R
rcurtis
Guest
Those who’ve posted before and predicted a mass staff defection in January, here is a true life account from a current staff member who’ll be leaving later this month. Just wait till you hear MY experiences with those (now) infamous characters at the 810 spot in the dial.
It began for me when I came to Alabama to accept a job from another radio station owner. After I’d called this guy to tell him I was in town, he hung-up on me and had a great laugh that someone would drive 3500 miles for a job that he had since decided not to give me. To make a long story shorter, in a last desperate moment before making my way back west I found out about an opening at Alabama 810 and was put in touch with Les Gradick, who asked to see me that afternoon. I arranged for a ride and met him. (My car had met its demise on the way down and I didn’t even have a way to work, I was nearly “up a creek” at this point and didn’t feel I wasn’t a very attractive candidate for the job.) I met Mr. Gradick on a Wednesday afternoon, we chatted and he took my years old audition piece in for a short listen. He came back and announced, there’s nothing full-time, at this moment, but offered me mid days on a part-time basis. I gladly accepted and started the next day.
Wait till you hear what happened in the next week though! I had been working the mid-days, and since I had little else to do, I offered to take care of production tasks on a volunteer basis. At the end of my first full week came my first “Alabama 810” surprise; I opened my first paycheck and discovered I was being paid as a full time employee, and was earning a rate exemplary for this area. (Waiting for the scandal? ...read on.)
How did I overcome the hardship of no vehicle and staying 35 miles away? Each day I was picked and dropped off by a combination of that crotchety (Monte Burns-like) Les Gradick, and (gasp) the feared creature of the abyss, Teresa.
Was I afraid of being eaten alive by people who’ve been rudely gossiped about on these pages as being monsters, and torturers? No, as a matter of fact, in both cases we had pleasant conversations; I was given some kind compliments on my work and work ethic as we got acquainted on a personal level. Many times (contrary to being eaten alive) I was fed breakfast by Teresa, en route. (A lot of free lunches made their way into the station too!)
As weeks went on, my association with the radio station put me in line to buy a decent vehicle at a great price; Les Gradick helped me buy this vehicle and get it paid off without financing. (Thank you Les) I moved closer to the station, got to know a fine family of radio co-workers who’ve really become family and enjoyed using company trades for nice dinners out. (But no one has yet to show me where that darn torture dungeon is!)
Now as you remember I promised to expose Alabama 810, here goes! This is really in response to those who left some horrible posts about this place earlier. Alabama 810 is a radio station, imagine that! We’re not part of a huge corporate structure of the type that turns radio into the quality of wail-mart or Muck Donald’s, we are the real thing, and that takes work, a lot of it. There aren’t a lot of us here but we get the job done to the best of our abilities. This is not a place for people who don’t really want to work for a living. Get the picture? This is radio as it was before the medium was perverted and pillaged by huge corporations who know employees by social security numbers and not names. It’s radio like it was 30 years ago, and that’s why I fit there. I guess some people weren’t ready for real work for a real paycheck and wrote some really nasty little slams about ownership and management here. While the writers slammed Les Gradick’s (alleged) personal choices, beliefs and practices, could they not have taken a moment on the professional side, to think about how many jobs he has offered in his stations throughout a good number of years? Money that was made and spent within the local economy, in the way real American industry was built. So what if Les will be 80 in February; isn’t that worth a “happy birthday” to a man who still runs his company on a daily basis, putting in many hours each week, and not as a senile old curmudgeon, as a real owner with real ethics! Some one thought it worthy of a slam (?) Each of the derogatory authors seems to have formerly been in Les’s employ, were they perhaps writing that unflattering gossip about the company on a computer purchased with money earned from Alabama 810? Did they not appreciate the employment? The scandal (so to speak) lies somewhere within the confines of feeble brains of those fine fellows. Furthermore I’d request they not infer (with the Mr. Burns-Simpson’s-analogy) Les is senile or less than able to run his operation well, that’s where I say “Been there, done that, and seen that it was well done!”
To those “authors”; Sorry guys, but maybe you should go back to hanging around bus stations and giving wedgies to pizza delivery boys for cheap thrills, please leave Les alone. If you continue to have bad feelings about your employment at Alabama 810 try one of three things; 1: Be adult and get over it. (What a concept) 2: See an analyst; they’d love to get you into one of those 20 year programs; 3: Get a life, (and no I don’t know where you can get one on a rent-to-own basis.)
Yes, I am leaving, but not with my middle finger extended. I take my leave to address health problems. As I do so I am not in the precarious shape that twists in fate had delivered to the station in. All thanks to the kindness of Les Gradick and the folks of this fine legend of a station, that burns up the south with 50,000 watts! (Maybe that’s where Mr. “Burns” comes in.)
Unlike previous writers I’m not leaving this as a surreptitious anonymous piece of graffiti on an odiferous restroom wall, and if anyone must take exception to my views here; I’m Roger Curtis, the afternoon and production guy, and I’ll be here through the middle of January; e-mail me through the alabama810.com site, I’ll be glad to answer any further questions. (Apologies to those used for target practice here will also be gladly accepted and properly delivered there.)
Alabama 810, heartfelt thanks for allowing me the privilege of being a part of things! You will always be a cherished part of my radio family. Thank you for believing in me.
It began for me when I came to Alabama to accept a job from another radio station owner. After I’d called this guy to tell him I was in town, he hung-up on me and had a great laugh that someone would drive 3500 miles for a job that he had since decided not to give me. To make a long story shorter, in a last desperate moment before making my way back west I found out about an opening at Alabama 810 and was put in touch with Les Gradick, who asked to see me that afternoon. I arranged for a ride and met him. (My car had met its demise on the way down and I didn’t even have a way to work, I was nearly “up a creek” at this point and didn’t feel I wasn’t a very attractive candidate for the job.) I met Mr. Gradick on a Wednesday afternoon, we chatted and he took my years old audition piece in for a short listen. He came back and announced, there’s nothing full-time, at this moment, but offered me mid days on a part-time basis. I gladly accepted and started the next day.
Wait till you hear what happened in the next week though! I had been working the mid-days, and since I had little else to do, I offered to take care of production tasks on a volunteer basis. At the end of my first full week came my first “Alabama 810” surprise; I opened my first paycheck and discovered I was being paid as a full time employee, and was earning a rate exemplary for this area. (Waiting for the scandal? ...read on.)
How did I overcome the hardship of no vehicle and staying 35 miles away? Each day I was picked and dropped off by a combination of that crotchety (Monte Burns-like) Les Gradick, and (gasp) the feared creature of the abyss, Teresa.
Was I afraid of being eaten alive by people who’ve been rudely gossiped about on these pages as being monsters, and torturers? No, as a matter of fact, in both cases we had pleasant conversations; I was given some kind compliments on my work and work ethic as we got acquainted on a personal level. Many times (contrary to being eaten alive) I was fed breakfast by Teresa, en route. (A lot of free lunches made their way into the station too!)
As weeks went on, my association with the radio station put me in line to buy a decent vehicle at a great price; Les Gradick helped me buy this vehicle and get it paid off without financing. (Thank you Les) I moved closer to the station, got to know a fine family of radio co-workers who’ve really become family and enjoyed using company trades for nice dinners out. (But no one has yet to show me where that darn torture dungeon is!)
Now as you remember I promised to expose Alabama 810, here goes! This is really in response to those who left some horrible posts about this place earlier. Alabama 810 is a radio station, imagine that! We’re not part of a huge corporate structure of the type that turns radio into the quality of wail-mart or Muck Donald’s, we are the real thing, and that takes work, a lot of it. There aren’t a lot of us here but we get the job done to the best of our abilities. This is not a place for people who don’t really want to work for a living. Get the picture? This is radio as it was before the medium was perverted and pillaged by huge corporations who know employees by social security numbers and not names. It’s radio like it was 30 years ago, and that’s why I fit there. I guess some people weren’t ready for real work for a real paycheck and wrote some really nasty little slams about ownership and management here. While the writers slammed Les Gradick’s (alleged) personal choices, beliefs and practices, could they not have taken a moment on the professional side, to think about how many jobs he has offered in his stations throughout a good number of years? Money that was made and spent within the local economy, in the way real American industry was built. So what if Les will be 80 in February; isn’t that worth a “happy birthday” to a man who still runs his company on a daily basis, putting in many hours each week, and not as a senile old curmudgeon, as a real owner with real ethics! Some one thought it worthy of a slam (?) Each of the derogatory authors seems to have formerly been in Les’s employ, were they perhaps writing that unflattering gossip about the company on a computer purchased with money earned from Alabama 810? Did they not appreciate the employment? The scandal (so to speak) lies somewhere within the confines of feeble brains of those fine fellows. Furthermore I’d request they not infer (with the Mr. Burns-Simpson’s-analogy) Les is senile or less than able to run his operation well, that’s where I say “Been there, done that, and seen that it was well done!”
To those “authors”; Sorry guys, but maybe you should go back to hanging around bus stations and giving wedgies to pizza delivery boys for cheap thrills, please leave Les alone. If you continue to have bad feelings about your employment at Alabama 810 try one of three things; 1: Be adult and get over it. (What a concept) 2: See an analyst; they’d love to get you into one of those 20 year programs; 3: Get a life, (and no I don’t know where you can get one on a rent-to-own basis.)
Yes, I am leaving, but not with my middle finger extended. I take my leave to address health problems. As I do so I am not in the precarious shape that twists in fate had delivered to the station in. All thanks to the kindness of Les Gradick and the folks of this fine legend of a station, that burns up the south with 50,000 watts! (Maybe that’s where Mr. “Burns” comes in.)
Unlike previous writers I’m not leaving this as a surreptitious anonymous piece of graffiti on an odiferous restroom wall, and if anyone must take exception to my views here; I’m Roger Curtis, the afternoon and production guy, and I’ll be here through the middle of January; e-mail me through the alabama810.com site, I’ll be glad to answer any further questions. (Apologies to those used for target practice here will also be gladly accepted and properly delivered there.)
Alabama 810, heartfelt thanks for allowing me the privilege of being a part of things! You will always be a cherished part of my radio family. Thank you for believing in me.
