Has been quiet up here, indeed. I can't find enough stations that I really like to fill up my presets, but I do dial around with something of a pattern:
For what it's worth, I find myself switching back and forth mostly between two stations when I'm getting up and making breakfast in the kitchen: NPR's Morning Edition and some of the local newsbreaks and inserts on KPLU 88.5, and Stephanie Miller and her guests on KPTK-AM 1090.
Tune-out factors, such as commercial breaks and monotonous insert announcers, incite me to try the other station until they go to breaks.
When KPLU gets on my nerves hearing the local announcers say "NPR news and all that jazz" 20 times an hour, I'll sometimes try the new Washington State NPR feed on Tacoma-based 90.9 KVTI - they don't cut away from NPR as often, allowing me to hear some worthwhile national and world news that I wouldn't otherwise hear about from radio, TV, or the local newspaper. But their signal in the North suburbs is not so good.
Most days I leave for work after 9am, and then find myself switching between KIRO-FM and KUOW-FM, to hear whomever has the most compelling topics to talk about. The Ross and Burbank thing is getting to be a habit with me, suprisingly enough. Didn't think they could do it without callers and guests, but they do seem to touch on a lot of things that I'm thinking about, locally and nationally, and their rapport seems genuine and comfortable.
On the drive home, if it's after 6, I'll catch some of Randi Rhodes on AM 1090 - she's actually got a wicked sense of humor, and is much nicer to her callers than she was a couple of years ago. Kinda like a neighbor you like to check in on, who always has something clever to say. When I get home, I get decent reception of "Espace Musique," the French-language cultural service of Radio-Canada, from their Victoria station on 88.9 FM. Really the best two hours of Jazz I can find all day, from 6-8pm, and it helps me with my French lessons.
Weekends I'm more in the mood for KMCQ in the car when running errands. I think KVI-AM's informercials on the weekends cut into prime time listening for an oldies format. And KOMO-AM 1000 for traffic and weather updates, to decide if I should even try I-5, that is, if the traffic announcer is paying attention to their cues (they are missing in action and miss updating major routes, depending who's on duty, more than I'd like - no where close to the professionalism of their weekday traffic reporter Paul Tosh.)
Will also check in on CKWX News 1130 from time to time in the car, but interference from a new station in Oregon is severe now during critical hours. Or when its cloudy. What a shame for one of only 2 all-nes signals in the Pacific NW. Sometimes I'll make "appointment listening" for weekend specialty shows on KUOW, or for music on 98.1 KING, if the Saturday opera isn't too harsh for casual listening.
I don't claim to be typical of anything, but will tune out when I get annoyed by cheesey announcing and formulaic delivery. And I'm eager to get streaming radio in my car one of these days.
