Wow--this getting older crap is for the birds...

It's Tuesday morning, I'm back at work after a VERY well-deserved 5 day break from the OC "EFFIN" A. I've got so much to do. Tons. Many things are lining up here at work that need to be completed--training of dispatchers on some new EMD protocols, getting the Dispatcher Academy up and running, dealing with losing on my instructors (leaving the OCFA), etc, etc. Just the "normal" stuff of helping to run this place. But found out over the weekend that one of the two people above me in a Senior Supervisor position is most likely (about 98% sure--pending a final physical check up) leaving and going to another fire agency to be their Director (a gig, might I add, that is over 100K a year, AND I'm DIRECTLY responsible for her even KNOWING about the opening because I'm the one that told her about it!!!! DO I GET A ROYALTY?!?!?!). In any event, that creates an opening for some upward mobility on my part. Her position is in charge of what is called the "GEO File" portion of dispatch. It's the main database where addresses and streets and locations are entered and used by the Computer Aided Dispatch system to "locate" callers and send the right equipment. It's relatively important as you can imagine to the overall operations. HOWEVER--that being said, this upward mobility opportunity is a little daunting to me. Of course, becoming a floor supervisor was "daunting" to me, but I seemed to, after a hiccup or forty, seemed to do ok. And then, moving over to this new position created out of thin air, the TEMD Supervisor, was "daunting" as I had NO clue what was coming. But on the other hand--I look out on the floor and see other "talent" out there and wonder...is it going to be another blood-bath competition for this senior position? I distinctly remember that it was VERY VERY difficult as for whatever reason, when I was named the new floor supervisor (5 years ago??? 4???) , I was met with some--how do I say this?--anger? Resentment? All I know is that I was really hurt inside. I didn't get mad. I was just saddened. I tried to understand where some folks were coming from, and I had a hard time understanding that, but on the other hand, I was wondering if it was all necessary.

And now--with this new opportunity, should I go for it and then get it, is it going to be the same thing again? If it is, I truthfully would just rather NOT go for it and not partake in the blood bath. I think it's rather unnecessary to have resentments and hostility like I faced. It's a promotion. You get promoted partly on skill, partly on "job fit", partly on forecasting HOW you'd be in the position (trainable, open to suggestions, etc). So...I don't know. I'm sort of babbling--but that's on my plate now. Of course, The Warden is like "HECK YEAH YOU'RE GOING FOR IT!!!!" Great.

Another thing on my plate that I sort of never wanted to talk about in my blog is that underneath my "busy-ness" and relative successes I've been having, I'm dealing with a personal family issue that is really bumming me out. It deals with my dad and my oldest brother, and I won't bore you with the details. EVERY family I assume has their issues they have to handle behind closed doors. So I'll leave it there. But this is weighing heavily on my mind, so much so, that I....GASP!!!....actually spent time talking in depth with The Warden last night about. Did you know that politics figure into family relationships sometimes??????? LOL!!!! My goodness--we made some decisions last night not so much based on what was "right", but what would be smoothest and most expedient? Does that make sense without me going on and on about the specifics? Let me just say this...

One, wherever you are in your life right now--PREPARE FOR YOUR OLD AGE. THINK NOW!! Don't speculate. Get something going NOW that's conservative, and will grow and be there for you. Think about long-term care insurance as well and get it going NOW. Second...families are diverse as anything else in life, but the common bond SHOULD be love. And some people are certainly more difficult to love than others--boy do I know that concept. But try. Just try. It's damned difficult. Especially with those that challenge you on levels that are way way deep and way hurtful. TRY anyway. I'll leave it at that.

Sorry to be sort of a downer--there's REALLY a lot for me to be happy about. I got the DCI gig, openers are complete for So Cal Dream and Impulse, Capital Sound is coming along, developing new business for the fall, OCFA outside of the above concerns is actually going well, family is finally healthy, especially after me getting sick YET AGAIN with a fever and weakness ON MY FREAKIN' BIRTHDAY...but yeah. All is well. And I even installed some shelves in our laundry room ALL BY MYSELF (for those that REALLY know me will understand the significance of this accomplishment--especially considering that plugging something in sometimes can be above me!!!).

Anyway--that's it from me--hi. Hope YOU are doing well and all that happy crap.

NOW GET OUTTA HERE!!!

MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT!!!!

Ladies and gentlemen...I'm freakin' as happy as I've ever been!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! You can't begin to know...wait...you don't even know what the heck I'm talking about do ya?

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN--it is an OFFICIAL done deal. I have "verbally signed on the dotted line"...

I AM THE OFFICIAL DRUM CORPS INTERNATIONAL DIVISION II/III CHAMPIONSHIP ANNOUNCER!!!! Boooooooooooooooooooooooooo yah!!! Even if that means NOTHING to you, let me be the first to tell you that this is just a freakin' BLAST to get this gig. WHY!?!?!?!

BECAUSE.

That's why!!

Wooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo hooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!

There's a back story to this--where is there NOT a backstory to something in my life--but yeah. It's sort of cool. Because of the way I'm wired, it's these "strange" things I realize about certain events in my life. WHAT THE HELL TURNER???? You're babbling.

OK OK OK...let's start at the top. This past summer, I went to DCI World Championships in Madison, Wisconsin as a guest of my friend, John Donovan, publisher of Drum Corps Planet, and with the loving support of my wonderful wife. I was doing "live blogging" for Drum Corps Planet from, what I refer to as, "The Ninth Level" of the Camp Randall Stadium Pressbox. That's basically where the VIP's could sit in relative comfort and watch the show. Great vantage point.

Anyway--as the story goes--I flew in and out of O'Hare. When I was at O'Hare to leave, I ran into Tom Hope, the DCI-Pacific Coordinator. He basically runs all the west coast/western states drum corps shows, at least from the DCI side of things. I've worked with Tom several times over the years. He's a demanding, no-nonsense, "get 'er done" type person that expects a lot, and I like to work with him. Well, at O'Hare, we got to talking. He told me, and I quote (to the best of my memory), "By the way Turner, next summer, don't go anywhere." Curious, I said what most would say..."WTF?!?!?" No, I said, "Why?" He said there was a chance--and he made it clear he was NOT OFFERING ME A JOB..lol!!--but that there was a chance that there would be a need for DCI to have an announcer for the Division II/III Championships at Pasadena City College. He said for me to not make plans, especially during DCI Week. Well...duh...I'm not going to be anywhere BUT in Pasadena that week, but cool. He was opening a door for me, and I appreciated that. He said he'd get back to me...and that was that.

Fast forward to about 3 weeks ago, and the suspense was killing me. Now remember, the last time I talked to Tom was in August in Chicago. So I emailed him--typical Ryan H. flair--"Hey Tom, just letting you know that I'm camped out by my phone and I'm ready to rock and roll for DCI. Just say GO and I'm all over it." In typical Tom fashion, he types back almost instantaneously, "Name forwarded to Dan Acheson and Sue at DCI." Ahhhh. In other words Turner, PIPE DOWN. And at that point, I knew that there was literally nothing else for me to do. Besides, I have a ton of things on my plate anyway, so I put the DCI announcing possibility back on the back burner and plodded on. Today...THE CALL. A very nice sounding young lady by the name of Missy called, left a message, and I called her back a bit later, and not wanting to sound TOOOOOOOOOOOOO desperate, explained to her my extensive background in announcing. After 15 minutes of dissertation, all in one breath, she said "YOU'RE HIRED YA FREAK!!! WE'LL CALL YA LATER!!!" No she didn't....but she was laughing [at...with...] because I was VERY VERY VERY VERY enthusiastic. THE H WAS PLAYING THE GAME!! Ya know what I mean???

Good.

Well anyway...the story goes...we're chatting, and I tell her about the announcing I've done (SCSBOA, WBA, DCI-P, the old DCW, WGI, WGASC, The Voice of the Kingsmen, 911 Dispatcher, voice over for video projects, blah blah blah...I threw more acronyms at her than she's ever heard in her life). I guess she was impressed--oh wait, she was snoring. ANYWAY--she starts telling me a little about what they need, what they're going to pay for, blah blah...and she says, "So...are you available for the times we need you at Pasadena City College?" Uhhhh...yeah. There's no issue. THEN she says, "So, do you know where Pasadena is and everything?" And I say, "WELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL, as a matter of fact, I was born and raised in Pasadena. And you know what I just realized if you want to hear some truly useless trivia [really--I DID say that...ask her!! LOL!!!!]? The VERY first time I EVER announced...was AT PASADENA CITY COLLEGE!!! Would you look at that???"

Stunned silence.

Then the tentative, "Ohhhhh ahhh hanh...that's great. So...." IT WAS CLASSIC!!!

Oh I love it when I geek out and people go...WTF IS WRONG WITH THIS GUY!!?!?!?

Anyway...she hired me for that AND for the Bakersfield doo hickey show the weekend before...and THEN...

In typical "this just ain't enough for Ryan H. Turner" fashion, I say, "So, I'm good to go, but I'm not going ANYWHERE this summer, so, I know that you guys are going to be busy out here with shows and what not. And I'm sure Mr. Crocker will be busy [to my non-DCI readers, "Mr. Crocker" is Brandt Crocker, THE Voice of DCI for the past MILLION years]. But if he needs a day off, let me know. I'm your go-to guy."

The chutzpah. The noive.

More stunned silence.

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhkay, I'll be sending you more information shortly." CLICK.

No...actually she thanked me for my willingness to help and looked forward to meeting me [you freaking whack] and...well...THERE YOU GO!!!! I'm in like Flynn baby!!! The call I've been waiting for. BREATH TURNER!!! Now...I'm going to go through all my yearbooks I've purchased off of EBAY and practice my ASS off reading show descriptions and getting names down...because I'm not going to do just a good job for DCI.

Oh no no no no. This represents to me a MAJOR door opening. HENCE, I will do a SUPREMELY PERFECT job for DCI.

So...share in my happiness...it doesn't come often, this kind of elation of reaching a major goal like this. And really...when you step back and look at EVERYTHING that you COULD be freakin' overjoyed about...this is really small potatoes. But for ME...it's the BOMB. I'm on Cloud 9.

NOW...to go put in my vacation time.

Oh....there'll be more updates coming shortly. Lots of OTHER news, including The Tale of The Laser Printer (and How The ATM Network Failure Almost Killed Me The Other Day), the SONGS drill experience (what?????), the WGASC experience, friends, my kids and my daughter's teeth....ANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNND....

MORE PICS!!! Because this blog ain't CRAP without pics. I just figured out how to get the pics from my digital camera to my computer. Oh yeah. Time for kid pics and sorts of fun things.

Thanks...

Now get OUTTA here.