Steve Gregory gets to talk to thousands upon thousands of people every time he shows up for work, all from the comfort of a studio.
The BOB FM radio host said his line of work hardly feels like a real job.
"It's like I've never worked for a living," he said. "It's changing every day because everything is so current, and you have to be current with everything you're doing."
Gregory hearkens back to an era where "disc jockeys" actually had to work with records, instead of the computerized setup for radio stations today.
He said he was interested in doing radio since he was 14, but got his start working with discs of another sort at his first job with IBM.
But he said he didn't want his dreams to be shut down.
"What happens if I'm 40 and look back and say, ‘should I have done it? Could I have done it?' he said. "So, I took a fly-by-night radio course and started way up north in Espanola, which is 40 miles west of Sudbury."
Those computerized systems make it easy to pre-tape shows, with Gregory saying it makes it harder to break into the industry today unless you're willing to go to a smaller town.
"This is the kind of job you have to do for a while," he said."You have to be on to get better. Apparently, I haven't been on long enough."
Besides all the automation that has taken command of much of radio, Gregory said they still need humans to make it work.
And it's that effort and connection with listeners that's kept him coming in for 32 years.
"I still look forward to coming into work," he said.
With a report from CTV Ottawa's Norman Fetterley
Thursday: A day in the life of a window washer.
