The biggest thing, for me, is dealing with the differing styles of each host. Jeff and Gary are both very good at what they do, and both also do it very differently. It’s a fun challenge for me and a welcome diversion from delivering the news. As much as I enjoy keeping you informed every afternoon with Kate, I really appreciate the opportunity to spread my wings, speak directly with you, and even toss in an opinion or two along the way. More than anything else, I feel as though it helps me connect with the listener in a way I simply can’t while reading the afternoon news. I hope you got as much out of the experience as I did.

It’s been said that variety is the spice of life and I’d definitely call this week cajun. It’s not over yet, either. I’ll be taking the trip to Belleville tomorrow with Gary to cover Game 6 of the OHL Finals between the Bulls and Rangers. And before panic sets in, don’t worry! Don Cameron is just fine. He has a wedding to attend and he’s the emcee so he’ll be keeping the vocal chords primed (and an ear to the radio, no doubt).

I assure you that Don will be in top form (as always) in time to call the Memorial Cup next Friday. Every game, by the way, will be broadcast here on 570 News. And if you take from that remark that Don will not be called upon for a possible Game 7 in the OHL Final on Monday, well, that’s your prerogative.

Funny business, radio. Those of us who choose to call it our chosen career will often joke about the low pay and how we’ve learned to subsist on a diet of Mac and Cheese while creating a patchwork wardrobe from the dozens of free T-shirts we collect over the years. And then there’s the food.

Every now and again a local restaurant or store will drop off goodies. You name it, we’ve probably sampled it. It doesn’t happen every day but if you stick around this business long enough, you’ll nibble on your fair share of free food. Turns out today was one of those days.

Just after I got here at 8 AM, an enormous cooler full of hamburgers arrived. God bless the local retailer that dropped them off, and the fundraiser they’re doing this weekend in support of Crohns and Colitis. It’s not like I think the burgers are in any way bad. But at 8 in the morning? I was just starting my first cup of coffee. Burgers were the furthest thing from my mind…and my stomach.

Of course, about an hour later, the burgers were almost entirely gone. People lined up and garnished them with relish and mustard as if they were scrambled eggs and bacon at the breakfast buffet. Yup, that’s a radio person for you.

Funny business, this.

The Rangers are ready, too. Don’t you worry. This Bulls team didn’t win the East by accident. There are quality hockey players throughout that Belleville line-up, beginning in goal. It was a dandy game at The Aud last night, a game very much befitting the OHL Final. A tough loss for Kitchener to be sure, but the team that posted 53 regular season wins still has two more cracks at capturing the J. Ross Robertson trophy.

And they haven’t lost four in a row all season.

I just cut the grass for the first time this season. Guess I know what I’ll be doing every Saturday morning between now and October. If you know the bright side to this (or know or have a kid that works cheap), I’m all ears.

The city insists that it has no issue with its hungry citizens being fed, and I believe that. But I also believe that council’s insistence that this group re-locate — perhaps to a less visible side of City Hall — is a bid to mask what is a very real, and perhaps even growing problem in our community. Allowing Food Not Bombs the right to provide food for the underprivileged is only solving half of the problem. The other half will be solved when we acknowledge that the issue exists and we begin to address its root causes.

This is not only a community of great affluence, it is one of great intelligence. Surely to goodness there is a way of addressing the problem of poverty without trying to tuck it into a less visible corner. Perhaps we can look down the 401 to Toronto, where Mayor David Miller is being lauded for his approach to cracking down on panhandling. After a series of complaints from citizens and businesspeople, Mayor Miller adopted an approach that employed street workers to find permanent housing. Three years after launching the initiative, the “Streets to Home” program has housed 1750 people who at one time had been Toronto’s problem panhandlers. If Toronto can accomplish that in three years, it makes you wonder what Kitchener has been doing for the past nine. And still, rather than address the issue, the city simply wants to hide it.

We can make the problem go away, but we will not accomplish that by simply moving it to another locale. We need a collective effort and a multi-pronged approach that involves council, business, police, and citizens like you and I. It won’t make the problem disappear overnight but it is unfair of us to further ostracize these already marginalized members of our community in the meantime.

The voicemail began with “this is a message for the lady of the house” and I simply had to ask myself, in this day and age of 50% divorce rates, is that really the most appropriate way to launch a sales pitch? Based on the statistics alone, half your potential audience may not even have that other half. But over and above that, as a single guy, I’d like to know if these people are just trying to make me feel bad! I know there is no “lady of the house” at my house. That’s abundantly clear on a daily basis, thank you very much. And I’m not so sure I appreciate the reminder. I don’t even remember what she was selling because I quickly deleted the message.

Something else that comes with being a single guy is advice, and I’m often told that meeting the right person is all in the approach. What I need, so I’m told, is that perfect opening line. Maybe these telemarketers could take a lesson.

Good thing I was quickly able to overcome the sadness of my singledom that followed the message. I just cracked a beer and sat on the couch to watch the sports highlights. Because that’s what single guys do.

And still I approach tomorrow’s game with mixed feelings. Having watched this remarkable run from the press box alongside my Rogers TV partner Mike Torchia, you can’t help but feel an attachment to it. I’m not suggesting we played any role in the record- setting season but we have no doubt been there every step of the way. As it turns out, though, tomorrow’s game could be the final Rogers TV broadcast of the season.

Every now and again, the “big guys” (Peter Loubardias and Sam Cosentino) from our parent network, Rogers SportsNet, will come to Kitchener to call a game. They’ve selected Game 3 of this series, which falls on Sunday in Kitchener. Mike Torchia and I don’t call the road games for Rogers, so if this series is a sweep for either team, it will end next Tuesday in Belleville. And that means it’s conceivable that tomorrow’s game could be our last broadcast of the season, as SportsNet also broadcasts every game during the Memorial Cup tournament. I’ll try not to think about that too much as we drop the puck for what should be a very exciting series.

I guess all good things really do come to an end.

To wit, this morning I found myself on the opposite side of Kitchener as I came to work from Grand River Hospital. So rather than stop at my usual Tim’s, I pulled into the outlet at King and Andrew, beside Central Meat Market. More appropriately, I should say I tried to pull into Tim’s because at this tiny coffee stop there is precious little parking, and even less space for the drive-thru. So the cars were backed up into the street. I finally found an opening in the line, turned into the parking lot, parked, and went inside the store. There was not a sole waiting to be served inside. Not one. I was in and out so quickly that I walked past the front of the same car on my way out of the store as I had walked past on my way in. It hadn’t moved.

If drive-thrus are supposed to be demonstrating our efficiency, I must be missing something. I’ve seen a lot of dumb things in my life, but the 14 or so people waiting in their cars this morning have got to be among the dumbest. What on earth is the matter with us?

Of course, the end of winter raises the inevitable question in these here parts. Would we appreciate the spring and summer as much as we do if not for the winter that interrupts it? Most people I talk to say no, we wouldn’t. I say there’s only one way to find out. I’ll send you a postcard from California in December and let you know how much I miss the snow.

I pulled over to the side of the road. I might have been able to remember one number until I had a chance to write it down later, but certainly not a handful of them. So I pulled onto the shoulder of Highway 8, just as you come off the flyover. It’s a wide shoulder and there’s plenty of room. Or so I thought. But as I sat at the side of the road, scribbling down phone numbers and staying out of harm’s way, not one or two, but several passing cars blared their horns. So much for safely pulling to the side of the road to continue a cell phone conversation.

 I’ll just assume that each blast of the horn was a blast of support.