First Snow Nightmare

When you work at a radio station, the first snow day of the year always becomes the worst DAY of the year.

Start with a weather warning for 3-5 inches of snow.  The town goes into panic mode.... grocery stores are packed, long lines at the gas station....etc.

Then the forecast gets scaled back for 1-3 inches.  The panic continues, everyone worries that they only have three weeks worth of their prescriptions on hand.  Homeowners start to prepare to defend their families from the hordes of marauding wolves sure to descend from Canada....  and at about 6pm, the kids start to call the station....

Kid - "Is there School tomorrow?"  
DJ - "So far no one has canceled." 
Kid - ""Will they cancel?" 
DJ - "I Don't Know... my psychic abilities are being scrabbled by all the snow panic." 
Kid - "O.K.  If the DO cancel, when will they call you?" 
DJ - "Um, I really don't know." 
Kid - "But when do they usually call you?" 
DJ - "When they WANT to, I suppose.." 
Kid - "O.K.  I will call back later." 
DJ - "You know, this is a radio station.  When any cancellations come in, we will announce them every 10 minutes or so...." 
Kid - "Oh, I don't listen to the radio."
DJ - "We also post the info on our web site..."
Kid - "Nah, I'll just call back.  *click*"
DJ - "Great, because I have nothing else to do but answer all these calls..."   (Beats head against wall)

A local TV station has solved the problem.  They have a crawl with all the announcements, they post the info on their web site.... and refuse to give it out over the phone.  I understand where they are coming from.  If all the phone lines are clogged up with kids and their parents (who don't know how to use a radio or TV) the people who make the decisions on cancellations can't get through and your staff is all tied up answering phone requests and not taking care of the airwaves. 

When I got to work this morning our new morning guy (who is already a bit "high-strung") was literally climbing the walls!  Now the guy does not respond to adverse conditions well, but it was enough to drive anyone over the edge.  The biggest problem is when schools issue a 2 hour delay, and then decide to cancel.  Not only is he trying to keep an updated list, bu also to get the info on-the-air and answering the phones.  He had help, but still got pretty frazzled. 

When I was doing the morning show (which I did for a number of years) these were always my favorite times.  I actually enjoyed the challenge of juggling 12 things at once, and can't remember it ever throwing me off my game.  I really miss it!

Since this IS a gaming  community, I should probably mention something about games...... 

Last night, I tried some COD4 multiplayer for the first time.  I haven't felt like such an idiot for a loooong time!  Don't get me wrong, I had some great fun.  The style of play takes awhile to get used to.  I was playing on a 'hardcore" server, which usually means "one bullet, one kill."   I must say I made a great target.  There is a lot of available cover, and you have to quickly learn how to both use that cover and quickly scan it for enemies.  I seemed to do OK in the scoring, but still felt like I was pretty ineffective.  I will be back for more!