BETTER THAN EXPECTED

When I left South Carolina, a number of broadcasters I knew - scratched their heads. Some apparently EX-broadcasters think I'm an idiot...or deserve to be on a station only giving "hog reports" and such. Some mean stuff, really. Even some who will never go further than the 50-mile radius they grew up in are shamefully taking victory laps. These are people who need someone to fail in order to feel better about themselves.

To my new listeners (a full 9 share of the market), I can only say that I'm happy to be where I am...for several reasons.

1. I'm home. That makes it comfortable for me, and as a family. My wife has only a 2-hour drive to see her nearest relatives...and we have an instant baby sitter when we want to get away for a while.

2. I'm settled, and happy. I know the state and it's people very well. I won't have to keep moving every 2 or 3 years. I can settle down and enjoy myself.

3. I now have the freedom to create, explore, and focus on one particular job...instead of multi-tasking the Programming Department, News Department, Employee scheduling, and everything else you have to split your time with when you are part of management.

4. Radio is more valued here. People in Iowa (and other "red state" areas) depend on their radio much more than you can imagine. It's still a daily part of people's lives here...they don't think of it as just another device used for distraction. I can actually help people here...with entertainment, information, and local home-grown radio. Every one of the broadcasters who have attacked me for "losing" and being sent to the minors - are the same ones who complain about homogonized cookie cutter radio.

And finally...I knew I didn't make a mistake when I first walked into the lobby for my initial in-person interview. I looked behind the receptionist into the glass case...there stood a few old ribbon microphones...some transmitter tubes...a circa 1930 radio decorated with the original call letters (WMT)...and...

2 Marconi Station of the Year trophies...

Who knows...maybe I'll get to see another one up close. It's good to be back, people.

TOGETHER AGAIN

The entire family will be together again as of Wednesday. Wife and son arrived on Sunday and we're separated for a while until we get into our new home and the rest of our "stuff" arrives. All is good.

Except for...

The current temperature. 13-degrees.

At least it's above zero.

HOW TO DRIVE 1300 MILES AND NOT LOSE YOUR SANITY
or HOW TO HAVE MORE FUN THAN YOU THOUGHT POSSIBLE WITH A 20-MONTH OLD

I finished the trip I dreaded...I drove 1300-miles with my 20-month old daughter. I dreaded it because I knew it would be hell to try and keep her occupied, and ourselves advancing more than 50-miles at a time between "waaaa's" and "mommy!!!'s" and the need to stretch legs. We had a ball. None of my fears came true.

Our first night as father and daughter stopped in Knoxville, TN. She made it from Charleston to Knoxville in one clip. I was pleased as punch to have taken about a third of the trip off the length with barely a peep out of her in the back seat. Of course, Dad had to sing a few silly songs and point out all the trucks that were passing us by at a pretty good clip...but we made it.

The second day was better than the first. We got up at 7-am and had our last "southern" breakfast at a Waffle House down the street from the motel. She wowed the crowd with her eating and looking cute abilities...and practically had the whole restaurant cheering her each time she reached for another scoop of grits. My breakfast? 2-eggs, toast, sausage and hashbrowns. Her breakfast? 2-eggs, 1-waffle, grits, some bits of my sausage, and a whole glass of milk. And she ate most every scrap of it. Clearly, she is daddy's little girl.

We made it to Galesburg, IL on that second day with a small stop in some town along the way at the McDonald's playland. The largest Playland I have ever seen at a McDonalds restaurant. Say what you want about McDonald's food...but they do know how to "medicate" a needy child. You know that advertisement with the very pregnant (and gorgeous) woman eating the Thickburger at Hardee's? The tag line is, "...enjoy it while you can, because you'll probably have to eat at McDonald's for the next 12-years..." It's a good TV ad...and it's true.

The final day included one more stop at a rest area just east of the Quad Cities in Iowa. We had to stop...not for the obvious reasons...but because there was some snow on the ground. Cady had never seen the stuff outside the occasional movie and children's TV show...so I let her run around in it for a while. She stooped and grabbed as much as she could in her little bare hands...threw it around...sampled the flavor...and generally was giddy with joy. Until...until she realized that it was very cold stuff and her little hands hurt from being so cold.

Any other part of the country (especially in those "blue state" areas)...and I might have been arrested for child abuse in harming my child by possible frostbite. But the more sensible America will know that this was just one of those moments. As a parent, and a "red state" American...it was a moment that will be forever etched in my mind as one of the happiest of my life. It's the little things, folks.

I feel comfortable. A house is rented; I've met with my co-workers; the Vikings were on TV; I'm going to be at the MN vs Seattle NFL game this Sunday; and I can't wait to be on the air again on Monday.

One of the best parts is, the Governor of Iowa (Tom Vilsack, a Democrat) just came out with his tax plan proposals for this next session of the Iowa Legislature. Eliminate Federal deductability; lower rates (for the bottom only); raise rates for those "at the top"; promise after the changes that there'll be "more savings and tax cuts later" and all that other "centrist" liberal crap you hear everywhere else. It's the same one I remember him coming out with when I left Iowa in 2002. Not much changes when you leave. So, Governor Vilsack...get ready. You're gonna lose this one too...