My Wife Fired Me

Of the three files, two of the stations were FM stations, and both were located in Tennessee. Station WTXY in Memphis would be perfect. The station covered an audience of over 1.2 million. The price was $1.6 million, which wasn't bad considering its revenue. And the owner was willing to finance $1 million. I could scrap up the $600,000 by cashing in my 401-K and draining our investments, but then I wouldn't have any operating capital. And of course, there was the little problem that half of our investments belonged to Jenny. I then spent a half hour going over all of our financials before sticking the WTXY file in the drawer.

WLEB was an FM station in Lebanon, Tennessee. Lebanon had a population of about 38,000 but the tower and transmitter were located eighteen miles east of Lebanon. I had asked a broadcast engineer to see if the tower could be either moved closer to Nashville or raised higher. The higher an FM antenna is the further the signal will go. As I read through his report, the answer was basically no. Oh, it could be done if you could get two stations to switch frequencies, which would be costly, so that folder also went into the drawer.

The last station I asked the engineer to check was WZEP in Zephyrhills, Florida. It was an AM radio station at 1420 khz that broadcast with 1000 watts of power during the day and 187 watts at night. The tower and transmitter were currently located twelve miles east of Zephyrhills. As it stood, their full power signal barely reached the fringe of Tampa's suburbs during the day with a very weak signal. At night, WZEP's signal barely covered Zephyrhills. I wouldn't have even considered this station except for its proximity to Tampa/St. Petersburg. The same engineer who had done the search for me on WLEB had prepared a report on WZEP. Surprisingly, the tower could be moved eighteen miles southwest of Zephyrhills. There was also one other interesting part of the report. If the station was relocated even sixteen miles southwest, it wouldn't have to reduce its power at night. It would be able to broadcast full-time at 1000 watts.

I'm sorry I've gotten into the weeds again, but I couldn't help it. I just had my legs cut out from under me by my supposedly loving wife at work, and I was floundering around. In addition to being hurt and humiliated, I was struggling with bubbling jealousy. I was desperately struggling to tamp down my anger and decide what to do next. As I started to read the report on WZEP again, I heard the front door open and close. Jenny was home.

I was not looking forward to a face-to-face with her. Over the years, I learned that Jenny was very bullheaded when she thought she was right. And since I'm somewhat of a hardhead myself, our first year was one of epic battles. Our stubbornness coupled with tight finances and a colicky baby pushed our marriage to the breaking point. Once, I even moved out for a week, but I couldn't stay away. I truly did love Jenny and couldn't bear the thought of not being with her and my daughter. Since most of our early arguments were over trivial things, I eventually learned to let them go. And if I truly felt that Jenny was wrong, I would gather my incontrovertible proof before she had dug her heels in. But in this current situation, only time would show Jenny that she was making a mistake. And there was no way that I was going to work for that asshole for months or years until she, hopefully, realized how bad her decision was. And even if Jenny did realize her mistake there was a good chance, she wouldn't admit it.

"Oh, you're in here," Jenny said as she stepped into my den. "We need to discuss what happened at work today."

"Are you going to reverse your decision and appoint me as the Vice President of Radio Production?" I asked, knowing the answer already.

"I won't do that because I made the right decision," Jenny snapped. "And your reaction to my decision has just confirmed how right I was."

"Then we have nothing to talk about. Why don't you call your boyfriend if you want to discuss something," I said as I turned back to the file in my hand.

"Stop being a spoiled little baby and come out to the living room so we can discuss this like adults. And stop calling him my boyfriend. That cheat shot you yelled at work has already started rumors."

"Please close the door on your way out," I said without emotion, even though my insides were churning with anger and hurt.

Jenny slammed the door as she left my study. The house was ice cold that night, and I slept in one of the girl's old rooms. My wife was up early and out the door. I knew what was coming. Jenny would put me in the deep freeze until I gave in. But it wouldn't work this time. I knew the VP job was never going to be mine, and I wasn't going to hold my breath waiting for an apology when my wife figured out her mistake.

I had backed off many times over our twenty years of marriage. It had been very frustrating at times, but I had learned to live with it. But this issue went right to the core of who I was and there was no way I was giving in. So, after showering and making myself a cup of coffee, I decided to dig deeper into WZEP.

The asking price for the station was $225,000, which I thought was much too high for what they were selling. The income being generated wasn't enough to pay the expenses. And according to an appraisal done four years ago, the land and building were only worth about $100,000. I reread the engineer's report about moving the station, and I was now definitely interested. So, I called the broker and received two pieces of information that really excited me.

The first piece of information was that Bob Stammer, the station owner, was now in a nursing home, and his wife, Beth, was desperate to sell the station. She had reduced the price to $125,000. Then the broker told me that Mr. Stammer had already gotten a construction permit from the FCC to move the tower eighteen miles southwest of its current location. Not only that, but Mr. Stammer had put a deposit of $1000 on six acres of land where he intended to relocate the station. The cost of the vacant land was $18,000 and the deposit was part of the station sale.

I arranged to meet the broker, Jack Burrows, the day after tomorrow. Before I headed south, I needed to take care of my finances. The first thing I did was open an account in my name only and then instructed our broker to sell half of our investment portfolio. Then I transferred half of our checking and savings account into my new personal account. When the dust settled, my new account had $187,000 in it. Jenny and I had a joint credit card, and we both had corporate credit cards. I decided not to do anything with the joint credit card, as I wouldn't be using it, having ordered a new one when I opened my new account. My corporate card, I would return to the station. I know that many would urge me to cancel the joint credit card, but I doubted Jenny would max it out. She had her reputation to think about and getting sued for not paying her bills would definitely hurt that. Besides, the card had a limit of $3000. We rarely used the one credit card we had, preferring to use our debit cards instead.

After completing what I could in Atlanta, I packed a bag and left a note for Jenny. The note simply told her I'd be away for a few days but didn't tell her where I was going. I know I was being a dick, but I didn't care. I also told her to say hello to her boyfriend for me. I knew she would be livid, but, again, I didn't care. Finally, I hit the road. I got stuck in traffic going out of Atlanta, so the trip took an extra hour, which didn't upset me at all. I was finally following my dream.

After settling into my motel room, I took a ride by WZEP. The building looked like it was being held together with chewing gum and duct tape. The tower desperately needed to be painted, and one of the guywires was hanging slack. I still hadn't decided whether to move the existing tower to the new location or buy a new one. I was now leaning heavily toward buying a new tower.

I was tempted to check out the inside of the station but decided against it. I'd get to see it all tomorrow. Instead, I headed to the six acres of land. Jack had given me directions to it, and the land was easy to find as it still had the realtor's sign on it. I used the sign's number to call the broker. Her name was Sally Wilson, and she was thrilled when I told her to type up a sales contract. I explained I'd be prepared to close on the land if I could come to an agreement to buy WZEP.

The following day, Jack showed me around the station. It was as I expected. Most of the equipment was ancient and the automation program was a joke. They had two transmitters that were tube types, and the logs showed they were constantly being repaired. The console in the main studio, however, was fairly new. It was only five or six years old and appeared to be in good shape. Also, the microphones were good.

A walk around the tower convinced me that it would be a mistake to move it. It had rust in too many locations, and half the guy wires looked like they needed replacement. I decided to buy a completely new, free-standing tower along with a new solid-state transmitter for approximately $29,000. Ultimately, I was forced to take the old tower down and sold it for scrap.

After leaving Jack at the station, I told him I'd call him tomorrow and give him my answer. I drove into town and started wandering into the local stores. Since the station's format was religious, I wasn't surprised when only a very few admitted to listening to it. When I asked what format the station should run, it was fairly evenly split between talk radio and oldies. The demographics told me that there was a good-sized market for either format.

After dinner, I went back to my room to go over my financial situation once more. But I was interrupted by the beep of my cell phone. I was stunned to see it was Jenny. I was going to let it go to voice mail but decided to tell her that I wasn't planning to come back to work because I was following my dream of owning a radio station.

After I said hello, Jenny started in on me. "Are you over your snit yet?"

"So, now I'm having a snit?" I responded as I could feel the anger growing. "I thought I was being a baby. I still can't believe you gave my job to your boyfriend."

"God Damn it, Chad, for the last time, stop calling Todd my boyfriend," Jenny flared and then calmed herself. "Look Chad, I believe I picked the best man for the job even though it hurt me to do it."

I didn't say anything, and an awkward silence followed before she began again.

"I really believe that Todd is the better person for that slot. Every time I brought production work down to your department, it didn't matter to you that my spots were for a $300,000 campaign that needed to be done; I had to stand in line behind some dinky $3,000 sponsor," Jenny said with some venom. "Todd always worked me in and got my commercials cut immediately. And I believe he's as good as you at production work."

"Wow. What a true revelation just how little my wife thinks of me. That's just fucking great," I was fighting hard to control my temper. This was so like Jenny. When she was convinced, she was right; it was full speed ahead, and "Damn the torpedoes."

She must have caught the tone in my voice. "Chad, I don't want to fight. I love you and want you to come home. We need to talk this over and put it behind us."

I wanted to really go off on her, but I was afraid I'd say something I couldn't take back. So, instead, I decided to be upfront about the situation at WJTR. "Jen, I love you with all my heart, but what you did to me at the station was beyond brutal and humiliating, not to mention totally wrong. I will never work for Todd, ever."

"Chad, I can't cover for you much more," there was sadness in Jenny's voice. "People are already asking questions about where you are. And Todd is demanding that you come back to work or be fired. And he has an absolute right to expect you to do your job or be removed. If you don't come back to work by Monday, I will have to terminate you."

"Do whatever you have to do," I snarled and ended the call. Jenny tried to call back, but I let it go to voicemail and then turned the phone off.

I was ninety-five percent convinced to go ahead with the deal before talking to my wife; now I was all in. The next day, I told Jack to offer $100,000. I was prepared to pay the full price, so I called the real estate broker and told her to prepare the paperwork for the land. The following day, Beth countered at $115,000, and I accepted. After that, I placed an order for a new tower and transmitter. I also purchased a $4000 automation program.

I met a surveyor at the property and had him lay out where best to put a home that would also house the radio station. I also asked him to locate the tower on the survey. I arranged for a well to be dug and power brought to the property. The last thing I did that day was call John Mickleson. He and Helen had retired and moved to New Port Richey, which was a little less than an hour away. I wanted him to help me build the house on the property. He was thrilled, telling me he was totally bored in retirement. He also told me after I had the plans drawn, he'd take care of getting all the permits.

With all the expenses piling up, I knew I would have to tap my 401-K. Currently, its market value was about $350,000. That meant I would have to travel back to Atlanta to sign the paperwork. I also decided to rent a trailer and move that onto the property to be my temporary home. When I got to Atlanta, I would pick up as much of my stuff as I felt I needed for the next few months. I especially wanted my CD collection, mostly of oldies. I had decided to change the format to an oldies station playing music from the 50s, 60s, and 70s. If that didn't work, I'd switch to a talk format.

As it turned out, it was Tuesday of the following week before I could leave for Atlanta. One of the reasons for the delay was that I wanted to meet with John first. We spent a good part of the week inspecting the land, meeting the house designer, visiting the building department, and pricing out the materials.

At the building department, I received a welcome surprise. Bob Stammer had already applied for a permit to construct the tower, and it had been approved. All I would need was to have Beth transfer the permit to me. I also learned that I didn't need a contractor to build the house; I could file for the permit as an owner-builder.

I gave John the plans for the pad that the tower would sit on, so he could begin laying out the forms to pour the concrete. My meeting with Jack and Beth went smoothly as we signed the sales contract. Jack called Ray Thomas, an FCC attorney, and faxed him the contract. I spoke briefly to Ray, and he said the FCC could take 180 days to approve the sale, but his experience was that it took much less time. In any event, he told me if the owner and I could come to an agreement, I could begin running the station immediately. Mrs. Stammer agreed to let me start running the station in two weeks if I explained what was happening to the churches and the sponsors. We also agreed that I could keep any revenue from existing sponsors if I picked up the station's expenses.

I went from the station to Sally Wilson's office to sign the contract for the land. I spent the rest of the week visiting businesses in Zephyrhills and surrounding towns, interspersed with John and I meeting with subcontractors. I informed all of the current sponsors of the program change to oldies. The churches were a little upset by the change but were appreciative of the heads-up. I worked out a deal with two churches that would allow them to do a morning service on alternate Sundays.

At each business I visited, I explained what I was doing, and many seemed interested. I would have to wait until I took over to see if the interested ones turned into sponsors. Monday night, I went to bed early as I had to be up before the crack of dawn so I could time my arrival in Atlanta between morning and evening rush hours.

I arrived back in Atlanta at about 11am and went to the house first. I knew I had limited space in Zephyrhills, so I only grabbed four changes of clothes, two twin beds, box springs and frames, my easy chair, a small desk and chair, my tabletop computer, and my 2000 plus CDs. I left all my other stuff there as I didn't want to give Jenny the impression, I was abandoning her.

Somewhere around 2pm, I arrived at WJTR, and easily made it through security since I was still technically employed there. I immediately went to HR and explained what I was doing. They weren't surprised, and Martha Brown, the HR Director, told me she had expected me to visit her sooner once the memo announcing Todd's promotion hit her desk. I asked Martha what she'd heard about any relationship between Jenny and Todd. She admitted hearing the rumors but had never seen anything inappropriate.

After a few moments of awkwardness, Martha asked me if I was resigning. I explained that Jenny had told me if I didn't return to work by Monday, I would be fired. Since this was Tuesday, I accepted my termination. I gave Martha the account numbers for where my last paychecks were to be deposited and the numbers for my new SEP-IRA so she could transfer my 401-k.

Martha gave me a kiss on the cheek and told me not to be a stranger. I stopped by the production department next to say goodbye and was mobbed. They all wanted to know when I was coming back to work. I think some of them were totally stunned when I told them I'd been fired. I didn't tell anyone what I was doing because I wanted to tell my wife first. Todd stayed in his office like the little cowardly bitch I knew he was.

As I was leaving the production department, I found Jenny standing in the hall waiting for me. "Were you just going to sneak in and sneak out without seeing me?" she demanded.

"No," I responded. "I was just on my way up to your office."

"Okay, let's go so we can put this whole thing behind us," Jenny turned and started for the elevator without me getting a word out. So, I just followed her.

Jenny's new office had a spectacular view of Atlanta. Once she settled into her chair, she started, "I'm glad that you've decided to come back to work. Todd tells me he has several ideas on how he wants to reorganize the production department. He's anxious to meet with you, so he can discuss your new duties. I've already talked to Mr. Hamett, and he has agreed to a substantial raise for you. You won't be making as much as Todd, but you will retain your old position."

I sighed because I knew this wasn't going to be pleasant. "I think it's very quaint that you and Todd had decided my future, but I'm going to take a hard pass. I'm not coming back. You told me I had to be back by Monday, or I was terminated. I took you at your word. I came to give HR the information on where to send my last check, transfer my 401k, and say goodbye to the people in production."

Jenny just sat there, staring at me. I couldn't tell if she was angry or sad or both. Finally, she shook her head. "Todd said you'd probably do this, but it isn't what I wanted. Still, maybe it is for the best. I can see that your ego can't handle your wife being your boss. I think getting a job at another station is probably the best all the way around."

"Seriously, you think I'm jealous of your promotion?" I was taken aback at Jenny's thought process. "You're dead wrong if you think that. I am extremely happy about your promotion. I wouldn't want that job for anything. It's way too political for me. You're going to have to play corporate politics like never before. No, I'm not jealous of your promotion at all. I am jealous that you've put Todd over me because he is a true asshole. All he wants is to get into the panties of any woman he can. Someday, you're going to find out what a snake he is, but I don't expect you to ever admit it. I just hope your decision doesn't come back to bite you in the ass."