The Strange News "Tips" I get

I love my job. One of the things I love doing the most is checking voicemail. It sounds boring, but this isn't you're typical voice mail.

I manage a tip-line for the station (505-764-2550). The station runs repeated promos for the tip-line on air. Over the course of the day, thousands of viewers see this number.

I check the messages every morning and then again in the afternoon considering I get a HUGE amount of phone calls. Sometimes messages can get quiet strange, funny, and threatening.

I have one person who I call "The Heavy Breather" leave repeated unintelligible rants about his diabetes on the tip line. It often sounds like the "Breather" likes to leave his "tips" after a marathon run or a struggle up a flight of stairs. This caller never leaves a number.

Recently, another caller left me a message about a tuna fish running around and going to the bathroom. I suspect drug use on that one. The caller ended the message by mixing in a four-letter word with my last name.

And then there are the drunks. People who sound like they're speaking in slow motion, giving me sordid details about their promiscuous ex-girlfriends and "worthless" husbands.

I've also received calls that sound threatening. One man called, claiming "three people will be dead" by the end of the day after "paying our station a visit."

Another woman called saying I was "nosy" and "going to get hurt" if I didn't stop "getting up in someone else's business."

But out of all the bizarre, strange calls, I get those nuggets of vital information. Great tips from people who have faith in our role as government watchdogs.

Time to check the voice mail......