We hardly knew ye, Denny Schaffer...

I have had painting the downstairs half bath on my mental list of things to do for a very long time now. And I wanted to get it done by Thanksgiving - kind of an arbitrary deadline. So yeah- I started stripping flowery wallpaper on Monday and of course, everything took insanely longer than I planned and so here I am on Thanksgiving eve, with the sink still in the garage, the toilet disconnected and floating around the bathroom and the mirror and cabinet in the dining room...and the walls covered with one measly coat of primer. Ah. That's all well and good because my REAL deadline is when my sister L and her husband K and nephews E and D come for Christmas. Ha!

Before and after pictures will most likely be posted. If there IS an after.

I was listening to a lot of talk radio while I slaved away in the bathroom. I mostly listened to WGST- a local radio station here in Atlanta. They carry Rush Limbaugh but also have a couple of locally produced shows. One host that Brad and I have come to know and love is named Denny Schaffer. He's a Christian conservative and has a great personality. Perhaps he isn't the most articulate of talk show hosts, and sometimes a bit crass, but what he lacks in those areas is more than made up for by his passion and heart. He gets worked up into a frenzy over things. You guys think DJ is bad...Denny is like DJ on...on...SOMETHING. He's a bit irreverent and completely transparent. And, of course, he's hilariously funny. People would start their calls by saying, " How are you?" like everyone does when starting a conversation ( it's just part of breathing " How are you?" and no one really cares how you are, you just have to say it...) and he would cue up this little song clip of this ultra cheerful, silly little ditty, from a cartoon, I think:
" I'm super!!! Thanks for asking!" It just cracked me up every time. Listening to "Denny Radio" is part of our morning routine.

Or, "was" I should say.

Because his stupid station PULLED THE PLUG ON HIM! I was listening to him yesterday and the program ended at the usual time, and later in the day, the station announced a new line-up of programming. I guess they sprung the news on him that morning after the show that he wasn't going to work there anymore. I was stunned. I felt like someone I knew had died. It's so sad! It's just like he's dropped off the face of the earth. I immediately emailed the station manager and "gave him what for." In a nice way. But a disappointed and "I'm- not- going -to- listen-to-your-station-anymore-....except...maybe...for Rush" way. Man- that is just heartless- right before the holidays! What were they thinking!?

I remembered earlier in the show, he was commenting on a colleague at the radio station who was retiring that same day and said something about "that must be nice. The news anchor guy was there in the studio and said something weird like, "Be careful what you wish for..." and Denny was like, " No- not that I wish I wasn't working here. I just mean that it must be nice to have your career behind you and now you have more time..." or something like that. And it came back to haunt me later. I wonder if that news anchor knew what was going to happen. Traitors. Backstabbers. ( Claire goes into her best Captain Haddock rant...) Landlubbers! Ostrogoths! Pirates! Ectoplasms! Vandals! Vultures! Okay- so his ratings weren't the best. Good grief- he's only been in this town for a year! Give him a chance, people! I mean- come on! I liked him!

He even had a vlog!

No one can replace Denny. Least of all some silly syndicated show. Blaerrgh.

DENNY! WE MISS YOU! Where aaare you??? Maybe I should do a new song, " I've never met you, Little Denny Schaeffer...."