Beginning of the end

My daughter said goodbye to her room and our house earlier today. My folks are coming back from the States this weekend, so we'll spend Nica's remaining days at their place.

It was tough explaining to her how it will be a very long time before she comes back again. It was eating me up inside thinking about all the good times she's had with us in our humble but happy home.

I decided to take a leave on Wednesday and Thursday next week. I want to spend my daughter's entire last day in the country with her, plus I'm sure I'll be too broken up to go on air the following day.

I think I'll be alright when I do my Saturday program "The Blend". The a cappella music always eases my mind.

Out of it

Yesterday, I had a horrible day on air. I had a hard time keeping my energy up, I was tongue-tied and stuttering, plus I even almost completely missed one of my segments.

My daughter leaves for Denmark in a week. She'll be there indefinitely. With the days numbered, the reality of it is just starting to set in.

As a DJ, you're a performer. You have to present an upbeat entertaining program. Nobody wants to tune in to a depressed announcer. So you just have to do your best, since "the show must go on".

When you're just having a typical bad day, it's hard enough. But when you have one of those life-changing problems hanging over your head, it's almost impossible.

Getting personal

This is probably the most personal I've ever been on my blog...

I've talked in previous entries about a personal problem that has been bothering me over the past few weeks. Well, in recent days it has come to a bit of a climax.

My ex-girlfriend is now back in the country. In a couple of weeks she's going to take my daughter with her to Europe, where she's been living for the past four years. For how long, we don't know.

My wife and I would probably have a chance at winning custody in a legal battle, but we've decided not to go that way. We don't want to fight things out. So after lots and lots of deliberating, my family, my wife and I have all decided to allow her to go.

Nica's only seven years old, so she doesn't fully realize how far away she'll be, and how long she'll actually be away. She has been a bit excited about the trip, and I've been doing my best to be supportive. But we have never really been apart, so you can imagine how this is eating me up inside.

Getting personal

This is probably the most personal I've ever been on my blog...

I've talked in previous entries about a personal problem that's been bothering me over the past few weeks. Well now it's come to a bit of a climax.

My ex is in the country. She's going to take my daughter with her back to Europe, where she's been living for the past four years. Nica and I have never been apart, so you can imagine how this is eating me up.

My wife and I would probably be able to win custody, in a legal battle, but after lots and lots of thinking

Back in civilization

Last Friday morning I got the good news that our equipment was fixed and we were already broadcasting from Pasig again.

The past week has been pretty tough on me, not because of work, but because of some personal problems that I'm facing.

When you've got some really tough problems, even the smallest things going wrong can seem to take their toll.

So knowing that I've got one less thing to worry about, no matter how small or petty, helps me a lot.

The Antipolo Experience

Early this week there was a fire on one of the upper floors of our building and a cable that connects our booth to the tower was damaged. Since couldn't send our signal to our transmitter in Antipolo for broadcast, for the past few days we've been forced hold our radio shows all the way up there in a makeshift studio.

The trip, albeit long, isn't actually all that bad. Unfortunately, the conditions of our "booth" are far from ideal. Instead of being isolated in a spacious sound-proof room, we're working inside a tight hallway where people pass by every so often and noise comes from everywhere.

I could be whining like a baby about it, but I'm actually taking it quite well. Maybe I'm growing up. But then again, maybe I'm going crazy, since I actually find the whole situation rather amusing. :)

(You can see pictures of our set-up at http://djrick.multiply.com/photos)

The Blend Podcast

After much consideration, I've decided to post podcasts of my a cappella radio program on my site (http://djrick.multiply.com).

In order to encourage people to keep listening to the actual show (on Saturdays from 9am-12nn), I'm posting very old editions of the program, and they will be in very low quaility.

Hopefully this will create interest among those who haven't yet heard the show itself.

Off-air

In an earlier blog I noted how doing my a cappella show "The Blend" on weekends, is something I really look forward to. It relieves me of stress and energizes me at the same time.

Unfortunately yesterday at around 9:15am, as I was playing my fifth song of the show, something happened to our transmitter and the whole station went off air.

I waited and waited, hoping that it would come back on air soon to salvage the program. But when did it come back on? About 2 or 3 minutes before 12noon, when my show ends. Sigh...

Right now I'm trying to think of a way to satisfy the loyal listeners of the program who were calling, texting and chatting with me, disappointed that they waited a week for nothing.

Maybe it's time for me to finally start podcasting some of the older editions of the program. Yeah, I could post them on the Music section of my site (http://djrick.multiply.com).

Almost, but not quite there yet

A few days ago I had another follow up with the doctor that performed the surgery on my back. He seemed happy with my progress, but said that there are still some things that I can't do.

I was hoping he'd say that I could go running and play tennis again, but that's still out of the question. My lower back has to heal a little more before it can handle that stress. It's understandable, since I do get aches when I stand or walk for extended periods.

It was disappointing since my inability to do most exercises has hurt my weight-loss efforts. I'm mainly allowed to do some swimming. But the weather over the past weeks hasn't allowed it.

One interesting thing the Doc explained to me was my muscle scarring. I thought the stiffness that I've been feeling was something permanent. But apparently it's just very tight scar tissue. I just need to do some light stretching to fix it.

I was pretty much settled on the idea that I would never be nearly the same again. But who knows? If everything goes well, I might get close to the way I was. One thing's for sure, it's going to take some more time.