Holiday chin

I had a late Talking Newspaper today so it was an early walk in the Park for the dogs and a late walk into town for me.

I get a takeaway coffee at Starbucks on Talking Newspaper days and they always give me a hard time about not wanting to spend any time with them. I’d like to think it’s just me but, knowing how good the customer service is at Starbucks, it’s probably the way they treat everyone.

When I walked into the studio I was greeted by a grinning Rosemary who proclaimed that she had just read my fan mail. I didn’t have a chance to ask her what she meant as she went into the kitchen. Then Judy, another presenter, as well as asking me a question about what a cricket score meant, mentioned my ‘fan mail’ as well. As she walked back into the editng room, she pointed at the notice board. I wandered over and saw this:

Now, obviously, everyone loves a compliment and I’m no different however, there’s something quite special about someone recognising what you are trying to achieve. I always try to make it sound like I’m just sitting and chatting with one person, smiling and not taking anything too serious. I smile when I read and try and ‘wink’ at the listener as if they are in on the joke.

While I read the way I do in order to give the listeners an impression of the local paper, I’m not going to kid anyone by saying I don’t do it to entertain myself as well. As I said to Judy when she asked what I did to make it ‘uplifting’, if I’m not enjoying myself I don’t see why I would do it. Volunteering, in order to be successful, needs to be enjoyable. At least that’s what I need.

And, in true Gary form, today’s session was a classic bit of fun. I managed to entertain all my readers and my favourite deaf sound engineer and they managed to entertain me as well. It was a great couple of hours including a lovely chat about the Archers with Angela who is a big fan as well.

And, just to finish, this is for mum who thinks I should shave ALL THE TIME!