Lou Pickney's Online Commentary
Fly Me With Balloons
Wednesday
June 28, 2006
Tonight I feel pretty tired. The reason? Today I did the inventory for the company warehouse here in Alabaster, which involved all sorts of moving, maneuvering, and checking of various products. That ended up taking more out of me than I expected. Is it possible to have a muscle spasm in your knee? My right knee is telling me: yes.
It seems that the question that creeps up the most in conversation is: how am I adjusting to life in Alabama? It's not bad here. Comparing Alabaster to Tampa isn't fair, since comparing just about anywhere to Tampa is going to be an unfavorable contrast for the city that's not Tampa. There is fun to be had in Birmingham, which is just up the interstate. Courtesy here is higher than you'll find elsewhere, at least in interpersonal interactions. Darling or sweetie or dear is something that is thrown in with a "here you go" by a waitress without a second thought given. Nothing is meant by it -- that's just part of the vernacular.
Sure, there are accents here, but there were accents when you'd get outside of the Tampa city limits (Plant City, anyone?), and I grew up in Nashville, so I know a thing or two about accents. For some reason an Alabama accent in a woman doesn't have the sexiness that a Georgia accent or a Mississippi accent has, but you can't win 'em all.
Socially, I haven't been able to network all that well so far here, but I moved here knowing no one in Birmingham. If nothing else, that's helped me keep my mind on my job, which has been a far more daunting task than I've alluded to on here. TV news and radio producing, for me, came pretty easy. I had experience at it, and I knew what to do and how to do it. But with my new job, I've had to learn an entirely new protocol and a new nomenclature and tried to get up to speed as quick as possible in an industry that I had only a peripheral knowledge about three months ago.
The NBA Draft tonight was mildly interesting to watch. With age discrimination in full effect (with the arbitrary 19 year old minimum entry age), this draft was one of the weakest in recent memory. Besides seeing Dick Vitale looking ridiculously happy when J.J. Redick was drafted by Orlando at #11, and San Antonio Spurs pick Damir Markota (#59 overall) in attendance and *barely* making the cut before the end of the draft, it was a pretty non-eventful event. I did enjoy one comment about New Jersey second round selection Hassan Adams, "He doesn't shoot or pass very well." Just the thing you want to hear if you're a Nets fan. And hearing the Hornets referred to as the "New Orleans-Oklahoma City Hornets" sounded preposterous. Craziest name for a Louisiana franchise since Signed, Sealed & Delivered In The Bayou.
For some reason, the Eric the Midget Wikipedia page busts me up laughing nearly every time I read it. If you've never heard Howard Stern before, you probably wouldn't appreciate and/or understand it, but I find it absolutely hilarious. Don't get me wrong, I'm still loyal to Bubba and the guys in Tampa first and foremost, but that stuff just cracks me up.
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