Yankees

Sometimes the events in our world can be rather overwhelming. A police officer from a neighboring city was killed in the line of duty. This happened in a city of fewer than 70,000 people. Cop killings are not common, here. The surrounding area is shaken up, as you might expect. Then, I see the attached pictures posted on Facebook and I realize that there are people who care about such things. There are people who do things not only because they can, but because they care. Check out the pictures!

General Tom's Blog is now on Facebook!

Progress In Terre Haute?

I am in favor of progress and the idea of making money. Don't get me wrong, we need to better our work environment, blah blah blah.

I see that a local landmark is scheduled to be destroyed in favor of a parking lot! That's right, a parking lot to serve the new building which will replace another parking lot. (...)

The Latest Radio Reincarnation Of Ronn Mott!

It happened, it really happened! Ronn Mott is back on the radio! I must confess that he told me this would happen, I didn't believe him. Last week, he visits me on the car lot to give me the news - he's doing mornings on WPFR 1480AM in Terre Haute. He offered me an open invitation to join him at any time. While I know I'll take him up on the offer, I can't tell Mrs. General Tom. She doesn't want me anywhere near a microphone.

Actually, I'm listening to him, right now. I must say that I have never heard him sound better! He just played Joe Williams - "Don't Get Around Much Anymore!" Where the hell else will you hear stuff like that? He'll also play some newer stuff...like from the '60s and the '70s!

So, why's he doing this? The guy's no spring chicken! He wakes up in the middle of the night and travels half an hour to work and plays music for three hours and then hits the road to sell commercials for tomorrow's show. I'll tell you why he's doing this - he does it because he loves doing this. You can tell when you listen to him on the radio. What is this? A guy who loves his job? If you ever listened to the guy on the radio or if you are lucky enough to know him, you'll know that Ronn Mott is no normal human.

White Castle: It's A Record!

Hawking burgers for less than a week, the new White Castle in Terre Haute has set a record, selling 60,000 burgers in it's first two days. This is according to a local TV station which didn't bother to tell us what the old record was, where it was set or how many burgers a typical White Castle normally sells in an area the size of Terre Haute.

Good selling!
Mediocre reporting!

I stopped by on Wednesday night a picked up a half dozen slyders. They were done by the time I got home. This means I get about 3 miles per.

So, White Castle, congratulations on your record, especially considering that Dog 'n Suds and Sonic both went belly-up in the same location!

Cool Deals!

This is what 7 inches of snow looks like. Click the picture for the full effect. Shouldn't we be plowing the snow away from the cars? What do I know?

It's unusual for us to get this much snow at one time. Within 48 hours, it should be melted. In the meantime, there's no school today and from the looks of it - we won't be selling many cars.

Hillary In Terre Haute

On Thursday, Spring came to Terre Haute - so did Hillary Clinton. Coincidence? Of course! It did stop raining long enough for a few hundred supporters and a couple thousand curious Hoosiers to attend HRC's visit. I'd like to point out that she was late, you know, tardy. She's campaigning for the most important job in the world, it's her first "stop" of the day and she's half an hour late! Would the same lack of punctuality be carried to the White House? Still, I was curious and I would have loved to attend. It was a big deal for Terre Haute since we seem to lack significence in relation to the rest of the world. A lot of Compact Discs are made here...but I digress.

Apparently Mrs. Clinton didn't say anything new or earth shattering while she was here. We would have known if she had. The place was crawling with news media. The (not-so-secret) Secret Service was here, too. They were easy to spot - sunglasses and suits. Normally, not too many suits in Terre Haute.

Indiana Senator Evan Bayh was with her. The guy cracks me up. He's a two term Governor of Indiana and in his second term as Senator from Indiana and he says stuff like, "We need to develop......" Hell, you've been here long enough to have done something. If you did your job better, maybe whatever you're talking about would have been less of a problem! His facial expressions are funny, too. Sometimes, I don't think even he believes himself! But we love him in Terre Haute! He's smart...and handsome!

Ronn Mott

I've got to stop answering my phone on Sundays. During the week I don't have a choice, but on my lone day off, I really don't need to hear any bad news. I got a call from old buddy, Ronn Mott, yesterday, Sunday. I always enjoy talking with Mott. Somewhere above the BS, you always know where you stand with the guy. Well, Ronn gives me some bad news. He's been working at an oldies station in Terre Haute/Rockville for the past ten years and he's been laid off. Others were also let go including Bryan Thomas (Hayden) - another Terre Haute Radio Celebrity and the sales consultant who's been calling on our business for more than 10 years.

Just last week I was listening to Ronn and he made a comment - on the air - that when a business fails, it rots from above - from the top, down. This makes sense. After all, the big shots do the hiring. They do the managing. If they do their jobs correctly, things thrive. If they do not do their jobs correctly, what happens? Ronn Mott gets laid off.
For those of you who don't know who the hell Ronn Mott is, I'll tell you who the hell he is. He's been in broadcasting for 54 years! Ten of those years at WAXI where he was laid off. The anal cavities who laid him off were not even born when Ronn was knockin' 'em dead at KIOA in Des Moines as Ronn Pepper. Here's a picture of Mott from '62.


Ronn, sorry, man. I've been where you are now - more than once. That's why I left radio. You were WAXI's best weapon in the fight against XM and the satellite jukeboxes.
Idea! -> Let's watch WAXI slide a little further and buy it! I'm thinking that we won't have to wait long!

Why I Don't Live In Terre Haute

The City of Terre Haute buys 30 Police Cars. They send out bids. The bids come back and they decide to purchase the 30 Police Cars from a dealership in another county. This would be OK, but there was a lower bid in their home county! Problem is that Terre Haute prefers (rear wheel drive) Ford Crown Victorias to (front wheel drive)Chevy Impalas. I know for a fact that the Chevy Impalas would have cost the city $3,000 less per car. That makes a difference of $90,000. Add to that the expense in fuel as the Ford averages 3 miles per gallon fewer in the city and 6 miles fewer per gallon on the highway...but what the heck - it's not the City's money - it's yours! Also, Terre Haute loses out on the county tax that it would have made by spending their money/our money in their own county.
The title of this post is "Why I Don't LiveIn Terre Haute" - the short version is because the leaders are backward. I can only assume that the Police Car purchase episode is only the tip of the iceberg.
That bad smell in Terre Haute is coming from City Hall.
If only I knew somebody who works at a Terre Haute newspaper or maybe a TV station. Hmmm. If only......