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Now that I am out of the biz...

N

NealH

I pulled my last shift (until the radio bug bites again). Now I can come in and post some not-so-hot-sports opinions, although this one will probably get me labeled a sycophant. I spent 3 years inside Reverchon and it seemed like 3 weeks. I had a great time working for The Wolf, and if working 7 days a week wasn't kicking my a$$ I'd still be doing it.

If you ever get the opportunity to work for Smokey, he's a standup guy. Even though I was a weekend stiff the fulltimers weren't holier-than-thou and made me feel like a part of the team. To all you guys and gals who are still in the biz, enjoy it...even if the pay sucks and the corporate mindset is decaying the product. Where else can you get paid to do something so easy?
 
Where else? Ask a weatherman. We actually have to be good at our job. Them? We get to wear crappy suits, get our information third-hand from Weather.com and NOAA.com, translate that information incorrectly to our local nomads and STILL never be in threat of losing our jobs.

Ah, the biz! ;D
 
Where it's easier? Well this may surprise some of you, but one day a friend of mine and I hope to own our own bowling alley. ;)

R
 
Robert Bass said:
Where it's easier? Well this may surprise some of you, but one day a friend of mine and I hope to own our own bowling alley. ;)

R
Click to expand...

More on the job hazards there, though. Hands + pinsetter = hospital visit.

Although I can remember a few times radio hurt.

I got a finger pinched in a cart carousel (you only do that once).

When trying to reach around the automation unit to reset the same carousel, I accidentally put my hand on the wiring harness and got knocked on my rear.

I also smashed my hand with an 8 pound mini-sledgehammer trying to drive canopy stakes into an asphalt parking lot - while my GM hovered overhead.
 
Let us not forget back then some cart stacks tumble along with the "RECORD" ( as in vinyl) shelf fell or when someone dropped a marti unit on their foot. Yes I was a victim of one a wittness to many.

Roberts "Bowling Alley" is almost complete by the former Bigtown Mall"
Its called "Memory Lanes" the music is piped in from where else,KEOM.

Tuesday night is "Dwarf Bowling"
Wednesday is 50 % off for "Dysfunctional Family" night
"Thursdays are "Pick up" night where women get to bowl the first 4 frames free,and if a newly met couple can "pickup a "7-10 split"<either one of them> then they get a free dinner of steamed hotdogs and popcorn from the snackbar or a they can "split" a free "Robert Whopper" burger.

"Friday nights" are "handgun and hard liquor"
night with extra security in place.B.Y.o.B

Saturday is the "Recipe File" league night . All contestants must bring a covered dish of their favorite treats that are heard on the "Recipe File"
Sunday is PSA Day" Where participants must read a PSA to be recorded for play on KEOM. If yours is selected you will receive 10% off your first three games.
Monday they are closed.

Go Bowling! Its fun!
 
DAMN! :eek: All those "specials" will run me out of business! ;) ;D

At any rate, pretty much every occupation has its own set of hazards.

Which begs the question... What's the "worst" hazard you experienced in DFW Radio?

I'll have to scratch my head a bit to try and recall mine....

Hmmmm

R
 
OK here we go.

The Uninterruptible Power Supply units we used to have, would constantly power cycle when the battery went bad. The usual quick fix was to pull the back cover off the studio furniture, unplug everything in the failing UPS unit, and temporarily throw in a 6 way power strip.

So one very stormy night, I’m working a shift. You can pretty much guess the rest. We had EAS Weather bulletins coming in left and right. The building temporarily loses power a couple of times, After the second drop, right in the middle of transmitting an EAS Weather alert, the UPS supplying power to cur console, Arrakis Digilink Computer, Orban Optimod and Belar Mod Monitors, encounters a battery failure..

So I’m sitting there watching all that equipment continuously powering down and coming back, due to the power cycling UPS unit. I figured the best solution under the circumstances, was to get our lead tech out there to deal with it, least I run the risk of electrocution doing it myself.

In the process of trying to look up his number, I get a call from Dr. G. himself, asking what in the world was going on. Sounded to me like he was actually close to a panic, which is very, VERY rare of him. So I explain the ordeal and every time he tells me to get back on the air, I have to remind him that the UPS needs to be bypassed before that’s possible.

About ten minutes later, I’m on the phone with our tech guy. He tells me he is on the way, so I go back to watching the continuous UPS power cycling madness. About 15 minutes later, the tech calls me back and says he can’t get out due to the weather, and tells me to go ahead and handle the problem myself. What a shocker. :eek:

So I finally get the UPS bypassed, but now the Arrakis computer won’t come up. Apparently the constant power cycling crashed it. I don’t remember how long it took to get that mess fixed, and we may have been off the air for a few days as a result.

Fortunately we got replacement UPS units that won’t power cycle when there’s a battery failure. It just beeps for a few minutes, once every few hours…

R
 
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