I have NO idea. I have not read the paper, I have not watched any News, I didn't even turn on the radio. This was done on purpose. Because I was on vacation, yes and no. The last time I was on vacation for this long I was at the beach in Playa del Carmen (because I roll like that) or it was a gift to me from my father for my wedding and I turned on the television to see 9/11 happening. So I decided not to tempt fate.

South Padre Island. It could have been Ft. Phantom for all I care but it was fun.

I am mad I missed out on the Reader's Choice Awards banquet. I bet it was awesome. Then the results coming out on Sunday. I don't know about you but I really do look at those things. I have known the results for about a week or so and there were some surprises. I also think I want to add some categories like Best Sweet Tea. I know some places that are pretty good but I am just one man and after this past week, a very tired one.

Lots of comments too while I was gone. Thanks for those.

Ok, so it has been raining for days. Its wonderful for the yard. The picture in today’s paper said it all, paddling to shore on top of Styrofoam.

I'm getting settled into my new job and things are really starting to get busy. That is always good news.

But I could not go any further with out mention my new Ride. Yep, once you get to move positions you need to need to spend that $10 extra dollars on a new ride. Tell me what you think.

That's right a 1992 Buick Park Avenue. It only has 150k miles and drives like your on a cushion of air. It belonged to my father-in-laws dad who is no longer able to drive. So we're selling it for him. That's right you will be able to find this gem in the paper on Friday. I would put a link to it but its not available yet.
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iPhone comes out tomorrow, I will be honest and say that I am really curious about them. Looks nice

Posted by James Mayo · June 26, 2007 3:28 AM · Comments (3)

It's day two of the new position, and it's very different than what I was doing. First of all, there is not a bulk coffee machine in Circulation. I drink coffee like it's in my job description, and the past two days I have been jonesing for some quality newspaper coffee. I will solve this problem tomorrow.

Circulation is fascinating. So many things to get your hands into.

So Father's Day came and went. I had one of those days that makes life grand. Breakfast in bed, wonderful cards, a gift or two and a video my wife took of my daughter answering some questions about me. I won't go through all of that because those are my memories, but this was funny:

- Where does Dadddy work? At the Important News.

- What is Daddy's favorite TV Show? The yellow face show ("The Simpsons").

And, then we went to church. We had Bible Times Marketplace, which is where you get to dress up like the people did back in the olden days and see how they lived. It was fun to watch my daughter pick up the FLOATING minnows in a well at the fish market.

By the time evening came, our whole family was sick. What can you do.

This Sunday, the Reader's Choice Awards will be announced. Get ready.

I will have more content later. I wanted write about the US Open, but I'm tired of hearing about it. Give me a couple of days to think of something.

Posted by James Mayo · June 19, 2007 4:09 PM · Comments (5)

OK, for those of you who do not know, today is my last day as James from Sales. Starting on Monday, it will be James from Circulation.

Now this will not change too much from my interaction with you, except I might begin to plug functions that I will be attending and all the drama that follows.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the people I have worked with in the Advertising area; the graphic designers (Dawn and Warren), the assistants who would not let me make any mistakes (Brenda, Penny, Mindy, Schivon, Jeri and Shelia). I would love to take this opportunity and thank Kim Nussbaum and Paula Fiel. Kim Nussbaum interviewed me several times before passing me on to my current manager Paula Fiel. I thank her for giving me a chance to work for the Reporter-News, and I will not ever forget that. Paula Fiel offered me a job that I didn't even interview for. I thought she was very convincing and she was right, it would be a wonderful opportunity. She made sure to point out little things I may have said incorrectly or how to better present to my customers. She was never shy about wanting to get in front of my customers with me and would always brainstorm new ideas. I will miss that.

My new responsibilities are going to be challenging, but I am optimistic that I will accomplish them and have fun in the process.
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I'm writing this before I go participate in ArtWalk. I will let you know later on how that fared. A friend of mine had their first child, and I wanted to kick a shout-out to Hunter - welcome to the world.
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Oh, since I am writing this before it happens, my prediction for the game that I will read about tomorrow: SA 79-CLE 75. Another boring game that really doesn't matter.
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OK, it's after the fact and ArtWalk was fantastic. We went to the Grace Children's Museum and looked at all the fascinating kid activities they had there. As we walked around downtown, a classic car show is suppose to take over Abilene for the next couple of days. Eleanor was there.

My daughters were mesmerized by this band outside Texas Star Trading playing these folksy tunes. They just sat and stared for 15 minutes. It was highly entertaining. Then, to make this "CarWalk" complete, my beautiful wife and oldest went to go see Cars at the Paramount. I went to the Beehive in downtown Abilene for one of the best burgers in town. Ali and Nariman are always the nice host, and since they were one of my customers in a past life, they always treated me with respect. So, I try to frequent their establishment as often as possible. But, seriously they have great burgers.

Side Note: Is it comforting or concerning that I just did a search for Eleanor and what popped up, nothing but mustang pictures. There was one picture of a sweet older lady but everything else on the page was a mustang. Try it out for yourself. Click here.
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OK, two things I would like comment on from my last post. I do not think Jaschu hit a home run out of the park. I think I would need video evidence of this feat. I picture him getting to the plate with batting gloves, sliders, coach's shorts and a fat tug of Big League chew in his mouth waiting for that perfect pitch, then hitting that reliable blooper over the 2nd baseman.

LegalKnivel, I clicked on your link and was blown away by the writing on your site. Top notch.
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The great thing about being a dad today is my oldest daughter is sitting next to me and asking me what I am talking about with her arm around me. I love these moments.

FOR THE RECORD: Blogs posts will occur twice a week, sometime on Tuesday and ALWAYS on "Slow posting Fridays," so set your schedule accordingly.

We have a new blogger - it's going to be sent out with a newsletter every month. I signed up for it already. Check it out.

Posted by James Mayo · June 14, 2007 10:32 PM · Comments (6)

Yep, Texas Heat. Of course you must be thinking of the weather in Texas during the summer...wrong! I am talking of the cover to Sports Illustrated May 1, 1989.

Rewind almost 18 years. My father said if he gave me a subscription to Sports Illustrated I had to read at least one article per issue. I thought that was a deal because I was in the phase of my life where it was socially acceptable to cut out pictures from magazines and hang them on my wall. Needless to say that for the next 26 issues and the additional 2 bonus issues, I was very familiar with the sports world and Stephanie Seymour.

Fast forward several more years later. My Dad had made a major purchase. He was able to get tickets to the game in Arlington that Nolan Ryan was supposed to pitch his 300th win. Amazing, right? We had the great seats off to the upper part of the old Arlington Stadium. See the picture below - we are the red dot.

I was able to yell at Nolan over the top rail as he warmed up down below. He was throwing a football to get loosen up; I thought that was awesome. My Dad had just purchased a sweet Rebel camera with an zoom lens, so we got some good pics. In fact they used one on a baseball card.

Well I guess by now you can tell who liked the Rangers and collected one or two baseball cards in their day.

In case you didn't know, it was a fantastic game and Nolan did a good job but came out in the 5th losing. So he did not get his 300th win that night. We did get the commemorative program that listed all 299 of his wins and a shirt that said 300 wins and had them all except number 300. That time at the game with my Dad was magical - every pitch, every hit, it was just wonderful being there. We still talk about it.

I remember watching Nolan strike out Rickey Henderson for number 5,000. I watched his 7th no-hitter, I even have his autograph ... twice. I went to ACU and on the baseball field it had a sign that read "Thanks Nolan and Ruth" but nothing brought me as close to him as this past Saturday.

A friend of mine is getting married in August, so he and his fiancé had a "home improvement" shower. I think this was a great way for her friends and his friends to meet and give the couple more gifts. This event was catered, a catered shower that was top notch in every way (I had a double cheeseburger, because I am that guy). They have some really nice friends.

THIS WAS NOLAN RYAN'S OLD HOUSE - it made the whole evening. I put my hand in the pool and touched my wife's belly (in case you didn't know I am going to be a father, again), so that Zygote will throw 100 mph fastballs. OK, I really didn't do it, but there was discussion about taking some of the grass.

It was a pretty fun evening all the way around. I had a evening with my wife, we hung out with some friends we hadn't seen in a while, and then I went over to the groom-to-be's apartment and I won at poker. To celebrate the end of playing poker, we must go to Whataburger and get taquitos. They taste so good at 3 a.m.

AHHHHHHHHHHHH
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By the way, went to Discount Tire again (Thanks Tom, used your account again) because while trying to get my car inspected at Avis Lube off Rebecca, I ran over a nail in the road. Avis Lube was nice to fill my tire up for me and then I ran over to Discount Tire where they fixed my flat, rotated my tires and let me read the paper in under 25 minutes with nothing to pay. I was super happy. Now if I can just find a way to use this blog to write about more of my customers????!!!!
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I would have watched the game on Sunday but I wanted to be cool like everyone else and not. I almost feel bad for the NBA, almost. This will teach the NBA to let the Mavericks win.

We recently had this article in the paper about Ryan.

Posted by James Mayo · June 12, 2007 3:41 AM · Comments (4)

The analogies that people use to describe situations are laughable to me. The Orlando Magic have been left at the altar. Billy Donovan wants to stay.

These people need to get over themselves. Billy needs to man up and face the decision he made; he signed a contract. The Orlando Magic need to quit walking around with their heads down kicking up dirt.

To create an analogy, I would say that ...

...this situation is exactly like the Cam Neely commercial he did for "ESPN News" many years ago. It shows Cam gardening and living the nice life in a home and a nice little dog running around. Then they start talking about how great he was going to be but had unrealized expectations. He then looks at the camera, says some stuff and then adds, "You wanna kick my dog while you're here!"

I would have included that commercial but it has been very difficult to find.
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Also, for all those who don't know, I am a genius. Self-appointed Adam Smith clone. If you will read in my archives entitled Beer vs. No Beer, you will see that my dilemma proposed by a friend of mine has surfaced.
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Moving on: I feel as if I need to always include some sort of photo, bullet, poll or diagram to keep my readers (three of you, based on last count) hooked, today will be different.
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I am going to tackle a subject that will probably cause a phone call to my boss or an e-mail, but it needs to be said. Abilene is a football town. I don't agree with it, but the fact remains, you must feed the beast or it will find another place to eat.

www.gofridaynight.com is the Reporter-News baby. It is the best coverage in the Big Country and last year had several MILLION visitors. This is not matched by any other site for high school football within 100 miles. Moving on, no more sales talk....

I'm just saying this because it's June and it's already begun. Wylie this, Abilene High that, Cooper is going to be the big surprise. It’s June.
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I played poker with our sports editor the other night; let's just say that he is a much better sports editor than poker player. Actually, he was not that bad, but my kids did get to eat at McDonald's the following night.
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Just to follow-up about a tease I made several days ago about Discount Tire. They provided me with exceptional service, were able to upsell me into some nice tires for a good price and even gave me free coffee. I seriously could sit in that place for an hour and write gold. I may do that on a Saturday when they run one of their specials in our paper.
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I was injured in Wiffle ball last Wednesday. All that and more next time.

If you have any opinions about anything, I would be happy to give you the right answer.

Also Vote for your favorite sports moment of the past school year here!!!

Posted by James Mayo · June 4, 2007 4:31 PM · Comments (2)