Hey Everyone,
I have had an overwhelming number of requests for more details on my job interview via Twitter and Facebook and I figured this would be a good place to write about it. No stupid character limits here! First I'd like to thank everyone for sending your good mojo my way. I asked everyone to keep me in their prayers, thoughts, and chants. I think it worked because I GOT THE JOB!!!

Oops, I guess those of you who don't read Twitter or Facebook just had the story spoiled for you. Oh well, at least you don't have to continue reading with anticipation of rather or not I got the job. See, it's my new writing technique.

So, all week I did things to get me ready for this interview, including getting a hair cut, getting my eyebrows separated and spending way too much on clothes. By the time I was done shopping on Thursday I was exhausted and needed a nap. 10 hours later I woke up at 1AM and couldn't get back to sleep. I tried to get more hours of sleep because I knew when it was time for the interview my body would turn against me and want more sleep.

When I boarded the METRA Train on Friday Afternoon I started getting groggy, but by the time I got to Crystal Lake the adrenaline started pumping into my blood stream and I started getting nervous. The cold shower the "Weather Gods" decided to give me also jolted me awake.

When I got off the train, one of the employees met me in the parking lot with the official Company Van. I was very thankful that someone picked me up in a vehicle as it was awfully nasty outside and all my expensive clothes would have gotten soaked. The person who picked me up is named Erica with a C, or is it Erika with a K. I don't know, but remember that name because it'll be important later.

She drove me back to the building and we had a quiet and awkward moment of silence but it didn't last long. I think I was freaking out because the moment of truth was getting closer and closer and I was trying to not pass out. I snapped out of it and made a joke, which made her laugh and it broke the tension. I can't remember the punchline now but I think it had something to do with it being a good thing they didn't have one of the blind employees drive to the train station to pick me up.

She dropped me off at the parking lot entrance and she went to park the van. I walked in and was greeted by the receptionist who is the wife of a friend of mine. We talked a bit and then I was interrupted by Erin, a guy who went to Braille Jail the term after I went. I didn't recognize him and he knew it and called me on it, which made me feel kinda stupid. I only met the guy like two or three times and I had sorta put him out of my memory. Erin went out with my friend Cindy from Braille Jail for about 3 months and broke up with her recently, so I felt really awkward about talking to him. I managed to come back from it by explaining that I was really bad with faces and voices and again made a joke about my bad memory which broke the tension again.

As I was dealing with Erin, who I am sure is an awesome guy, Hap Holly came around the corner and slammed into me. I joked with him "Hey watch it, what are you blind?!" Hap is the founder and producer of a HAM Radio audio magazine called The Rain Report. I read scripts for him and have been doing so for about 3 years so we have a good rapport. Shortly after the traffic jam, Camille, my future boss came out and greeted me.

We went in the back and she asked Rob, who is my future co-worker and I "think" future supervisor to come back into the conference room. He brought a non-disclosure form and a signature guide to the back, but when it came time for me to sign the document it turned out Rob had forgotten a pen. Camille cracked a joke about Rob being pretty awesome except he forgets an occasional pen now and then. They kept exchanging quips like that back and forth all throughout the interview. This really calmed me down because I was scared of not acting professional enough. I got the idea that they had work to do, but having fun was not out of the question.

Camille asked me a bunch of questions, most of which were about my skill set and my interests and what kind of person I am. There were a few times I blanked and didn't know what to say so I was honest. I said I was a bit nervous and was not sure how to answer that question or that I needed a moment to think of how to best answer that question. Most of the time there was a pretty good groove going on between Camille, Rob and myself.

We started talking about the project that I would be involved in and they asked me if I had any ideas or thoughts on it. I had all kinds of neat ideas involving Twitter and Asterisk and content management and other things. When talking about the project I kept saying "we" instead of "you" and Camille was VERY impressed with that. She said it showed that I already have my mind committed to this project. She also told me that when I talk about technology I don't intimidate or alienate people who don't understand it. She told me that I don't talk over people's heads and don't make them feel like lesser people because I am more technical than they are. That was very flattering and I was blushing and everything.

Now, I did sign the non-disclosure agreement so I am going to have to watch what I say now. I can't talk about what my job is going to be since the project I am working on is not ready for the public yet. I can give you a vague idea of what I'll be doing though. My job involves developing web content for a new service that we will be providing. I'll also be involved in promoting it to end-users. When the service is unveiled I will tell it on the mountain!

After the interview was done Camille wanted to have me experience the service for myself but she didn't have a computer in the conference room for me to use and most of the other ones were being used by employees. So I pulled out my Netbook and logged into the beta site. My stupid EVDO Connection wouldn't stay connected so I kept having to re-connect, so that was a bit of a distraction. However, I got my new boss drooling on my Netbook. She said she wanted one but she was told that a Netbook would not run JAWS and Duxbury and all the other extra software that she needed to use. I told her that the new ones were more capable and that I was running JAWS on mine.

After Rob pointed out all the stuff on the site and we got a good look at it, Camille had Gavin the resident tech-guru come in to meet me. She wanted to ask him about computer arrangements for me, but she also wanted him to meet me as he is a fellow geek. Camille had to run out of the room for a minute to take a phone call so I took the time to ask Gavin if listening to the radio at work was all right. We were talking about radio and how it helps us work better when she came back in and said she liked having a radio on too. She scared me because I was not expecting her back so soon.

Camille needed to get back to work on some other stuff so she had Frank, the other big-wig there, walk me around the facility and introduce me to everyone. I saw all the offices, the braille and print room, the bathrooms, and most importantly the break room!

As I was walking around someone was told to go get a desk and set it up for me. This was the moment I knew I had the job! I kept standing there by my desk going "OH MY GOD, I HAVE A DESK!" It was very obvious that I was very excited about having a job.

Now, remember I told you to remember the name Erica with a C, or was it Erika with a K? I don't remember, but here is the reason why I told you to remember her. Her desk is across from mine. Isn't it weird that the first person I met from work that day was the person I'd end up sitting across from!?

After I got my tour and was shown my desk I had to do some paperwork and then closing time arrived and I had to leave. I was so excited and didn't want to go. I am sure after a week of working I won't have that problem anymore. You won't be able to show me the door soon enough! :-) Dan and Bob, a couple of guys who work in the other office walked me to the METRA Station as it had stopped raining and walking there was a possibility. They both live in the direction of Chicago so they rode with me. It's a pretty straight walk from the train station to work. I will have fun walking to work on Monday. I might leave early so I have time to look around the neighborhood before the building opens.

My job looks like it's going to be 5 days a week, not positive about that yet though. As long as there is work for me to be doing I will show up. To get to work on time I gotta get up at 6AM and be out the door by 7:00AM. I have to be at the METRA station at 7:30AM to get to work by 8:35AM. I could also take the 7:45AM train and get to Crystal Lake at 8:51AM. The building opens at 8:30AM but SOME people don't get there until 9. The building closes at 4:30 and the train home comes at 5. I won't be back in Chicago until 6:00. The bus home gets home at about 6:20PM. So, it'll be a 12 hour day because of the commute.

Well, I gotta go get ready for my Big Halloween Special, so thanks for reading my journal and I hope everyone tunes in tonight. The show starts at 5PM Central at http://67.212.189.10:8842/rfd2.m3u so check it out! If you can't tune in live, go to my website, http://www.byronlee.com and download the archive. Bye All!

Why is it that when I get loads and loads of work to do I start procrastinating and doing the opposite of what I should be doing? Instead of putting together sound-effects together for a play that the NFB is doing at their state convention I am just reading a book. There are about 50 other things that need doing before I leave on Thursday for the ACB Convention in Springfield. I am a bit tired and stressed out by the jam-packed calender.

I am happy that one of the events that was stressing me out is done and over. The talk about Online Shopping at Horizons for the Blind last Saturday went really well. I pre-recorded a demonstration of how to buy something on Ebay with JAWS and I explained PayPal and how it worked. I also talked about a few of my favorite places to shop online... but I forgot to mention a few critical things like sites that have product reviews and stuff like that. I think people enjoyed it though.

I asked the director of Horizons if they had any job openings and she said I should call her on Monday. When I did call her she didn't say for sure if any openings were available. She did ask me to send her my resume though. We will see what comes from this. I really would love to get a job so I can get my own apartment and get off Social Security. I am told by many people that I am very smart and a good people person but so far none of that has paid off. I just hope I have the self-esteem and the motivation to get a job and keep it. I shouldn't worry so much, it'll be my undoing eventually.

Well, that's all I can think of for now, hope everyone is doing fine. I promise to update more often. I know... I suck! LOL

I've been nudged by an adoring fan to write something here and I got the message. Okay, maybe she's not an adoring fan but I get it nevertheless. More writings are long over due. Mow the problem is writing something worthwhile for you to read. Every second that you spend running your eyeballs across this page is another second where you could be doing something much more fulfilling. Hey you know what, I think I am drunk with the power to make part of your life disappear, never to return! Wow, I think I need to sit down, I'm getting dizzy. Yeah, I'm pounding this out while standing.

Okay, yeah I'm pulling your leg right now, I don't know if you could tell. I've got plenty to write. I really am standing while at the computer though.

This Byron has been a very busy little Byron! I just got done running around the city like a chicken with its head cut off. My friend Bill went to go look at a new apartment and he wanted me to go with him for a second opinion. I've also been working for this blind guy named Don off and on for a few years and he asked me to come over last week. I helped Don upgrade his VoiceNote to Keysoft 8.0.

Next week I'll be going to a rehearsal for the Lion's Club version of The Whistler - Beyond Reasonable Doubt. It's an old time radio murder mystery. We'll be preforming in front of a rather large group of people in October, including the Governor. I am in charge of all of the music and sound effects. I've been working very hard to find all the right suspenseful stingers. It's a lot harder than it looks. Timing is everything when it comes to music.

The ACB and NFB are both having their state conventions in October and I help both organizations with their audio and streaming. I'll be in Springfield, IL for the American Council of the Blind in the first part of October and I'll be at the National Federation of the Blind's convention in Chicago, on the second weekend of the month.

The big problem is that the murder mystery collides with the NFB Convention on Sunday, October 11th. I thought the play would be running at 4 or 5PM, as someone mentioned it was a dinner theater. But the show starts at 12 Noon and the NFB Convention ends at the same time. I have to be at the restaurant at 10:30AM to set up everything ahd would have to bail out on the Convention early. I think I managed to talk my friend Blair to babysit the internet stream of the Convention until 12 and then tear everything down. If everything works out I should be able to be at the play in time to do a Dress Rehearsal.

Hopefully after the conventions and play is over, I'll be able to relax a little. I want to go to Phoenix, AZ to visit my family. I have been saving up a little so I can get out of Chicago for a few weeks but we'll see how it goes.

I also want to go to sleep, which I don't have to save my money to do. I think I will go ahead and do that. Sorry for the lack of updates. I will make a better effort to write something in here.

This weekend I traveled down to Macomb for my friend Stephanie’s birthday. We drove to Springfield to see Lynyrd Skynyrd and probably damaged our hearing in the process. While I was at her house I did The Fun Zone from her livingroom. Bad things happened and you can see just what those bad things are by clicking here.

We also had a bad old time on Tuesday night while doing The Talk Zone. Nick and Borris took turns annoying me with drums and I eventually blew them both up. I don’t think I’ve seen the last of them though.

I read a bunch of articles and told some stories that have been sitting on my list for far too long. I’ve decided to have atleast some technical content in the show again so we talked a bit about HDTV Antennas and how they are nothing but hype. An HDTV Antenna is exactly the same thing is a regular TV Antenna but it has a fancy sticker on it that says HD.

My ex-girlfriend Jenny found me on Facebook and has been listening to shows from the webpage. She decided it would be a good idea to call in. We talked about the good old days and I came up with a couple embarassing stories.

If you want to know what embarassing stuff from my past came up you should click on this here thingy.

That’s it for now, enjoy the shows and remember, its not the size that counts, it’s the woman that counts the size!

Mirrored from The World of Byron Lee.

Hi Jerks,
This is the first in hopefully many show descriptions that’ll be simultaneously updated on LiveJournal and my website thanks to Journal Press. Hopefully if I’m not too lazy you will see one of these each time I do a show. Although, I am pretty bad procrastinator. Oh wait, I’m a pretty GOOD procrastinator because I do it all the time.

Anyway, enough with the introductions, on this show I opened with the Obligatory Song, Tuesdays Gone by Lynard Skynard and complained that Tuesday is in fact NOT gone! I will be telling those jerks that when I see them in concert on Friday.

Afterwards we talked about how I pissed off Chris and his girlfriend Kelly by tripping over my words and I played the offending clip.

There was tons of content because I had list.txt and articles.txt to help me through it. I didn’t get to all of the content though so I will delete whatever I talked about and save the rest for next week.

Callers where particularly entertaining this week, we only had a couple brain-dead callers this week. We activly tried to keep the calls somewhat entertaining. We used that evil software that the TBRN Crowd hates, Skype and we had a bunch of calls via the phone patch, including my homie, Stephanie. I kept Fideliphone open but nobody called in that way.

Anyway, I don’t want to give away too much about what happened because you will just read the description rather than wasting 3 hours. So click here and you’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll kiss 3 hours goodbye!

Mirrored from The World of Byron Lee.

Unfortunately I have do to all my updates from my WordPress bloggy thingy but that’s probably okay for now. I am going to start posting summaries about shows and direct links to them here so people who aren’t subscribing to the podcast or going to the archive page can grab the downloads. I’ll also try and do show or website specific posts from this WordPress account. If you are curious as to what I am using, it’s a plugin for Wordpress called JournalPress. I’m off to get some sleep now as my screen is starting to look all smeary and fuzzy!

Mirrored from The World of Byron Lee.

Let's see if I can reverse post from LJ back to byronlee.com or if I'll have to do all my entries from the wordpress bluggy poster thing from now on.

Will the silly JournalPress thing for WordPress work? I do not know, nor do I care all that much.

Mirrored from The World of Byron Lee.

Hey Folks, I've set up a WordPress Blog on my website but I know that most of my friends don't go directly to my website every day. It's far more likely that you'll see this post on your friends page. I want to have all of my old LiveJournal posts show up on my WordPress Page. I also want to be able to update from LiveJournal and have the new post show up on WordPress automagically. I really don't like the WordPress Editor and I'd rather do it from good ole' LiveJournal. Can anyone else who is using WP tell me how do to this?

Now before you say JFGI (Just Fucking Google It) I did do that. What I found were a few plugins that will cross post anything I write on Wordpress over to LiveJournal. This is not what I want! I want exactly the opposite.

Another thing, does anyone know why my twitter updates don't show up on my sidebar when I look at my page via my Windows Mobile device? I tried two different widgets and neither seem to work via my phone.

Just for those of you who are clueless as to what my website is, go to www.byronlee.com for a real hootenanny.

Hey Guys,
I have audio of some of the stuff at Marscon, if you are interested in hearing it I'll post it somewhere. I can't post the audio of the Dementia Track because Dementia Radio uses that as a fundraiser but I think I can get away with posting Gifted Gear's performance. I may also be allowed to post certian songs from The Dementia Track depending on what Luke and Bill want me to do. I'd like to see things like The Twitter Song show up on The Fump or the Sideshow. I'm off to edit the audio now, see you all later.

Before I say too much, let me just say that I graduated from Braille Jail. I am so glad that I'm out of that place. Yes it did give me a few skills I didn't have before and helped me get into the groove of living a day schedule again, but I am so psyched that I'm done. The graduation was very nice and I gave a speech that took liberties with "Everybody is Free (to Buy Sunscreen)." I will attempt to post the recording of the graduation in the next couple of days.

I don't remember what I wrote about since the last time I updated my journal so I guess I should kinda start from a few weeks ago just in case you guys don't know what's transpired. I was rooming with Psycho Steve at ICRE-Wood for the first couple months but wthin the last 6 weeks I got transfered to my friend Bill's room. I was a lot more comfortable rooming with Bill. He is a real geek and it made school a lot more fun. We have become very good friends and I hope we continue to hang out now that we've graduated.

Bill has moved into a Single Room Occupancy at the Irving Park YMCA in Chicago. The application process was not too bad but they wouldn't help him fill out the forms. "Kristy the Landlady's Daughter" ended up sitting down with him and filling them out. Some of the pages were faded and impossible to read. Bill was worried because there was a disclaimer that said incomplete applications will not be processed. However, when Kristy and I walked into the building with him, they decided that they shouldn't fuck around with us and they processed that application toot-sweet. His background check and credit check came back squeaky clean and now he pays $350 for a 12x10 sized room. There's no chow and no cable or internet but it's within his financial abilities and in a good area. He's already got his computer set up but he can't score any free WiFi because it's all secure or too weak for him to do anything with it. We think if we get a parabolic dish we might be able to get the WiFi that YMCA provides in the workout area and lounge. It's very weak even downstairs and nearly undetectable up in the 2nd Floor where he lives.

Anyway, enough about Bill, let's talk about Warden Willy over at the good ole' Braille Jail. His class got very difficult near the end of term. I passed the Grade 1 test and went into the beginning of Grade 2. I had a really hard time with that class and I am a bit burnt out dots. I still have to keep going to the big brown brick blinky building on Wednesdays for the free Braille Class. This class is not taught by Willy but by a bunch of Vocational Rehab Councilors. The class starts at 10AM and goes until 12 Noon so I can feel a bunch of dots, eat lunch and, go home.

I will also be going to colleges around Chicago and deciding where I am going to go in the fall. I am thinking I will go to a community college because I need help with my math skills. I have to fill out my Financial Aid forms and get grants and scholorships from various places like ACB and NFB. There is an application that you must fill out and send in or else Vocational Rehab won't even consider giving you assistance. It's called a FASFA Grant. Basically it's a grant for people with very low incomes and I can depend on at least $6,000 of assistance from that. VR really wants you to get all the scholorships and grants that you can independently from their program so they can save a little money on you. They don't get you services or equipment peace-meal like they used too. Now if you need something you practically beg for it.

Well, I have a lot more to say but I am getting sleepy and I need to lay down. Until tomorrow my friends... g'night!

I am writing this while sitting on the Rochester Direct Shuttle. I am going to chrisandaugie's house for a weekend of fun. I'd send this particular entry out while going 55 MPH down the highway but I currently don't have power for my EVDO Enabled phone because Chris stole my battery!

Well let's be fair, I lent Chris my battery and he just has not returned it yet. He needed my battery so he could call michael_m (we stayed with him during the Brian Regan show) and tell him that he dropped his battery in the bathroom and we needed him to send it to Chris' house. However, Chris being the sly devil he is, told Mike that "I" had been a klutz and had dropped "MY" battery on the tile.

That little bugger; I'm so gonna wring his neck! I have confendence that he won't leave me powerless all weekend... umm, I hope.

So as we race down the interstate I am typing this little entry into Notepad and as soon as I get to some wi-fi or ethernet access I'll upload er' as soon as I can.

...see, I really do care about you guys!

We had a great time at the Orphium, er, Ophium, or maybe it's the Opium, er no wait, was that the Orphanium, oh whatever I can't remember the name of the club we were at. The IMPORTANT thing is that I finally got to see my stand-up comedy hero of all time; Brian Regan! Last night was probably the coolest experience I've ever had aside from going backstage to see "Weird Al" Yankovic.

The show started off with a decent opening comic named Joe Boulster, or Joe Booster, or maybe it was Joe Bluster, oh whatever, it wasen't that important. He was very derivitve of Brian Regan's material from his first CD. The guy got some pretty good laughs but he definately didn't have the same kind of bite to him as Brian did. I really think he's going to make a mark eventually as a stand-up comic but he's got a long way to go.

Brian was on form as usual, he didn't miss a beat the entire evening. We heard a bunch of his newer material which was pretty good. I do have to say that it didn't grab me the way his jokes from "Brian Regan Live" did. I was really hoping for more of the "YOU TOO" and "Stupid in School" type of humor and we got a very different perspective.

I'd still reccomend seeing him live, but if you are expecting to see the same show that you heard on his first CD; you might as well shed that expectation right now. He does take requests at the end of his show during the encore. So you will hear the old favorites if you are lucky.

After the show ended we went to the Brewery Pub and had burgers. I had The Laredo, which was a southwestern inspired sandwich with guacamole and various other goodies in it. I also had a wonderful Hardcore Cider which would have gotten me buzzed if I'd had more than one. Chris, Mike and I sat talking about computers, radio, blindness, dogs, and girls for a couple hours. We went back to Mike's apartment and I played a bunch of comedy that he'd never heard. I exposed him to The Stanford Fleetstreet Singers, Davinci's Notebook, Three Dead Trolls in a Baggie and Arrogant Worms. I'm sure we played a lot more comedy than that but I don't remember much of what happened after 2 AM.

When we got up at around 8 AM, we got dressed and trekked down to Key's Cafe and had a wonderful breakfast. I had the Everything Omlette and I topped it off with a couple cups of Hot Chocolate with whipped cream.

Then we went to Radio Shack so Chris could get a bluetooth speaker for his phone. He was having a hard time trying to hear his Mobile Geo GPS while on the noisy street corner in downtown Minneapolis. He is still having trouble getting audio to route to it.

Afterwards, we trekked back to Mike's place and packed up our stuff so we could catch the bus, so that we could catch the light rail, so we could catch the tram in the airport, so that we could catch the Rochester Direct Shuttle. We have done all of the above and that takes us to my current timeframe.

I'm excited because I took my exam to get out of Book #1 of the Illinois Braille Series and am about to start working on Book #2. That means that I get to start learning contracted braille! I am in some ways excited because I'm finally moving on. However I am NOT excited about the new pile of homework I'm about to be buried under.

When I was taking the braille class every Wednesday I was doing well because I had an entire week to complete a writing drill. Now that I'm taking the class every day at ICRE-Wood I am stressing out because the amount of homework is insane. I'm expected to do an entire writing drill overnight! I don't have any time to do anything but the braille homework I get.

I managed to talk myself out of having to do homework this weekend but I don't think that will happen again. I will keep everyone up to date. I better go pack for school and get to sleep. 6 AM comes early!

Just when you thought it was safe to look at your friends page again, you see the most horrifying thing ever! An actual non-loudtwitter post from me! In fact, if you look at my LJ page you'll notice that all my tweets are GONE! I got sick of my journal getting over-run by twitter posts. I figure if you want to see my tweets then you are already on Twitter or Facebook, if you are on LiveJournal you probably don't care or are already following me. Just in case you actually DO want to see my tweets on LiveJournal I can make a new account for LJ and link it to Twitter and let you subscribe to that particular feed. Anyway, that's just a heads up from my side of the interwebs. I have loads more to say but I have other things to do right now. I'll make an effort to start writing in here from Braille Jail, er... I mean... ICRE-Wood. Stay Tuned for more goodness later!

I've been a bit busy lately and have not had time to post, plus the novelty seems to have slightly worn off. It's a lotta work to write a post on LJ when I could just tweet it on twitter. Oh well, I'll try to keep this updated as I know a lot of people don't like Twitter / Facebook or they prefer getting a more detailed account of what's going on.

So, this weekend was an interesting one. I had to go to Bradley, IL for an NFB Board Meeting. I'm not on the board but I'm their audio / tech guy and they need my services at the state convention in October. They decided to hold the state board meeting at the hotel where the convention will be at so we can get a feeling for what the place will be like.

About 2 hours before we were ready to head out the door, a package showed up at the door. Our dog, Brandy, went ape-shit and started barking at the door, by the time I got there the delivery person was gone and a box was waiting for me on the stoop. I looked at the address and was shocked that it said my name on it. I was not really expecting anything. I had not ordered anything and I didn't remember what could be in the box. I looked at the return address and it said Maxi-Aids. I opened the box and it suddenly hit me, this is the stuff that Beauru of Blind Services was supposed to send me. My councelor said it would take awhile for the authorization to go through but I guess things moved faster than we expected.

The box contained a Talking Compass, Talking Caller-ID, DS-40 Digital Recorder, and a bunch of 20/20 Pens meant for writing in large print. I am not sure what else I'll need to get from them but they won't do any big items like a computer, note taker, or GPS System. I will ask my councelor if he can think of anything else I will need. He told me that if I wanted any big items like that I'd have to get ahold of Vocational Rehab.

So, enough about that, onward to the meeting that I had to go too!

We left on Friday at around 1:30 and got there at about 5:30. It's really only an hour and a half drive to Bradley from Chicago but the traffic made it take a lot longer. When we got there we checked in and then went to Applebee's. I got to have a nice big Mudslide! I love those damn things and could get drunk without knowing it if I was not paying for them. They are so tasty and I'd just keep on ordering them until I was plastered if they were not so damn expensive! I wish I liked beer, as its cheaper to intoxicate yourself with.

After I got back from the restaurant I played cards with Kristy and her friend Kelly, who is the treasurer. I was so tired that my brain could not comprehend the game of Rummy so we played Blackjack instead. Kristy and I won a bunch of times but Kelly kept busting.

I ended up crashing after talking to Keao on the phone. I had to sleep on the pull-out couch in the livingroom of our suite because Kelly, Kristy and Carmen got the beds in the other room. I ended up listening to a book on the puny speaker that comes with my Victor Reader Stream. I wish that thing was a bit louder! 

The next morning I got up at around 5:25 and had to pee like there was no tomorrow but Kelly was already in the bathroom taking a shower. She took her sweet time about it and the water sound from her shower made my bladder protest in agony. Finally she got out of there after what felt like an hour but was probably 10 minutes and I opened the flood-gates! Afterwards I grabbed my clothes and got in the shower. I ended up cutting my lip while shaving in there which sucked but I guess it's part of life.

By the time I got out of the shower everyone else was up and gone already. I guess they went to breakfast without me. I was not sure if we had to pack up our stuff and take it with us or what as checkout was at 11 and we were not going to stay a second day. I unplugged everything and put it all in my bag and hauled my tired carcus to the restaurant. By the time I showed up the girls were just leaving as they had to be at an 8 o' clock Presidents and Treasurer's meeting that I was not invited too. They left me to fend for myself but I didn't mind as I just ate while reading LJ, Facebook and Twitter as I usually do in the morning.

They had a free buffet and I piled on the sausage, eggs, and potatoes. I also got to have a bagel and cream cheese which I've been craving for a month but nobody here eats cream cheese besides myself so we never buy it.

My partner in crime, Blair Alper showed up with his girlfriend, LeAnne and we wandered around the hotel scoping out the digs and making sure we'd have all the bases covered when it comes to streaming the convention. We had to test the internet to see if it would hold a 96k MP3 Feed and we had to find out what the house audio system was like.

After we got the grand tour of the hotel we sat in on the meeting even though we were not really needed. I decided to record it for Carmen as she has to take the minutes so I kept having to get up to check my recorder. The Zoom-H4 only runs for about 4 hours on 2 AA Batteries so I wanted to make sure that it was still recording. I could have plugged it into the wall but I couldn't find the charger for it.

During the meeting, Blair and I were both in the IRC Chat on our phones and we kept messaging eachother from across the room. There were a few times I had to stifle a laugh because of something he said or sent to me. I was also tweeting back and forth with my friend Ronza, who was also there but she didn't have IRC or Instant Messanger.

Lunch arrived at 12:30 and we kept working through our meal. I had a Chicken Parmisian sandwich but it was really dry and boring. The Brocoli and Chedder Cheese Soup was awesome though and it helped to make the meal suck a little less. 

The board did end up asking us what we needed for streaming audio of the Convention so I guess it was a good thing we did go to the meeting after all. We shouldn't have any problems getting whatever we need to do the convention.

Anyway, the meeting ended without too much pain and suffering and we drove Kelly back to her house in the suburbs of Chicago. I don't remember exactly where she lives but I do know that she lives near one of the few Dairy Queens that have Cherry Dip. Kristy and Carmen got ice cream but I was not feeling good so I didn't partake.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention that Kelly tried to pressure me into becoming a mentor for NFB Freedom Link which is their transitions program for High School students. I would have said yes if I already didn't have so much on my plate. I felt so bad that I could not do it, especially because she really played the guilt card so well. She said something like "wouldn't you want someone who understands your dillema there to help you with your struggle?" But I had to stick to my guns as I just can't take on even more projects and commitments. I kinda feel stupid for not taking on this project as I want to be a Vision Resources Teacher in a High School or Grade School, but I just have too much going on. With ICRE-Wood about to start in October, my audio editing for Colonial Radio Theater, my 2 radio shows, and all of the other things that I am always committing myself too I just don't have the energy or the time to do it. Besides, I am not really a hard-core NFB'er and don't think I'd feel right mentoring kids in the ways of the National Federation of the Blind.

Well, I think I've said enough to get myself into trouble so I probably should stop while I'm ahead. The only last thing I wanted to mention to everyone is that Jerry and the Pirates is now airing on XM Radio. For those of you who have XM, you can tune in every Friday at 3AM, 11AM, and 5PM on Sonic Theater, Channel 163! You've already missed episode 1 but that's my fault as I didn't mention it here last Friday, which happed to be Talk Like a Pirate Day. Anyway, give my work a listen and see what you think!

Hasta-La-Bye-Bye!

Renee did this and I decided to take it too.

Your Personality is Very Rare (INFP)

Your personality type is dreamy, romantic, elegant, and expressive. Only about 5% of all people have your personality, including 6% of all women and 4% of all men You are Introverted, Intuitive, Feeling, and Perceiving.

I found this website called A Nice Chat, which is a place where you are connected to a random person and you talk about whatever until one of you gets bored or decide to exchange contact info so you can stay in touch. I decided to give it a whirl and this is what happened.

( Read more... )
If you want to try this go to http://www.anicechat.net/ but don't expect it to work with screenreaders.

I've been up for way too long and I'm really sleepy. I was originally going to work on audio drama after my show until I was too tired or until I got the rest of the episode done but Goalball got in the way of that. What? Goalball? Let me explain! 

Geoff Shang of ACB Radio called me and asked me if I'd stay up and relay the 2008 Paralympics Goalball Tournement. I'm simulcasting the game on ACB Radio World by sitting in an AccessibleWorld.org chat room and streaming what Bill Teale sends into the room up onto the server. The audio quality is less than stellar but it is neat that he's managing to give us live coverage of the game from freakin' CHINA!

As soon as Midnight comes, or Geoff shows up to relieve me of my streaming duties then I'll be going to bed. He needed someone to take the first few hours of the stream for him as it was going to be starting at Stupid-O-Clock for him and he has to work and so he can't stay up late. He knows I don't want to stay here all night simulcasting this thing so he's going to take the other half.

I am so tired, can't wait to die... must fight sleep, must thank god that the last 4 times I fell asleep that the crowd roaring with excitment woke me up. Must stop waking up at 2 AM and going to bed 24 to 36 hours after. Zzzzzzz

I've been really tired lately and I know today is going to really take the energy out of me. I've been mostly sitting around the house and working on audio drama for the last 3 or 4 days and I keep running into this brick wall that sucks all of my energy out. I sleep for a few hours, get up, do more work and then feel drained again and repeat the cycle.

Maybe getting out of the house will help me break the cycle? I don't know but we'll see. I have a feeling I'm going to be trashed by tonight.

We're going to a restaurant called the Exchequer for an NFB Chapter Meeting. I mostly go to these meetings because Carmen asks me to help her with technical stuff like doing the audio setup. I have made friends by going to NFB meetings though so it's not without benefit. I think I'm more of an ACB'er but I still enjoy going to the meetings and eating good food and hanging out.

Hopefully if the meeting is over soon enough I'll be home in time to do my show at 5PM. Sometimes those meetings cut it awfully close and I get home just barely in time. I have already made the playlist and all I have to do is run in the door and start broadcasting.

After the meeting and the show is done I need to get started on the final scene of this audio drama I'm working on. We go on the air on September 19th on XM Radio. I need to get more episodes done before we hit the air.

We have company at the house right now and I've been sorta anti-social but it can't really be helped. I have too much going on right now to spend my time down stairs hanging out. I feel sorta bad about it but I have been putting in some appearances here and there and the people who are visiting are not really here for me anyway.

Well the clock says it's time to go downstairs and head out the door for the meeting, I'll post to my Twitter and Facebook while I'm out. I also promise to post in my journal more often.

Since I know that I don't typically go back to the comments section of an entry after I leave a comment unless the author replies directly to me I figured most people wouldn't do that either. I have had so many positive responses to my previous entry and it would be very redundant to reply to each one separately so they knew their comment had been seen. I would be saying pretty much the same thing to everyone so it makes sense to just say it in the open where everyone will graze over it eventually and know that I appreciated their support.

To every person who wrote in my comments section about me going to school to learn braille, thank you for cheering me on. It feels so good to have people backing me up and letting me know that my goal is indeed very practical. I am also happy to hear that other people suffered the same fate as me and have also achieved this goal. I wouldn't wish suffering upon anyone but it makes me feel like there are other people I can commiserate with about this struggle to read without my eyeballs.

I can't wait until I can get myself a braille display of some sort as I think that would be a great alternative to using speech while I'm trying to do a radio show. I don't really do well with underlaying speech under my production. I also can't wait to be able to read a good book with the lights off and my eyes closed. How neat would it be to be able to read a book without craning my neck and having to strain my body to keep a certain position so my eyes can read the print. I hate trying to read laying down with my eyes, but I love being able to curl up and enjoy an audio book. How nice would it be to lay on my back in my bed and actually read!!!

So thank you for posting comments, all of you are very muchly appreciated.