Road weary?

DATELINE: Antioch, CA -- I did a good deal more resting and napping than I expected I would while here in Antioch. I’m chalking it up to jitters and adjusting to somewhat new surroundings.

The good news is that I believe I have collected plenty of material and that this first outing will result in success on all accounts.

I’m making a small adjustment to the itinerary, rather than spending Sunday here in Antioch watching the football division championships, I’m going to head back to Merced a day early and watch them back at. The prospect of Monday traffic here in the Bay Area just doesn’t appeal to me – and, as I said, I have plenty of material for feeding the beast…

“Feeding the beast” is what Jesse and I have begun calling the process of adding content to each of the seven media channels we’ve committed to in the Wandering Dave project. It remains to be seen whether I’ll be able to keep those pumps primed; but as for now, I think I’m in good shape.

I’ll be doing the production for the radio and podcast content from my home studio – this is a task I’ll later need to do on the road, of course.

My content-gathering process here in Antioch involved preliminary research online, a fruitless call for input from a few local officials, a quick tour of the waterfront after I arrived and then forays to city hall; a local restaurant (for breakfast and some eavesdropping); a city-run aquatics center; a historical landmark for photos (probably only marginally useful; and a visit to the local historical museum where I interviewed two docents – hopefully obtaining enough material for a radio clip.

I ate meals with different table-mates as much as I could and I took advantage of several opportunities to interact with others in the activity room and other parts of the complex. I read the newspaper (no daily in Antioch, but there is a zoned regional paper with pretty good coverage),

There were a few opportunities that I passed up – partly due to the resting and napping mentioned above and partly because the noon meal seemed to break each day into quite small segments, and getting back by 5 for supper was also constraining. Consequently, I may consider skipping meals in order to extend my time “off campus.”

All in all, I’m quite pleased with this first outing (so far). I am eager to get back to Merced and to feeding the beast and getting ready for Santa Rosa on Wednesday.