interviewing President Clinton that afternoon?! I thought about it for a few seconds and called ‘em right back!
I was a bit nervous. We are a 501 (c)3 and are not allowed to endorse any candidates. I knew we couldn’t let him on live and just urge everyone to vote for his wife. I thought maybe his people might decline us the interview if I told them we would have to record the Former President’s comments and then do some editing.
I called and explained and they were still interested! We have stations in Amarillo, Lubbock, and Midland/Odessa so it made sense that they would like to reach segments of all three with one phone call. So. I started preparing questions and waited for the call.
FINALLY they called at 5:30 p.m. and gave me the number and code to join the conference call and wait my turn. I heard Clinton wrapping up his last answer to the guy before me and then he asked the President for a liner! So this guy is saying, “could you say, ‘you’re listening to so and so on Fox such and such.’” After two or three tries you could tell that President Clinton was getting frustrated with the guy and told him he was having trouble hearing him. He got through it sorta monotone with a half stumble and that was good enough. My turn.
Someone from the campaign got on the line. “Mike Shaw are you on the line?” “Yes I am.” Then Bill Clinton’s voice. I thanked him for his time and made the comment that his schedule must be grueling. He agreed with that but said he was enjoying traveling around Ohio and Texas and that he had been to all three cities, Amarillo, Lubbock and Odessa. Then he just kept on going. Urged everyone to caucus after they vote for Hillary. The Texas two-step. Only time you can vote twice and not get in trouble., etc.
I was then able to ask him three questions before we ran out of time. Actually, I sorta stole the time for the last one. I expected him to be personable and smart and I was actually surprised just how well he handled all three of my questions. Especially when I asked about his wife’s faith and how that might help shape her policy. As he was answering I was thinking that he sounded like he had actually read James a few times. Not sure why that surprised me. I guess you look at all of the controversy surrounding his time in office and I suppose I was thinking that maybe he hadn’t read a lot of Bible. Ever since the interview, I’ve been wondering, and hoping, that he has a relationship with God and that just maybe we can visit in Heaven about the interview and maybe some other stuff.
The time went by too fast. I ended up talking to him maybe five minutes. If I had to do it over again, I would have ditched my third question and instead followed up on his wife’s faith. I would have liked to ask him to reconcile the answer he gave about having a faith that works vs. her stance on abortion and stem cell research. Unfortunately I didn’t think on my feet fast enough and the moment passed.
All in all, it was a very interesting experience. I mentioned to him before we got off the phone that we have a lot of stations in Michigan. If they end up re-voting, I would like to talk to him again! We shall see.
Here’s a link to the three questions and answers on the stations web site.
Do the Do
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Sportsclips! Someone put free VIP coupons in all the boxes at work. I was WEEKS overdue for a haircut, so I went in. Awesome! I got a new do I really like. No more combing my hair back. I’ve had a lot of compliments that I look younger. :-) At my age, that’s a good thing!
Not only that, but with the VIP treatment they wash your hair and massage the scalp while you lay in a massage chair! Then they top it off with a hot towel on the face for a few minutes. Very relaxing!
To top it off? The franchise owner/manager is a Christian and wants to do some promotional stuff with the station. I gave her card to our Community Relations guy.
Pretty good haircut experience all around. See ya in three weeks!
Can I Get A Testimony
Sorry I haven’t written in awhile. (not that anyone really reads this blog!) I’ve been busy getting my chapel presentation together. I was quite nervous about it and so I have been preparing. I wanted to be transparent about some things in my past and that always feels like a risky thing. Through prayer and preparation I really feel like God gave me a good message to wrap around my testimony. Judging from the reaction during, and e-mails and comments after, God really came through! He gave me His peace and strength while I was delivering the message. What was really cool was the conversations that followed throughout the day. I was able to have some nice talks with a couple of people about some issues in their lives. The way God brought me through I think reminded some others how awesome He is at bringing about change in circumstances that really show His character of love for His children!
Bottom line? God is sooooo good!
Tucson Sunsets
They are the best in the world! OK, I haven’t been everywhere in the world. However, they are the best of anywhere I’ve lived! That’s saying something because West Texas is certainly known for it’s wonderful sunsets. As great as they are, I’d have to say that Tucson has ‘em beat (not like it’s a competition!). Here’s a shot from last night:
Pretty awesome! I’ve seen even better, but this one I happened to capture on my digital camera. I barely made it too!
I had to work late last night. I left right at 6:00. Sunset is about 6:13. As I was driving home, I noticed that there were some high clouds in the western sky and I certainly knew what that meant! I had less that 15 minutes to get home, change, grab my camera and drive to a spot to take some pictures!
I had to hustle, but I just made it. I drove up W. Magee to near the Pima Canyon Trailhead. The sunset was spectacular! I got a few shots, came home to the apartment to choose the best two or three, resized ‘em, and uploaded ‘em to my web site.
Friday Snow
The rain and snow yesterday was AWESOME! It chilly rained all day here at the apartment/work (only a mile apart). The snow level was pretty low on the mountains, when you could see them! I brought my camera to work and at lunch I was gonna get a couple of shots. The clouds had parted just enough to see the bright white on the mountains across the street. So, I was gonna get a couple of great shots from the Pima Canyon Trailhead right after I went to the bank. By the time I finished with the bank, the clouds had moved in again! Bummer.
So, after work, I drove 25 minutes to Oracle. The elevation there is about 4,500 feet (2,600 here at the apartment). I put my car clock on the temperature read out and watched it go from 41 here to 32 there. It was SNOWING! Very pretty with the ground covered and good sized flakes. It was getting dark though, so no pictures. At least I got to see it up close! Did I mention that I love snow?
We were under a Winter Storm Warning down to 3,000 feet last night. Up to 1″ was possible down to 2,500! But, as the Sun is coming up this morning, no snow :-( No Sun yet either. The picture taking of the beautiful white mountains is gonna have to wait.
Feed a Cold
There’s a head cold going around. I have it around the edges. Not sick enough to miss work, but in the afternoon and evening I start to feel not as good. This morning my nose has been running a bit and my head hurts a little. I don’t want to whine since I don’t feel horrible. At the same time, it would be nice to feel all the way good.
Since it’s a cold and not the flu, I think I’ll have breakfast and wander in to work. There’s work to be done before I’m off through day after Christmas! I just hope I feel better this weekend, and don’t get too many others sick along the way.
Left over breakfast burrito is callin’ my name.
Update: I just ate and feel worse. So much for that theory!
Ouch Fixed!
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The Scion Tc is restored! The lens I broke on the driver side mirror cost $34. Another $50 for labor. That’s an $84 bonehead mistake pulling in too close to the drive thru at the bank. In the words of Homer Simpson. Doh!
I have to admit I was nervous taking my car to the dealership. We all hear stories on how much more expensive that is. I may find out I could have had it done for less somewhere else. I was in a hurry to have it done before this weekend’s trip so…
The worst thing about the dealership was the wait. They have a pretty cool service where they shuttle you back to work. So, I dropped off my car at 1:30 and then went into the waiting area to wait for them to call my name. Almost an HOUR wait for a shuttle ride back to work! I was almost to the point of “don’t bother!” Next time, I’ll just wait, or arrange my own ride.
Another thing I noticed. A lot of the employees at the dealership do not seem very happy to be there. There were exceptions, but a large number just weren’t smiling. I wasn’t feeling the love. That to me is a bad sign. I need to go back though. My tire pressure light is stuck on on. Has been since the day I bought it. I thought it was just because they added non-stock tires and rims at the dealership before I bought the car and they didn’t clear the light. The mechanic told me today that there is another issue with it and I should bring it back to have it resolved. At least it’s not serious and it won’t cost me anything.
Other than that, I may avoid the dealership best I can. Very few smiles with that many employees running around can’t be good.
What a week…
It’s been awhile since I posted. (not that anyone is reading this thing anyway!) It’s been an intense week. Monday I worked early early AM, then Wednesday night one of my employees called in sick, so Thursday turned out to be a very long day. Since Amy is already off, it’s turning out to be a 60 hour week! I still need to go in tomorrow and record a bunch of weekend weather’s. I shouldn’t complain, and hopefully I’m not too much. I have it good and God is good to me, even though I don’t deserve it!
The hustling and bustling continues tomorrow. I’m working on weather, making spaghetti for friends for Sunday, I need to find and wrap a white elephant gift, go to Programming Dept. Christmas Party in the evening, possibly update weather’s after that, church Sunday morning, and then spaghetti with friends! Talk about mixing business with pleasure, it sounds kinda like hectic fun!
Joined the Choir – What was I Thinking?!
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Yep. Joined the little choir at work today. I think there are six of us. I’m the second guy to join. I must be crazy, but I’ll try to explain.
I do NOT have a great voice. I LOVE to sing! I LOVE to worship the Lord through singing! I’m always singing. In the hall. In my car (ESPECIALLY in my car!) In the store. Pretty much everywhere except the shower, and that’s only because I live in an apartment. In fact, that’s the biggest drag about living in an apartment. I’m afraid to belt out songs like I did when I lived in the house. Anyway, I digress.
When I was just a boy, I had a beautiful boy soprano voice. Vienna Boys Choir type voice. Great control. I could hold a high C all day! You know that Minnie Ripperton song “Lovin’ You”? That really really high part in the middle? No problemo. It was a gift from God! I sang a couple solos in 5th grade school plays, whatever. I LOVED to sing! Then my voice changed. Don’t get me wrong, I’m GLAD my voice changed :-) It’s just that when it did, I lost my vocal control and some of my pitch.
Now when I sing, I have trouble hearing myself, so I have trouble matching what I should sound like. I can sing some songs OK. Others, not so much. If I’m not careful, I could throw the choir off! And yet I joined.
When I lived in Odessa, I joined the choir at Mid-Cities Community Church. Those were good times in God’s presence. I’m pretty sure the guy in front of me asked me to move once because I was throwing him off. He was nice about it though. I remember making a few new friends and spending time in His presence. Really, that’s the most important thing. And who knows. As I worship Him with my voice, maybe he’ll help me get back some of that gift of vocal control and quality I had as a boy. I would really like that.
Graveyard
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The shift, not the place. It’s a weird thing setting the alarm for 11:30 p.m. to be at work just after midnight! It takes some getting used to. Thankfully, it’s a short term, and occasional, “problem” currently.
For the past 7 work days, I’ve been filling in for Robert, who anchors our newscasts for Jackson, Michigan, Macon, Georgia, and Topeka, Kansas. Since I live in the Mountain time zone, and two of those stations are in the Eastern time zone, I have to get in extra early to meet my deadlines for the 6am news. So, the alarm is set for 11:30 p.m. so I can get to work by 12:30 a.m. The first thing that happens when I get up is start the coffee and then take a shower. I’ll have a cup of coffee here and then bring another cup to work. Then the work starts! The best thing is the early AM shift is VERY busy. It is literally reading and writing and writing and reading news stories for about 4 hours straight. The constant deadlines for 3 stations keeps the adrenaline flowing which keeps you awake. Once I get through the bulk of the work, I usually get sleepy. Problem being I normally have some weather forecasts yet to cut for those three stations, plus a few others. What I’ll usually do (like I did this morning) is recline in my chair and take a nap in the newsroom! Usually it’s about 10 minutes. One morning I was tired enough to sleep 20 :-) After my nap, I feel refreshed and I’ll knock out the rest of my work and go home.
By now it’s around 7:30ish. I’m driving opposite of rush hour traffic and when I get to the apartment sometimes I’ll run into people leaving for work as I’m arriving from. It usually takes me about an hour to wind down and get to bed and I’ll sleep anywhere fro 2 – 4 hours. Obviously, the longer the better! By now it’s late morning, or maybe Noon. I’ll get up and have lunch. Sometimes I feel fairly run down the rest of the day and I’ll mostly watch TV or laze around the apartment. Sometimes, I’ll feel more alive and do something! Matine at the movies when it’s cheaper (that is less the case these days), or maybe a nice hike with the trail all to myself! Then sometimes I’ll take a short afternoon nap (in my case, how else!). Depending on the evening, I may go to Wednesday night service, or Tuesday night Bible study, or watch some TV. Once the Sun goes down, I usually start feeling tired. I try to get to bed early enough to get 3-4 hours of sleep before work. Sometimes it’s only 2. That means to bed anywhere from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. Then the alarm goes off at 11:30 and do it all over again. It’s funny going to work at Midnight:30. A lot of times I will hear people’s TV’s or see ‘em in the parking lot, still up from the day before!
So, the graveyard shift isn’t all that bad once you get in a rhythm. I do tend to feel more tired more often on that shift, but having afternoon’s off is pretty cool! Still, I’m glad I’m back to “normal” on Monday. Maybe I’ll see a movie this afternoon. Fred Clause or Michael Clayton? We’ll see.
