there won't be any money, but when you die, on your deathbed, you will receive total consciousness." So I got that goin' for me, which is nice. "

Times change. I understand that. I also understand that change effects other people and not just me.

But this is about me.

I feel, what I imagine, Mr. Blacksmith felt the day after they invented the car. Hey, Newlie, come look at this new contraption-it's called an aww-toe-moe-beel. It never needs shoein, isn't that great!

Radio is (has been) in the same transition. I remember when we could boast a softball team and still have a live staff keeping us on the air. Now, with computers, there are two employees-the owner and me. The computer does the rest.

What I used to do was an art. Keeping two turntables cued up and ready to go. Having my carts (think 8 tracks that held 1 thirty-second commercial and took 10 seconds to cue up) lined up for the next hour. Mixing a four hour shift that flowed and was flawless. Not everyone could do that and it was an art. I was paid well to do that art. Now it's not needed.

Howard Stern, Don Imus or Ryan Seecrest can be piped in when the computer isn't mixing the show.

Joe Schmoe is sitting at a computer in Omaha voicing a show in Tampa.

I've committed my 35 year professional life to something that pays today 1/4 less than it did in 1984.

Oh, I still have a voice. "Man, you sure have a voice for radio". But so do alot of other people, and they all have computers. Local means shit, and by shit I mean 1/4 less than in '84.

I'm fifty and wondering what am I going to do for a living.

I don't mean survive. I will always survive. I've been working since I was 12. I will always survive. I'm talking about a living. Something that will afford me the luxury of insurance (which I haven't had since '95), a savings account, a vacation, a steak.

Technology aside, it all started with Reagan. The free market and all. Let One Person own as many radio stations as he wants. It's the free market. This is America.

What was left out of the movement was the thinking up to that point-DO NOT LET ONE PERSON CONTROL THE OUT FLOW OF INFORMATION. Letting a few be in control of what the masses heard was a fear. And a darn good one.

It used to be the 7-7-7 rule. No one person could own more than 7 FM's, 7 AM's and 7TV stations combined. In the whole country. Pick any city in the U.S., I would have 12 doors to knock on to get a job. Today, thanks to consolidation, I have 2 (and they are ran by computer).

Paying my bills was never a question. I lived within my means. Now my means live outside me. That weighs heavy on my shoulders. But that is my problem.

Excuse me while I stoke the fire and bang on my anvil.

Dan R

Get outta here, Dewey!

Moving to Colorado has many advantages. Living in a community on the Arkansas River headwaters with its fly fishing and rafting. Ski resorts just a 20 minute drive. Fourteen thousand foot peaks to look at and hike. And more Medicinal Marajuana Dispensories than Starbucks.

A little background. I had my first puff at the age of 14. I liked it. That was 1974, a very busy year. I also had my first beer, my first cigarette and I lost something in '74 (not a very interesting story).

I could never understand the stigma attached to marijuana. It is a plant that grows naturally in Gods great outdoors. It is not in any way altered by man. Was it not put here to be consumed by man?

I came out as a pot smoker some ten years ago (a total shock to some of you I know){parathesis means sarcasm, right?} and began "preaching the gospel of marajuana law reform". I would go to the state capitol every April 20th (4 20-get it) and lobby our state law makers to recognize marajuana for what it is.

1. Medicinal use. A natural pain reliever that aids patients dealing with cancer/radiation, migraines, siezures, etc.

2. Industrial hemp is exported to this country by the ship load from abroad for use in rope, canvas, clothing and a multitude of other uses but we won't let our farmers grow a better fiber plant than cotton. Why?

3. Decriminalization. I'm 50 damn years old. I've paid my taxes, I've raised good kids, I've kept a job, I've not robbed any banks. You like to come home after work and drink a Budweiser, or a martini, but I belong in prison because I like to smoke a joint after another day surviving the world? I say NO.

Which brings me to the present. I now live in a state where the voters think as I do (To date, 14 states—Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington—have legalized the dispensing and use of marijuana for medicinal purposes) No, I do not belong in prison. I belong with the rest of the world that values personal responsibility.

The first time I stepped into the despensary a tear came to my eye. I'm not kidding, I got choked up. After all this time, I'm not a criminal. I don't have to deal with people I normally wouldn't. I'm legal.

Dan R