Resolution Revolution

  Merry Christmas readers!

  Many years ago I decided to abandon the idea of News Years resolutions because they mostly involved weight loss. My announced plans of getting into the gym and dropping a few pounds fell by the wayside; usually by January 5th. In the years since my decision to quit the practice of  making vows I would not keep I have actually benefited by losing the weight and keeping it off  for more than 13 years. In summer of 1995 I got off by big butt and took a job that involved physical labor. Up until that point I worked as a radio disk jockey spending most of my day either sitting or reclining inventing ways of getting out of actual labor. That first hot August night I began a real job literally sweating the pounds away. Work is good for both body and mind. However, moderation can be viewed as beneficial.

  You see, I took the weight loss thing to the extreme and lost too much. People close to me said I looked sick having dropped almost 100 pounds in a fairly short amount of time that summer. I had my doctor prescribe a diet that I followed to the letter for almost four years. Later I realized that the plan was intended to remove the blubber quickly and not a maintenance diet designed to keep a healthy weight. Although I can no longer fit into those size 30 jeans I am comfortable in my skin whereas before the weight loss I was overly self-conscious. 14 years ago I firmly decided to leave my old career behind. It was killing me.

  Having said all that brings me back to todays topic: resolutions. This Peanut Whistle blog has become too much of a trip down only one address on memory lane. It has become too focused on a past that is dead and gone. While I still value my experiences as lessons for the future; the present time is the best I have lived in due to the wonderful additions over the past decade of a loving wife and four great kids who have no first hand knowledge of what has been presented in this blog. For the first time in many, many years I am making a resolution. For 2010, I intend to make Peanut Whistle more current with topical stories from my life as well as observations of trends in the music, Internet and broadcasting industry from my unique perspectives as a former DJ. Only my original Gospel Aircheck blog will have posts similar to the ones formerly featured here in the 'Whistle. My lessons learned throughout this exercise has been that the present is to be valued just as much as the past and that the good old days weren't always as good as I remembered. As Stevie Wonder penned,

"They've been wasting most their time / Glorifying days long gone behind  / They've been wasting most their days / In remembrance of ignorance oldest praise" 

  Instead of a Pastime Paradise let's go forward expecting our best days are ahead.

Stay tuned.







©2009 - 2010 The Peanut Whistle. All rights reserved.

My Dennis the Menace

  Today's post is a departure for me. I feel it very therapeutic venting about one of my peanuts. My brilliant three year old Madison is a bit of a scientist. Today she was testing the destructive properties of H2O on electronics. It seems that water when poured directly on cordless phones and cassette tape recorders ceases viable operation of said devices.  Very interesting. How could I go nearly twenty years owning a Panasonic portable tape recorder without introducing 20 ounces of Aquafina to the circuit board? Both the phone and the tape recorder are drying now. The secret to preserving electronics when accidentally wet is do not turn them on. Remove batteries immediately and let the cases air dry thoroughly. I learned my lesson when I dropped a Nintendo DS game system into a bowl of water last year. I turned the game on after briefly blow drying it. That was a big mistake! If power is applied to a wet circuit board then you might as well throw it away. I repeat, immediately remove the power source and let the device dry thoroughly a day or two before powering up again. There seems to be no quick fixes. Auto parts stores carry a product known as wire drier and of course WD40 spray that work well on ignition distributors, spark plug wires and such, but I've never used these remedies on small electronics. I recommend taking the safe route.

 

  My life is far from being a cartoon strip but Angie and I believe we have a Dennis the Menace on our hands. She is smart but is into everything. My little bit has made more experiments than I can recall and presented more challenges than her other three siblings combined. Thank God for kids.

Stay tuned

©2009 The Peanut Whistle. All rights reserved.