If you only make one correct decision in your life, finding the right partner is the one to make. Barb and I got married 24 years ago today. The ceremony was held in her parent’s living room and took about 15 minutes. I wore a sportcoat and tie, Barb a nice suit. After the ceremony the minister rode off on his bike and we went out to the patio where most of our friends were listening to the MU football game. We guzzled beer all afternoon and then went home to change into our costumes for the annual Halloween party/reception. Barb and I dated for six years before we made it official, so we’ve been together for 30 years. Not one real argument in all that time. I have never been nagged about anything, large or small. Up until “My Big Fat Greek Wedding,” (she liked it, I left after 10 minutes and went across the hall and watched Triple-X) we agreed on almost every movie we ever saw. We like and read the same books. She thinks I’m funny. I think she’s the kindest, most even-tempered person I’ve ever met. Another 30 would be just about right.
Category Archives: Personal History
Born, not made
I’ve been thinking about work place dynamics a lot lately. Managers, employees, bosses, leadership, morale. For most of the past 30 years I was part of “the management team.” A couple of years ago I worked my way back down the corporate ladder so that I have several bosses (instead of one) and nobody calls me boss. The two most significant results of this devolution are I don’t get invited to lunch as often as I used to and life is much sweeter.
During the peak of my Management Years I read books and attended workshops and seminars and took it all very seriously. Most of it was bull shit. I stopped all that after reading my first Dilbert book. Scott Adams describes The Boss this way:
“His top priorities are the bottom line and looking good in front of his subordinates and superiors (not necessarily in that order). Of absolutely no concern to him is the professional or personal well-being of his employees. The Boss is technologically challenged but he stays current on all the latest business trends, even though he rarely understands them.”
Most managers don’t have any idea how they’re doing because they look to their boss for feedback instead of the people reporting to them. Looking back (and maybe a little ahead, too), I think the difference between good companies and great companies is that good companies have good leaders…and great companies have great leaders. Nothing wrong with being a good leader or working for a good company…but it’s a little harder if you’ve ever worked for a great leader at a great company. And don’t let anybody shit you…great leaders are born. They’re not made. And the men and women down in the trenches can tell the difference in an instant.
A blank and flat canvas
“It’s no secret that Kennett is Sheryl’s home town. In all my previous visits I had stared in wonder at the place and wondered how a personality like Sheryl could come from somewhere that is essentially a blank (and flat) canvas.”
From the September 12, 2002 entry in Chris Hudson’s Tour Diary. Not quite sure who Chris Hudson is but he (she?) made the trip to Kennett when Sheryl Crow went home to recognize the efforts of some local first graders who won a contest with their book about September 11.
Couldn’t find any bio on Hundson, so I don’t know if he’s part of Sheryl’s band, her web guy or just someone that travels with her. But it was interesting to get his take on the old home town. I’m guessing that –like Sheryl– he rubs elbows with the glitterati. Unlike her, he ain’t from Kennett and it’s a long way from L.A. and N.Y. to Kennett, MO.
So, what do you want to talk about?
In Des Moines for the Radio Iowa 15th anniversary party. Kay’s caterer backed out when she learned pork would be served. And we’re not talking those little bacon wraps on the cocktail weenies. These were huge, Iowa pork chops. Oy vey.
When I arrived at the hotel I learned that my room would not have HBO. (“We got Show Time, isn’t that the same thing?”) No, it’s not. HBO is showing the season finale of Sex and the City and The Wire. HBO is the home of Six Feet Under. And The Sopranos. And Band of Brothers. And just about everything I think is worth watching on…well, it’s not TV, it’s HBO. I cancelled my reservation and scooted across the street to a Fairfield Inn. “Do you have HBO?” I asked. “For another month or so,” replied the young lady at the registration desk. “The chain is getting rid of HBO because we’re pretty much a ‘family hotel’ and we got a lot of complaints about the adult content.”
So, one of two things is happening here. The parents are leaving their children alone in the hotel room where they can (could) hear Dennis Miller say “fuck”… or the parents are in the room with the kids but are unable stop them from watching HBO. But, hey, I give a shit. I get to watch the great HBO programming and that’s really all I care about.
You know what really amazes me? Not just how many people don’t have HBO, but how many people have never seen any of these shows. Or have any interest in finding out what all the buzz is about. The Sopranos? (“Yeah, I think I heard someone talking about that show. It’s a mob thing, right?”)
And it’s not just HBO. It’s all kinds of things. I’ve quit talking about XM Satellite Radio. I can’t stand the puzzled looks. (“So, it’s radio from a satellite or something? Huh.”) Now, I don’t expect everybody to run out and plop down a couple of hundred bucks for one of these, but how could you not have even heard about it? Same thing for blogging. Articles in Newsweek, Time, The Wall Street Journal… all over the Web. Never heard of it. (“So, it’s a web page…but different?”)
What are you people doing with your lives?
Radio Free Iowa.
They’re holding a little shindig in Des Moines on Sunday to mark the 15th anniversary of Radio Iowa. It’s one of the networks our company owns and operates and I’m going up for the party. Two of the original staff (O. Kay Henderson and Todd Kimm) are still with the network. That still seems amazing to me. I drove about 40,000 miles back and forth (up and down) across Iowa that first year, signing up radio stations for the network. But it was pretty easy. They all got idea and were eager to have such a service. I really believe I as the one –smartass that I am– that suggested Radio Free Iowa for the name. Once they threw out “Free,” the rest stuck.
Where are they now?
My first effort at a website dealt with the history of the radio station (KBOA) where my father (and later, I) worked for many years. A visitor to the site recently wrote:
“I have been trying to find Norman Shainberg who was a college classmate and friend. I last saw him in Halloran General Hospital when he arrived from Europe on the Swedish ship “Gripsholm” as a repatriated prisoner of war. Being 83 years myself I naturally wonder if he is still alive and if so how can I contact him.”
I’m trying to help him find his friend. This is one of the things I like best about the Net.
Why do maid make hotel beds as they do?
Number One: the house-keeping staff at all of the hotels and motels in the U. S. (the world?) have never stayed in a hotel or motel. Number Two: the house-keeping staff at all of the hotels and motels really hate their jobs and transfer that hatred to the people who sleep in the beds they make up each day.
In every hotel I have ever stayed, the beds are made in such a way that when you turn down the bed, the bottom sheet (never fitted) is pulled completely free, forcing you to remake the bed. This is because the maid (or house keeper or whatever the politically correct term) insists on tucking the blanket, the top sheet and the bottom sheet together. You can’t turn back the bed without unmaking it. Problem without a solution? Hardly. Tuck in the bottom sheet and let the top sheet and blanket hand loose (except at the foot of the bed, of course). You know, like you probably do at home. Which explanation is more likely? I hope it’s number two. I hope every maid gets to stay in a hotel/motel at least once every year. And when they turn back the bed, I imagine them dropping to their knees one more time to re-make the bed. Good night.
May I have your autograph?
I’m told they have these baseball “camps” where middle aged guys can pay to go hang out with real baseball players. That’s pretty much what Gnomedex was for me. Four hundred really smart, badly dressed, but very nice people (mostly guys). If they could tell by looking at me that I was not a true geek, they were too nice to mention it. We were summoned to the Des Moines Marriott by Chris Pirillo…the Lockergnome. Lockergnome is a person, a newsletter (300,000 readers), a website and an online community (called Gnomies). Chris put together an A-List of speakers that included some of the Big Names in the online world: Steve Gibson; Phillip Kaplan; Mark Thompson; Doc Searls; Evan Williams; and Leo Laporte. None of whom disappointed.
Gnomedex.
If you don’t know, it doesn’t matter. More fanny packs than Disney World. Geeks galore and one wannabe. When TechTV star Leo Laporte showed up at the pre-conference party, I morphed into a 13 year old girl who finds herself on an elevator with the ‘N-Sync boys. A few minutes later Leo drags Megan Marrone (another TechTV star) over to meet one of her fans. You could see her mentally composing the restraining order.
Indiana State Fair
Due to a staffing crises at one of our networks, I’ve been pressed into service to cover (?) the Indiana State Fair. Since ours is an ag network, I’ll be there for Farm Day, August 14th. It’s been a while since I’ve been entrusted with an asignment like this and I’m desperate not to screw it up. It promises to be a pretty exciting day:
Old-fashioned Pancake Breakfast (There must be contemporary pancake breakfasts)
Square Dancing Tractors and Antique Tractor Olympics (Square Dancing Tractors? I’m there!)
Celebrity Milking Competition (I didn’t know you could)
Rooster Crowing Contest (Good audio)
National Shropshire Show (I’m not sure I can say that)
Open Shetland Show (…or this)
Sheep Shearing Demonstrations (…or this!)
Clogging (Plumbers’ online journals?)
Country Western Dancing (couples) (I’m staying for the individual competition)
I’m sure there will be out-takes and I’ll try to share them here.