I’ve been thinking about broadcasting a lot lately. A few weekends ago, TriLUG was at the Durham Hamfest, where amateur radio operators from the area gathered for a swapmeet. I was there to help explain Linux to hams, but my real goal was to put faces to the names I’ve been hearing on the air.

I don’t feel comfortable speaking to people I don’t know. Or more specifically, I don’t feel comfortable speaking without something specific to say. I’m a lurker on the ham repeaters where lots of hams will “ragchew” all day long, seemingly saying nothing at all. So the idea of speaking into a microphone with potentially thousands of listeners is a bit daunting.

Even so, I’ve had a lot of my friends tell me that I’ve got a radio voice. My answering machine message garners the most comments – and I admit I kinda ham it up there. But to consider doing voice work seriously is something I have never really considered.

Like a lot of kids fresh out of high school, I had no clue what I wanted to do for a living. It took me a while to even consider going in the military the way I eventually did. I knew, though, that broadcasting appealed to me. I was a big fan of the Greaseman, DC101‘s shock jock. I was such a fan that I recognized his wife when she visited the drug store where I worked. I also treasured the DC101 T-shirt I got autographed by the Grease. Oh yeah, I was into it big time.

Thinking of exploring radio as a career, I responded to an ad I heard for a local “radio school.” It was a vocational school located in Vienna, Virginia, near where I was living at the time. I followed the directions to a nondescript two-story building in one of the ubiquitous strip malls that litter the area. Stepping out of the rainy cold, I climbed the stairs to the second floor.

I walked into a room filled with aging sound boards. Countless cables snaked their way across the floor. A staff member talked with me a bit and pointed me towards a sound booth in the back of the room. Then I put on a pair of headphones and read a script from a piece of paper in front of me.

After a few minutes of talk, the staff member came back in and told me I had what it took. He told me the course would cost around $1500 and I could start immediately. I thanked him for his time and went home, not really convinced the $1500 would buy me anything I didn’t already have.

What it certainly wouldn’t buy me is an education in how most modern DJs were little more than a voice behind the microphone. The more I found out about the job (low pay, little creative control, dullness), the less it appealed to me. I put it on the back burner and rarely looked back.

At the recent hamfest, however, I ran into one gentleman I’d been hearing on the repeaters quite often. Bill “BJ” Jenkins has a voice made for radio. Even before I heard him mention his 30 years in broadcasting, I could tell from his voice that he knew what he was doing. I had to ask him about broadcasting when I saw him at the hamfest.

BJ is a wonderful guy and was more than happy to talk about his career. I mentioned to him that I had considered it once. He encouraged me to pursue it, saying that I had good diction. But he then said something else that changed my perception of the job.

BJ mentioned how local homeboy Rick Dees got started. Rick is now a radio superstar, hosting the “Weekly Top 40” program which is syndicated coast-to-coast. Rick also anchors the top-rated morning show in Los Angeles. In radio, he’s about as big as they come. At a recent radio gathering at local station WKIX, Rick told people how last year his show had 500 million dollars in billings.

I almost spit coffee out of my nose. The “Disco Duck” guy clocking half a billion dollars? No way! But that’s how BJ quoted him.

Clearly, my view of radio as a dead-end job wasn’t entirely accurate, to say the least.

After hearing this and about Doc Searls’ broadcasting days, I may just go audition for some voiceovers after all.

I got a congratulatory email from a fellow blogger and new friend, Lady Sun. I dropped her a note after reading her blog and invited her to read mine. I was amused to find an email from her today, congratulating me on getting a job. Truly a small world, isn’t it? She arguably knows more about my life’s current events than some of my own family members.

Lady Sun (hi there!) lives in Iran, a country shrouded in mystery (in my mind at least). As a sailor cruising the Persian Gulf in the early 1990’s, I would often stare over at the Iranian ferries steaming beside my ship through the Strait of Hormuz. The people staring back were just that – plain people. Everyday folks. Like me, they were probably wondering what the other side was really like. When I waved to them, I got a wave in return – a small token of friendship shared across a mile or two of blue water.

Anyhow, I’d like to welcome Lady Sun to my little blog, a slice of America. Thanks, Lady Sun, for helping bridge our worlds.

I came home this afternoon to a message on my answering machine. It was LabCorp, probably calling me back to schedule an in-person interview. The LabCorp job was exciting to me since its a company which leverages Linux like very few companies do. I don’t think I’ve ever dealt with a company that was as committed to Linux as they are.

I had my phone interview with them a few weeks back. Frankly, I was convinced that I wouldn’t be called again. The phone interview went well enough, but I was left with the feeling that my lack of recent management experience was a deal-killer. It seems I was able to convince them otherwise. 🙂

The big drawback to that job was its location in Burlington. The thought was that my family and I would move to Durham in order to ease the commute. While we may still wind up in Durham someday, moving became just another hurdle.

This job search has been an amazing trip for me. I was down on myself at the start but continued to work hard to find the perfect fit. My work paid off when Oculan came calling, and I’m fortunate to be joining such a high-caliber team.

Now it’s time to put my job search behind me and actually get to work.

As you may know, at the end of last month I interviewed with a Wilmington-based manufacturer for a Linux position. The interview went well: they are great people and the job scratched my technical itches. I went into it expecting nothing but instead got very drawn to it. The only problem is that it’s in Wilmington, a two hour drive away from the Triangle.

Of course, it being in Wilmington is also the attraction. I’ve often wondered what it would be like to live at the beach. My buddies and I have talked before about how cool it would be to start a software company there. And downtown Wilmington has some cool bars and cafes.

Still, I could not convince myself (or my wife) that it was time to pick up and move. Most of my family and friends are here in the Triangle. I’ve lived here eleven years. You just can’t drop everything and skip town, can you?

After a great interview, I had to offer my regrets at not being able to make the jump. I sincerely felt bad about not being their guy. I sent them a nicely-worded thank you note for spending the day talking to me.

I had closed the door on that job and set about finding others nearby. This morning, right on the edge of closing on my new position at Oculan, the phone rings. Out of the blue, the company CEO with whom I’d interviewed is pleading with me, telling me I’m the guy they want and asking me to come up with a salary that would convince me to move.

Gosh. I was speechless.

Nothing like that had ever happened to me. The CEO was sincere in his offer. In fact everyone I met was sincere. It didn’t seem like I was joining a company as much as joining a family.

Not knowing how to respond to his generous offer, I told him I would take it under consideration, knowing in my mind that I could not realistically accept it. When I first pitched the idea of moving to Kelly, it seemed from the job market that I had to consider any job, no matter where. Now I had one almost in the bag. Things looked a lot different.

It will actually hurt to tell him “no” again – they really are great people – but the days when I could pick up and move on a whim are far behind me. Perhaps that is the source of most of my pain.

I will miss my days as a “wildcatter,” and yet being in one place also has value. When you’re still you can see a lot more of what is around you.

If you know of anyone looking for a fantastic job in Wilmington, please send ’em my way. Good people deserve good treatment.

Today I agreed to become Oculan‘s newest Sales Engineer. I’m excited about the opportunity, working with some good people. I’ve got one more week of bumming around before I get cranking.

…it’s important not to leave your name and address at the scene of the crime.

The Raleigh News and Observer has more.

We’re getting major repairs done on our house this week, courtesy of our plump insurance settlement from December’s ice storm. Our house’s foundation has serious moisture problems, requiring joists to be replaced. This entails jacking the house up a bit, lots of sawing and hammering, and even a crew of brickmasons to open holes in our home’s exterior to get to the rotted joists.

We’ve been treated this week to loud sawing, hammering, and random, unpredictable bumps during the day. With each one, I tell Kelly “that’s the sweet sound of freedom.” You see, this stuff’s been on our list of things to get done before we sell our house.

And it seemed for so long like we’d never get around to doing it. It’s been needing to be done since we moved into the house four years ago. Facing the daunting bills for doing the job right, we simply avoided it as long as we could.

The misery of December’s ice storm led to the joy of getting a fat insurance check; one that covered more than just our roof repair. Overnight, we could afford to knock out the big repair headache that had been bugging us for years. That tree might as well have been heaven-sent.

And through some other miracle, our daughter Hallie has slept through every loud crash and disruption. It is a happy home, if not necessarily a quiet one.

I may pass on seeing the Nickel Slots tonight in favor of the lunar eclipse taking place. Here in Raleigh we’ve been fortunate to have some absolutely perfect weather – sunny skies, low humidity, and nice cool breezes. Overnight, however, all that changed, as high-altitude clouds rolled in.

Aside from the clouds, the weather is still very nice. But clouds and eclipses don’t mix. With any luck we’ll get skies clear enough to see it.

I’ll probably tag along with the folks at UNC’s Morehead Planetarium as they conduct a lunar eclipse viewing session.

I just got word that an offer letter is coming my way! Woohoo! Providing the i’s are dotted and the t’s are crossed, the job search should be over!

It’s not a moment too soon, either. As some wise person remarked “romance with no finance is a nusiance.” The strain of having no income was beginning to show around here. It was exactly one month ago yesterday that I got “let go.” Funny way of putting it, isn’t it? “Let go.” Kicked to the curb. Dumped. Fired. Sacked. Laid off. Call it what you may, it 5uX0red. But its over now.

I’ll save the celebrating until tonight, when the Nickel Slots take the stage at The Pour House in downtown Raleigh. Right now, I’ve got to finish building a server for my friends. It’s gotta be in Chapel Hill this afternoon.