Buffalo Wings

I love me some buffalo wings and with The Wife craving them or as she says Logan wants wings! I have been forced to go to Buffalo Wild Wings, which shall be known as B Dubs from here on out. The only problem is that the closest B Dubs is in Knightdale and that's a good 20 minute drive. If there was an actual road that went from Wake Forest to Knightdale it would be 10, but yet again that's another post. It's a journey to get over there and it better be a good time.

Well, on my birthday we had a dreadful experience. It was so bad, I actually got up and ordered old school style at the take out counter. From what we gathered, they sent a server home and chaos in sued and we were in no mans land. The young manager blamed his staff and flat out said they were bad. Something tells me he is new and doesn't understand that when you say that... I'm not coming back.

I sent off a email blasting the restaurant explaining what happened. The main manager called and wanted to say he was sorry and asked us to come back. We take him up on the offer for a free meal. Luckily it was the B Dubs of old, it was busy, but it seemed everything was going well. The manager was wonderful and we had a great time. Basketball, free wings and the fact I did not have to get up and get my own food and drink made it a good night.

I Know Him!

While watching and listening to the NCAA tournament I kept hearing names and those names kept sounding familiar. Come to find out, I actually sort of know them. With my three years working at ONN I got to meet a lot of the best in Ohio. As I am writing this I have seen two guys I had interviewed. BJ Raymond (Toledo St John) who is Xavier and Raymar Morgan (Canton McKinley) at Michigan St. I did a feature about BJ Raymond and followed St John as they advanced to the finals my last year. Raymar was part of a Canton McKinley bulldog team that dominated the state. He was a man playing against boys.

Then I also saw a story on the NFL Network about Jevon Ringer who went to Dayton Chaminade Julian. Javon is looking to make it in the NFL, but every time I see him all I can think about is the promo he did for us. He said "Hi, I'm Javon Ringer and you are watching SportsZone." He jumped and did a round house kick in front of the lens. All I kept thinking was, "Holy crap this guy came inches from kicking my camera, which was set up 5 feet off the ground. He later broke his leg his senior year, but he still has a chance to make it to the NFL.

That's the thing I miss, I will no longer be able to say "I know that kid, he almost kicked my camera" or "That guy dunked over my reporter (DeQuan Cook)." I will being able to do that. I know no one else cares, but for me it was always a perk of shooting high school and college sports.

Lucy is Learning

Back in February I was bored and did not have anything to do. How is that different than now... not much, but I have found ways to pass the time. One of them is training Lucy to come to the kitchen every time she hears Whoomp There it is by Tag Team. Go back to the original post to see why I am using that song.

Every time I gave her a treat I hit the button. It took a lot of time and a lot of Beggin' Strips and Scooby Snacks. Then a couple of weeks ago, Lucy was in the backyard and I decided to hit the button. She came bolting in looking for a treat. I have done my own Pavlov's dog.

So what am I suppose to do now? Should I use my new found powers of dog training for good... or EVIL!

Cold Calling 3: Rise of the Machine

Even though this is my second post about cold calling, today was my third time out. There was a difference today, I did not go to production companies. Instead I headed out to dance studios and ninja schools around Wake Forest.

To be honest I got a better reception from most. One ninja school did quite understand what I was doing. He kept say he has someone who takes pictures, I finally gave up with that guy. I didn't get any work out today, but there seemed to be at least a chance they might think about calling to see if they want to think about using me.

Do I want to be that guy at recitals who seems out of place, if it brings me money... yeah! Hopefully I can get at least one of these places to call me back. At least that would be a start. Also I bought a website and hopefully I can get this thing off the ground in the next couple of days.

Old Age

This past Sunday The Wife and I went with another family to celebrate a couple of birthdays. As we sat down we noticed a note on the table. A woman was celebrating her 102 birthday. That is not a typo, I checked it... let me restate it 102! She was born in 1907, think about it, she was born before World War I. I'm not talking just being born, I mean she was 7 when it started and was 8 when the US entered. Then she was 32 when WWII started, she was almost my age when the war to end all wars started. Then she was 5 when the Titanic sank.

Then I thought about all the technology, she is 1 year older than the model T. She went from radio, to TV and now is in the Internet age. The minimum wage 22 cents and hour compared to the $5.25 now. There was only 144 miles of paved roads. 95 percent of births were at home. How about this nugget, there were only 45 states. She has been alive for 19 Presidents. Compared to the 7 in my life time. The five leading causes of death where;

1. Pneumonia and influenza
2. Tuberculosis
3. Diarrhea- Really... diarrhea?
4. Heart disease
5. Stroke

Then I started thinking, she's an African American woman and living in the south. The Civil was was over 42 years before. Most likely her grandmother was a slave. I just wonder what kind of hatred she had to endure. Then she was 61 when Martin Luther King Jr was killed, 61 years old! She lived a life time under strong racism. Then to have 40 more years of change and finally she was 101 when Obama became President. If I went back in time to 1907 and said. One day America will have a black President I would have been tarred and feathered and run out of town on a rail.

She has seen more in her life time than I could ever fathom. I probably won't make it to that age, but just think about how much different things will be when I'm 66. I can't imagine going throw everything she has in her life.

Complaining... again

I had a friend email me a guy who was looking for a production assistant and of course it's work so I sent in my resume, references, blah blah blah and yet again I had my hopes up. Not a lot though, once you had hope dashed to sunder a few dozen times you start guarding yourself.

I check my mail and I got a message. "Oh please be good." I stated as I opened the message. It was more of the same, except this time I at least got a response. The work was for only ten an hour and according to him below my skill level.

That got me thinking, how many of these jobs have I been "over qualified" for? With the way things are going, I don't care if I'm over qualified, I want to work and try to make a decent living. I just don't get it, don't they understand that I am applying for that job? I know it's below what I have done, but I don't care. I'm just getting tired of the rejection. Just once I'd like to get a freaking interview for a job that will actually get me work.

It's been three months and no end is in sight and I just don't know what to do. I'm afraid that I will have to open a TVjobs.com account and try and get back into news. That means we have to move, I don't want that, but with baby Logan on the way, I have very little options right now.

Cravings

One of the things I have always heard about pregnancy is that the woman gets strange cravings like ice cream and pickles or just instant cravings. The Wife is in denial over the cravings, yet I know the truth and here is a list of the foods she has craved:

• Ice Cream- This has been the biggest one, I'm guessing at least 5 times.
• Fish Sticks- I kid you not, why? I don't know be she sees a Long John Silver commercial and she wants fish sticks.
• Buffalo Wings
• Mexican Food- I don't mind this at all.
• Jalapenos- Everything has to have them.
• McDonald's Pancake Breakfast-One Saturday morning 15 minutes before they stopped serving breakfast I had to run out and get the Deluxe breakfast.
• Pancakes- Totally different than the above, we had to stop at IHOP for pancakes today after the ultrasound.
• Salt and Vinegar Chips- She keeps getting a bag for me and before I can get a chip it's gone.
• Popsicles

There are a few that I can not remember, but she is reading this over my shoulder and the quote was "Mmmmmm Buffalo Wings!" Off to the closest BW3 in Knightdale a good 35 minutes away.

I am being forced to mention that most of these items are also things I crave. What can I say, Logan and I are in sync.

It's a Boy

We went this morning for the level two ultrasound and everything is looking good, the baby seems healthy and everything is good... oh yeah and we are having a boy. To be honest I would have been happy to have a girl, but this is awesome! The J Dog family name will live on for another generation. Then you have all the cool stuff I can do, play sports, teach him how to throw a knuckleball, spit, throw an elbow of the top ropes and all those other cool boy things.

Halloween will be a lot cooler. I'm now trying to find either a baby Wolverine outfit or how I can make my own Ash costume... chainsaw and all! The Wife is all happy as well, she now 100% feels like she is pregnant and is happy because we can go register at Baby's R Us and Target. I'm happy with that because I want to play with the scanner gun.

Cold Calling

Tuesday it was decided that I would trudge out into the world and attempt to find gainful employment via one of the worst methods ever... the cold call.

I looked up production companies in the Raleigh area and just went around the city handing out resumes. Everything went as I thought it would... I got a job. If you believed that I have some swamp land you can buy. Every where I went it was the same answer, "We are not hiring right now." A few were nice enough to give me a few suggestions and even said they would keep me on file. A few places seemed annoyed that I was there and one place no one even came to the front desk when I came in. I just laid my resume and reel on the scanner at the front desk.

The one thing I had about doing this is the fact that 99.9% of the people are not looking for someone to hire. I'm just hoping that I can get lucky, but my track record has shown that luck is not on my side.

On Thursday I am trying the Cary, Morrisville, Apex and Chapel Hill areas. Hopefully I will not be in the minivan of doom by them.

Craigslist

Since my demise from news I have used craigslist the most to find jobs. Monster and Careerbuilder do not really have any TV jobs and TVjobs.com usually doesn't have too many decent market listings for photojournalists and I don't feel like paying for it. Most of the listings are not the best work in the world, but sometimes you find one that is not that bad, like this one;

Seeking reliable, enthusiastic, motivated, people wanting to work as sports
videographer for The ReelAthletes.com.

The ReelAthletes.com is a full service media production company that
provides professional video taping services for all sports.

Videographer needed must have 3ccd camera mini dv format and tripods please
detail your experience and equipment. Hourly earnings $15-$25 per hour Please
send contact information to set up interviews in Raleigh NC if interested.

Not a lot of money, but after looking at the website I could do this. I may only make $50 a gig, but it appears to be easy work. I apply and as usual I have not heard anything back.

That's not the main reason I'm posting. It's more of the idiots that post something insulting to the original poster:

Are you serious? You expect someone to provide their own equipment for $25
per hour, with no minimum guarantee? So a person is supposed to tie up their
entire day even if the event is two hours - meaning you will only make maximum
$50?????? You are NUTS!!!!!! Nothing professional about your organization
as anyone in the business knows a good videographer with equipment costs minimum
$300 per day. GET A LIFE and quit looking for slave labor!!!!!!! Craigslist is
becoming nothing more then bottom feeders using the high unemployment for their
gain!!!!!!

I did not change a thing from either post, the response guy needs to shut up in my opinion. While working in news I did not make $25 an hour. If he would have actually gone to the website he would have seen they are not looking for high end. I'm getting tired of the two extremes of craigslist; the guys who want you to work for nothing and the self righteous jerks that think every job should cost a minimum of $300 an hour/day/minute. I would love to make $50 for two hours of work that I can do in my sleep. I get three of those a week that's an electric bill. If one school has a couple of kids, and bang them out all at once then you have a car payment for The Wife.

I love the fact that $15 an hour is slave labor, last time I checked that's about 2.5 times minimum wage. I can't make that working at Kohl's... trust me I tried. I love how people throw that phrase around in situations like this. Would I like to make $300 a day... YEAH, but I'm going to take whatever I can that will not cost us more in the long run. Response guy needs to find out how good a $300 dollar a day job is and leave the one who are struggling to decide whether or not 15-25 and hour is good enough.

New Camera

I'm surprised I have not posted about this earlier in the week, but I got my new camera and wow, it's tiny!

I knew the Sony HRV-A1U was the smallest prosumer they made, but look at the picture to the left, it's barely bigger than my hand. Even though it is small, all the reviews (not on Sony's site) said it is small but high end and so far it's rockin like Dokken. The attached XLR mice box allows you to to get decent sound, but it also has a mini plug for the smaller wireless mics. Obviously it is light weight and in normal light it takes a great image.

The draw backs appear to be that everything has to be done through a menu, so if you want to change audio level you have to scroll through the menu. Also the DV tape is bottom loaded. So if you are needing a tape change and you are on a tripod... that's going to take a few seconds as you screw off the plate to get to the tape. It does not have a CCD, but a CMOS I've heard a lot of cons and some pros on this chip. The biggest thing it's more cost effective so that's a plus and you're not suppose to get the "Streaking" bright lights give the smaller cameras/ the P2 I was using at WNCN. As all smaller cameras, lower light sucks. It gets more grainy as the camera will bump up the gain to pull in more light. I knew that was going to happen, the smaller cameras just can't handle low light as well as a professional camera.

I like the camera so far, but I have to get the mind set of bigger is better out of my head. I remember seeing people with these small cameras at events thinking they need to leave this to professionals like me in other words a twelve grand camera. If I can get half way decent image with this thing, I should be able to blow away any small time crews. I just have to remind myself and anyone who asks it's not the size of the camera, but what you can get from it. I also have to remember I'm not shooting Ben Hur with this thing, it's weddings and kids doing things.

Still I am amazed at the size of this thing, Gilbert the Gnome is as long as this thing!

The camera in the last picture is a Canon XH A1 owned by Lifepointe Church.

The Loaner

With the car in the shop for a week, the auto shop was nice enough to give us a loaner. I was worried about what they were going to give me. I kept flashing back to the movie The Mask and seeing a giant hoopty, little did I realize that a hoopty would be a lot better.

I go in and see the keys to a Chrysler and was thinking that the car off to the side was a Chrysler and that would be fine. No, that would be too nice. I'm directed over to the other side of the building and I see a blue Plymouth Voyager... from what has to be the mid 90s. It's the kind of mini van you see on the side of the highway broken down. The Wife immediately laughs at me knowing my hatred of minivans.

This thing has all the mediates of the mid 90s, AM/FM radio, tape deck, air bags, a horn, heat and power locks. I am stylin and profilin here, look out ladies I'm crusin in style. I keep thinking of the minivans The Dad use to get while working for EcoLabs. It was always a minivan so that he could get all his equipment in there. Of course that flashes me back to high school and I fall into a fetal position, and last time I check you can't drive from the floor boards. I can't wait for Wednesday to arrive.

Car Problems... Again

A few months ago The Mazda started to have a bad vibration and I took it in and was told that it was the tires. We replaced then and guess what, the vibration did not go away. We would have fixed it right away, but other things happened. Had to fix The Wife's car and the whole no job think kind of hurt.

I mentioned in a previous post that we got some money back and part of it went to fixing the cars. I take The Mazda in and they find out that the bar and the behring that goes from the transmission to the passenger front tire is shot. It will cost about $5oo to replace. We are fine with that and start to plan when we can get The Honda in to fix the air conditioner. Later in the day I get a call from the shop. The part is in and fixed, but... I don't like to her but on a sentence that should have a period. I'm informed that most of the vibration is gone, but the differential in the transmission is causing some of the vibration.

The place we go to is nice, but the guy who makes all these calls can't keep on track. He keeps veering off asking me if I really like this car, if we need two cars and other not fun questions. Finally it is reveled if we wish to fix this car it will cost us $2626. I guess Mazda thought it was a good idea to put the part that is broke inside the transmission. To just fix the differential will cost us as much as a replacement tranny.

We do the math and we have enough between the amount we set aside for cars, emergency fund and the money we were going to send to the state of North Carolina. I've had some people say that we should just go out and buy a used car and be done with it. The only problem is, the car we buy for three grand is going to be pretty bad and I like my car. I might as well just fix it and keep a car I like.

The big issue I have with all this is five months ago when I brought the car in, did these guys actually look at the problem or did they just look at the tires. I keep wondering how much damage was caused by the bad diagnoses. I'm debating about bringing this up. I don't want to get a discount out of it, I just want to know. If they tell me they can't be for sure or give me a bad answer, I'll be looking for a new mechanic... again. Seriously, why do my cars hate North Carolina so much.

Polish Delight

I am not Polish nor catholic, but every Fat Tuesday I get all excited. You might be wondering why I would get excited for Fat Tuesday, not I am not going to Mardi Gras, but I do crave a Paczki.

That strange word at the end of the paragraph above is pronounced poon-shkey and it is freaking AWESOME! Yet it is evil, let me explain. even though Polish people hate it when I say this, but it's a giant donut of death.It's double the sugar, double the lard, double everything. The story I pieced together over the years is that in the old country the ladies needed to get rid of everything bad for Lent and one day someone thought of putting everything in a donut that you eat on Fat Tuesday. I think the Catholic church needs to find out who created this god sent and make them a saint.

Even though they can have as many calories as one and a half Big Macs and 29% of your daily fat I had to have one. Luckily Lowe's Food carries them, why I have no idea, but I raced out and bought a pack. Personally I love the lemon ones, I should get the prune filled to flush it out, but I hate prunes. It was an OK paczki, nothing as good as the Ohio Theater in Toledo, but what is. Those paczki are like mana filled awesomeness.

I'm half tempted to eat a second one, but as I wrote two years ago that might be a bad idea.

Crafty

When we bought our house one of the things The Wife liked was the previous owners had a old window hanging on the kitchen wall. I also thought it was kind of cool and we have been looking for a similar window at a price we could afford.

While at a strange antique store we find a window frame for five dollars. Oddly enough that is in our price range and we took it home. With the money from the government we bought some paint and sanding paper. Now for my non married readers, you will not understand this, I am not the most crafty of people, I am creative, but I am not good with wood or paint. So of course guess who is doing this project... I am of course. It's one of those things that happens. I am doing the work and The Wife is supervising.

So far the project is going pretty well, I have sanded and removed most of the old white paint and put one coat of paint on the exterior side. While working I do get little "pointers" to make on how to paint or sand better. Will this window frame ever win an award for awesomeness... probably not, but my goal is to make it look good on my wall.

C is for Constant Bombardment

With our tax check in our bank account we thought we would use part of the home improvement budget and go to Lowe's for needed supplies. While we were leaving we saw a few Girl Scouts selling cookies. I don't know if you have ever seen a pregnant woman after she sees those cookies. It was a strange mix of a demonic possession with shear joy. I thought she was going to take the brownie hostage until her little friends gave us all the boxes.

Reason and a priest over came her and we bought two boxes (Thin Mints for her and Tagalongs for her and me). As we were driving I realized, that they were in front of a home improvement store. Then we saw them in front of a pizza place, a grocery store, side of the street and inside my house! OK maybe not in my house but it felt like a bad zombie movie. Instead of trying to eat my brain the girl scout zombies were trying to eat what little bit was in my wallet. This is getting out of had, I'm yearning for the days when the only time you saw Girl Scouts was either a co worker pimping out the boxes or a random kid coming to my door.

I think we need to change the old adage about a nuclear blast, no longer are cockroaches are the only things to survive, I believe the girl scouts will sell their cookies to the zombies not killed... or maybe the cockroaches.

Angel Food

A few years ago while we were living in Columbus someone mentioned a Christian organization that gave food to people at a really cheap price. We looked at it but felt guilty about trying it, we were struggling, but not that bad to be getting food for real cheap.

Jump to the present and we are now needing help and someone mentioned the same group, Angel Food Ministries. We remembered the conversations we had and decided that now would be a good time to try it. The whole purpose of this group is to give people who need food a cheap place to find it, yet if you do not need help, you can still buy food, they just want you to take the money you save and give it to a charity.

The food above is what we got for $52, no I did not type that wrong, let me spell it out fifty-two dollars and zero cents. I'll give you a quick run through of the food; 2 steaks, 4 pork chops, 4 chicken breast, 7 breaded chicken breasts, 6 Salisbury steaks, pound of potatoes, eggs, a pound of sweet potatoes, a pineapple and much more. Look they even gave us a sweet potato pie (it is North Carolina after all)!

Now contrast this cornucopia to what The Wife picked up at Target (Sorry Target, we are not slandering you... you just happened to be the store she drove by.) Milk, cereal, fiber bars, tea mix, two chips and fig cookies. Guess the total... $25. Holy crap, we can't live off of that and it cost us almost half as much as Angel Food.

The only draw back for me was when you went and picked it up you had to go through a line and the volunteers placed the food in what ever box (laundry basket) you brought. I felt like I shouldn't be there, but I saw people who appeared better off than I. So that made me feel a little better. I just have to get rid of that stupid pride and except this gift. I seriously would advice anyone to use Angel Food, it's not just a Carolina thing, it's all over the southeast and some of the midwest (I'm looking at you Ohio). They even have a steak package you and order, I'm trying to convince The Wife that the baby is craving steak. I know I always am.

Backyardagins

For next few days The Wife and I are watching Titus for Shawn and Melissa, we enjoy watching him because it gives Lucy a playmate when we are away (Titus is also very low maintenance). When I get home from some video work at the church I find two dogs in the back yard and I have no idea what was going on.


Where what I figured out what was going on. Titus just HAD to greet me at the fence as I came in. Lucy wanted her usual welcome back scratch and Titus wasn't having it. He growled at Lucy and the pup took it as play time. The above video is just a small part of what seemed to last for a good 20 minutes.

My favorite part is when Lucy "boxes" Titus. She gets the giant eyes, jump while landing a one two combo. Titus usually wins by rolling Lucy and she will stay down for a little bit. Then run away and the whole thing starts over.


Then you have the neighbor's dog Copper, she sees the craziness inside our yard and has to come as close as her electronic fence allows to see the commotion. I keep wondering if she is wanting to join in or just is enjoying the show.

Photoshop Called, You Need to Read the Manual Again

If you are not on Facebook then you man not know what I am talking about. Lately on the right of Facebook they have these annoying ads that usually have a line about "I'm rich find out how," or "The government is giving money away." You know it's like those spam emails, but this time they don't go directly into a folder you never have to open. Most of the time I glance at them and just go back to posting pictures and finding out what people are doing. Last week I noticed the above picture, I see Katie Couric and a check. Then I actually look at it and I notice the hands don't match her skin tone and to be honest the size of the hands and check are off. They have five or six of these ads and all of them are this bad. One even has a French anchor with the same hands. The big problem is there is a graphic over her shoulder of a burning building. Wow ad guys, you couldn't change the graphic? I want to know who falls for these ads. I will admit I did click on one just to see what they were trying to scam me with and all it sent you too was a fake blog telling you you need to buy some crappy thing or something. If you are spending money on something like this at least make the picture different.

Strange Side of Craigslist

With me being out of work and looking for jobs and equipment, I use craigslist a lot. I've applied to 8 job so far and have found some possible equipment purchases. Yet, there are a lot of strange post that even baffles me. I'm not talking adult content work I mean just plain weird. This is the strangest one yet. For the first few lines it's normal, just a post asking for women to play football with out shoes. OK the no shoes thing is a little strange. Then it goes to the crazy boat.

Hey Girls Here is the info on the Powderpuff Games. Unique fun at its finest.
$200 an hour Females for Barefoot/ Powderpuff football game.A male foot group is
funding a Barefoot Powderpuff football games this Spring with the next one in
February. We may move indoors on a soccer type cushy turf for the bad weather
days .Those of you who did last months games are welcome back plus we will be
adding a few more. The males participants are either from a rugby group or
firefighters. They are almost all in twenties. The females for hire will wear
football jerseys , and shorts. The male foot group members simply like to watch
female barefeet in action with scantly clad men. The male players will be
wearing mesh thongs.This will be at a semi public field and The male foot group
members may ONLY watch from the sidelines and will not be permitted to talk to
the participants. You do not have to be athletic but at least look good
trying.Pay is $200 an hour for a four hour game/event. plus tips.If selected you
have the option to work a partial game. We will be adding a few more players and
a couple cheerleaders for the Fall roster. The barefoot cheerleaders get $75 an
hour plus tips.The event will NOT be filmed or videod .This should be another
fun event and surely profitable. Bring attitude and barefeet.

Wow so many questions so many times I have thrown up in my mouth a little. So this group is definitely in it for a foot fetish but the thong wearing guys just... I don't know. It's interesting that they had to put in this post that no members will be allowed to talk to the participants. Yet the cheerleaders get tips. This is just strange, I can't imagine a bunch of guys oogling over girls playing football in bare feet. Yeah I know there are all kind of people out there, but this is just over the top for me.