Freezing in the Houston sun

At Radio and TV stations, the air conditioner has to be on very strong to keep all the high- tech equipment from overheating.

Anyone who has visited the booth of Jam 88.3 in Manila knows that the booth is more often than not freezing cold. Well, It's not much different at the TV station where I work in Houston.

So just like in Manila, I'd come out of the freezing office to a car that has been baking under the sun all day. The other week my sister, not knowing how cold the office gets, asked why I was at work in long sleeves and a thick jacket.

Summer has just started here and temperatures are already in the 90's (mid 30s in Celcius). I hear that in August, 100 degrees (38C) and over isn't uncommon. They say it gets a lot hotter here than Manila, but at least it doesn't get sticky.

Surprise! Pesos!

One sideline that many DJs have is doing voice acting. The competition is a bit stiff, but if one could land a few a month, you could easily make more then an Announcer's salary.

Anyway, my wife and I voiced a couple of TV and Radio ads before we left. The other week the studio deposited our checks into our BPI account.

Since my sister and her family will visit Manila next week, they'll just pay us dollars while they use our ATM card back home.

It's pretty cool that we're still sort of earning over there.

Getting the ball rolling

Last weekend I completed training for my new job at a TV station here in Houston. The controls are a bit similar to those of a Radio station, so it wasn't hard for me to adapt.

This weekend, I'll be flying solo on my regular shift, in the daytime. I'm glad since the night shift can be difficult because of my back (it easily gets strained late at night, and I have to lay down.)

I'm still looking for work for the weekdays. Now that my sister's on vacation (teacher), she can watch my son, while my wife and I borrow her car and distribute resumes.

The man upstairs has never let me down, so I'm sure I'll end up finding a good weekday job too, just as long as I don't give up on looking.