I got up at 4:25 AM EST, but in defference to the Miz I didn't get on the computer until now. Guess I've always been an early bird. As a kid I had a newspaper route, the Dayton Journal Herald. The papers arrived from the printer sometime between 4:30 and 5:30. Ed Rupert and I would be there at 4:30 and get into mischief if the papers hadn't arrived. The usual stuff, cherry bomb in the change cage of the pay phone. Smash pumpkins in October, watermelons in August. Ride the Electric bus (our drop off was at the very end of the Waterveliet line) across town and back. Talk the milkman out of some samples.
It was so neat to be the first up in the neighborhood. I especially remember snow days when there would be no tracks but mine, or the spring days when the ground was finally warm enough to go barefoot. How wonderful to feel the scratch of grass and the tingle of dew.
In college I would sometimes get up early and go onto campus and watch the place come alive. My junior and senior years (65 - 67) I worked at WBNS. I was a floor director and morning gopher. I'd get up at 5 to put Bill Zipf and the Farm Report on the air, followed by the sports guy who got stuck doing the Morning Meditation show. He was an asshole's asshole. Never went anywhere too far from his copy of Broadcast where he was constantly looking for another job, analyzing market versus position. 35 and going on his third divorce, he was totally focused on himself. I once gave him the half minute sign only to realize a few seconds later that he still had a minute and change to go. I frantically gave him the "stretch-it-out" sign. As soon as his mike was dead he came after me and gave me a verbal blast one part of which went, "Jesus Christ, I read everything but the label on my coat." Again, it was so neat to be up before the rest of the city. I'd drive my beetle from East Norwich down to 17th, pick up the freeway to what? 635? That ran across northside and then onto Olentangy, then off at the Dublin turnoff and into the WBNS lot.
Then came the army and and being the only one up wasn't so very neat.
When I finally got into teaching I returned to my old habits. I liked being the first teacher in the school, making the coffee, getting my shit together for the day, first one on the duplicator (I love the smell of ditto in the morning, for those of you old enough to remember the purple print on white paper and the unique smell it had.) or the Xerox. In cross country season I often had an early morning run for the varsity. In track season it was a good time to work with my high jumpers and pole vaulters.
Now I'm retired and I still find myself getting up at 6. I volunteer to take the 8 o'clocks at NKU... few things drearier than a college classroom at 8. Most of these kids work 20 to 30 hours a week to pay for school and it's very evident at 8 AM.
OK, enough geezer talk. Have a good day while I go annoy Tibor.
