Bar Codes and Magnetic Strips

I finally realized it while travelling with the Air Force basketball Team the last 2 weeks. I am a bar code and a black magnetic strip. So are you. Thats what we have come to. Go grocery shopping. They scan your item and find the bar code with all this information on the product. Fly around the country. When you check in they ask you to swipe you credit card, and from it they pull all this info about you. Kinda scary in a way. My life has been reduced to a 4 inch black strip (although there are those that would say its more interesting than me in real life!) Rent a car, buy anything in a store, and thats who we are to the credit card people and the computers. And after all, thats whats running this country, not the government. I have two credit cards-no debit cards. My sons have debit cards and kid me about being old fashoined. I tell them, "Look-if you are in a foreign country and there's a mob coming after you, hold up your debit cards and see what happens. You're done. If I am in the same predicament, I pull out a wad of cash. The mob stops, and I have time to plan my escape. From cash to codes, from coins to cards with magnetic strips. Its faster these days, but more colder and impersonal. Oh for the good ole days!

The Girl Scouts

How do we get out of this deep hole called a recession? You and I need to start spending money. Sounds simple doesn't it? I was reminded of that walking out of the grocery store when I saw two Girl Scouts selling cookies. It would have been easy to walk past and say, "No Thank You." Instead I stopped and bought two boxes. Now-that won't put any of us in the black anytime soon, but, if we can all do a little, maybe, just maybe we slowly start to turn things around. It cost me $6.50 for those two boxes of girl scout cookies. I bet between your couch cushions and the car you can find money for a box or 2. We have to start somewhere. I would rather trust you and I than the big banks to turn things around. I choose to trust the Girl Scouts. After all, you don't see them asking for bailout money, do you?

These Are Historic Times

It's amazing what's happening in the economy. It seems like, overnight, things are crumbling around us. Experts say its a long overdue correction. What are we correcting? Did we have too many jobs to begin with? My sister nearly lost her job. My son is in danger of losing his. And I'm in the wonderful world of radio, where anything can, and will happen. Few of us can remember times as challenging as these. Some say the answer is President Obama's Stimulus package.
I hope it is. I worry so much about the people losing their jobs. Many of us don't want government intruding in our life. However that could be what saves millions from being out of work. Men and women smarter than me say they can fix our problems. Let's all hope they are as smart as they think they are.

Advice

I love hearing how different people have succeeded in life. Hey, nothing is easy. There are no shortcuts. It fascinates me how people have climbed the ladder, and the things they do to get
where they want to go. A book I highly recommend, although its out of print is, "Strategies in Winning" by Carl Mays. A great, great book. I have so many things underlined and highlighted.
A long long time ago I read an article on Baseball great Carlton Fisk who was a catcher with the Boston Red Sox and the Chicago White Sox. He shared in the article a poem written by his then 18 year old son...

"Dreams are what you make them
It all depends on You
If you really want it bad enough
Desire can make them come true

You can dream about most anything
But Dreams won't get it done
But when you bust your butt
and dreams come true,
That's when You'll have your fun."

I love that poem because it reminds me that hard work, and not just going through the motions,
makes all the difference in the world. I know times are tough and so many people are out of work. But my mom always says when one door closes another one opens. Yes, the doors are fewer and farther between, but they are out there. Don't coast-keep working hard. Dream, but at the same time bust your butt. Success is defined many ways. Keep working hard and good things will happen.

Oh Happy Days

I got together with some friends this past Sunday to watch the NFL Playoff games at a local watering hole. These are people I used to work with and I consider them among my closest friends. As we talked we would ask how each other was doing and the responses were very unenthusiastic, "Okay-nothing great." "Hanging in there-trying to keep busy." There is a mood in the air thats very uneasy and very disquieting. I don't want to say we're all afraid, but most of us are very cautious-about our job, our bank account-and what could happen next. I noticed the same thing when I was in the mall the other day. I like the mall because you can get, I believe, a real sense of whats going on in the community. The mall is usually bustling with people, and you hear kids laughing and such. But the other day it was quiet. People were wandering through and there was a feeling of uneasiness. And these are the times we live in. For better, for worse, its what we have to deal with. And if you are like me and have kids that are grown up, you worry about them as well, because they are new in the workforce and don't have as much experience to fall back on. I am not sure what it will take to turn things around in this country, but the mood is grim and things don't appear to be changing any time soon.

On The Road With Jim

I really like my job-or should I say jobs. One of them is calling the Play-By-Play for the Air Force Academy Football and Basketball teams. I am very lucky to thave this position and always remind myself of that. I travel with the teams and get to see much of the country-or should I say airports and hotel rooms. People come up to me and say, "Wow-you travel all the time. You get to see some great cities and sightsee." No-not quite. Take Football-We leave on a charter Friday morning. We fly in to the city of the team we are playing early Friday afternooon. I grab all our radio equipment and head out to the stadium so we can get set up and make sure everything is working. That can take up to 2 hours. Then I go to the hotel and work on my notes. Most guys who want to do play by play think you just show up and talk. No. I spend up to 15 hours getting ready for a football game. I work into the night and early morning-grab 3 hours sleep-get up and go do the game. Then we fly home right afterwards. Basketball is not much better. I got into Albuquerque for our game against New Mexico Friday afternoon at 5. Went right to the hotel where I spent the rest of the night because I didn't feel well. Up early Saturday and spent the day working on my basketball notes. Got to the arena at 5:55 for a 7:30pm game. After the game prowled around late Saturday night in Albuquerque (not recommended for the faint of heart) looking for a Mcdonalds for dinner. Got to sleep at 1am. Up at 5:30am to catch an 8:15am flight and land in Denver Sunday morning at 9;15. Really glamorous huh? Plus I am dragging a suitcase, 2 bags of radio equipment (always fun passing through security with that) and my bag full of notes. I love what I do, but this job requires long hours-short sleep-a love of fast food and the desire to do your homework. And yes its easy to forget what city you are in.

ALL GOOD THINGS.......

IT WAS A SHOCK TO MILLIONS OF BRONCO FANS WHEN OWNER PAT BOWLEN FIRED HEAD COACH MIKE SHANAHAN. "THE MASTERMIND," AS HE WAS OFTEN CALLED, HAD BEEN DENVER'S HEAD COACH 14 YEARS AND WITH THE FRANCHISE FOR 21 SEASONS. THAT'S FOREVER BY TODAY'S STANDARDS. WHAT WERE YOU DOING IN 1994 WHEN HE WAS NAMED HEAD COACH? YEA, I CAN'T REMEMBER EITHER. BUT ITS A REMINDER THAT ALL GOOD THINGS COME TO AN END. AND MIKE SHANAHAN WAS A GREAT THING FOR THE BRONCOS. BACK TO BACK SUPER BOWL TITLES IS ALL YOU NEED TO REMEMBER. BUT LIKE THAT FAVORITE SONG YOU LOVED FOR A WHILE, OR THAT TIE THAT SEEMED TO ALWAYS LOOK GOOD, YOUR TASTES, AND THINGS, CHANGE. BOWLEN GAVE SHANAHAN ENOUGH TIME TO TURN THINGS AROUND. BUT WHEN YOU COME DOWN TO THE LAST GAME OF THE SEASON, WITH A PLAYOFF BERTH RIDING ON THE OUTCOME, AND GIVE UP 52 POINTS, IT WAS TIME FOR BOWLEN TO LOOK ELSEWHERE FOR A NEW COACH. DON'T FEEL BAD FOR SHANAHAN. HE IS OWED 20 MILLION DOLLARS BY BOWLEN, WHICH SHOULD HOPEFULLY PAY FOR HIS FURNITURE IN HIS 32 THOUSAND SQUARE FOOT HOME. BUT ITS A LARGER REMINDER OF ALL GOOD THINGS COME TO AN END, AND THE ONLY CONSTANT IN LIFE IS CHANGE.