Media Baby

The single least-complaining, and easy- going trooper I've been blessed to sometimes be able to bring to work with me, is my first-born daughter. And this blog is one about her.
(I am currently expecting my 2nd child).

Tonight is one of those such nights, where she has accompanied me on the job.

It's early evening, and here she is... And we are trying mercilessly to kill time at the radio station - (my second job... a job I had to report to after spending 19 straight hours on the job at the TV station (my first job of the day).

As well-behaved as any 13 year old can be expected to be, she is keeping herself busy as I work, as we try to spend the last remnant moments of our dwindling weekend squeezing any possibility of "quality time" into the confines of what has turned out to be an impossibly busy weekend... busier than usual... but, nevertheless, something we expect from time to time.

Nothing new. She's been through worse with me... blizzards, floods, you name it. She has roughed it out like it ain't no thing.

The sweet girl toughed out the rigorous hours at the TV station with me last night as we inevitably got stuck - wards of duty, as we manned the station through multiple storms..
(And slept as if she was anesthetized for the few hours we had between shifts.)

She had already known of the weather before choosing to come to work with me last night.  (But you learn: in Oklahoma, weather's pretty much always a risk, & then it doesn't really matter where you are (speaking from a mom): "As long as you're safe, inside!" ;)

In fact, she pretty much always chooses to spend this time with me, whatever the circumstance might be.
But again, this is our life. This is what we are accustomed to. I reckon my daughter will have the same strong work ethic, tenacity, and sense of duty as she's seen her mother have through multiple years treading the precarious waters of the Radio & TV industry... an industry that requires nothing less than 110% of your time, sweat, soul, and precious family time. (But, an industry that has also been good at  acknowledging this, and has been pretty accomodating when I've brought her (as well as an occasional other family member along)... sometimes out of necessity.

Do we think we're privileged being in or around "the biz"?

Nah.

We know there is more to the job than our easy senses of humor let on. We know sometimes this is a serious commitment. (And definitely Not for everybody.)

With long hours, & often times a pay-scale rivaling your average, everyday fast-food worker, those who've worked it know the reality of "not-having". And we've experienced the 'irony', as the rest of the world looks on most media personnel as having what they can only imagine is a very privileged, & lucrative career field. (Well, maybe if you make it as big as Jay Leno or Howard Stern.)  LOL. ;)

Most of the time, it's sheer commitment to succeed that will comprise most of your driving-force... your incentive. After almost 10 years of this, I wanna see this through, and succeed.

Christmas after Christmas of sub-par gifts, and having to risk life and limb getting to the stations in hazardous weather have been hurdles, by which I must justify in my mind as having some great, fantastic goal... some reward or payoff for our (yes, I say "our") sacrifice.

She sees this need for duty... the working toward some greater whole. I think she senses it intrinsically, and she has now evolved past the point of just rolling with the punches... she has taken to just jumping right in there with me. And this is evident by her willingness to accomodate me on my jobs... since she was barely 5 years old.

At 13 she has been around the biz so much, practically having grown up around it... she knows more about 'over-modulation', 'MP3's', & a handful of FCC regulations than any 100 people walking down the street... and even knows a thing or two about the operations of it all (but, I don't wanna get myself in trouble here on how she knows how to put a program on at a radio station).

Yep. This is my angel. My first one.
And now, as I write this, she has set her laptop down, and quietly nestled up with her blanket, as she waits for the clock to release us.

In the next blog, I will tell you what idea we cooked up while here tonight... me: delirious out of exhaustion (which, incidentally has sometimes proven to be the most fertile ground by which some of my best ideas have sprung forth). ;)

Yep.

As is the case with many days & nights of killing time, we cooked up another doozie. (And we're both giddy with delight at putting this idea into effect!)

Such is the life for us during these times.

Some of the longest times, but some of the best. :)

Please stay tuned for the next blog, which I'm tentatively calling: "The Faye Experiment".