as for my less formal and sometimes crazy side......



As for my likes and dislikes, what can I say..... I have some like everybody else. And they have changes some over time. but there are some things that just don't change in me like the following:

So with that all out of the way, here's my history, as I have seen it up to this point in the form of a small autobio......

where I came from...

Well, I'm the middle guy of 3 sons, and an aquarius to boot. My home town, as you probably saw on the intro, is a place called Honey Pot. Now where is that on a map? For that you have to look in the city of Nanticoke, in Luzerne County, in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Honey Pot is a section of Nanticoke, the part of town that's closest to the Susquehanna River and in the hills. And in a way it's almost isolated fom the rest of the city. That did hurt me a bit since the majority of any friends I had in school were back in town, and the only people to play with were either my older brother's age or my younger brother's age. That did hurt me abit socially. Especially in high school where to be honest I was a bit on the naïve side on things like sex. On top of that, because of my desire to get to college to be a meteorologist, I became obsessed with keeping a squeaky clean image. And in those days, the late 80's, the big thing that came out was the sexual harassment lawsuit. So I became real passive on those matters, to my detriment. So much so that I have to admit I never even went to the high school prom andto that point never really had a real girlfriend.I had ladies that were friends, but none of them seemed wanted to go the next step with me. Was it because I was so cautious, maybe. It probably didn't help that I didn't have a car, either.

And my weight also played a role, even back then. Did I help myself any by getting addicted to video games and Tv at times? Probably not. But then again, I always got shafted in the matter of playing time at sports, not getting even the chance to get better by the coaches, even though I wante so much to improve and am very competative. On top of that all, I have to wonder if aspertame was a bit at fault. How you might say? Well, in the mid 80's Aspertame, or Nutrasweet as it was known, came out. And with that, it was placed in cereals. One cereal I liked was one called Halfsies, by I think Ralston, but I may be wrong there so feel free to correct me. Anyway, I liked this cereal, and used to eat it a lot for breakfast. Then a few weeks and months later, I started getting really bad headaches out of the middle of nowhere, at age 9 and 10 (right before puberty). Well, with all the headaches, I looked for a cause. And once everything else was ruled out, it came down to the nutrasweet. Once I went cold turkey on that, the headaches were gone and never came back. And from what I found out later from a relative who had similar headache problems when a cousin liked Diet Coke, it was found out in a Cat Scan or MRI (which one i forget but it was one of them), he actually had little cysts in his spinal fluid. And when he went off the diet coke, they went away. So apparently the sweetner with a swirl affected something in my head. But the hell wasn't over, thanks to puberty. I grew up with the normal spurts and even some small man-boobs, which from what I understand is normal. Well, my problem was than while everybody just grew up, I ended up blowing up as well, from near normal weight a few years earlier, to being 300lbs by the time I was a junior in HS. And no matter what diets I tried, they never seemed to work. I always ended up breaking them or never lost the weight in a noticable way. And to be honest now, it doesn't help that I am currently living with myself up here in Toronto. The problem was never anything my folks did or didn't do. It was just something screwed up that never went away. Hopefully the future will help me out a lot better than the past experience did, but all the current stress in my life isn't helping me any.

Then I have to divert to the boy scouts for an explanation as to how I got my nickname.

How I became known as “the bear”....

So how did I ever get the name Bear you may ask? Because it seems to be highlighted in the title of this place and the people who know me. Well, that all dates back to when I was in the Boy Scouts, troop 409 out of St Francis Church (and the cub scouts before that in Pack 415). My career in the scouts started as a Weblo, or the top rank in Cub Scouts. The boy scout troop got to know me two ways: my older brother was a member of the scout troop, and during the summer in between Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts I was the first of two Weblos in the then Penn Mountains Council to be allowed to camp with the big boys at summer camp for a week. And to be honest, it was a cool experience, being in on the touch football games, taking the merit-badge classes, and even camping out in the woods (leaning woodsman skills as well as survival and care for others was the big thing I got of scouts, not quite the eagle badge, I only ended up at star by age 18). But when I ended up that first fall in the troop after making a correct hydro prediction ( it was luck during and after a strong to severe thunderstorm that ironically struck a tree above my then vacant tent, (which I wasn't in due to an Order of the Arrow ceremony) but it dealt with a creek near the camp and a bridge we had to cross that creek to get to the campsite, lucky 7 over at Camp Achahela (sp?) near the Monroe/Luzerne county border). Anyway, I was assigned into a patrol with a guy by the name of Bob Casterline. He was nicknamed “camo-joe” because he always wore camo to the meetings. Well, one night, he just started calling me bear and I didn't think too much of it. As well at that time, I was also transitioning into the HS band (where I played trumpet). And one of the other guys that was in my patrol back in scouts was also the top guy at Nanticoke, one Andy Yozviak (currently a band director and a great one at that from what I understand). Well, in the band that summer, I was shadowing one of the fellow trumpets as an alternate. And the guy that I was shadowing had to leave early. So I asked for a chance to march in his place. But at that moment, unknown to me, my nickname spread to a few of the band front members and even indirectly to the director. So when the director said “Go Ahead Bear!!!”, well, an identity was then transferred. Then for the next 6 years, no one really knew me in the band as Jim, except for close classmates. I was “The Bear”. I became almost a defacto legend in the Nanticoke Band. And that's all I would have been had I not been forced to step up my playing in 10th grade. Once I did that and started getting solos by my junior and senior year, I was then an all-out legend for good (too bad I could never translate that to the class presidency, but I've pretty much let that conspiracy go). But anyway, it seemed kind of strange, everybody from the band parents to the bandmates to the director knew me as “bear”, not Jim.

With that in my status, I then proceeded to college. And when I came into the dorm, I made the mistake of telling all the floor-mates about my nickname over at Irvin Hall, the Earth and Mineral Sciences Interest House at Penn State. Well, with three Jims in the dorm and one of them having the convienent nickname to drop in at the beginning, guess who had to take that? Little ol me. Not saying I minded that, because it's how I fit in there. But then once the professors heard the word, that was it. Even to this day, if you are over in the weather department over at Penn State and you find someone that was there between Sept 1992 and May 1996 and bring up the name Bear, most often they'll bring me up. Whether it is good or bad, I'm not too sure sometimes. But for the most part it seems good. So I guess that leads to college

the bear meets the nittany lion....

So I attended Penn State. And generally it was a good experience for me. I got the idea to head there first by hearing that all the meteorologists in Northeast PA went there, so that's where I went as well. And the sign that my class was special was shown right away by a couple of things: we all got along just fine in the dorms for the most part, and we had Hurricane Andrew the first month I was there. For those really into the weather, that is a real big break. For me, I knew it was big but I didn't know how big until several years later when I was able to take my fascination with the TV guy and turn it into a real appreciation for the technical side of the weather. It was a thing that grew on me with time, no matter how the struggles went with Calc and Dynamics. Because I came to apreciate that the more I knew the real technical stuff, the more it made me appreciate the clouds, the winds, and the precip. And as well, I had an actual audience to send out my forecasts with the Campus Weather Service. CWS is an organization that actually forecasted for different stations in central PA, mainly small ones. But it was actually my place to accel. And I had to start with what would call the worst shift known to man: Saturday mornings. Well, it was a real crappy shift, not leaving for much of a social life. But back then it was what I had to do. And besides how bad could it be? As it turned out I became a hallmark of that shift, keeping it for the next 3 years. And it would probably have been 4, had I not been forced to take a different shift my senior year (they wanted transition away from me). I got to become a household voice for central PA and even the station managers liked the consistency (as well as the fact that I actually sounded alive at 5 AM on a Saturday morning). So with that, let's just say I also had to walk quietly through the dorm at the time I had to head to my shift, being that half of the dorm was blitzed and the other half just getting in from the dance clubs. But I managed.

As time went on, though, I got to know my other dormmates rather well. After all, if you actully live and go to class with the same people for almost 24/7/365, you should get to know a few of them. So with that, I became quite popluar, sometimes for stirring up the pot, sometimes for saying hi (convienently or inconvienently) to the others, sometimes when they saw me making mac and cheese in a mike instead of heading to dinner at Waring, and other times when I took the bus to places to get around ( not having my own car and all ) and I just happen to know what route to take for what part of State College. But with my charm, and a convienent secret santa suprise that I pulled off for a dorm social that had the RA as a victim of being in a real selacious affair with another person in the dorm, and wittnessed by everybody in the dorm as well as the dean of the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences and the faculty advisors of the dorm. When that body butter came out as the final part of a showcase, the whole place went nuts. And the flask of whiskey that was given to the dean by the dorm earlier in the evening I think had a drink taken out of it as well. A finer moment no one else would have known I did until I revealed it to a guy I confided with from time to time on the 4th floor in his room. When I just slowly raised my hand after he asked if I knew who did that to the RA, he was so shocked. But that's one thing about me that I never get to really show until that point. When I really want to do something, I can do it in real style. That night, before I revealed that little fact, I became the VP of the dorm in 1994. It became the first election that I won. And with that, my main responsibilities were to serve if the pres went by the wayside, and to arrange the faculty-student lunches. So, for the next year, I went around and asked for potential faculty as well as doing a few side projects, doing all that in person, like how I grew up. And it all paid off in the month of April of that year, getting the outgoing President of the University (Joab Thomas), football coach and fundraiser for Patee Library Joe Paterno, and the then Mayor of State College Borough Bill Welsh. Let's just say the commons never saw such a set of celebrities in a month in their lives. It's one lasting mark to the dorm that I was glad to leave. Were there other things that didn't go so well, well there was the reformation of the dorm consitution to fit current practice that I think stirred up things more than I should. And there were a few things that I never got to do. But overall, it was the chance in the spotlight. And I did what I could. Then I graduated, and most everybody went their seperate ways, keeping in contact via occasional phone calls and e-mails. So my search began professionally. But as well, I was fairly involved with a lady named Lori who went to school in Fredonia State near Erie. So we head on...

post psu pre toronto....

So after graduation, I had to get a job to start paying off the student loan. Too bad with a field so filled like meteo became thanks to Billy Boy and Newt, so that ended up with me working at a minimart in town. And for the next 2 years, I have to admit, working Fridays and Saturdays on 2nd shift was a bit humbling. But I had to start paying the loans somehow. Within that time, my social life became a bit isolated because of the shifts. But I also learned to put together my own computer from parts. And as well, I ended up losing contact with Lori. I had fallen in love with her over the net, and was there for some of the real scary times when apparently, with a history of suicide attempts. But then she asked me to stop calling because of the other person in her life, and I just did so, knowing I was beat. Several months I got a call out from the middle of nowhere from her, and I knew it was either 6 months to live or getting married. It was the latter for her. But she did thank me for the good times we had and at least acknowledged that it wasn't me, just the location. So we broke amicably, and everything else went. In that time, I even taught a semester at a local community college for a summer semester. And while I wasn't the best teacher in the world, I was at least professionally doing something. But then after that one shot (as a bridge for a TV guy to take over in the fall), things just went back to normal. Then, the weekend before my younger brother gets married and I am about to be a lector for one of the readings at the wedding, I got the call from a place in Toronto about coming up for an interview. Talk about screwy happenings. I couldn't even enjoy the wedding. But on the monday after my younger brother's wedding I had to be in a cityI wasn't in since bad trips in th mid 80's. For me, I then became nervous and happy. Happy because I got the chance after 2 years, and nervous because it was a big time thing happening for my brother and it was then my biggest interview. I was able to do the reading fine, but at the recpetion that night, I wasn't as celebratory as I should have been, thinking about the big interview. But after the interview, I ended up with the job but now a challenge, paying for everything up here in a big city, living in and environment that I wasn't used to. But then the next month, I got what I could together and drove up to the border, and got things started. The song on the radio at the time when I passed the entry sign into the Megacity of Toronto was ironiclly “Miami” by Will Smith.

Times in toronto....

Well, I arrived in the megacity of toronto on a rush hour back in late October of 1998. And it was nuts. I knew these highways were big and occasionally packed. But I never knew it was that bad. Well, I coped wth it and got to the place where I was to report to work. And after a day or two, they were able to arrange a place for me to stay. So began my time over at 10 Carabob Court in Scarborough. It's a medium-sized apt building here. But not a bad one as I got to know some of the neighbors. As well, I got placed with a co-worker. And for a few years, things were so-so as roommates. But after a couple of years, he got a bit sick of me as a roommate (even though I was a good co-worker). So I lost a roommate. But luckily I was able to stay in the same building, even though now alone and a few floors up. And actually living by myself was not so bad. Especially with my web chatting and everything. But as well, I didn't have to worry about porn left on my printer, and i didn't have to worry about buying the wrong mushrooms.

But as the lonliness set in, I got involved with another lady on the net. Her name was Roxanne, and she was from “the rock”, or the province of Newfoundand and Labrador. From the Avalon Peninsula to be exact. And I have to admit for a while we had a good thing going. But then one night she mentioned about a past relationship and I asked her straight out: why did she ever leave the guy? She couldn't answer because there wasn't one. So I made the suggestion that maybe she get back with the guy, since there never was a reason for leaving him. And I have to admit, she's quite happy to this day with him, as she's married. Yea I was closer to her than most ladies. But I could tell that I wasn't quite a perfect match. Oh well. So it was back to the room for me. But this time fairly deeply depressed. I'm not sure anyone knew how bad, but it was pretty bad.

The enchanted angel from the heart of texas.....

That was until I met a lady nicknamed “enchanted angel”, or my current lover and the one I am hoping to marry. I met her innocently enough in another chatroom. And I have to admit it started out like most of my love-life at that point, all virtual, nothing for real. For the next year though, as I saw more and more of her, something clicked, and clicked in rather well. I then went to call her on the phone. And to be honest, as we talked, my instincts went wild, saying this is the best you're going to get. So once we were really comfortable, I proposed that I fly down and meet her. That was a radical step for me because I never flew on a plane before to that point. I never had to. Well, I then took a flight, that started in Buffalo and ended in Austin. And as soon as I saw the lady in the picture she provided to me, I was more than all smiles. It was great. And when we got back to her place (a pit stop on the way to a hotel for myself), we started making out and it was just heaven. Not only did I find my angel, but she was better than I had expected. From that, our relationship blossomed by leaps and bounds. We were able to celebrate so many firsts together, including unnamed intimate ones. But most importantly, I fell in love wth a lady that my instincts said was the right choice. And to be blunt, they were right. And that love still flows to this day. Even with sometimes real bad struggles that either side has gone through from time to time (most of which can be seen on my blog). But needless to say that's why you may have noticed at the top page that my status is soon to be engaged. Because we are to that point now. My labor struggles not withstanding, she came along at the right time. And I am thankful for it. And now, as of 3/3/08, it's pretty much a given that me and michelle are and will always be a couple as we are unofficially engaged. What does the unofficially stand for? well she said yes. but as for an official wedding date, newspaper announcement, and telling the folks (especially her folks); that will come along when michelle gets a job. I got the job, but she's wanting one for her own sake, more than any push I would ever do. it's only a matter of when, not if. hopefully the when is soon, but time will tell there.

now that I am done telling you my life in brief (with more details to be released sooner or later in a book and an ebook), here's how I see other things .....

Sports

As for my experiences in the world of sports, I will say this: it's been multi-faceted.

I was a season-ticket holder for Penn State Mens Basketball when I was in college, and wittnessed some real good games. But as well, I have to admit I can be a nasty fan at times. Will I ever go racist or sexist? Nope, I was always taught back at Nanticoke (when they had a group of people called “The Jungle”, one of the best set of home-crowd fans in the state) that you can't do that. But that being said, I have pushed the line a few times, doing such things as taunting refs a bit and getting to players when they do things like toss up a brick. My close call, though, was when after a bad call from theguy that screwed Penn State back in 1993, I yelled out that he blew the call worse than a 20-dollar whore. I got some funny looks, and that's as far as I went. When you have that, there's no reason for anything else. Especially since you should also be rooting for the home team. And that I did as well, sometimes making it to class the next morning with a less-than perfect voice. Can I translate that to other sports? Heck yes. I am a hockey fan and there's not too much of an other place to express that when the goalie is a sieve. Ok, so I can talk the talk. Did I ever walk the walk?

I have on a few occasions. Back in the day in Nanticoke, I got lured to bowling by people like Mark Roth, Marshall Holman, Amletto Monacelli, Earl Anthony, and even Pete Weber. As a bowler, I was mainly decent for most of my career, with an average that stagnated in the 140's and low 150's for the longest time. But when I turned 21 and was in a league with co-workers back when I interned at Accu-weather, my average jumped 10-15 points once I was able to have a beer to relax myself a bit (since at times I can get a bit tight and take things into my own hands too much). Coincidence? I think not. And the next year, when I bowled as a sub with some profs at Penn State, my average was able to get to a high of 168, and being able to get some more 600-series (average 200 per game for 3 games) on a normal basis. So as a bowler, I wasn't bad. When I'm back in the states, I will be rebuilding those days.

How about anything else? Well in baseball, I never got the chance to play and therefore; never was able to improve that much. That was even with the potential to play the hot corner decently (3rd base for those not into the sport).

But in the coaching realm, I have to admit I have had mixed results. As a dorm coach/captain in basketball, we didn't do very well, and I wasn't helped out too much by players that had size enough to be a center in the dorm league, but always played like a small forward or a guard. But when I actully was in a basketball class and had to pick teams as well as try to win, let's just say it was a rough start (0-3). But then I did something radical: I took charge and took names. Did everybody like me, not necessarily. Especially since I dropped a playbook on their butt and said to learn everything by Friday. But after that, actually we ended up winning the class championship after such a bad start, even getting a few points tossed onto my grade for pulling it off. As a player-captain, well, I wasn't the best of the bunch with no vertical while being good defensively and shooting that wasn't that good. But when I did make shots, I did change momentum of the games. So overall I would say it was a wash.

And now, I have to admit I got into that poker craze more than a little bit. do I have a lot of bucks tied up in it? no since I can't afford to play in a game anywhere close with the brunsons and hellumuths of the world. but I do play on-line in more than a few cases. My main stop is Pokerstars.net . But I also have been known on occasion to play over at Partypoker.net. in both places, I play under the handle hpbear149 . As well, I am playing in a bar league or two up here in St Paul. how good am I? well, online I have won a few sit'n'go tournaments (small tourneys, usually less than 45 players) playing Hold'em (most seen on TV no-limit, but also pot-limit), Omaha (reg and hi/lo, pot limit and no limit), 7-card stud (reg and hi/lo), Razz (lo-ball stud), and Horse Tourneys (limit Hold'em, Omaha-8 [hi/lo], Razz, Stud, and stud Eight or better [hi/lo], change the game as you change the blind). As for in person, I have gotten to 1 final table, close to a 2nd, and busted out early. I'm not a big winner, yet. but at least it's something i play socially. And I keep it in mind that it is a game. At least until I could ever even think of affording to go to the World Series of Poker, where I could play all those games I listed above. it is a bit of a fantasy, but what the heck.

With all that in mind, here's a few places in sports that are what I like, from ESPN over to Pro Bowling and into the soap opera called Pro Wrestling. In the auto racing world, I like all forms, from NASCAR to F1 to Champ cars, even the Dakar rally. When it comes to the stranger sports, I do like the CFL , and Australian Rules Football .

Radio

Radio is one of the most interesting mediums that are still out there, because it varies so greatly, and has all interests at heart (when my forecasts aren't playing on there).
in the terrestrrial world, some of my interests ranged from stations like Q107 in Toronto, Rock 107 in Scranton, Talk radio like WILK in Wilkes-Barre PA, AM 640 and CFRB 1010 in Toronto, CKTB in St Catherines (where they have a show called knockout between noon and 1 PM that may have cheesy arguments, but at least they're as advertised as such), and National Public radio among others.
        As for the shows themselves, my tastes vary from Howard Stern (which i'd like to listen to on sattelite) and Tom Leykis to A Prarie Home Companion with Garrison Keilor, Coast to Coast AM hosted by Art Bell and George Noory, and CarTalk . Some of those shows are actually quite informative and are good to take seriously, like cartalk. But most of them like “Howard Stern” or “A Prairie Home Companion” are best enjoyed with keeping in mind not to take them seriously. After all, Rush Limbaugh can have some real great parodies. But his politics are a bit to the right of my stance as a “Casey Democrat”. But most if not all of these shows can be heard over the internet.
But I have to admit, I am more of a Sattelite-radio listener now. My unit/service of choice? Sirius Sattelite radio. And on there, I have to admit, I like the freedom to listen to just about anything under the sun. And when I mean anything, I mean anything. There are channels for everyone on there (the channel numbers for different radio channels in brackets): from Howard Stern [100] to 80's Pop [8], from old school rap [43] to mozart [80], liberal [146] and conservative talk [144], and even from the catholic channel [159] to playboy radio [198]. Even click and clack are there [134] as well as Live Audio Wrestling and Hardcore Sports Radio [186]. I have to admit, it does cost me 20 a month for the service on top of everything else (13 for me, 7 more for michelle's reciever). But for most of what I listen to, it is worth it, imho.
does that mean that terrestrial radio is dead to me? for a lot of networked and nationally listened music, i'd say yes. But for local news, local artists, and potential severe weather; terrestrial radio still has a signifigant role to play, imho. But that's the role I am seeing it go to now, and in order to survive that's how I see things. Because for networked radio, sattelite is the future.
 

And finally, the really politically incorrect stuff.

    And finally, I do let my hair down once in a while. When I do, all bets are off. I do things like chatting on a chat line, upkeeping my own blog, or web log. These opinions are not always suited for those under 18, with occasional adult language and subject matter, so you are forewarned.

In the chat world, I use a few nicknames. they are listed below if you need to contact me while on line.

wel, I hope I didn't offend you too much. But I am how I am, and to be honest, being from Honey Pot, that's how I grew up. And as well, that's how I was raised. And if I ever got to know you better, I am sure you'll find me to be better than I am writing about since I have to admit I am not the best writer in the world.

but for now, you can either head to the formal side , or just head back to the main page . Thanks for stopping by.

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