Blog 4 – Friday 19th Feb 2010!
Rugby, Questions, Gym and why Everybody’s Talking About it!
Looking back, last week’s blog was a long one wasn’t it? I don’t intend them to be long or short, it’s more a case of starting to write and then see where I go – so here I go again, starting to write and seeing where I go.
WEEKEND
The whole week has gone really quickly and I’m sat here now in a great mood because I have a full weekend off. Whenever I tell people I work Monday-Saturday, the reaction is always the same: A sharp intake and breath and then puffing out their cheeks saying “Really? 6 days?”. I have to say it’s a really common thing in local commercial radio so it’s something I’ve always been used too. I’ve been in radio since I was 16 and over the year’s my “6th” shift has varied from Saturday Afternoon’s on Fusion 107.9 in Oxford, Saturday Breakfast on Star 107.5 in Cheltenham, Saturday Sport on Fusion 107.3 in scenic Lewisham and Sunday Mid-Mornings on Star 107.9 in Stroud. I actually quite like the balance I’ve got here at Radio Pembrokeshire now as my Saturday Sport Show allows me to indulge my passion for local sport, even it is now just as busy as hosting the weekday morning show. Typically I leave home at about 11:45am on a Saturday, go via McDonald’s for a cappuccino (weekend treat) and arrive in Narberth at about 12:30pm. I’m usually home by 6:40pm ready for whatever we have planned on a Saturday evening. So although it’s not a massive chore to work the 6 day week, it’s nice to know I’ve got a whole weekend ahead of me. What’s that? You work a 5 day week? “Really. 5 Days?” (Puffs out cheeks) ;-).
RUGBY
The other reason for looking forward to the weekend is that on Saturday I’m off to watch Narberth Vs Bedwas in the SWALEC Cup. I was kindly invited by the Chairman Jeff Jenkins after predicting on air the result of their local derby against Whitland a few weeks ago and I’m really looking forward to it. I was allowed to bring three guests so Mrs Stone, my Dad and brother will be coming and I’m confident Narberth could pull of a shock win. I love the atmosphere that goes with local rugby clubs in West Wales and I know the welcome tomorrow will be absolutely fantastic. I did a facebook status this week where I commented that I feel “Welsh” when it comes to rugby which, considering I’m a massive England supporter in just about every sport – was quite a claim! Before moving to Wales in 2006 I was a very casual rugby fan but that has changed and although football will always be my number 1 sport I am most definitely an adopted Scarlets fan. I also follow keenly the local rugby sides all around Pembrokeshire and I love the quirky grounds and the devoted supporters dotted all over the County. I don’t think Welsh rugby fans can be faulted for their passion and even last week against Scotland when the team played poorly, that passion in victory was worthy of a great triumph. I love it. By the way – Narberth to win tomorrow, you heard it here.
EVERYBODY’S TALKING ABOUT IT
This week “Who killed Archie Mitchell?” has dominated people’s conversation! Crazy isn’t it? I walked into our office and an unnamed sales person had started writing odds up on the white board – he put me in at 6/1! I have to say though and I am the first to criticise when I think they aren’t giving us value for money with the license fee, the BBC have played this one absolutely brilliantly. In the technology driven world, it must be a nightmare to keep a storyline of this magnitude under wraps and to then deliver it during a live episode – challenging to say the least. It’s funny because people can be quite snobbish about the soaps; either admitting to loving them or deriding them saying there’s “no way I would watch that rubbish”. On the phones this morning even people who fall into the latter camp confided in me that they would watch Eastenders tonight just to find out who killed Archie. I didn’t like the newspaper articles that revealed the BBC spend £2,000 a piece on the Match of the Day team’s taxi’s...but on this Eastenders storyline, top marks, no question.
QUESTION TIME
I started this off last week, inviting 3 tweeters to ask me questions which I would answer here on the blog and I’ve had some good ones this week. So lets have a look...First up from @PembsViewMag – What’s the best thing about working in radio?I’ve been asked this question a lot of times and I guess it’s a common one for other people working in the industry. I have to say it’s the flexibility and the knowledge that no day is ever the same. When I’m on air a massive story could break in the County and we’ve got to react to it. A recent example would be the bad weather we had in the County and for days we had to provide a top quality service to our audience for 3 or 4 days on the trot. That was the most prolonged bad spell of weather I’ve known in my time in radio and for a week schools, roads, refuse collections and other services were just unable to function. To ease the flow of information I made my own personal mobile number available to all head teachers in Pembrokeshire and I was probably getting somewhere in the region of 100 phone calls between 6am-9am when the weather was at it’s worst. That’s not to say every day is like that, but I am lucky not to be tied to a desk, lucky to be able to speak to nice people every day and even on a bad day you’ve got to hold onto that. It’s a great job which can give you unbelievable highs without a doubt.
The second question this week is from...drum roll...@egfe and it’s simply What’s been your best moment working at Radio Pembrokeshire?I’m following on here from the above in many ways because as I’ve said, I love my job and there have been lots of great moments from handling snakes to simply giving away a competition prize. My favourite moment though is simply an annual event that happens every August and lasts for three days. I love the Pembrokeshire County Show at the Withybush showground and anchoring our live coverage for those three days is fantastic. I don’t know what it is about the County Show. I think it’s because I used to go when I was younger and stuff myself with the free samples! I’m a bit older now but still like the freebies (I went home with about 40 muller yoghurts on day 1 last year) but it’s the combination of the animals, the trade stands, the people young and old, the people who go every year and the special guests that make it a brilliant event. I love the feeling at 6.59am, just a few minutes before we go live on the opening day – then deep breath and away we go, we’re on air – can’t beat it.
Final one from @welshlesley – If money was no object, where in the world would you most like to go on holiday?I think everyone has had this sort of idea over the last week since the couple from Cirencester won themselves £56 million on the EURO MILLIONS draw last Friday. I love the Greek islands and am going to Skiathos for two weeks in June of this year. However is money is no object think Becci and I would probably head to an all inclusive resort, in the Maldives for two weeks of doing absolutely nothing. Sounds lovely.
Right then – more questions please either via www.twitter.com/benatbreakfast or by dropping me an email.I’ve resumed writing post Eastenders, having written the Eastenders section before it was broadcast – Stacey did it and I stand by everything I wrote in that section. I’ve also had a good gym week – been three times and enjoyed my workout tonight!
NEXT WEEK – Is a busy one as we gear up for Thursday’s Local Hero Awards – lots on the radio and on the blog about that. Have a great weekend!!
Friday 19 February 2010
Friday 12 February 2010
It’s Blog number 3 time!
I’ve got the gym bug, Pembrokeshire Air, Challenges, Questions, Rome countdown and giveaways...
Well I hope you’ve had a good week and thank you for having a look at the third edition of my blog which I’m enjoying writing. It’s been a nice week of mainly sunshine; albeit a little nippy first thing, the weather has been quite kind this week. So let’s get going with the things that have been going on this week – I’ve loved the radio shows first up – more on that a bit later!
GYM BUG
This time last week I had just done my gym induction, paid £10 for my gym key and had shattered myself doing 20 minutes on the running machine! I have to admit I was a bit nervous about the thought of doing the 55 minute long programme that my trainer had assigned me. I’m really pleased to report that I am coping with it and have been to the gym 4 times this week – Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I am enjoying it and definitely feel less sluggish in the evening which must be the result of doing more exercise. I’m not getting carried away yet though, I’ve been here before and slipped back into not doing much exercise, this time I want to keep it up so badger me to find out please! I want to have lost some weight by the time I go on holiday to Skiathos in the summer, fingers crossed it works.
WEEKLY REMINISING
Each of the blogs I’ve done so far have included a weekly reminisce so I’m not going to make this one any different! On the radio the other day I was talking about sales of old fashioned sweets have rocketed in the past year and how we are a nation of sweet lovers. When I used to stay at my Grandparent’s in Lampeter Velfrey I remember going with my Grandad to Landsker Shop in Narberth to buy my red liquorice strawberry bootlaces which were huge, cheap and tasted amazing. You could get 5 for 50p and there would be enough to sort out my need for sweets when I was about 11. I’m not sure I’ve mentioned one of the other houses my Grandparents lived in? In Templeton if you take the road that goes past the Boar’s Head Pub (not straight onto Begelly and not the right turn in the Oakwood direction) there are a row of houses and dorma-bungalows and they lived in one of these. Their house was the one directly next door to the Caravan Site – my memory of which is the little shop that is on site, where they sold Liquorice Torpedoes! Happy Days. That house in Templeton was a nice one featuring a pond and a “Granny flat” style annexe where my Great-Nan lived 6 months of the year. They only lived there for 2 years which was enough time for me to build a rope swing and fall off it on numerous occasions.
CHALLENGES
There is definitely something in me that makes me want to do some sort of big fundraising challenge. I liked doing the New Year’s Day Swim in Saundersfoot last month and would love the opportunity to do something really worthwhile for charity. I met a couple of guys this week that came into the studio in Narberth for a radio interview and it served to further wet my appetite. Peter Dow and Bruce Rogers are from North Pembrokeshire and later this year will embark on a 9000 mile road trip which will result in them joining the Mongol Rally and finishing up in Mongolia, a fair way from home. They are doing this to raise money for the Wales Air Ambulance, The Alzheimer’s Society and The Christina Noble Foundation and you can find out more about their challenge by clicking http://www.daioniigobi.co.uk/. I would love to one day do something like this but in the meantime will look forward to following Peter and Bruce’s progress in regular updates on Radio Pembrokeshire.
Q AND A TIME
I did a little post on Twitter last night and asked for 3 tweets where by my followers asked me a question and I would answer it, here on the blog. So here we go...
First up from the lovely WelshLesley on twitter: “How can you be so chirpy in the mornings? don't you get an 'off' day?”
That is a very good one because I have to say I am not really a morning person, but I’ve trained myself to at least sound like one. I signed my first “full time” radio contract in 2004 and by early 2005 I was presenting the Breakfast Show on Star 107.9 in Stroud. Prior to that I had been at uni and throughout my 4 years there did lots of freelancing at various radio stations where quite often I would cover the Breakfast show. I did a stint on drivetime from July 2005 to April 2006 but apart from that it’s been Breakfast and I am coming up to 4 straight years of doing the morning show. So back to the question of “How can you sound so chirpy in the mornings” – well it is my job and I am paid to be professional at all times. Who would want to hear someone on the radio yawning and moaning about getting up early? I love doing the Breakfast Show and wouldn’t want it any other way. I get annoyed with colleagues in the industry who complain about early starts – I always remind them that we aren’t the only industry where people do early shifts. Across Pembrokeshire there are people at Chevron, Withybush Hospital, the Police all working a whole range of unsociable shifts, they are all far more important than me. Do I ever have an “off” day? Well I think everyone does WHATEVER the job. I always try and keep things in perspective and for the 6 hours I am on the radio do the job to the very best of my ability. If I do that, you can throw any figures at me you want – I will always be happy.
NEXT UP from Mr JinxTheCat “With the rise of 'internet radio', how do you see the future of stations like Radio Pembs, R Wales, etc etc?”
Just before I answer this I guess I should say – “All opinions expressed here are mine and don’t reflect the views of Radio Pembrokeshire or any other radio station I work for”.
It’s a nice question this and I will extend it beyond internet radio to DAB, IPODs and every other form of technology that means listeners now have more choice than ever before. I think it’s natural every radio station in the whole of the UK will be affected by the massive amount of choice that people have in how they consume music, information and entertainment. What I think is there is room for everything and the need to “Super Serve” your audience and the area you broadcast too has never been so great. I think localness is the key. If a radio listener in Trefin say wants to get information broadcast about her “lost cat” or a business in Wolf’s Castle needs an urgent advertisement made then this is where we can come in. As a listener, you’re in a good place because it’s our duty to up our game, be local and super serve you – so enjoy, it’s an exciting but challenging time.
AND FINALLY from CallumDG "Do you ever wake up in the mornings and think urrrgh... here we go again. ?"
The answer is YES! I am only human! The worst point of the day is without a doubt 5am and the second the alarm goes off. However by the time I’m in the shower and then in the car I am wide awake and raring to get going. The alarm going off is horrible and doesn’t get easier. I enjoy the drive to work and listen to Adrian Goldberg or Mike Graham presenting the overnight show on talkSPORT – it gets me up to speed with the news and a bit of sport. I love the walk across the car park – this morning the sky was starry, the air is amazing and I could hear some owls hooting. How many people experience the world at that time? I had a 10 month hiatus away from Radio Pembrokeshire from 2008-2009 and I was lucky enough to get the chance to come back but the station I was working at there was on an industrial estate whereas in Narberth we have amazing scenery. I’m lucky and will never take that for granted again.
I will answer another three questions next week so either email me on ben@radiopembrokeshire.com or if you follow me on Twitter, send me a message there.
TIME TO GO
Well those questions have taken longer to answer so I am going to be brief and say there must be something in the Pembrokeshire air, today Bessie Phillips of Clunderwen turned 106 and gave an interview to Jim Hughes. Amazing! I’ve also loved the competitions we’ve done this week and am delighted that Charlotte Davies from Milford Haven is going to the BRITS and today Jenny Hunkin, a lovely lady in Penally won a coach holiday to Torquay. She was almost in tears, what a job I have. Finally I go to Rome with Becci in the first week of March so any tips or places to go email me Ben@radiopembrokeshire.com.
HIGHLIGHT OF THE WEEK: Without a doubt tea tasting with Pembrokeshire Tea Company. 2 nice guys and a great product, check them out they will be big.
NEXT WEEK: On the radio I’ve got County Assembly Members Paul Davies and Angela Burns on the show on Monday which should be good. In the blog next week...well expect more of the same...
Well I hope you’ve had a good week and thank you for having a look at the third edition of my blog which I’m enjoying writing. It’s been a nice week of mainly sunshine; albeit a little nippy first thing, the weather has been quite kind this week. So let’s get going with the things that have been going on this week – I’ve loved the radio shows first up – more on that a bit later!
GYM BUG
This time last week I had just done my gym induction, paid £10 for my gym key and had shattered myself doing 20 minutes on the running machine! I have to admit I was a bit nervous about the thought of doing the 55 minute long programme that my trainer had assigned me. I’m really pleased to report that I am coping with it and have been to the gym 4 times this week – Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I am enjoying it and definitely feel less sluggish in the evening which must be the result of doing more exercise. I’m not getting carried away yet though, I’ve been here before and slipped back into not doing much exercise, this time I want to keep it up so badger me to find out please! I want to have lost some weight by the time I go on holiday to Skiathos in the summer, fingers crossed it works.
WEEKLY REMINISING
Each of the blogs I’ve done so far have included a weekly reminisce so I’m not going to make this one any different! On the radio the other day I was talking about sales of old fashioned sweets have rocketed in the past year and how we are a nation of sweet lovers. When I used to stay at my Grandparent’s in Lampeter Velfrey I remember going with my Grandad to Landsker Shop in Narberth to buy my red liquorice strawberry bootlaces which were huge, cheap and tasted amazing. You could get 5 for 50p and there would be enough to sort out my need for sweets when I was about 11. I’m not sure I’ve mentioned one of the other houses my Grandparents lived in? In Templeton if you take the road that goes past the Boar’s Head Pub (not straight onto Begelly and not the right turn in the Oakwood direction) there are a row of houses and dorma-bungalows and they lived in one of these. Their house was the one directly next door to the Caravan Site – my memory of which is the little shop that is on site, where they sold Liquorice Torpedoes! Happy Days. That house in Templeton was a nice one featuring a pond and a “Granny flat” style annexe where my Great-Nan lived 6 months of the year. They only lived there for 2 years which was enough time for me to build a rope swing and fall off it on numerous occasions.
CHALLENGES
There is definitely something in me that makes me want to do some sort of big fundraising challenge. I liked doing the New Year’s Day Swim in Saundersfoot last month and would love the opportunity to do something really worthwhile for charity. I met a couple of guys this week that came into the studio in Narberth for a radio interview and it served to further wet my appetite. Peter Dow and Bruce Rogers are from North Pembrokeshire and later this year will embark on a 9000 mile road trip which will result in them joining the Mongol Rally and finishing up in Mongolia, a fair way from home. They are doing this to raise money for the Wales Air Ambulance, The Alzheimer’s Society and The Christina Noble Foundation and you can find out more about their challenge by clicking http://www.daioniigobi.co.uk/. I would love to one day do something like this but in the meantime will look forward to following Peter and Bruce’s progress in regular updates on Radio Pembrokeshire.
Q AND A TIME
I did a little post on Twitter last night and asked for 3 tweets where by my followers asked me a question and I would answer it, here on the blog. So here we go...
First up from the lovely WelshLesley on twitter: “How can you be so chirpy in the mornings? don't you get an 'off' day?”
That is a very good one because I have to say I am not really a morning person, but I’ve trained myself to at least sound like one. I signed my first “full time” radio contract in 2004 and by early 2005 I was presenting the Breakfast Show on Star 107.9 in Stroud. Prior to that I had been at uni and throughout my 4 years there did lots of freelancing at various radio stations where quite often I would cover the Breakfast show. I did a stint on drivetime from July 2005 to April 2006 but apart from that it’s been Breakfast and I am coming up to 4 straight years of doing the morning show. So back to the question of “How can you sound so chirpy in the mornings” – well it is my job and I am paid to be professional at all times. Who would want to hear someone on the radio yawning and moaning about getting up early? I love doing the Breakfast Show and wouldn’t want it any other way. I get annoyed with colleagues in the industry who complain about early starts – I always remind them that we aren’t the only industry where people do early shifts. Across Pembrokeshire there are people at Chevron, Withybush Hospital, the Police all working a whole range of unsociable shifts, they are all far more important than me. Do I ever have an “off” day? Well I think everyone does WHATEVER the job. I always try and keep things in perspective and for the 6 hours I am on the radio do the job to the very best of my ability. If I do that, you can throw any figures at me you want – I will always be happy.
NEXT UP from Mr JinxTheCat “With the rise of 'internet radio', how do you see the future of stations like Radio Pembs, R Wales, etc etc?”
Just before I answer this I guess I should say – “All opinions expressed here are mine and don’t reflect the views of Radio Pembrokeshire or any other radio station I work for”.
It’s a nice question this and I will extend it beyond internet radio to DAB, IPODs and every other form of technology that means listeners now have more choice than ever before. I think it’s natural every radio station in the whole of the UK will be affected by the massive amount of choice that people have in how they consume music, information and entertainment. What I think is there is room for everything and the need to “Super Serve” your audience and the area you broadcast too has never been so great. I think localness is the key. If a radio listener in Trefin say wants to get information broadcast about her “lost cat” or a business in Wolf’s Castle needs an urgent advertisement made then this is where we can come in. As a listener, you’re in a good place because it’s our duty to up our game, be local and super serve you – so enjoy, it’s an exciting but challenging time.
AND FINALLY from CallumDG "Do you ever wake up in the mornings and think urrrgh... here we go again. ?"
The answer is YES! I am only human! The worst point of the day is without a doubt 5am and the second the alarm goes off. However by the time I’m in the shower and then in the car I am wide awake and raring to get going. The alarm going off is horrible and doesn’t get easier. I enjoy the drive to work and listen to Adrian Goldberg or Mike Graham presenting the overnight show on talkSPORT – it gets me up to speed with the news and a bit of sport. I love the walk across the car park – this morning the sky was starry, the air is amazing and I could hear some owls hooting. How many people experience the world at that time? I had a 10 month hiatus away from Radio Pembrokeshire from 2008-2009 and I was lucky enough to get the chance to come back but the station I was working at there was on an industrial estate whereas in Narberth we have amazing scenery. I’m lucky and will never take that for granted again.
I will answer another three questions next week so either email me on ben@radiopembrokeshire.com or if you follow me on Twitter, send me a message there.
TIME TO GO
Well those questions have taken longer to answer so I am going to be brief and say there must be something in the Pembrokeshire air, today Bessie Phillips of Clunderwen turned 106 and gave an interview to Jim Hughes. Amazing! I’ve also loved the competitions we’ve done this week and am delighted that Charlotte Davies from Milford Haven is going to the BRITS and today Jenny Hunkin, a lovely lady in Penally won a coach holiday to Torquay. She was almost in tears, what a job I have. Finally I go to Rome with Becci in the first week of March so any tips or places to go email me Ben@radiopembrokeshire.com.
HIGHLIGHT OF THE WEEK: Without a doubt tea tasting with Pembrokeshire Tea Company. 2 nice guys and a great product, check them out they will be big.
NEXT WEEK: On the radio I’ve got County Assembly Members Paul Davies and Angela Burns on the show on Monday which should be good. In the blog next week...well expect more of the same...
Friday 5 February 2010
Blog Number 2
Rascal’s a girl, JT, Gym (not Mr. Hughes), Fish, Figures and Heroes
Well that just about sums up the week to be honest. I think it’s gone really quickly and I’m very pleased that Friday is here for a whole variety of reasons...Firstly I get to blog again. I really enjoyed writing it last week and want to say thank you for the feedback via my twitter page www.twitter.com/benatbreakfast. Secondly I have to admit it; there is one TV programme which I am a 100% geek about. Yes I admit it. My name’s Ben Stone, I present breakfast on 102.5 Radio Pembrokeshire and I am a LOST geek. I love it and it is without doubt the only TV show I really couldn’t miss. Well tonight the final season of LOST returns on SKY 1 and I’m a little bit excited. Well alright quite a bit. Alright loads! At 9pm this Friday evening: Facebook is off, Twitter is off and TV is on – can’t wait!
Rascal (ella??!)
In October we “adopted” two boy cats from the RSPCA as we felt our house was missing something since our own cat Amber had herself been adopted to my Step-Brother and his girlfriend. We met a lovely lady from the RSPCA in the main car park in Llandeilo and she introduced us to the two boy cats who we homed and called Oscar and Rascal. Well after 4 and a bit months that dreaded day in the life of all boy cats arrived and on Monday it was time for the “boys” to have their “bits” chopped off! The only problem being that whilst Oscar’s “bits” were very visible there was very little evidence that his Big “Brother” Rascal was in a similar situation. So to cut a long story short I received a phone call from the nurse on Tuesday at the vets who said “Hello Mr. Stone I can confirm they’ve been operated on and that Rascal is in fact female”! Oh well you live and learn, best buy him..sorry HER a new pink collar...
JT – GONE
Believe it or one of my colleagues at work (who shall remain nameless) asked me today “Who is John Terry anyway?”. It did make me chuckle because since Saturday the England and Chelsea captain has been plastered all over the front and back pages off all the national and local newspapers. Today Fabio Capello has earned my respect and convinced me that the England national team is in good hands. I have no time for the view that JT’s personal life is separate to his professional life. Football and footballers have gone beyond that and for the good not just of the England team but for the good of every football match going on from Hundleton to Chipping Norton, stripping him of the captaincy was the only way.
HOLIDAYS
Well that’s the John Terry stuff done and dusted. I really enjoyed writing last week about my memories of holidays in Lampeter Velfrey staying at my Grandparents bungalow so I am going to continue on that theme right now. One of my favourite summer holiday past times was without the simple pleasure of going on a boat from Saundersfoot on a fishing trip. In the late 80s and early 90s the harbour at Saundersfoot would be awash with about 5 0r 6 caravans each serving as a booking office for the various boats that operated fishing trips.
We were hooked (excuse the pun) and in a typical three week holiday would probably go fishing about 7 times – it was £2.50 an hour, what a bargain! The boats that you could go fishing on had brilliant names and a few came and went over the years, but the ones I can remember include: Shimo Sham (red and white), William Hall (white and blue), Liverbird (blue), Rosalind (blue) and Swift (light blue). One of my favourite memories is a two hour fishing trip on Swift where we ended up fishing just off the idyllic Caldey Island and no word of a lie we ended up catching enough fish between 4 of us to virtually feed the entire village of Lampeter Velfrey. I think we bought back 250 fresh mackerel and we ended up knocking on neighbours doors offering them fresh fish! Even now I don’t think you can beat a hot summer’s day, fresh mackerel on the BBQ and chips from the fish and chip shop – amazing.
FIREFIGHTERS
For two different reasons I have seen at first hand this week the amazing work that the Mid and West Wales fire service do. I had the absolute pleasure of welcoming into the studio on Thursday Gerwyn Howells, Phil Irving and Paul Dyson – 3 grat guys who are based in Pembroke Dock and who’ve just returned from assisting the rescue effort in Haiti. They gave me an incredibly emotive interview as they went through their experiences and the incredible fact that they only knew 2 hours before that they were indeed off to Haiti. Listening to them made me want to do more. It is so reassuring to know we have people like this in Pembrokeshire and the fact that they don’t realise that they are real life heroes made them all the more endearing. If you’re able to they are supporting an event at Sur Thomas Picton School next Saturday (13th February) where they will give a presentation about their time in Haiti and answer any questions that the audience may have. Alongside this will be music from some young Pembrokeshire people. It starts at 7pm next weekend.
Secondly an example of brilliant customer service. We got woken up on Tuesday night at 4:15am by the fire alarm going “BEEP” “BEEP” “BEEP” every 30 seconds and when I went to remove the battery I saw the label saying the battery didn’t need changing until March 2017! I mentioned this on the radio and within an hour I had received a phone call from the Fire Service in Haverfordwest offering to come round and replace the fire alarm free of charge. When I explained that I lived in Carmarthen the Fire Officer said he would phone the station there and explain we were a priority due to our faulty alarm. By 4pm on Wednesday I had received a call and by 6pm we had a new fire alarm installed – now that is customer service that some large organisations would do well replicating.
The Mid and West Wales Fire Service = an organisation to be proud of and thoroughly nice people to boot.
GYM
I’ve started the New Year’s Resolution this afternoon and have been to the gym. I will ache tomorrow and as of Sunday will be starting my 55 minute programme – wish me luck!!
That’s about it from the blog for this week. I do need to say thank you to the good people of Pembrokeshire as with your support 102.5 Radio Pembrokeshire remained market leader in the latest RAJAR figures! We want to improve all the time so keep telling people about us. Every day we make so much effort to cover all aspects of County life and we will continue to do so with your support.
FAVOURITE MOMENT OF THE WEEK: Without a shadow of doubt – meeting the fire fighters! Interviewing Linda Robson was a nice end to the week.
COMING UP NEXT WEEK: On the radio on Monday morning at 8:30 Tommo’s secret gets revealed. I’ve also got info on the Sport’s Start scheme in Pembrokeshire on the show as well.Blog wise – I’ll look at the news, old fashioned sweets, gym update and some more reminiscing. Follow me on Twitter – www.twitter.com/benatbreakfast.
Well that just about sums up the week to be honest. I think it’s gone really quickly and I’m very pleased that Friday is here for a whole variety of reasons...Firstly I get to blog again. I really enjoyed writing it last week and want to say thank you for the feedback via my twitter page www.twitter.com/benatbreakfast. Secondly I have to admit it; there is one TV programme which I am a 100% geek about. Yes I admit it. My name’s Ben Stone, I present breakfast on 102.5 Radio Pembrokeshire and I am a LOST geek. I love it and it is without doubt the only TV show I really couldn’t miss. Well tonight the final season of LOST returns on SKY 1 and I’m a little bit excited. Well alright quite a bit. Alright loads! At 9pm this Friday evening: Facebook is off, Twitter is off and TV is on – can’t wait!
Rascal (ella??!)
In October we “adopted” two boy cats from the RSPCA as we felt our house was missing something since our own cat Amber had herself been adopted to my Step-Brother and his girlfriend. We met a lovely lady from the RSPCA in the main car park in Llandeilo and she introduced us to the two boy cats who we homed and called Oscar and Rascal. Well after 4 and a bit months that dreaded day in the life of all boy cats arrived and on Monday it was time for the “boys” to have their “bits” chopped off! The only problem being that whilst Oscar’s “bits” were very visible there was very little evidence that his Big “Brother” Rascal was in a similar situation. So to cut a long story short I received a phone call from the nurse on Tuesday at the vets who said “Hello Mr. Stone I can confirm they’ve been operated on and that Rascal is in fact female”! Oh well you live and learn, best buy him..sorry HER a new pink collar...
JT – GONE
Believe it or one of my colleagues at work (who shall remain nameless) asked me today “Who is John Terry anyway?”. It did make me chuckle because since Saturday the England and Chelsea captain has been plastered all over the front and back pages off all the national and local newspapers. Today Fabio Capello has earned my respect and convinced me that the England national team is in good hands. I have no time for the view that JT’s personal life is separate to his professional life. Football and footballers have gone beyond that and for the good not just of the England team but for the good of every football match going on from Hundleton to Chipping Norton, stripping him of the captaincy was the only way.
HOLIDAYS
Well that’s the John Terry stuff done and dusted. I really enjoyed writing last week about my memories of holidays in Lampeter Velfrey staying at my Grandparents bungalow so I am going to continue on that theme right now. One of my favourite summer holiday past times was without the simple pleasure of going on a boat from Saundersfoot on a fishing trip. In the late 80s and early 90s the harbour at Saundersfoot would be awash with about 5 0r 6 caravans each serving as a booking office for the various boats that operated fishing trips.
We were hooked (excuse the pun) and in a typical three week holiday would probably go fishing about 7 times – it was £2.50 an hour, what a bargain! The boats that you could go fishing on had brilliant names and a few came and went over the years, but the ones I can remember include: Shimo Sham (red and white), William Hall (white and blue), Liverbird (blue), Rosalind (blue) and Swift (light blue). One of my favourite memories is a two hour fishing trip on Swift where we ended up fishing just off the idyllic Caldey Island and no word of a lie we ended up catching enough fish between 4 of us to virtually feed the entire village of Lampeter Velfrey. I think we bought back 250 fresh mackerel and we ended up knocking on neighbours doors offering them fresh fish! Even now I don’t think you can beat a hot summer’s day, fresh mackerel on the BBQ and chips from the fish and chip shop – amazing.
FIREFIGHTERS
For two different reasons I have seen at first hand this week the amazing work that the Mid and West Wales fire service do. I had the absolute pleasure of welcoming into the studio on Thursday Gerwyn Howells, Phil Irving and Paul Dyson – 3 grat guys who are based in Pembroke Dock and who’ve just returned from assisting the rescue effort in Haiti. They gave me an incredibly emotive interview as they went through their experiences and the incredible fact that they only knew 2 hours before that they were indeed off to Haiti. Listening to them made me want to do more. It is so reassuring to know we have people like this in Pembrokeshire and the fact that they don’t realise that they are real life heroes made them all the more endearing. If you’re able to they are supporting an event at Sur Thomas Picton School next Saturday (13th February) where they will give a presentation about their time in Haiti and answer any questions that the audience may have. Alongside this will be music from some young Pembrokeshire people. It starts at 7pm next weekend.
Secondly an example of brilliant customer service. We got woken up on Tuesday night at 4:15am by the fire alarm going “BEEP” “BEEP” “BEEP” every 30 seconds and when I went to remove the battery I saw the label saying the battery didn’t need changing until March 2017! I mentioned this on the radio and within an hour I had received a phone call from the Fire Service in Haverfordwest offering to come round and replace the fire alarm free of charge. When I explained that I lived in Carmarthen the Fire Officer said he would phone the station there and explain we were a priority due to our faulty alarm. By 4pm on Wednesday I had received a call and by 6pm we had a new fire alarm installed – now that is customer service that some large organisations would do well replicating.
The Mid and West Wales Fire Service = an organisation to be proud of and thoroughly nice people to boot.
GYM
I’ve started the New Year’s Resolution this afternoon and have been to the gym. I will ache tomorrow and as of Sunday will be starting my 55 minute programme – wish me luck!!
That’s about it from the blog for this week. I do need to say thank you to the good people of Pembrokeshire as with your support 102.5 Radio Pembrokeshire remained market leader in the latest RAJAR figures! We want to improve all the time so keep telling people about us. Every day we make so much effort to cover all aspects of County life and we will continue to do so with your support.
FAVOURITE MOMENT OF THE WEEK: Without a shadow of doubt – meeting the fire fighters! Interviewing Linda Robson was a nice end to the week.
COMING UP NEXT WEEK: On the radio on Monday morning at 8:30 Tommo’s secret gets revealed. I’ve also got info on the Sport’s Start scheme in Pembrokeshire on the show as well.Blog wise – I’ll look at the news, old fashioned sweets, gym update and some more reminiscing. Follow me on Twitter – www.twitter.com/benatbreakfast.
Friday 29 January 2010
The First Blog..
So why blog?
Good question! I enjoy posting my thoughts on Twitter and have fast discovered that it's a really useful social networking tool which has become a brilliant way to keep up to date with people who listen to my radio show on Radio Pembrokeshire. I've got some really nice followers on there - from the County and beyond and I want my blog to be an extension of what goes on at www.twitter.com/benatbreakfast. It goes beyond that though. I've always enjoyed writing and that goes back to when I was 13 years old and became Press Officer for my local football team Swindon Supermarine FC and wrote weekly match reports for their award winning programme. Supermarine played their football in the Hellenic League in those days (Old Trafford, Stamford Bridge etc it was not!) but it was here I got to practice writing and also in a way practice for what was always my dream job - presenting on the radio. You see, at the age of 13 I was also tannoy announcer at Swindon Supermarine - how cool! As well as announcing the team line ups, I also had to produce a mix tape every week for all the home matches - my mixes had it all from Jimmy Nail to Europe so I was clearly setting myself up for my future career. I loved those care free days so maybe writing a blog each week (I'll try and publish it on a Friday Evening) I will fall back in love with writing, just like when I was 13...we'll see.
So who are you again?
Another good question and as I said above, for those reading this and don't know who I am - I'm really not famous! I host the Breakfast Show on 102.5 Radio Pembrokeshire every morning from 6-12 and can honestly say I love my job. I'm in my 2nd spell at Radio Pembrokeshire and to be able to enjoy a job as much as I do, I really do feel lucky every time the microphone goes up. We’ve got a cracking team in Narberth, including our Lunchtime Presenter Tommo and I’ve discovered some HUGE gossip on him this week. I can’t mention it yet but safe to say it would cause him huge embarrassment!!
My family and friends play a huge part in my life. I talk to my wife Becci (@mrs_stone83 on Twitter) every lunchtime and I text her as soon as I get to work. I’ve never met some who I can spend days on end with without getting annoyed or bored with, she’s clearly my best friend and soul mate. I speak on the phone to Tom my younger Brother at least twice a day and am in close touch with my Mum, Dad and Grandad. It’s the way I’ve always been, close enough to the people who are important to me so that we know we can always be there for each other, but not so close that you end up annoying one another – it’s a good place to be. My Grandparents have also played a big part in me working a living in this neck of the woods. Nanna and “Bopf” (more on where that name came from in the next few weeks) lived in Templeton, Saundersfoot and Lampeter Velfrey over a period of about 15 years (maybe slightly less) and we holidayed with them every summer holiday. That would involve Tom and I spending half of our holidays in Wales – and we loved their big garden and many fishing trips in Saundersfoot. The hardest radio show I’ve ever presented was on 9th June 2006 and it was the day after my Nanna died. I was Breakfast Presenter on our sister station Radio Carmarthenshire at the time and how I got through that programme I really don’t know. She never knew that I got the job of doing Breakfast on Radio Pembrokeshire – but I hope she’s proud of me.
So what will you blog about?
I guess the things that are in and on my mind. I'll attempt to pick up on something we've done on the radio show each week and also divulge a personal story or memory each week as well. One of things that I like doing on the radio is simply talking about normal things. The things that go on in my life and go on in the lives of my listeners - so I will try and do that here as well. I'll blog about why TV is so bad on a Wednesday and why we're not sure if our boy cat Rascal is a boy or a girl...in short I've probably not got much idea what'll be in the blog from week to week..but I will try and keep it interesting. I want to enjoy writing again, like when I was younger, so lets see what happens hey?
FAVOURITE MOMENT OF THE WEEK: Linette from St. Clears phoning in response to an item we were discussing that stated men only was their jeans once a month and after 15 wears. She said it made her stomach churn! Any views on this? I love the feeling of really worn in jeans!
NEXT WEEK: Feeding half the villagers in Lampeter Velfrey after a fishing trip on Swift...and maybe I’ll divulge some BIG gossip I have on my colleague Tommo..
So why blog?
Good question! I enjoy posting my thoughts on Twitter and have fast discovered that it's a really useful social networking tool which has become a brilliant way to keep up to date with people who listen to my radio show on Radio Pembrokeshire. I've got some really nice followers on there - from the County and beyond and I want my blog to be an extension of what goes on at www.twitter.com/benatbreakfast. It goes beyond that though. I've always enjoyed writing and that goes back to when I was 13 years old and became Press Officer for my local football team Swindon Supermarine FC and wrote weekly match reports for their award winning programme. Supermarine played their football in the Hellenic League in those days (Old Trafford, Stamford Bridge etc it was not!) but it was here I got to practice writing and also in a way practice for what was always my dream job - presenting on the radio. You see, at the age of 13 I was also tannoy announcer at Swindon Supermarine - how cool! As well as announcing the team line ups, I also had to produce a mix tape every week for all the home matches - my mixes had it all from Jimmy Nail to Europe so I was clearly setting myself up for my future career. I loved those care free days so maybe writing a blog each week (I'll try and publish it on a Friday Evening) I will fall back in love with writing, just like when I was 13...we'll see.
So who are you again?
Another good question and as I said above, for those reading this and don't know who I am - I'm really not famous! I host the Breakfast Show on 102.5 Radio Pembrokeshire every morning from 6-12 and can honestly say I love my job. I'm in my 2nd spell at Radio Pembrokeshire and to be able to enjoy a job as much as I do, I really do feel lucky every time the microphone goes up. We’ve got a cracking team in Narberth, including our Lunchtime Presenter Tommo and I’ve discovered some HUGE gossip on him this week. I can’t mention it yet but safe to say it would cause him huge embarrassment!!
My family and friends play a huge part in my life. I talk to my wife Becci (@mrs_stone83 on Twitter) every lunchtime and I text her as soon as I get to work. I’ve never met some who I can spend days on end with without getting annoyed or bored with, she’s clearly my best friend and soul mate. I speak on the phone to Tom my younger Brother at least twice a day and am in close touch with my Mum, Dad and Grandad. It’s the way I’ve always been, close enough to the people who are important to me so that we know we can always be there for each other, but not so close that you end up annoying one another – it’s a good place to be. My Grandparents have also played a big part in me working a living in this neck of the woods. Nanna and “Bopf” (more on where that name came from in the next few weeks) lived in Templeton, Saundersfoot and Lampeter Velfrey over a period of about 15 years (maybe slightly less) and we holidayed with them every summer holiday. That would involve Tom and I spending half of our holidays in Wales – and we loved their big garden and many fishing trips in Saundersfoot. The hardest radio show I’ve ever presented was on 9th June 2006 and it was the day after my Nanna died. I was Breakfast Presenter on our sister station Radio Carmarthenshire at the time and how I got through that programme I really don’t know. She never knew that I got the job of doing Breakfast on Radio Pembrokeshire – but I hope she’s proud of me.
So what will you blog about?
I guess the things that are in and on my mind. I'll attempt to pick up on something we've done on the radio show each week and also divulge a personal story or memory each week as well. One of things that I like doing on the radio is simply talking about normal things. The things that go on in my life and go on in the lives of my listeners - so I will try and do that here as well. I'll blog about why TV is so bad on a Wednesday and why we're not sure if our boy cat Rascal is a boy or a girl...in short I've probably not got much idea what'll be in the blog from week to week..but I will try and keep it interesting. I want to enjoy writing again, like when I was younger, so lets see what happens hey?
FAVOURITE MOMENT OF THE WEEK: Linette from St. Clears phoning in response to an item we were discussing that stated men only was their jeans once a month and after 15 wears. She said it made her stomach churn! Any views on this? I love the feeling of really worn in jeans!
NEXT WEEK: Feeding half the villagers in Lampeter Velfrey after a fishing trip on Swift...and maybe I’ll divulge some BIG gossip I have on my colleague Tommo..
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
