Wow……

….. who knew this was still active?…….  Maybe I’ll start to write again……

Uganda ’08 Final video

Final Project!!!

It is finished……..

…….. finally after 5 months.

On Sept. 28, Joni took me to the ER, and yet again, ended up in surgery to repair another ventral hernia.  Actually to repair an old one, and fix a brand new one.

10 days after that, I went back to the Dr. to have the staples removed, only to find out that 2″ of the incision on the surface hadn’t healed properly, and about 5″ deep internally had failed to heal.

For the next 3 months, every morning after my shower, Joni had to pack the wound with about 2′ of gauze, and put enough pads on the surface to make sure that it didn’t “seep” through my clothes.  I know….. yick!

After 3 months of this, the internal wound was only slightly smaller, and Joni was instructed by the Dr. to push her finger as far as she could into the wound so that the skin wouldn’t heal and cause an abscess. Nice……

On Jan. 2, we decided to go with a “wound vac”.  Basically a vacuum that sucks the fluid from the wound, and pulls the skin together, so that it will heal more quickly.

It did….. finally.  The KCI rep told me that the vac increases the healing time twice to 2/3 as fast.  I can’t imagine asking Joni to pack that wound until summer time.

Today, the Dr. released me with some antibiotic cream and a guaze pad.  FINALLY!!!!

Joni is the real hero here.  The CRAP that she had to go through to help me through this was above and beyond.  She didn’t sign up for this 13 years ago, but did it all without a complaint.  That’s only one reason why I love her beyond any and everything.

Now……..

When should I get my new hernia fixed……….

Habits are hard to break

I was teaching today and explaining to a trumpet student the bad habit that he had acquired with his tonguing.  His tongue is coming between his teeth instead of touching behind his front teeth.

Why is this important?

It dawned on me that when I play my trombone, I do the same thing.  Always have.  Have known it since college and have never changed.  Gave one of the 5 best senior trombone recitals one of the jazz faculty had ever heard.  Still tonguing between my teeth.  The wrong way.

Why is this important?

I’ve never broken a bad habit once I acquire it.  Tongue between my teeth.  Still chew my finger nails.  Eat bad food out of habit.  I’m sure there’s more but it’s late.

I wonder why that is………

So the schedule is killing….

…….my blog time.

Class on Mon/Wed/Fri nights, internship on most Tuesdays & Thursdays, and every Sat. morning.  Don’t feel much like filling ya’ll in, but I’ll continue to do my best.

The internship is still a lot of fun, and am getting more hands on time each week.  I’ve had actual “product” played on the air which is quite exciting.  After Bulls games, we record the post game pressers, and then I cut them up into short segments that our update guys can use the next day. 

Last week, I cut my first 2 Sportscenter update demos.  This week my plan is to cut 5 demos, forcing myself to do each one in one take, just as if I were doing an actual Sportscenter update.

Hopefully, I can fill you in on a more regular basis, but I’m not making any promises.  I’m in the middle of a video project at school, and also a video project for church that I’ll get school credit for.

If you’re interested in hearing my demo let me know and I’ll send you an attachment of it.  I’m really quite excited about them!

What can I learn from an Atheist……….

I’m a big Penn & Teller Fan.  Great performers.  I’ve even listened to Penn’s radio show occasionally.  He’s really smart, and really atheist.

Check out this video.  I first saw it on Los’ blog.  Thanks bro!

 

 

Let’s get over it and share.

Internship – Week 1

Well, I started my internship this week at ESPN Radio 1000 working on “The Show” on Tuesday and Thursday night.  Actually, the biggest issue this week was weather.  On Tues. it took me 3 hours to drive into Chicago where as normally it would take 1 hour due to the snow storm.  Then on Thursday night, there was another ice/snow storm that came through.  I’m typing this from home on my snow day.  Getting to and from the city has been a chore up to this point.

Working at the station as been a BLAST.  To this point, my responsibilities have been few, but getting to know the guys that work there has been really great.  Jeff, Jeff, Adam and Savodeth (sorry for the brutal spelling dude) have been great at showing me how to do stuff.  As things get further along, I’ll be able to go more hands on.

To this point, I’ve done a small bit of research for the on air guys, printing out box scores, pro bowl rosters, stuff like that.  I also printed out a bunch of emails to pick from for the “winter classic” to be held at Wrigley Field between the Blackhawks and Redwings.

Last night, I cut up an Aaron Rodgers interview for our update guys to use during their updates.  I’ll be doing a lot more of that in weeks to come.  After the first of the year, I’ll also be interning for the talking baseball show on Saturday mornings.

I also had the chance to meet and hang out with Howard Griffith last night.  He is a former NFL fullback and won 2 superbowl rings with the Denver Broncos in the late 90s.  He was co-hosting “The Show” with Carmen DeFalco last night.  A small brush with greatness and the opportunity to name drop for me.

So far so good.  Sleep will be a needed commodity in the coming months, but Joni has been a saint about letting catch a nap prior to classes on Mon., Wed., and Fridays.

Stay tuned!!

Back…..Back on the Blog

(title reference to a very cool Quincy Jones tune)

Well, I’m back for now.  Just to catch you up, here’s whats new from the last time we spoke……….

June 6 – Last day of school, summer starts!!!!

Julyish – Kids swimming lessons, very fun

August – install new chainlink fence for Champ.  He promptly begins chasing and catching small yard vermin that are now trapped in his yard.  Count to date, 1 squirrel and 4 rabbits.  Side note…… he grabbed the squirrel off of the side of the tree.

August 8 – BBQ & Baptism @ The Orchard.  Our annual celebration.  Over 100 made a public delaration of their faith in Christ.  Absolutely awesome!!!!  Joni was baptized.  I cried like a child.  I was also honored the Mike asked me to spear head the technical side of things.  He asked me to book the band, get sound for them, as well as sound gear for the baptism area at the pool.

End of August – School starts.  :^(

September –  Hardest recruitment in my teaching career.  Can’t go into it other than saying that I thought I had a stroke at one point.  No joke.

September 28 – Emergency hernia surgery.  Yes.  This makes number 4.

September 29 –  Night classes @ The Illinois Center for Broadcasting begins.  Yes, I missed the first 4 classes due to my surgery.  Luckily, Tamesha from class lives down the street, and agreed to let me ride with her until my driving restriction was lifted.  Vicadin you know….

October 20 – back to work.  10lb lifting restriction and no blowing.  Looks like I’m teaching via video.  Thanks to my new used Mac Book Pro and Dennis Ostermann, the video worked out pretty well.  You can check them out at my band blog.

November 13 –  Interview at ESPN for an internship.  They offer it to me on the spot.  I get to work at ESPN for 5 months!!!!!!

Thanksgiving – short vacation of sorts.  Went downstate to visit my family, and stayed in a hotel with the kids.  They had a ball in the pool.  Unfortunately, my belly is still healing, so couldn’t join them, but had fun none the less. 

Yes you read it right.  Belly still healing.  Joni has the priveledge of packing my still open wound with gauze everymorning, rebandaging me, and sending me on my way.  Considering a “wound vac” to speed things up.

December 16 –  First night of internship at ESPN Radio 1000 on “The Show”.  1 hour drive takes 3 hours due to first real snow storm of the year.  More on this in the next post.

Kind of long I know, but it’s been a while.

Playing with Garbage

Don’t get me wrong, we’re not made of money, but my kids have way more toys than they actually play with in a year.

But yesterday, I’m replacing some screens in our screen door, and went inside for just a minute to put the fish sticks in the oven.  I return back to my driveway to find my 3 children playing with garbage.  They had taken all of the screen scraps, the cardboard tube the screen came on, and anything else they found in the can and had it strewn around my driveway in some sort of fantasy playland.

I swear……

………..we’re just one step away from mowing and fertilizing our lawn with barnyard animals.