April 29, 2003 cont'd
Bob returned to the studio. "Let's see what somebody sent me." He opened the package he'd brought with him, there was a CD in it. "Once I called a Christian music record company to see if I could get a CD I was interested in, now they must think we're a Christian music station...."
2:01 p.m. "ABC News...."
2:05 p.m. Bob was doing the weather again.
2:10 p.m. A commercial, then more weather.
Then "Here's Kenny Rogers...."
"Did I forget to give the current temperatures? I guess I'll give the temperatures after Kenny. Look here - 'Some of the worst dust storms of the '30s were occurring during this time in spring.'"
"If the weather looks like it's going to get bad, I'll turn on the TV to see what's on the Weather Channel." The TV is within easy reach in the studio.
2:17 p.m. The station sponsors what it calls "Spring Break" for the farmers working their fields. "KTIC will bring you lunch in the field," Bob told his listeners. "Be the third caller from Burt or Cuming County...."
"And the winner is Shirley H-------- from Wisner...."
"We started this program about two years ago," Bob told me. "We'll get sub sandwiches and take them out to whoever wins the drawing, they can eat in the field or in the house or wherever. They may live as much as an hour from here."
2:25 p.m. The Market Report was airing. "Interesting," Bob said, looking at a monitor, "my radar here has not updated for almost half an hour. Somebody's got a glitch...."
"For the past few weeks we've been experimenting with the 2:30 news," Bob said. "We're taking this news now from KTVI in Lexington, they try to cover the regional news in this newscast."
"Oh, there's a weather update," Bob noticed. "I'll look at that while the 2:30 news is running.
The news comes in via phone line.
"Each Weather Service around the country issues its own forecasts," Bob said, "but only the big office in Norman, Oklahoma, can issue a tornado watch."
"I try to keep the weather at the bottom of the hour from going too long," Bob said, "but that's kind of tough given that I like to talk."
On air he said: "There's potential for a severe weather watch. Super-cells are likely to develop."
2:38 p.m. Bob went to commercial, then he put a song on to play. He checked the Weather Underground radar again and it remained unchanged. The last update had been at 1:56 p.m. "They've got a glitch...." Bob said.
"Now I've got to find Michael Josephson," he said. He clicked to the website "Character Counts."
2:42 p.m. Bob was on the air again, offering another chance to win the "Spring Break" meal from the radio station: "We'll give you a chance to qualify, but you have to be out in the cab in the field. I'll take the first caller...."
"The winner is Matt B------- from Bancroft. Matt qualifies. There will be more opportunities. When you do win that lunch in the field, it's for you and seven of your family, friends, neighbors."
2:48 p.m. News of a poisoning at a Lutheran Church in Maine. Arsenic was put in the coffee. Bob hammed it off the air: "It does taste kind of funny but we're Lutheran so we drink it...."
2:51 p.m. He played "Sleeping Single in a Double-Bed."
"Let's see," he said, "I've got to get my funeral line."
2:52 p.m. The station manager popped his head into the studio to talk to Bob.
"Two things," the station manager said. "Is it going to rain between 5:00-6:30 p.m.? Do we need to cancel soccer?"
"No," said Bob, "it probably won't rain til after 10:00 p.m."
"Number Two," said the station manager, "last night there was a mandated state test of the emergency broadcast system. Did that come through?"
"I don't see it," Bob said. "That bothers me."
2:58 p.m. Bob read obituaries for Mildred Wickman and Daniel J. Kluthe.
3:00 p.m. "ABC News...."
"Now, Coffee Update," Bob said, and went to get himself more coffee.
To be continued....
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