Steve

Loser Thanksgiving

2009-11-11T23:25:00Z

Thanksgiving is nearly here. I'd consider it to be my favorite holiday. People always seem to be surprised by that statement, but it's true for me. I love being around family and friends. It's much less hectic than Christmas, there's not all of the unnecessary gift giving, and I get to eat a bunch of good food and not feel guilty until the next day.

In the past, there has only been one Thanksgiving that I can remember that I was not at home. This year will be the second. You see, when I took this job with the show, I moved quite a long way from home. And since I have to host best-of the day after Thanksgiving, traveling home was kind of out of the question. That bums me out, but I have a backup plan:

Loser Thanksgiving!

Zane introduced me to Loser Thanksgiving in the following email:

----- Original Message -----
From: "Zane"
To: "Steve"
Sent: Sunday, November 8, 2009 4:16:38 PM GMT
Subject: Thanksgiving

steve:

are you going home or is meredith coming for thanksgiving? If not, you should come over our house for "loser thanksgiving." It's thanksgiving for losers who have no place to go. We are also losers. Not one of my family invited us over. so, you should come over for loser thanksgiving.

eric

----- Original Message -----

So there you have it. I'll be spending Thanksgiving with the Zane's. I can assure you there will be numerous Tweets from the event, so keep an eye on our feed. I can't wait.

-steve

My ridiculous claim

2009-10-21T11:00:00Z

So if you weren't listening to the show on Monday morning, you probably still have not heard of the ridiculous claim that I made to Free Beer last Friday afternoon. I was driving somewhere with him because he needed someone to drive his car back to his house. As we were pulling in to the parking lot, he said something like "You don't need to wait here for me...you can just leave now and I'll meet you back at my house". Now, neither of us can really pinpoint exactly how my response came up, but I said something to the effect of "That's ok, I'll stay and find something to do. I can be on the roof of any building within 20 minutes".

Silence.

As I was saying that, I was thinking to myself "Why are you saying this? It's not even remotely true!". Now when I was a kid, I enjoyed climbing on to things like roofs and up trees. Even more recently, I've discovered that when I have a drink or two, I enjoy climbing up on things outside of bars like planters or phone booths. (Yes, I'm THAT guy.) That being said, there was still ZERO reason for me to make such a claim. Unfortunately, Free Beer not only heard it, but promised to somehow incorporate that in to a challenge of some sort in the near future.

Since Friday, I have been checking out every building I pass in hopes that I can find a way on to the roof. Needless to say, my success rate would be quite low.

Sometimes I just talk so there's no silence. I should stop doing that.

-steve

Marathon Training has started!

2009-10-04T11:00:00Z

I'm about four weeks in to my training for the 2010 Walt Disney World Marathon. I'll be running again in support of A-T, an organization that you've heard about numerous times on the show over the last few years. In 2008, I ran with the FBHW team in the Disney half marathon. Nine months ago, I ran with the FBHW team in the Disney full marathon.

I've always looked at it from this standpoint: I'm a pretty lucky person. I'm healthy, and there are plenty of people that simply are not healthy. If me running a bunch of miles can in any way make someone else's life a little easier, I'm going to do it.

I hate running. I don't find it therapeutic or interesting or fun like some crazy people do. I guess I just look at it as something I have to do, like going to work or eating or breathing.

My longest run in the last four weeks happened yesterday. I did nine miles. The first four miles were pretty uneventful. Then I came upon a parade...seriously...a parade. I dodged in and out of clowns playing tubas and people throwing candy for about three miles. Then it started to pour and continued to do so for the last two miles. All in all, it was a really good run. So good in fact that I woke up this morning and did five more. There's a half marathon in two weeks that I'm considering running in. My training schedule has me doing 12 that weekend anyway, so what's an extra 1.1 miles?

Anyway, I'll keep you posted.

If you'd like to join my Facebook group, just search for "2010 A-T Marathon - FBHW Steve" and join. From there, you'll find a link to read more about A-T and to make a donation if you feel so inclined. Also, I plan to start video blogging on a weekly basis, so stay tuned for that!

-steve

My new love...iPhone 3GS

2009-09-10T19:41:00Z

I'll admit it...I'm a self proclaimed tech nerd. I'm pretty much a fan of anything with a USB cable and a colorful screen. For about two years now, I've really wanted to get an iPhone but I was locked in to a contract with my cell provider.

Well, that contract came to an end last weekend and I finally went out and picked up a 16GB iPhone 3GS. I had it for about one minute before I realized it was the greatest thing ever. I have already downloaded a ton of useless apps to help me pass the time. Please email me with any recommendations.

You may think that this sounds like a commercial for the iPhone and you're absolutely right. It is. Go get one now.

Also, be sure to keep an eye out for the Free Beer and Hot Wings iPhone app which is coming soon.

Commercial over.

steve

I witnessed an awkward conversation

2009-08-25T19:41:00Z

So the other day, I was caught right in the middle (literally) of an awkward conversation. I walked in to a room where a conversation was already taking place. I wasn't paying attention, since it did not involve me and I didn't know the people involved. Another person walked in, and one of the people involved in the initial conversation turned to the person that just walked in and said:

Person 1: I was just saying how I got lipo (liposuction) this weekend.

Person 2: Oh...um...ok...

Person 1: I got it right here and here. (points to ass and side ass)

Person 2: Ok...I...thought you looked...great already?

Person 1: There's still some swelling, but it'll go down soon.

Person 2: Well it looks great!

It took everything I had not to laugh due to the awkwardness. That being said, I've now added this topic to my short list of things to never bring up and ONLY talk about if absolutely forced to.

STEVE'S LIST OF THINGS TO NEVER BRING UP AND ONLY TALK ABOUT IF ABSOLUTELY FORCED TO:

1. Pregnancy. The words "Are you pregnant" or "When is the baby due" will never leave my mouth.

2. Liposuction.

-steve

I have a dumb looking truck

2009-08-05T20:41:00Z

For those that heard the Friday Top Five a few weeks ago, you'll know that I consider myself part redneck/part nerd because I'm really into trucks. I'm actually driving nine hours ONE WAY this weekend just to go to a truck show in Carlisle, PA. Kind of lame, I know. But that's ok.

My truck is regular enough, except for its appearance. When I bought it, the person that owned it before me thought that it would be a great idea to paint bright racing stripes down the hood, roof and tailgate. If not for these stripes, I'd be extremely happy with the vehicle. I got it for such a good deal that I really couldn't turn it down. To me, when I see a vehicle with racing stripes, I assume that it's fast. I mean, they are called "racing" stripes, right? However, this could possibly be the slowest vehicle known to man. I'm tired of pulling up to red lights and having some jerk in a Honda Civic with a coffee can-sized muffler rev his engine and want to race. I'm tired of people pointing and laughing because it looks stupid. But most importantly, I'm just tired of the dumb stripes. I started to sand them off a few months ago, and managed to get one of them off the tailgate. But now it looks extra dumb, because there's two stripes on the hood, two on the roof and one on the tailgate.

I've come to the conclusion recently that it really is a good truck and that I should probably keep it for a while. I'm getting new tires tomorrow and doing some front end work on it next week. I just want the stripes gone.

That being said, anyone that would like to paint my hood, roof and tailgate in exchange for a Not Necessarily Gay Calendar, a 2007 PA Pranks shirt and a few mentions in my blog can contact me directly at steve@freebeerandhotwings.com.

-steve

Again...what a week!

2009-07-13T04:41:00Z

So last week, I hosted an entire week of Best-of shows. Aside from some minor issues, I think it went pretty well. I was pretty overwhelmed with the amount of emails I got with requests for segments that people want to hear. There was absolutely no way that I would have been able to get everything on the air this time, but the guys will be in Nashville for a few days at the end of the month so I'll do my best to get it on then. I'm definitely looking forward to the guys being back tomorrow and having everything return to normal for a little while.

On a completely unrelated note, I've decided that to supplement my income, I'm going to go to junkyards and buy car parts really cheap and sell them for what they're actually worth. I know that may sound like I'm ripping people off, but I'm really not. I found a local junkyard that is selling stuff so ridiculously cheap, that I'd be crazy not to buy the stuff. I'm turning around and cleaning the stuff up and selling it for a very fair rate. It's not my fault I'm making a profit if people are willing to pay for it, right??? I figure that if I do this for about a year or so, I can hopefully save up enough cash for a down payment on a house. Becoming a homeowner is pretty much my short term (1-2 year) goal right now, so hopefully this will help! If anyone has any tips, please pass them along!

I know this was a random blog, but I'm new to this whole blogging thing. This seemed like something that may spark a little conversation, so comment away! Time for bed.

-steve

What a week!

2009-07-03T16:00:00Z

This last week has been pretty hectic.

Last Thursday, I flew home to go to my sister's wedding. I left the station right after the show on Thursday and headed to the airport. It took two flights and six hours, but I finally made it back. My girlfriend Meredith was waiting for me at the airport to pick me up, which was pretty awesome considering I hadn't seen her in a month. We drove down to the rehearsal, and after that, the rehearsal dinner. During the "thank you" speech at the rehearsal dinner, I spilled a beer all over my crotch (see the Photos page for pictures). It was pretty embarrassing, but I decided to embrace it instead of trying to hide it.

The wedding was on Friday. After waking up and calling in to the show for the Friday Top Five list (and getting a severe beating in the process), I started running all of the errands that I needed to do before the wedding. I still had to buy a wedding gift. We ended up getting them a Nintendo Wii, because it's something we knew they wanted but probably wouldn't have bought for themselves. My sister later told me it was the best wedding gift ever. That was pretty awesome. The reception was pretty crazy...complete with my eighty-something year old uncle falling on the dance floor, lots of bad dancing and awesome food. It was great seeing friends and family that I hadn't seen in a very long time.

I left early Sunday morning and flew back. As I was pulling in to my apartment complex, I heard the promo running on the air from Friday's show. It was an assault on me. That sucked pretty bad. But oh well.

Since everyone else is on vacation, it's my responsibility to run the best-of shows. I spent just about the entire week (outside of the show hours) pulling clips that can be used for the shows. Today was my first solo show and I think it went alright. I'm sure that by next Friday it will all be second nature. It was the first time in over a year that I was on the air by myself, not to mention a new studio and computers to get used to. Hopefully everyone enjoyed it.

Just a side note...If you're a VIP member that receives the podcast, you'll notice that today's best-of show was posted as a podcast, both as a single file and individual segments. I plan to do this for all the shows next week as well. It's cool to see how passionate people are about the show so I'm happy to do it.

Have a happy and safe Fourth of July weekend and I'll talk to you Monday morning at 5am Eastern.

-steve

My first blog.

2009-06-15T21:37:00Z

So I'm sitting here, waiting for the video of Joe's "Lincoln Truth Challenge" to convert, and I get an email from our website guy saying that my blog section is up and running and I need to write a blog. I've known for a week now that my blog section was working...I just don't enjoy blogging too much and hoped I'd fly under the radar and not have to blog. But no, here I am. Blogging.

Today was the start of my third week with the Free Beer and Hot Wings show. To date, I've gotten about 100 Ecards from listeners, thanks to Free beer repeatedly soliciting them on the air. I've gotten numerous hate emails from people that say I'm ruining the show. I've even gotten emails from people that seem to enjoy me for one reason or another. Whether it's been positive or negative feedback, thanks for taking the time to drop me a line. I hope to be around for a while.

Hopefully you're enjoying the new website as much as we are. As we said on the show today, we really try to make EVERYTHING we talk about on the air accessible in some way on the website, whether it's a link, video or picture, so be sure to check in daily.

This is the end of my blog.

-steve