On Memorial Day weekend, I decided to transform my 100+ year old, dirty, dingy, dark-stained, hardwood floors into their original state. White oak. I went out and rented a floor drum sander, an edging sander, and bought a bunch more sandpaper for my orbital sander. I moved the furniture around, and then went to work. By the first pass with the drum sander, I could already see how beautiful the floors were going to look! Then after working from 20, 36, 60, 80, and 100 grits, it's like a whole new floor! :) I went and did the edging with the edging sander and finally returned them to the rental place.
Since then, I've been concentrating heavily on the rest of the edging and the corners, meticulously making everything as close to perfect as I can. I'm just about ready to do the final cleanup on the wood and polyurethane it.
I've decided on a more user and environmentally friendly water-base polyurethane for my project. A couple of reasons for this include the fact that the water-base dries faster, doesn't have a long-lingering odor, and doesn't darken over time, as with oil-based polyurethanes. I've decided to not stain the wood, but I rather enjoy the natural beauty of the white oak floors. After all, I spent all that time getting rid of that dark color in the first place!
By the way, if you happen to refinish floors for a living, hats off to you! You work VERY hard for a living with lots of sweat, dust, people telling you to hurry up, etc. I honor all people who do this because this project has proven to be very time-consuming! However, I have enjoyed it and as I take care of the last details on my road to perfection, I'm looking forward to looking back on a job well done! (Or so I hope! :)
-Jason
In the infamous words of Bill Cosby, "I started out as a child." I was raised by wonderful parents and one sister and still stay in contact and visit with them often. They all live in Illinois. I'm the only "Michigander" in the family. I have 2 kids, Austin and Kira, whom I love dearly!!! My uncle Jeff, a retired game warden in Peoria County, IL loves Michigan because, well, we have some of the best areas for deer hunting here!
I've been in radio for about 18+ years now, starting at a little 6000 Watt station in Mendota, IL (WGLC FM - Northern Illinois Country) When I started college then, I wanted more than anything to be on the air. At the time, I was in school for Computer Science / Information Technology, and Electronics Engineering Technology. I worked 3 hours a week on Saturdays, green as they come, doing this silly little mid-afternoon show. Finally, they needed a broadcast electronics engineer/IT guy. Since their engineer left, I applied and got the position. From that point on, I designed, built, and maintained radio stations for many years and many stations, up until 2003. All along with that, I still did shows on a few different stations. One of my favorites was an afternoon country show I did on WALS 102. It was called, "The Afternoon Cruise" and was on the air for almost 4 years. It was all-request and I made so many friends during that time! While doing many requests and with news by my dear friend Tracy Mason, I hold that station dear to my heart, along with my listeners. In fact, I even built that station and put it on the air! I also left the country back in the 90's with my family to Melbourne, Australia. I decided to travel there on and off for while to explore that beautiful country. If you've ever been or would like to go, you'll see what I mean! And if you're planning on going some time, email me and I'll tell you the sights and wildlife preserves that I visited. It's truly spectacular! Anyway, back to the story, I've been on 107 MUS "The Moose" since December of 2004 and have loved every minute of it! My listeners are definitely the most dedicated and true that I've ever had. I'm very fortunate!
In the meantime, since "semi-retiring" from radio engineering, I'm currently back in school at Baker College in Muskegon working to earn my bachelor's degree in Professional Aviation / Aviation Management. With this, I want to do what I've always dreamed. Become a flight instructor and later run private charter service for people wanting to get to remote locations that major airlines can't fly in to and for health care professionals who need to get to those types of locations in a hurry.
Needless to say, I have a busy schedule!
That about sums up my career in radio and a few odds and ends. If you are an avid listener of "The Afternoon Cruise" or would like to check it out from 3-7 weekdays, I encourage you to tune in and enjoy! I'll do my very best to make sure it'll be a good time!
