971 The Ticket – The struggle and the joy

Austin, Tx — My daughter Celine is in this bustling city for a summer job with Facebook.

Of course my wife Abs and I had to be dorky parents and duck our heads into Celine’s work place because that is what dorky parents do. I want to announce that Celine does not work in an office. She works in a high rise amusement park.

Momma wanted to yell at her because Celine wore a Texas Facebook t-shirt and bootie shorts when she got off the elevator to greet us and escort us upstairs. I told Abs to back off because the girl that got off the elevator with Celine was wearing even less.

Let’s start with the food. I counted four cafeterias, which sounds about right because they feed their employees three square meals a day for free. I wanted to ask how come everybody is so skinny and does not weigh 800 pounds each.

I saw why when Celine grabbed a bag of sea weed chips. They looked as disgusting as they sound. If my chips are not made of potato and drenched in grease I don’t touch them.

Celine assured us that beside the salads and seaweed chips that Facebook provides well balanced meals of hamburgers, fries, pizza, pasta and fancy dishes that I can neither spell or pronounce.

When I first started working I got 30 minutes for lunch. Celine’s lunch break is “whenever” or whenever you finish eating and feel like going back to work.

Next we went to an area that appeared to be set up for pillow fights and fun time. It was the employee lounge.

A high school basketball player had to duck down to enter my first office for an interview at the Freep. The ceilings at Facebook are so high that you could play a full court game of basketball.

Employees are encouraged to write their feelings or a smart ass quip on a giant wall. If I wrote on the wall at work I would be suspended for two days and be forced to spend five minutes in the penalty box also known as the smelly men’s bathroom. Celine gets a pat on the back and a promotion.

So where is Celine’s desk? She went to another large screen that had a lay out of the office. She typed in her name and a light lit up locating her desk. Fancy.

And about that desk. As usual Celine’s desk was full of mess but it was so large that the mess looked kind of cool. You could fit a family of four underneath the desk. Mom and dad must have been hunting for seaweed chips because I only saw a boy and girl under Celine’s desk.

My first desk at the Detroit Free Press looked like a military desk from the Gomer Pyle Show. Later when I moved to the Detroit News they gave us desk from World War II. But that was still a step up from my first desk at 971 The Ticket.

We sat behind something from Game of Thrones.

So is Celine’s first work place better than dad’s?

You bet.

Except for the seaweed chips.

Advertisements

The day I should have quit radio came the day after Michigan State played Wisconsin in a televised Big Ten basketball game.

My job as a sports commentator was to watch the game and talk about it the next day. I watched the game but could not remember a thing about it when our show began on 97.1 The Ticket. That’s when I knew this come back to radio was the wrong thing to do, but it took me a few weeks more to actually pull the trigger.

When I had a stroke nearly two years ago, the old Terry Foster died that day. A new guy emerged. Although I am walking and talking and working out at the gym, I am a new person.

I came back too soon although I did not realize it. I was not fully recovered. I still am not although I am doing a lot better. It was frustrating not to remember what happened in that basketball game. And it is frustrating not to be able to do what I once could.

I get tired easier and my focus is not the same. I am beginning to miss not being in the media scrum only because I wonder how I would handle big stories that break in our city. How would I write about it? How would I talk about it? What would I think about it?

Do not feel sorry for me. I am lucky. I am alive and still kicking a little bit. That daily fear of this being my last day on Earth has left my families’ eyes. I don’t talk as much but they finally believe that I am in it for the long haul again.

I nearly lost my life during this dark journey. But I have discovered the key to improved health. I weigh 185 pounds, my lightest weight since college. My last blood pressure reading was 122/74. And my doctor now encourages me to drink in moderation to lighten up my new life.

But let’s go back to the day I should have quit radio.

MSU-Wisconsin was an important game. I knew we’d talk about it the next day so I watched. I also watched a NASCAR race that day.

I tweeted about the race, but not the game. Our producer Mike Sullivan accused me of not watching the Spartans. So Mike Valenti came up with a series of questions about the game to see if I watched.

I flubbed every one because I felt pressure at the time. I choked and folded up like a cheap post card. I know they were frustrated and accused me of lying about watching the game. I was sick and in denial.

A few weeks later I grew tired of the daily headaches. I also took my blood pressure two hours after the show and it was always 180 over something ridiculous. I was killing myself again.

I had to step out of the box and chill.

That’s what I’m doing now.

My days are pretty simple. I work out at Planet Fitness in the morning with the old people. I grab lunch and relax watching television during the day, which often includes old, bad movies.

I got to teach my son Brandon how to drive and get to listen to the latest news from the University of Stanford from my daughter Celine.

I could have missed all that.

I am lucky.

Tag: 971 The Ticket

Daughter’s first job with Facebook includes sea weed chips. Nasty

The day I should have quit radio