End of April edition

Just a brief note as I am preparing to head to Pasadena. The Uniden BCD996T is on its way, will be here on Monday - this radio is going to be neat. Nearly 28 years of scanner listening, and this one that's coming up will top almost every other radio I've had.

The monthly budget and forecast for the next three months are in - if all goes well, I will be in pretty good shape for the rest of the year. When was the last time I said that??? After nearly seven years of frustration, broken promises, bad pay, actions of a manager that put a water company out of business, and so on - things are starting to look up for me.

One note to pass on. Playboy Buddy Rose, the guy that would make a mockery of himself when the wrestling announcer told everyone his weight was 271 pounds and then Rose interrupts him and says his weight is 217 pounds, sadly dropped dead a few days ago. While he was a heel wrestler for the most part, Rose was a major part of the Pacific Northwest region, along with Billy Jack Haynes and Rip Oliver. Rose also wrestled in Texas during the 1970s, and he had a match with a young man that was making his pro wrestling debut back in 1976: Kevin Adkisson, better known to you and me as Kevin Von Erich.

The guy unfortunately did have weight problems - and this is an issue that is not to be taken lightly at all. I am one of those people, and am doing whatever I can to overcome it and be back in the shape I once was in the 1980s.

That's going to do it for now - will be back for more in the next few days.

RD

Apr 27 2009 edition

The "unofficial" rain season here in Los Angeles ends in a few days (normally between November 1st and April 30th is when the most rain occurs in SoCal). Since July 1st, 8.93 inches of rain fell at Downtown Los Angeles, almost 6 inches below normal for this time of year. There were only two days in which thunder was reported - one in early October and another in January. Most of that occurred in the San Gabriel and San Fernando Valleys.

With that almost done, is the time we get morning low clouds and fog for a couple of months, and then the warm-up begins. L.A. had a preview of that last week when temperatures peaked 100 degrees last Tuesday.

Foggy mornings were always good to me, especially during my water delivery days, when I would begin around 6:30, 7 in the morning, and then knock all of my delivery stops out before lunchtime; especially in Newport Beach, Costa Mesa and Irvine, where I used to deliver at one time. I do miss those days every now and then.

Not much to report this week. I am going to order my Uniden Bearcat BCD-996T in a day or two, and will have it shipped to me here in LA within the next three to four days. Mint condition, fresh from the factory; all I pay is one price including shipping & handling, which is less than $500. This route, I would save more than $100 - half of that in sales tax - had I bought it locally.

OT will be coming soon, and eventually THEN is when I will be really busy - from late-May until the end of the Los Angeles County Fair in October. I will have three 3-day weekends, and a vacation in between, but it will be a productive four months for me. Along the way, I will be having some dental work done to fill in gaps with my front teeth (bring back the old smile I once had).

My next tour to Las Vegas hopefully will be in May - it will be my last chance to get out there before the summer hits in high gear. The last few years, Vegas has had morning lows in the mid 80s to lower 90s during the summer - way too warm for me - and highs ranging from 105 to 110 degrees. Last year Vegas only peaked at 111, but a few years ago a temperature of 117 was reached - the warmest ever at McCarran International Airport and tying the all-time recorded high set in 1942 at Nellis Air Force Base. There have been instances in the early days when temps peaked at 118, but official National Weather Service records for Las Vegas date back to 1937.

With all that said, have a safe week everybody - will see you on the flip side of the week.

RD

Apr 20 2009 - memories of April 1984 edition

As I mentioned earlier in the month, I would be looking back at the glory days of the Sunrise Mountain area, as the 25th anniversary of my most successful year at Eldorado High School will be coming to a close six weeks from now.

The year 1984 was a great time for me - even though two of my good friends have moved on at that time - Andrea, who returned to Orange County; Clark High School's Vanessa Caramanica, who went to Europe on a foreign exchange program; and Dan Bennett, who moved to Sacramento (he returned a year later). Shawn was also on her way out, as she exited Eldorado towards the end of April. At the time I didn't know the reasons for her bailing, and that somewhat hurt me a bit as I was real close to her during that time. Living in Henderson was one factor, and her future husband Alan was another, plus she had some issues with her back too - so a lot was going on with her at that time. I have no resentments; I knew that one day Shawn and I would hook up again - and we did six months later at Sundevil Stadium; but it took almost two years to meet up again (1986). And I became a close friend of her family afterwards. We lost touch after '97, but I'm sure we will meet again...someday soon.

As far as with my other friends - I do remember a time we had a get-together at the Paddlewheel - it was an event that was sponsored by KLAV and it was a month-long event whereas the ten major high schools in the Las Vegas Valley would hold these end-of-school-year get togethers at the Paddlewheel. Don't recall who was there, other than maybe Connie Scordato, Pat Geary and Britta Carlson; I do know that most of the '85ers as well as the 86 and 87ers were there too.

The yearbook signing party - that was a historic moment in its own right. I was the first, and probably the only underclassmen to have been invited to join the '84 group to start the party. I do have to give them credit, most specifically to Darryl Goalen, Shawn Dreitzler, LaResa Spendlove and Mike Brown - these group of people helped me out in '82 when I was an up-and-coming newcomer, and I thank them for that.

The teachers I had, for those of you who wonder, were Jack Schnepp (theatre), Mike Mundt (drafting), Coach Stephens (US History), John (?) Turner (Math - he was a newcomer, and did a very good job too), Coach Bright (English III - wonderful teacher and one of my favorites too), and James Kirk (Environmental Science - no not Captain Kirk, but he was a good guy).

Let us not forget the crazy list of characters too - Harry O (rest in peace), Tiny the hall monitor, the late great Richard Paulin, our principal, that goofy driver's ed teacher James Alexander, and of course the late Bill Hollingsworth - the athletic director at the time.

And of course the great classes of 1984, 1985, 1986 and 1987. It is these four classes that made the 1983-84 school year the most memorable of all. From the football games at the stadium, to the International Scout, from John Eckert's defection to Valley High School to my rise to stardom, and from the days of going up to restore the E on Sunrise Mountain to spraying shaving cream at everybody towards the end of the year, and from hearing Coach Stephens scream his lungs out at the Sportatorium to that truck that would play that Dukes of Hazzard horn (the one that the General Lee would play) in the early going. This was the best time ever. To those of you who are at Eldorado today - you guys have no idea what it was like 25 years ago; and YOU can do the same if you want to. But sadly, from what I've heard from a few friends, its not the same anymore. I had a bad vibe about that when I drove by the school in 2003, and I think that would be the case when I come to Vegas later this year to visit the school.

There a lot to say about that time, and so many memories I have with great people like Pat, Ott, Shawn, Brenda, Andrea, Bart, Danny, Gina, Jason, good heavens - a list as long as hearing Jim Perry explain what prizes a player won on Sale of the Century. Its too much - enough to write a book quite actually.

With that said - I'll talk more about that great time in my next installment.

Have a safe week everybody.

Rob

When will it end???

I am starting to see a trend in this country that I am not very happy about.

In a time span of less than a month, there have been three shooting sprees - one in Oakland, another in Pittsburgh, and most recently one here in the Long Beach area. And the results are not good: seven police officers were killed in two of the three aforementioned incidents (4 from Oakland - one of which was declared brain-dead; and 3 from Pittsburgh). Yesterday, a senseless act of violence occurred at Long Beach Memorial Hospital - a worker came in with two guns, killing his boss and another co-worker before committing suicide.

I'm not sure what it is, or what drives individuals to go postal and cause major problems. But something has to be done about this trend - and fast.

$

I did hear that the city of LA passed an ordinance allowing the LAPD officers to roll Code 3 at their own discretion on any major "Hot Shot" call - which means, like Metro, the officers will respond Code 3 if they feel that the Hot Shot call poses a threat to life.

One thing I do like LAPD to do is to have the dispatchers start using their "channel markers" in the event there is a life-threatening situation in progress. Outside of L.A., its called a 10-33, others call it a Code-33; Metro Police calls it "Code Red". These channel markers on the radio frequency is a beeping tone that is heard once every 8 seconds. LAPD really needs to utilize this - an Air unit told dispatch once at least three times to keep one of the radio frequencies clear during a pursuit. Chief Bratton, I hope you're reading this...

$

Somewhat of a busy Saturday coming up - I need to pay a few bills and then pickup bookshelves from Ikea. Then from there...who knows...

Well I hope everybody has a great weekend. More from me soon.


Rob

Apr 14 2009 - Tax Season edition

Hope everybody had a great Easter Sunday wherever you may be. It was a good one over here in L.A. - spent it with some good friends. Now the week and the time of the year everybody cringes on - and that is Tax Season. It's not one of my favorite times of the year either, but it has to be done - the federal government requires everybody to do it - those who earned income that is.

Another sad time in baseball. Last week was the sudden death of Angels pitcher Nick Adenhart, as the result of a felony DUI hit and run. Two Cal-State Fullerton students were also killed in the wreck; one of which was a cheerleader. The guy that caused this wreck was arrainged today, facing three counts of second-degree murder, felony hit & run, felony DUI, driving on a revoked license, etc.

And now, a well-known baseball voice is silenced forever: Harry Kalas. Thirty-eight years with the Phillies organization, and before that, six years with the Houston Astros; he successfully filled the shoes vacated by the legendary Byrum Saam and became an institution in his own right. Today, he is deceased - the victim of an apparent heart attack at the age of 73. Harry was preparing for today's game against the Washington Nationals when he collapsed - and was rushed to a local hospital in full cardiac arrest. An hour later, he was gone. In addition, Harry was the voice of NFL Films, and did play-by-play for Westwood One for some 20-plus years.

Harry was best remembered for famous phrases such as "it's outta here" and "struck him out", two phrases that has since carried over to Terry Smith of the Angels. Baseball certainly won't be the same without Harry the K.

Dodger fans, enjoy what you have with Vinnie - eventually soon he will be gone too. When that day comes, it will truly be a sad day. Vin Scully is irreplacable - no doubt about that. The same holds true with the departed Harry Kalas, as well as Jack Buck, Curt Gowdy, Harry Caray, Bob Prince, Jack Brickhouse, Bill King, Bob Murphy, Mel Allen, Red Barber and Russ Hodges. Yes we still have Jerry Coleman, Dave Niehaus, Bob Uecker, Milo Hamilton and Jon Miller around, but who knows when they will hang it up? Coleman has officially retired his gold star, since he no longer does play by play. Niehaus still gets out the rye bread and mustard for grand salamis, but he's late in his career himself.

Well that's about it for now. Enjoy the rest of the week.

Apr 7 2009 - Return of Baseball and The Hills edition

Hope your favorite team won yesterday - mine did.

It's always a great day on Opening Day in Major League Baseball - one of the Angels announcers said it best: Opening Day is our January 1st. I certainly don't doubt that statement at all.

It's too early to tell who will do what this year - some are looking at both the Dodgers and Angels to win their respective divisions - the Cubbies will do the same in the NL Central, and look for Philadelphia, White Sox and maybe the Red Sox to win their division titles towards September.

$

The final season (?) of The Hills is underway, and it was an explosive start too. Reality or otherwise, Spencer showed exactly what he is - but at the same token, that other dude who texted Stephanie was sticking his nose in a place where it didn't belong. And that was an invitation of having your butt lit up. I say take both of these clowns to the Olympic Auditorium and let them duke it out there, but not in public.

As expected, the storyline is pretty much in the same area code as 90210 went towards the end of its initial run: 20-something year olds learning to be grown men and women. All of us have done that too - take a look at me and my friends from the old Sunrise Mountain days. We lived it up in Las Vegas, did all kind of things and enjoyed life and being around great friends that some of us grew up with since grade school. Yes, there were disagreements, and fights too - who else HASN'T been through that? Now today, all of us youngins from those days have gone different directions - some of us, including yours truly, no longer live in Las Vegas. Regardless, none of us, including myself, will never forget the glory days that we lived over a quarter of a century ago.

Whitney Port has moved on to New York - Lauren Conrad will be next. It's been a good ride for these young girls and guys - but reality is starting to set in on them, and its time to spread the wings and fly. All of them - Whitney, Lauren, that lowdown bum Spencer, Heidi, Bromance, Audrina and Lo will have bigger and better things going for them between now and the next 10 if not 15 years.

One other thing - have you heard Chester French? This group has some pretty good tunes they've released - give it a listen.

$

With that said - I am now working on taxes - the worst time of the year. I know how stressful it is to be working on taxes, let alone having to give up the dinero to Uncle Sam. Ugh. I was in the minus territory last year (but got it back, thanks to Bushixon), hopefully this year it will be different.

After all of that, I will head out to get rid of these plastic bottles and cans - there's a place in Inglewood that I can go in and out pretty quickly - no need to redeem anything. A word to the wise: never shop in Inglewood, unless you want to pay almost 10% sales tax. What a joke!!!

This past Sunday I began a strict regimen of more water and less food. Due to this ankle problem that I've had for the past five years, I've slowed down and put on quite a bit. There are days when I'm a bit weak, and other days when I have a lot of energy. I may have it X-Rayed to see what the status of the ankle is - and possibly determine if I may need scope surgery or otherwise. It's a bummer that I can't do the things that I used to do 20 years ago, and I need to correct that right here and now.

$$

That's it for now. Till next time...


Rob

RD Extra

About 12:24 in the afternoon, hope you're afternoon's going well. Well, today I heard a pursuit on the scanner - it began in the Foothill Division of LAPD, ended up in the northeast, and then it continued westward through Santa Monica, Malibu, Port Hueneme and finally ended in Oxnard. LAPD was pursuing a stolen vehicle (411 in Metro Lingo, Code 37 in LAPD) - what I don't understand about this pursuit is CHP's refusal to get involved in the pursuit, as well as the L.A. County Sheriff. These two agencies have some explaining to do - you let this drag on all the way to Ventura County, costing taxpayer's money and possibly putting these officers at risk.

I don't support everything LAPD does, but I live in Los Angeles and support LAPD in the same way as I did with Metro when I was in Las Vegas. CHP should have gotten involved when this pursuit got into Malibu.

$

Back to the issue at hand - I will be making an important announcement. I won't say much at this time, but what I can tell you that this year may be my final year in the city of Los Angeles. Things have gotten better for me - don't be mistaken - and hopefully if all goes well - I may hope to relocate elsewhere in SoCal. Like I say, I don't want to say much, but I don't also want anyone to get the wrong idea either. All I can say at this point is - stay tuned.

Let's go - batter up - we're taking the afternoon off...

Yes indeed. Baseball is back, folks. Other than football, I can't think of any other sport I look forward to. The Dodgers' home opener won't be until April 13th, against San Francisco. The Blue Crew will begin their season down south in Sunny San Diego against the Padres. The Anaheim Angels - or whatever they call themselves now, we call them Anaheim around here - they will start their regular season at Anaheim Stadium against the Oakland A's. Traditionally, the Cincinnati Reds - baseball's oldest team to date - are the first team to play on opening day, and that will be the case again when they play the New York Mets at Cincinnati's ballpark. New York will debut their two new stadiums - the new Yankee Stadium and Citi Field, both replacing the old Yankee Stadium and Shea Stadium. Normally I'm not a fan of stadiums with naming rights, but Citi Field is a good choice for the Mets new ballpark.

162 games in all - its going to be great. I hope to be at one game or more at Dodger Stadium, Anaheim Stadium and Petco Park in San Diego this year.

$

Today I will be doing some cleaning here and there and then perhaps hit the beach. I decided to go ahead and buy the Microsoft Office 2007 edition - I know the 2010 edition will be out in a year or two - but at least the upgrades will be less. I have the 2003 edition and still works good; so I will in all probability have both editions. I do get a discount for these products through my employer, so that's an added incentive.

Daylight Savings Time normally would have started today, but no thanks to Criminal Bush, it now begins on the 2nd Sunday in March and ends on the 1st Sunday in November, instead of the last Sunday in October. Perhaps Obama may scrap this and bring it back to what it used to be.

$

Enjoy the rest of the day, my friends. Week #15 for 2009 is under way - have a safe one.


RD

April 4 2009 - World Class edition

What a great day it is to be a fan of Texas Wrestling - and a fan of World Class Championship Wrestling in general. Three former World Class stars are being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame tonight - Koko B Ware, Steve Austin and the legendary Von Erich family. To top it off, several former figures of World Class was in Houston to witness the event - including the former wife of both Steve Austin and Gentleman Chris Adams - Jeanie Clark. Kevin Von Erich, the last surviving brother of the Von Erich clan, accepted - with Michael Hayes handling the induction. I'm not sure who else was there other than Kevin's family (Pam, Ross, Marshall, Kristen and Jill) and Kerry's daughters Hollie and Lacey - I am hoping that most of the surviving members of World Class were able to make it to Houston, including Marc Lowrance, Buddy Roberts, King Parsons, Blackjack Mulligan, David Manning, Jade Adams, Bill Colville, and Gary Hart's son Chad.

Fritz Von Erich I'm sure was watching, along with David, Kerry, Mike and Chris in heaven, along with Gary Hart, Bronco Lubich, Gino Hernandez, Chris Adams and Terry Gordy.

$

Now on to another area that is dear to me: the Sunrise Mountain area. I want to take the time to give out a big hello to those of you on Facebook who added me as a friend. I do know that there will be a get-together of several big names from the 1980s in a few months; Pat, Gina, Suellyn and a few others want to make that happen - since there really wasn't a 20th anniversary reunion, and a 25th anniversary reunion is forthcoming. Some of us have migrated out to Southern California, including yours truly. Lydia, Cheryl, Brian Patterson, Michael Loose and I believe Konnie Campbell are out here now. Starr Bunch I believe is out here too, and a few others. A few of us Sundevils still come out here to SoCal now and then, including Pat Geary. Its living proof that its a small world - Britta Carlson, Julie Wilson, Andrea Goalen, Mark Burdo, Stacy Herro, Mike Garcia, my sister Evonne Donahoo and Doug Krueger have spent time in Cali - Julie and Andrea are natives of SoCal.

Perhaps we should have a get-together out here in SoCal too. Could happen...

I'm not a SoCal native of course, but I've been exposed to this area since 1977, first via Cable TV out of Texas and then radio before actually coming out here in 1986. Not bad for this New Jersey boy, eh?

Either way - to all on Facebook, a big hello to you.

$

My condolences to Pete Arbogast and his family for the loss of his father, Bob Arbogast. The former funnyman and radio DJ from the old KMPC days passed away last month in Fresno from cancer at the age of 81.

Farrah Fawcett and Ed McMahon are both seriously ill, battling cancer themselves. I wish them the best in their battle.

$

That's gonna do it for now. Coming up I will talk about the following subjects:

* Eldorado High School - 1984 vs 2009
* The future of Robert Donahoo in Southern California
* Tax Season
* Memories of my Las Vegas-SoCal drives on the I-15.

Reach for the stars, everybody.

Robert Donahoo