Go see Uncle Richard

It's Tuesday morning and the car's in the shop getting a new bumper after a winter full of running over ice chunks so I gotta ride the bike today. That's not all that out of the ordinary in that I ride the bike for weeks at a time. It's just that I haven't done it in a month and maybe maybe not there's air in the tires. 

Plus it's cold as hell out... and windy. At least it's not raining so there.

And at least Rieth Riley construction company finished the parking lot outside our door at the Purdue University Calumet Commercialization and Manufacturing Excellence Center. That's a way too long name. Sure, it hints at what is in the building, but there's nothing catchy to it. To the two or three of you who read this, help me think of something catchy.

It's primary season and for the most part it's been pretty quiet. A lot of times in an election season local radio gets inundated with a bunch of political advertising that boots out a lot of the regular advertising. It's something that I'm not sure actually helps the business in the long run. Sure, you take in cash on the political stuff... but some of your regulars or your new advertisers don't get the attention they deserve and so you don't necessarily grow during the season. This is a municipal election season so it's more fragmented and little advertising purchased by the few candidates that there are. I don't mind, put it that way. 

At least Verlie comes in today. Every other Tuesday Ms. Suggs comes in with her briefcase full of articles, notes, copies, spreadsheets, photos and more. In other words, when Verlie comes in I don't have to prepare much at all. Which comes in handy today in that I gotta leave early on the bike and won't get to watch the Channel 2 news. 

Which is what I do most mornings. Get up, dressed, brush teeth and then eat cereal while watching Megan Glaros do the weather and Derrick Young do the traffic. That's at five. Then walk out the door at the first commercial break and drive the seven minutes to the station. It's not a bad life.

So after a couple hours with Verlie, we turn to the Community Programming Initiative portion of the morning. The Highland show at 8, the Munster show at 8:30 and then the Teamsters at 9:05. I typically run a little late so I wind up taking it from 530 to 10am, which is a long time for a guy with questionable social skills to talk. Last night for attorney Dave Gladish's dinner at sponsor Theo's, we walked to the bar after dinner and some people at the end of the bar started laughing and making some noise.

"Oh my god," the woman said. "we were just watching a video of you."

It was Abby Richardson and her uncle Gary Richardson. They were sitting at the bar watching a video on her phone of me interviewing her father, Uncle Richard, the barber, from a few years ago. They bought us a drink and my wife reminded me that I need a haircut and that maybe I should go see Uncle Richard. Why not.