The Erwin Pawn Trade-A-Thon Assessed The Current Mosquito Threat

It's a hoot.  It's a holler.  And it's a handful.  It's The Erwin Pawn Trade-A-Thon and we took the Cadillac of radio classifieds shows on-air Saturday morning.

If you've been with us for awhile you know we do it every Saturday with the exception of Christmas.  And some years we've even been able to squeeze a show in around Christmas.  If it's Saturday you can pretty well expect Trade-A-Thon at 9:00am.

The goal is bringing buyers and sellers together ostensibly helping you both sell the belongings you no longer need but still have value while presenting you with three hours of similar calls from like-minded folks, selling everything from a baby bed to a casket.

THE BIG QUESTION

We ask all our callers a poll question and we try to ask before they list their items.  It allows us to get to know a little about our callers and provides a running stream of thought throughout the program.

Sometimes whimsical, sometimes serious, this week we tried to do something useful with The Big Question.

With Independence Day coming this weekend we all are making preparations to celebrate.  This means plenty of water, generous and frequent applications of sunscreen and for the dusk to nighttime hours, plenty of mosquito repellent.  That last one got our wheels turning.

With all the talk about the Zika virus most of us are more aware of the threat disease carrying mosquitoes pose to the general public.  But how bad is the mosquito problem in Amarillo right now anyway?  I haven't gotten one bite and haven't seen any lurking either.  Where are they, that was the question, The Big one indeed.

We decided to use our callers as a virtual canvass of the city, asking each one both where they we're calling from and if mosquitoes were a problem in the area.  I didn't think there were many but the results were still surprising.

We had callers from across the area, over 30.  Each one gave their geographic location and save for one report, there are no mosquitoes and no mosquito problem in Amarillo at the moment.  In fact we don't need to mention the negative answer locations because they covered everywhere but North of Ross Rogers Golf Course, home of the only officially reported area of high mosquito population.

Where are you and are the mosquitoes bad there?

No - 29, covering  Canyon and most of Amarillo

Yes - 1, North of Ross Rogers Golf Course

This doesn't mean we recommend going without proper repellent this weekend.  On the contrary, in this case it is much better to be protected, to be safe rather than sorry.  Choose a repellent whose main ingredient is DEET.

Rule #6

The show works fairly simply but just to make sure everyone is on the same page we bring you the five official rules of the program that cover things like prohibited items, call etiquette, and more.  Along with those five regular rules, I always bring you a special rule #6.  Occasionally poor man's observational humor this week's rule was inspired by a thought I expressed on Facebook on Friday.

A Facebook Friend of mine and a local business owner published a post Friday night discussing the spiritual battle he's been waging within himself trying to reconcile his opinion that both nominees for President are unworthy of his vote.  After praying and seeking God's advice he made a decision and found peace in his heart.  I didn't discuss with him my intention of relating his story so I'll be discreet and keep him anonymous and his choice for president a mystery.  Many people feel the same way, that neither nominee is worthy of running the country.  If you are having trouble deciding consult with your maker, search your conscience, and don't fear making a decision.  The biggest wrong would be not having any say in the election at all.  I had the epiphany for the rule and I hope it helps you make your decision.

Rule #6 When there is no right choice, there is no wrong choice.

That's deeper and more ethereal than we've gotten with Rule #6 in at least three years.

I'm in your debt for many things.  Thanks for reading this post.  Thanks for listening to Trade-A-Thon.  Many thanks for tuning in.  Even more for making a call.  And if you've ever bought anything off Trade-A-Thon, thanks for making it work.  We can't do it without you.

We look forward to bringing the menagerie to you again this Saturday!