Chili Cookoff

I'm at a chili cookoff in Muskogee and i'm listening to myself broadcast "live". It's weird. I also thought it would be a good opportunity to try out mobile blogging.

I tried 12 different types of chili and got to judge and give out the KXOJ Family Favorite award to the best chili. It was a delicious time.

First Days

So yesterday was my first official day working. It was a long day. My boss had e-mailed me the night before and had to go out of town last minute so the guy I replaced came back for a day to run the concert/train me. He said right off the bat that concert days were typically pretty easy and laid back, but long days. I started just before 9am that morning and got off around 11pm, so a long day indeed. But a lot of fun. I honestly didn't watch much of the concert, but from what I heard, it was pretty good. It was 2 bands I had never heard of, Daniel Doss Band and Cadia; and 2 i had heard of, Michael English and Avalon. Minus a little snaphoo with ticket prices, the show went well from a production standpoint. Oh, I also got tons of free gear from RHEMA, the church the concert was held at. Its a huge church (main sanctuary seats somewhere around 5000) and they have a huge youth program that has made these shirts called "I believe". Apparently I'm now the spokesperson for www.ibelievethemovement.com with all the stuff he gave me. Anyway, made some good contacts, got some business cards, shook babies, kissed hands, the usual.

Today was my first day in the office. Since I worked a long day yesterday, I went in at 11. I got introduced around the office, filled out my paperwork, and got set up in my office. I've got a window office, and I'd like to tell you this is the view from my window, but its not. The office windows all have shade type things in front of them so if I took a picture, it would be a shot between the shades, so I took this one out of the window just next to my office. So basically, this is what I would see if i didn't have the bars on the window. Its a 60 story building and the KXOJ offices are on the 55th floor. I got my parking pass, and proximity card (allows me into the parking lot, and after hours, the elevators don't work without a proximity card.) Oh, and the elevators are super fast. it takes 48 seconds to go from the 1st to the 55th floor. Your ears pop on the way up and down. Pretty sweet. I also found out today, that I will get some pseudo on-air time. I voice track the weekend middays for one of their sister stations. Its actually the same station with the same playlist as KXOJ in Tulsa, but they've got a different frequency and tower in a small town called Meskogee so they have different on-air people with different commercials and sponsers. Voice tracking by the way is basically pre-recording a show. I have a four hour shift on Saturday and Sundays that (once I get used the equipment) will take me about 10 minutes a piece to pre-record. I'm lookin forward to everything. This job seems right up my alley. Everyone at the station seems really cool as well. I was a little worried my sense of humor wouldn't fit in well here (sarcastic and a little twisted), but I've been proven wrong multiple times in just the last two days so I'm a little more comfortable. I hung out with the morning show guy a bit last night, as well as the Assistant Program Director, and also the evening gal/production director, Caryn, who also goes to my sister's church (which may be where I end up if I can get involved as much as I want to.)

I start in full force Monday, actually doing the job I was hired to do, so there's still one more hurdle to get over (if you even want to call it that). Thanks for keeping in touch, all that have. Shame on the people who haven't!

Tulsa's newest resident

After an overnight stop in KC where I was able to get a break, hang out with some old friends, and get a good night's sleep, I arrived in Tulsa yesterday around 12:30 in the afternoon. I was shocked and slightly amazed I was able to fit nearly my entire life into a small Hyundai Elantra.

My dad took a trip down last week so i was able to send my 3 acoustic guitars, 1 electric, and a keyboard down with him, along with my TV, so that did help considerably, but other than that, my life consists of not much more than DVDs, t-shirts, and a "miscellaneous" bag. Needless to say, I was unpacked by early in the evening.

I begin my new career tomorrow, with a likely 12+ hour day. Avalon will be in concert and I opted to start with that instead of next Monday where I'd just be doing mindless paperwork. My boss asked if I thought I could handle a 12 hour day. I laughed. I'm so used to working long hours, I'm not sure what its going to be like having semi-regular hours. Sure there'll be the occasional concert or event that will get me some extra hours, but someone told me the other day I'm not going to know what to do with all my extra time. After literally walking back and forth in the house today without actually "doing" anything, I think they were right. I finally broke out and went down the road to Panera for some quality internet usage. This blog is my attempt to prove them wrong. I'll try to keep it updated.

So goodbye, Omaha. Thanks for the memories!

a dios

For those who haven't heard, in a little more than a week I'll be moving out of Omaha. I accepted a job as Promotions Director for KXOJ radio in Tulsa, OK and I start May 1st. This couldn't be a better job for me, and couldn't have come at a better time. I went to school for broadcasting, but had a difficult time finding a job when I left school, finding a majority of my experience was either irrelevant or didn't reflect well on paper. I finally made the decision to quit the radio station I was working part time at and go full force into hospitality, which I had been doing for years to get me through college. I had been doing well with it and had been looked at for promotion but always overlooked because they knew I was always looking for my "out". My plan was to get myself up to a management level then make another run for radio. That way I always had something to fall back on.


I reached that level about 2 months and began looking for stuff in radio again. I had known it was going to be tough to get back into, but I had no idea how hard. I couldn't get a radio station to even look at me not having much more than 3 years experience and it had been over a year since my last radio job. I began looking at internships that i could put 10-15 flexible hours into while working at the hotel, just to get my foot back in the door.


Then I got a call back from a hotel I had applied for a Front Office Manager position at. I knew the position had been filled so I stopped thinking about it, but they called and offered me the job of Assistant Front Office Manager and told me I would have a pretty good shot at a FOM position at another property very soon. It was a pretty good offer, and I expected to take it, but told them I wanted to take a few days to think about it. A couple days later was when I got the e-mail about this radio position. I stalled them through the weekend and told them I would give them an answer by the end of the day Monday. Through much prayer, I called the hotel and turned down the offer, still not knowing if I had the radio job. I interviewed that Wednesday, and was told it would be a week from Friday when I would find out. They called Monday!


So for those in the area who want to see me before I leave, give me a shout and we'll try to get something together.

In addition to...

I ALMOST FORGOT!!!!!

My sister and I are applying for the Amazing Race. So, I'll let you know how that goes. I'm fully expecting to at least get a call for an interview. They'd be insane not to take us. We're pretty much adorable. As always...

Thanks fer bein my friend,
David

What really grinds my gears

I haven't written a blog in a while, so I thought it was about time. Sorry that I'm going to start it out by venting a little, but this just has to be said - It is November 12th and there is absolutely no reason for Christmas decorations yet... excuse me, I mean "Holiday" decorations since apparently Christmas is offensive. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Christmas and everything about it; the decorations, the music, the Church Christmas programs - just not in the middle of November! Are we forgetting Thanksgiving? A time when we can be thankful for everything we are blessed with. People bicker so much about all the things that are wrong with this nation and what it stands for, they forget that there is so much that is great about it as well, and then the one day we should take a step back and give thanks for everything gets burried in the commercialization of the Holiday Spirit.

Anyways, things are going great. I interviewed for a job last Friday, and for any of my co-workers reading this, don't start spreading rumors... its still with the same hotel I'm at, just a better position. For the sake of not looking foolish if I don't get it, I'm going to save the details for a later blog, but I will say, it is something a little more related to my field of study, and would give total validation to why I've spent nearly 2 years in hospitality after leaving school, when all I've wanted to do is radio and promotions. The good news is, I still love my current job so if I don't get it, it wouldn't be the end of the world, but I would probably start seeing what else is out there for me.

I think what bothers me most about my job is my inability to have a life. I'm really wanting to get more involved with a church in Omaha, but I don't want to commit to something I wouldnt' be able to follow through with. Right now my only guaranteed time off is Wednesday nights and Sunday mornings, which is spent leading music at my church, and right now, its just not something I want to give up. I want to try to find something for other nights of the week that I can regularly attend.

Hopefully I'll find more info on this job tomorrow and then maybe I'll have a new blog to post in the next few weeks... until then...

Thanks fer bein my friend,
David

Now's As Good As Time As Any

Haven't had an update for a while so I thought tonight was a good time to give you all a little update of my life.

I got a new job! I got the offer a couple weeks ago, but I've been sitting on it waiting for a few things to happen first. Then on Monday, I officially put in my two weeks notice. My intention was to talk to the GM personally and let him know, then e-mail him and human resources my official written notice. It was a busy day from the moment I got in so I wasn't able to tell him right away. Then something came up with my {former} boss so he had to leave town suddenly. I told HR and her advice was to e-mail him and call him. He didn't answer so I just left him a voice mail basically saying check your e-mail. He didn't make it back to town until late wednesday and i had thursday off.

So... i got a phone call from him today. Long and short of it, it was on good terms, however I got asked to not return to work. SO! I've got a new job, but it won't start for about a week, and until then, i'm officially unemployed! And if you think i seem excited about it, its because its true. :) I also should be getting a new car within the next couple of days, and hopefully be moving into an apartment within a month or so. So life is pretty good right now, other than the fact that I just got fired...