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Guest Post – Instant Sean

Instant Sean

Category: Guest Post

  • Guest Host

    This reminds me of a bit George Carlin did, where he talked about Mike Douglas having a guest host on his show. Either you’re a guest or the host…

    Anyhow, I guess Sean is holding you all hostage while helping his friends at the same time. He has this uncanny knack for knowing what’s best for me without my really knowing it. There are two people who have this skill, and I married the other one.

    My wife and I started down many new paths this summer. It’s been four months since we got married, three months since we moved to Alabama, and 2 1/2 months since she started her job and I started looking for a new one. One of my favorite sayings is ‘get out of the box,’ meaning to break out of old habits/ruts and find new, creative ways of learning or doing things. I always say I like it in my little box. It’s cozy, all my stuff is in here, and there’s always a rerun of Bull Durham on the TV.

    But these life changes pretty much forced me out of the box. For 7 1/2 years, I had a stable job with decent pay, doing a lot of what I wanted to do at a radio station in Kansas. Now I’m starting over in Tuscaloosa, which is nice in a way, since it lets me reinvent the wheel and go in a completely different path if I want to. I’ve done the exercises in Bolles’ “What Color is your Parachute” job-hunting book, and I’ve learned a lot about who I am and the things I like to do. I’m using this information to plan my next job. The challenge here is how to best use the information. Job ideas pretty much run the gamut, and many of them I’d never dreamed of or considered. Like teaching. The people I consider my inner circle all think I’d be a great teacher. I’d never imagined myself doing that. Going back to school? I’m a broadcaster, I don’t need any more schooling… But since I’m outside the box, nothing is off limits.

    I’ve even accepted a part-time job running the control board at the sports talk station here in town. Basically doing the same thing I did in Lubbock in 1995 when I first started– Texas Rangers baseball, Houston Rockets basketball, Dallas Cowboys football, etc. Entry-level stuff. But it’s a foot in the door, it’s a start. I did good work in Kansas, and two people I worked for have kindly lent their names as references. But nobody in Alabama knows them, so we have to get back in on the ground floor. You never know where these things will take you.

    Wife Ann and I are pretty much settled, and we’re getting used to life in the South. Still much swirling around us. Many questions for her and for me. Maybe when we get these things figured out, we can relax. But then there’ll be other stuff to figure out… and then, well… who knows?

    There will always be something to learn/do/figure out. There is no destination. Only a journey. We continue to grow, to learn, to get a little better every day. And we do the best we can.

  • Guest Post : “I Saw a Witch On Her Broom.”

    I thought growing up in West Texas, I knew what windy was.  Houstonians gripe about 15 miles per hour being windy.  Sean and I have played golf in 45 mile per hour winds from the north trying to finish 18 holes before the rain shows up.  Wind does not bother me.  I have been in the middle of dust storms that look like the scene from the Mummy where the plane gets knocked out of the sky.  I have seen sand turn 3pm into midnight.  I thought I knew windy.  Brother, let me tell you something.  Geraldo Riveria standing out in a storm reporting makes it look easy.  Hurricanes blow, literally.  The eye of Ike was about 60 miles across at landfall, but it diminished somewhat, but 75 miles inland, we had lower level hurricane winds, (75+ miles per hour) for a couple of hours, and then high level tropical storm winds for several hours more.  All in all we had high winds for about 9 to 10 hours.  The worst of the storm blew over by noon on the 13th, but heavy rain and wind was still flowing out of the system.  Once the data was out, Ike’s eye passed about 20 miles to the east of our area.  I saw stuff flying around the neighborhood, that I had no idea was aerodynamically sound.  I even saw the Wicked Witch of the East on her broom, whom Sean has met.  (more…)

  • Guest Post : “Meet Ike. He Was A Sorry SOB.”

    First off, understand, Houston is not New Orleans.  We are not a city built in a bowl, 30 feet below sea level.  We are a whopping 43 feet above sea level.  Houston sits 45 miles from the coast, but has a huge ship channel cut to reach Galveston Bay.  I live 30 miles further north of Houston in a heavily wooded area known as “The Woodlands.”  Texans are not much for over dramatic names.  We are pretty simple.  If there were mountains around here and we built a community there, it would be named “The Rocks” or “The Summits.”  There is a golf course in San Antonio built in an old rock quarry.  Guess what it is named.  I digress.

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  • What I see when I look out the window

    When I look out the window, I see a world of possibilities.

    I see an almost empty parking lot that dreams of being full on a Texas Tech football game day. The smells of grilling meat, stale beer and anticipation hanging in the air. The sounds of rowdy Tech fans laughing and debating which player is going to be the star of the game. The sights of various tailgate parties with big screen TVs hooked up to a random satellite dish in the back of someone’s truck. Young children dressed in their favorite player’s jersey (custom made to fit a 4 year old aspiring quarterback) or the newest size 6 fashion in Tech cheerleader uniforms. College students dressed in what they feel is the most impressive piece of Tech gear they own. (and ladies, not all of us look attractive in the flour sack dress with the cowboy or UGG boots!) The parents and grandparents running herd on all of the kids, and drunk college students. Every person brought together for a common goal, to see Tech GO, FIGHT, WIN!!! And after the game, when all of the vehicles have left until the next game, the parking lot looks a bit bare. Like all of the life has been removed, but just so it could rest. But it still has the dream, as the leftover trash blows in the West Texas wind, that the next football game could be the one.

    I see a field that has just been harvested. The crops have been cut and stored or shipped off. The field will now be plowed under to allow it to rest for the winter. Like everything else in life, it too needs a rest. Until the last frost, when it will begin to grow once more.

    I see the West Texas sky, though dark at this very moment, held a beautiful sunset a few hours ago. The sun set in a sky which held hues of red, gold and orange, like fall leaves. It reminded me that no matter what happens in the day, ‘this too shall pass’, like the sunset. The night sky, which I love in Lubbock, far surpasses almost anywhere else I have ever lived. My parents have the advantage of living outside of town, and even though I can see the Milky Way from their house, it’s just not the same as the stars in West Texas. We can drive out 10 miles in almost any direction and face away from town and see all the stars we want.

    These are just a few of the reasons that I really do LOVE Lubbock. It hasn’t always been my favorite place on Earth, and that has to do with the things that I didn’t mention, such as the allergies, but over the last 3 year, it has been really good to me. I have made friends here that will last me a lifetime. I know that no matter where we are in the world, as long as there’s a phone, I have my friends right there with me.

    Lubbock wasn’t my “number one” choice for ‘life after graduation’, it was my number two. It was that, long before I realized that my reason for moving back to Austin had nothing to do with the fact that I wanted to go back to Austin, just that I had no reason to stay in Lubbock. There were no ties for me to stay in a great place, where I have been happy.

    All but one of my friends had left the area, and I didn’t feel like I wanted to go to the ‘trouble’ of making new ones. Then I realized that I wouldn’t be happy here for the 9 months that I was going to be here ‘by myself’ if I didn’t at least make the effort to find a friend or two. My one friend from what we refer to as the ‘past’ tried to get me involved in Junior League and Young Professionals of Lubbock, and my excuse was ‘I’m leaving in December”. That’s been the excuse for as long as I can remember.

    Enter Sean. Through him I have made at least 3 new friends in the last 3 weeks. And guess what, I already consider them good friends. They accepted me for who and what I am, and for that I am grateful. It will make staying in Lubbock even better.

    I got even better news last week! Another friend  of mine is moving back to Lubbock, and one more might come back too!

    So, all in all, even though staying in Lubbock had become my back-up plan…I think it was probably always my original plan. I had already looked into a job, which I got good news about yesterday.(yes, they are still hiring, and I should go ahead and apply, since I will be a Tech graduate, they will probably hold a job open for me to start after I graduate. And if I get my commission reactivated before I get hired, there are positions open at the airport immediately…can we say off at 2200?!) I had looked into buying a house, but now, I can be an answer to a friend’s prayer and help her with rent. (instead of paying $1000 a month in rent alone!) As far as my family is concerned, back when I had talked of the possibility of staying in LBK, my dad did a little research on returning to Lubbock when they retire. (My parents went to Tech, back in the day.) So, to all the nay-sayers, I will tell you a secret…I plan on staying in LUBBOCK!!!  =)

  • Having numbers been stuffed down my shirt: Yet Another Guest Poster. Mitchell Ivey, Lifelong Friend

    Room 314. Third West Murdough Hall.  Texas Tech University.  Lubbock, Texas.  16 years ago.

    Sean walked into my room for the first time.  I don’t remember the circumstances behind his visit.  I sure it was somehow related to friend of a friend.  His roommate knew one of my friends from down the hall.  I do remember I was sitting in a hammock watching TV.  His first thought was cool a hammock in a dorm room.

    So went the first meeting between us a long time ago, time that just doesn’t seem like that long.  Since then, we have had innumerable D&D sessions, countless football games, hours of video games, tons of beer, traded a bunch of Magic cards, and listened to hours of music.  I owe Sean as the source of my claim to have been published twice.  Not that that really means anything other than it feels good to say, but I did get to meet the original Peggy Sue from Buddy Holly’s song.  That is pretty cool.

    I have an autographed photo of Jo Dee Messina courtesy of Sean.  Sean and I have enjoyed taunting each other with our rivalries throughout the years.  His Browns, my Texans, neither of us has have much reason to cheer until recently. 

    Bottom line, Sean is one of “those” friends that you can rely on if you really needed help, and one you would always be there for if he needed it.  I helped Sean get married, (I still wish I had gotten my picture taken with Johanna.)  Several years later, I took the call from him asking for advice on what to do about getting a divorce.  I was one of the later friends to get married, but I was the first one divorced.  You never want to be the expert on divorce.  When my father died, Sean was one of the first ones to call me.  When I was in the hospital back in 2003, Sean called to check on me.  I was in such bad shape, I honestly couldn’t tell you if I talked to him or not.  His grandmother tried to set me up with his sister.  That is acceptance folks.  My life and his has been entwined significantly. 

    Like all others, we have had our disagreements, but in the long run, what do those matter.  Those people are long gone and we are still here.  There are only a small handful of people I would put my complete trust in.  All came from Murdough Hall.  All are people I have met in college.  Sean is among the most trusted.  If I ever ran for political office, he wants to be my campaign manager.  Keep alert Sean, the nation keeps going to hell in a handcart, I may just have throw my hat in the ring. 

    I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know, except that he has been like this for years.

    Cheers Sean.