I went out for a walk at 7:15 AM with my new dog on Saturday. (Yes, I got a new dog - a rescue who came to me all the way from South Korea. He's the cutest little 2-year-old boy you'll ever see and strangers are constantly stopping me to ask about him.) 

I always listen to the radio while I'm out with him for our hour long morning stroll, and this is the first time ever that I wound up walking in silence. Why? The stations I was listening to at that hour of the day were so bad, I simply could not take it anymore. I tried almost every dial position you could think of to try and find something - anything - worth listening to.

But searching endlessly through both bands, I finally turned the thing off in disgust. Even the music outlets I might normally tune in were playing songs I didn't like. And don't get me started on the talk stations. Dubious hour long ads for quack health cures aired on places like AM740. The CBC was doing "Fresh Air," a program whose attraction continues to elude me. 

I have no idea what CKTB was talking about, because it was so dull, it lost me within about a minute. And you can only hear so many repeating headlines on 680 News. Same with the simulcast of CP24 on CFRB.

And then there was AM640, the only place to find an actual partially cross country presumably live show. It's hosted by Rob Fai out of Vancouver, and sometimes actually discusess real topics. Not this time.

In the one hour I tried to listen to it, he did horrible filler on B.C. wines, some comedian whose show is running only in Vancouver talking about the hilarious topic of bereavement and a guy who went on and on about camping. It was so dull, I'm surprised Fai could get through it all. 

There is a mindset I've encountered all my life in radio that drives me crazy. Those in charge seem convinced that if it's a weekend, all the other normal topics - from politics to the war in Iran to the threat of Alberta separatism - simply aren't interesting like they are Monday-Friday. 

I've never understood this kind of thinking. Anyone up early and listening to the radio on Saturday likely hasn't head all that much on those important topics because they're working during the day. What a great time to rehash some of what they missed. 

It's the first time I can ever recall turning my radio off like that. Podcasts weren't an option because my phone was at home being charged, running on fumes because I'd forgotten to plug it in. 

Which just proves that often on the weekends, silence is more interesting than what's on air. And that's pretty sad.