So How Many Jobs Have I Held?
Lets start counting?
- Nursery Assistant (not babies, plants and flowers) for Kerlins Korner in Annandale VA.
- Bag Boy (oops sorry Courtesy Clerk) for Safeway in Kaneohe Hawaii.
- Helper/Gofer for Altsa’s rolling Rocket Shop in Kailua Hawaii.
Strange job, this man I met at Honolulu Model Rocketry Club owned this old panel truck (he had converted it to propane power himself) that he drove around Kailua selling Model Rockets and related stuff: A rolling hobby shop. He was quite a character. - Helper/Gofer for CMR, Competition Model Rockets, in Alexandria VA
- Route Driver for Charles Chips in Northern VA.
Imagine driving a big panel truck filled with (really good) potato chips pretzels and the like in 2 and 5 pound metal cans. DAMN good chips. I did this for about 2 months one summer. I sucked. I hated it. I got fired, thank god! - Short Order Cook, Waiter and Route Driver for Steak ‘N Egg Kitchen in Northern VA.
- Board Operator for WAMU-FM in Washington DC
- Weekend DJ for WEAM-AM in Arlington VA.
- Production Assistant for WAMU-FM in Washington DC
- Weekend DJ for WOHN-AM in Herndon VA.
- Weekend DJ for WLMD-AM in Laurel/Columbia MD.
- Weekend/Swing DJ for WRNR-AM in Martinsburg WV.
- School Bus Driver for Fairfax Country Public Schools in Northern VA.
This was actually more fun than it sounds, especially as I drove to all my old schools. You haven’t lived till you have driven a busload of hostile, noisy and rambunctious 12 and 13 year olds to and from school for a year!
Now here is where the radio career kicks in full time.
- Afternoon Drive and Program Director WWOO, Berryville/Winchester, VA
My first full time job in radio and I am Program Director after a month? I was too happy to wonder what kind of company would put a kid like me in charge of their radio station. I found out soon enough: I got a phone call from the company that sold WWOO their transmitter and studio equipment, they wanted to know why WWOO had not paid their bill. I got out quickly! - Overnights and Afternoon Drive for KYKS-FM in Lufkin, TX.
- Nights and Afternoon Drive at WAZY-FM(Top-40), Lafayette, IN.
- Mornings at WZWZ-FM Kokomo, IN.
- Afternoons at WKHI-FM in Ocean City MD.
- Afternoons, Program Director and Mornings at KKQV-FM in Wichita Falls, TX.
- Afternoons and Operations Manager at WJLK-FM in Asbury Park, NJ.
One of my Program Directors at KKQV brought me up to New Jersey to help him with the station. About a year and a half later it was sold for WAY more money than it was worth. I got laid off I was on unemployment and working part-time at WJRZ for 6 months. - Weekends/Swing at WJRZ-FM(Top-40), Manahawkin, NJ.
- Production Manager WSTC/WQQQ Stamford, CT.
There are a lot of people in the radio business (much like many small businesses) who’s only qualification is that they have enough money to own a station. After 14 years of working for pinheads in empty suits who would be better qualified selling Amway door to door, I got tired of it.
WSTC/WQQQ was being sold, I was producing maybe one commercial a day (on a good day) and bored silly. Trust me, there is no worse place to work than a radio station that is on the block. I had done it before and never wanted to do it again.
Besides I was carrying on a long distance relationship with a woman back in NJ. I resigned and moved back to beautiful downtown Neptune City New Jersey. I moved in with her and she picked up the tab for rent (and other major expenses) as I took a major hit in the pocketbook when I got out of radio and took a job as a Telephone Support Tech at MacWarehouse.
So you want to know more?
Get a life!
Originally posted before I added WordPress to this site. Published date is approximate.