Summer Fun - I Hope!

The Big Green Egg

Grilling in the summertime is great. You can do it virtually anywhere. The key to a good grilling experience is the grill itself. My personal favorite is a Weber charcoal grill. It doesn’t matter which specific model – they’re all the best. Then there’s the Big Green Egg. Although I originally thought this product was manufactured in Springfield, MO, I was wrong. These awesome grills are made in Tucker, GA. According to some self-proclaimed experts, it is far and away the leader in the category of charcoal grilling apparatus. Click on the link and then decide for yourself.


Vacation!

It’s vacation time! Beginning tomorrow at closing time, I’m on vacation! I’m taking an entire week, plus two days (and the weekends sammidged in between) and NOT WORKING! Believe it or not, it’s been since my son was born in mid-June 2003 since I’ve had an actual vacation. I’m not talking about a “going somewhere” vacation – I’m talking about “just a freakin’ week off” vacation. When I took this job here at Learfield in Jeff City, I sold about a week and a half of vacation time back to Clear Channel. No point in losing the time AND the money – and since my time there was up, I took the green. Anyway, I’m pumped and really looking forward to the arguments my wife and I will have!


The Pointless Warning

Finally, I really feel the need to get this off my chest. For years, something has bothered me, yea verily. You’ve seen those car commercials on TV where they put that stupid warning at the bottom of the screen… “Professional driver – closed course. Do not attempt”. Then you look at the picture on the screen and what do you see? A car traveling down a perfectly straight road, at an apparent safe speed. You wait and wait – you wait for a sharp curve or a steep hill, an abrupt harnessing of the emergency brake… a small mammal running across the road – you wait for ANYthing. But it never happens. Nope, it’s an empty warning. It’s a warning that means this: “We have to give this warning because some dumb-shit tried to pop a wheelie in his Accord and bruised his tail bone and sued us.” So… in order to avoid possible, future litigation, there’s your warning. Now I’m gonna go blow some shit up – Have a great 4th O’ July!

Until then…

Summer Eatin'!

My good friend Lane McConnell has a blog which is about cooking. Lane is a girl who must be from the past. She must be what our grandmothers were like when they were in their early 20s. She’s very down-to-earth and she loves to cook. You just don’t meet girls like her anymore. I’ve met lots of girls in my life and never have I met one like Lane. You tell me when the last time was you were at a bar and met a girl and she said something to the effect, “I was canning green beans today and…” Oddly, she makes me feel like a kid again. There is a point to all of this – Lane is usually in charge of the get-togethers here at Learfield. Pie baking contests, chili-cooking contests and your basic festive events that happen within the confines of the workday. Presently, she is asking for family recipes to include in a Learfield cookbook. I plan to submit two… and here they are!

Aunt Kathy’s Summer Salad

This was originally (and is still) called Taco Salad. My family on my father's side is from Missouri, so perhaps that explains why they call it Taco Salad when there is nothing Mexican about it.

1 bag iceberg salad mix
1 8 oz. bag shredded cheese – your choice! (I use Colby/Jack)
1 large or medium tomato
1 16 oz. can of dark red kidney beans
1 bottle Kraft Catalina dressing
1 bag Fritos (I use off-brand corn chips)

Empty salad mix into large bowl.
Crunch up corn chips and pour over lettuce.
Empty cheese into bowl.
Dice the tomato, then put in bowl.
Drain beans, then put in bowl.
Pour entire bottle of dressing into bowl and mix well.
Enjoy!

It gets soggy within a few hours, but it’s gooooooood stuff! Here’s another one we used to get excited about as kids when mom made it for dinner.

Fritos, Cheese and Tomato Soup

1 family sized can of Campbell’s Tomato Soup (off brands are no good for this)
1 8 or 16 oz. bag (or block) shredded cheese. I recommend Jack cheese.
1 bag (or more) of Fritos. (I use off brand corn chips)

Heat tomato soup using milk; not water.
In individual bowls, put a handful of chips.
Sprinkle desired amount of cheese over chips. (I like mine with lots of cheese)
Pour warm soup over chips and cheese.
Enjoy!

These recipes are NOT low fat nor are they exceedingly healthy. They are, however, absolutely delicious.


The Cookout

It was just a few years ago my boss at the time, Mitch Baker, informed me of the huge difference in the terms Barbecue and Grilling. Most of the time, you'll hear people say, "We're having a BBQ this weekend", when in reality they are grilling. It was told to me that a true BBQ is when you slow cook the meat over the course of several hours using indirect heat. Grilling is what people do at home... most of the time. There are people (like my oldest brother) who will dig a pit and roast a pig at least once per summer.

Then there's me.

I'd say, on average, I grill about 4 times a week. Of course that's just from May until September, but I still toss stuff on the barbie in the snow - just not as often. When I grill, I start with a "main meat". Steaks of all kinds. Beef, pork, tuna, salmon... your choice. Then I get veggie with it and wrap some squash in foil, corn on the cob and even kabobs if I'm ambitious enough. And what cookout would be complete without some hot dogs?

There is one problem, though.

After 9 precious years of true love and complete mutual understanding, my wife pitched my Weber Bar-B-Kettle. There is no better grill. The spherical design allows air to flow evenly throughout the grill; delivering key oxygen to the area underneath the coals. I think that must be the one crucial difference between a Weber and the typical square grill... and I should know. With the glory years behind me and nursing the loss of my first grill love, I am pressing on with the aforementioned $20 square grill from Wal-Mart. It was a gift, so we figured we'd use it at least for this summer. Let me tell you it pales in comparison to my beloved Weber. I'm considering it a lesson learned. Maybe I can contact Mitch Baker and he can tell us about what many consider THE BEST grill of all - The Big Green Egg. They're made in Springfield, MO.

Until then...

Sometimes Things Bug Me!

Cars For Sale!

We see the publications in the super market foyers. We pick them up. We take them home and sometimes even read them. Heck, they’re free – and besides… I’m in the market for a new-to-me car. (The only way I’ll ever purchase a “new” car again is if I am able to pay cash) Plus, I enjoy leafing through free periodicals. Of course, I wouldn’t even be writing about this if I didn’t have some kind of beef with it. Here ‘tis. It absolutely, positively drives me nuts when the advertiser (car lot) doesn’t include the PRICE in the ad! Where’s the logic in this? Oh, they’ll say, “Well, we just want to capture your interest. Then you’ll call and we’ll have you hooked!” Bullshit. The only possible implication I can see is this: the reason you don’t put the price of the car in the ad is because there IS NO price on that car. In other words, “you come to us and we’ll bend you over.” That’s the verbiage that should be used if there are no prices. After all, we wouldn’t go to Wal-Mart and expect to haggle over the price of 409, now would we? Nope. Of course not. That being said, there is no excuse (in fact it should be illegal) for a car lot to NOT put a price of a car in the ad! I make it a point to never buy a car from a lot who practices this blatant deception. Dan O' Day offers very solid advertising logic.

Fat = Disabled

This seems to be the new trend in America. You see them everywhere. They’re so fat, they can’t perform many everyday tasks for themselves. Chris Farley joked about it on SNL. He made it sound funny, but I’m sure there is little humor involved with being morbidly obese. Obviously I don’t know the particulars of any person or persons I’ve seen in this apparent situation. All I see is a hugely fat human riding in a little scooter kindly provided by the store. Sure, they move slowly, take up a ton of extra space and get in your way in the cookie aisle, but the most disturbing part of this to me is the fact that if you follow that person, invariably they have a disabled license plate or at least the placard that hangs from the rear-view mirror. This, to me is quite ridiculous. This, to me screams legislation. Here’s where I’m coming from:
Drugs are illegal. I don’t do drugs, but how does it harm me if the guy next door is a junkie? Unless he victimizes someone (commits a crime), he has done nothing wrong. If he (or any person) commits a crime, he goes to jail. Brilliant, eh? Stay with me… it gets deeper.
There is no difference in drugging yourself to death, or eating yourself to death. In fact, I contend that drug addicts are better for society. If a person is addicted to drugs, they will, most likely, at some point miss a day of work. That day will become two and so on. They’ll lose their job and eventually commit a crime and go to jail. OR… that person will embrace his addiction and work his tail off daily in order to get that treat after the day is done. Either way, if the drug addict commits a crime, he goes to jail. He would then be much less of a drain on societal resources (jail vs. welfare) and subsequently be absent from the whole equation. If that drug addict remains a productive part of the culture, it is no other person’s business what he does on his own time – provided he is not victimizing anyone (committing crimes).


If a person is so fat they can’t walk, they’ve drugged their bodies with food – so much so that our social “safety net” programs come to the rescue. THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE! Harming your own body by whatever means is YOUR OWN BUSINESS! Whether you do it with illegal drugs or perfectly legal food, it is the same thing. Neither should be against the law. (However, people who are so fat they can’t walk who ALSO do drugs, should be shot on sight, then served in Jenny Craig microwave meals.)

Remove all prison inmates who have committed only drug offenses, and you’d have PLENTY of room for real criminals. I’ve heard it said: “That guy’s lucky… he killed that other guy and got 7 years for manslaughter – good thing he didn’t have a joint on him or he’d have gotten life!” So dang ol’ true, man.

So if you’re not a fan of the seat belt law or any other law in place that robs you of your personal freedoms, you are not alone. Don’t bother writing any state or federal officials, as they won’t hear your cry – unless you can show them how to profit from your cry.

These are just a couple of things that really tick me off. Today’s my son’s 3rd birthday, so maybe when I come back to work on Tuesday I’ll post a little something about my 4-day weekend. Or not.

Until then…

Marketing and Moolah

Effective Marketing

As a citizen of the world of broadcasting, I appreciate a good advertising campaign when I see one. Keep in mind that a good campaign doesn’t necessarily mean that I like it. Case in point: the new movie Over The Hedge. It’s a movie for kids and is being marketed as such. If you’ve seen the trailer on TV, you see the squirrel or chipmunk or whatever small, rodent-like mammal it is, burping his ABCs. My 2-year-old son certainly did NOT need that inspiration to begin his own like-efforts, but without question it has inspired him. Now the fabricated burps come easily and often. It doesn’t matter where we are – home, store, car, local eatery… whenever the need arises, this little guy can swallow air better than I could by age 5. Yep, my boy has a burping bright future! Thank you Dreamkworks Animation. As a side note and much to his mother’s chagrin, my little guy now has his sights set on making himself fart. This I’ve got to see...


Powerball!

We all dream of becoming rich. I dream of becoming wealthy. I’ve heard it said that being rich means you’ll never have to work again. Being wealthy means your kids and their kids will never have to work. Rich just doesn’t cut it for me. I need wealth. I mean let’s face it – if I ever become rich, I most certainly won’t stop there. It takes money to make money and if I had “rich” money, I’d be wealthy very quickly. That being said, I usually buy a Powerball ticket when the jackpot approaches $100 million. Tomorrow’s big prize is about $73 million. That’s close enough for me. Many people may think it’s a waste of money to buy a ticket. I think it’s a waste of money to buy more than one ticket at a time. If that first dollar isn’t lucky enough, what makes a person think that dollar number two will be? That logic escapes me. Perhaps Darin Jobe said it best: “It’s worth a dollar to day-dream for a couple of days.” My sentiments exactly. So… here’s to my one dollar! (May the force be with me)

With the weekend upon us, I may not post until Monday. That's fine... I'm sure I'll have more to discuss after the next 48 hours.

Until then...

The Silent Treatment

An Apology of Sorts…

My good friend and respected blogger, Steve Mays seemed to be a tad disappointed with my first ever blog. Oh, he certainly appreciated my kind-ish words, but the reference “older gentleman” seemed to hit a nerve. Steve equated that modifier with Colonel Sanders and Mark Twain. But Steve is a problem-solver, so he offered up some potential handles (these are great); Funky Web Monkey and Your Pyle-Drivin’ Digital Daddy. If you know Steve Mays – you know these monikers would be appropriate. Steve, you’re not old – just used. I mean pre-owned. Dang. I guess I should just quit while I’m ahead. I’ll explore some other suggestions Steve made concerning the actual title of my blog. He does have some great ideas.

The Silent Treatment

We all know what this is. Most of us have received the silent treatment at some point in our lives. Last night my wife subjected me to an extended treatment. I’m not quite sure at what point I realized this was going on – once I was aware, I began to formulate my plan. This could be difficult since my infraction was unclear. What approach should I take?

It is a common misconception that the silent treatment need be met with an apologetic attitude – not at all true. Sometimes the silent treatment stems from uncertainty or other emotional roadblocks. Although a stern attitude is sometimes the answer, this particular situation should be settled with tenderness, understanding and finally good roll in the hay.

Sometimes women "don't feel well", so I decided a casual approach was in order. Just sit back, tread lightly and don’t try to start a conversation. This bought me some time and about 20 minutes after she popped four ibuprofen, things began to settle down. One decision I made that aided the truce was turning the TV from a baseball game to the E! network. “The 40 Most Shocking Celebrity Mugshots” turned out to be a better program selection for all involved.

Tomorrow I’ll discuss my 2-year-old son and his obsession with bodily noise-making as well as that damned losing Powerball ticket.

Until then…

The Elderly, Pujols and My Driveway

Don't Age and Drive!

Everyone knows the older we get, the slower we drive. It's a known fact, proven daily to millions of impatient drivers across the land. Why is this? Scientists will tell you the human body deteriorates as we age; leaving us with slower reflexes and shorter tempers. I at least make an effort to "understand" the reason that Buick is slowing me down is because the person operating that vehicle is near death.

This observation leads me to my next point of confusion; you would think that a person so near the end would choose to drive faster instead of slower since they have little time. Conversely, the young people in cars are the ones driving fast. Maybe the old folks have realized that whatever it is you're in a hurry to get to, just isn't worth the hurry. I'll let you know in 30 years when I retire.

Albert Pujols on the DL

If you're a baseball fan, you're probably already aware of this. If you aren't a baseball fan, you most likely don't care. I do care. I like baseball a little bit - if the Cardinals are doing well. Otherwise, it's a bit less entertaining. The significant piece here is that Pujols never misses a game. He's one of those guys who thinks he is still playing in Little League and gives his all every day. A 15 day stint on the DL? This must be killing poor little Albert. I know it's killing the Cards. At least he's not on my fantasy team.

My Driveway

Two weekends ago my family completed our move. My wife and her father and I moved our "big stuff". You know, the washer/dryer, bedroom furniture, couch, chair, etc. All of the little stuff had already been transported. I had done this throughout the month of May. We paid two rents - one on the place where we lived; one on our new house. That gave us the entire month to make the move. It would have been much easier to do if I'd have had my mini van to work with. It was in the shop... but that's another day's entry. Anyway, we found this awesome little house in a fantastic neighborhood. The neighbor to the left is a bit scary - he never speaks to us and he often leaves his house with two shotguns (in their cases). I assume he's going to a shooting range - or hunting... but you never know. He's very militant-looking in a rent-a-cop sort of way.

Our neighbors on the other side are very friendly and welcomed us almost immediately. He is a retired state worker; she is very friendly. Their children are both grown and the son lives elsewhere. Their daughter, who is very beautiful, still lives there and seems to be close to her folks. That in and of itself in this day and age is refreshing. The daughter's boyfriend (he does not live there) is a landscaper and is currently engaged in a backyard beautification project. As a result, a regular and ample supply of collateral mud-droppage has my driveway a mess. Not to mention the shards of rock that have been chipped away from larger pieces in order to shape them before placement. I thought about sweeping it all up, but figured I'd wait until they were done. (Would that imply impatience on my part if I were to sweep the drive?) We'll see when that is. Their project so far looks really great.

That's that for today... more tomorrow or the next day. Maybe I'll talk about my son and his love for making noise - or perhaps the disappointment of a losing Powerball ticket.

Until then...

My First Time!

A Blog Cherry Popped!

Greetings and salutations! My name is Rick. This is my first blog. I know several people who blog and have enjoyed reading some of their stuff. Up to this point, I have had no interest in blogging, but I wanted to at least try. So... here we go!

Bloggers I Know

My friend (and former co-worker) has a terrific blog. Nate Jolly is originally from Oregon, a Duck fan, not a Beaver fan. (that is so true on so many levels) Dr. Jolly and I met when we were employed by Learfield Communications Sports Division in Jefferson City, MO. Nate was an affiliate relations rep and I was (and still am) an audio production guy. I don't know my title, but I think I have one. Nate's a good egg - stylishly hip in a neo-Australopithecus sort of way. His progressive attitude was a ray of hope in a seemingly hopeless quagmire of conservatism. That would be Jefferson City. Nate now lives and works in Washington DC. Rock on, Beavis.

Another blogger from work (he's still here) is Matt Brown. Matt is a huge St. Louis Cardinals fan and has the schwag to prove it. Matt is the Coordinating Producer here at Learfield Sports. He's not a tenacious blogger like Nate, but throws some good stuff out there nonetheless. Matt is living proof that corporate America is alive and well and not overworked. Matt deserves it, though since he's a former radio guy who found life outside the biz. (Yes, Learfield is a radio network, but not a radio station. Big diff.) Matt also claims to have wet, sloppy sex with my very hot wife on a regular basis - it isn't true. I've yet to come home to find her laughing hysterically; nor have I noticed needle marks in or around her pelvic region.


One of the guys from Accounting here at Learfield is Darin Jobe. DJ is a great guy. He has a hot wife and three kids. His blog touches on topics far and wide. He is also very good about letting some emotion come through. His scrawlings are certainly entertaining, but don't hold your breath for any immediate updates, as he is on a self-inflicted hiatus. Come back soon, biotch!




Perhaps the most diligent blogger I've ever known is Steve Mays. Mays really a-Mays-es me. He's not an "old guy", but is an older gentleman. He's of an age from which one wouldn't expect much computer savvy, let alone tight, quality blogging. He blogs every day, lets loose his conviction, political views and general moral fibre (or lack thereof) and packages it all in very entertaining and informative prose. Definitely cruise by Steve's blog - you'll bookmark it and return - I guarantee it.




I suppose this will end the inaugural entry of my blog. Nothing really for you to enjoy, but a start. My next post should be more robust. I'll allow myself to delve into the shit that really bugs me. Like my new neighbors "landscaping" their backyard... and MY driveway!

Until then...