The email about this has begun to trickle in, so the news must be out. The Great Franklins.net Bandwidth Crunch of 2005 is continuing in its relentless quest to deprive listeners of their weekly intravenous helping of audio geekery, so I haven’t been able to listen to the latest .NET Rocks episode (#100) in which it’s announced that I’ll be leaving, but the change is reflected on the home page where you can see that my mug has been replaced with Richard’s.

Why are you leaving .NET Rocks?

Good question, boldface-type.

I’m leaving .NET Rocks because the .NET Rocks schedule is from Mars, and my work schedule is from Venus. They can’t seem to sync up.

It became obvious that this was a problem when I had to call Carl and let him know that I would be missing the 100th show. The 100th show. If you’re the co-host and you can’t be there for the 100th show, then it’s time to move on.

Did you and Carl get into a fight?

Wow, boldface-type. I’m glad you’re here to ask these things.

Carl and I have had our differences. Doing the show can be stressful. Living on your host’s futon for a few weeks while looking for another place to stay doesn’t help much.

But, no. Even though there was some strain in our friendship, Carl and I didn’t get into a fight. A fight typically implies that you’re close enough to someone that you’re getting on each other’s nerves. What we had in the end was a bit less glamorous. The only time we talked was on the show, and that created some distance between us.

Don’t get me wrong. If we were to be thrown together in a hotel room at a conference like in the “good old days,” we’d jump right back into being Carl ‘n Rory. When we hang out together, we’re a completely different team. We get a chance to discuss things, talk about where to take the show, and joke in bad French accents until 3:00 AM. I have some strangely fond memories of being driven through remote portions of Connecticut at 4:00 AM, looking for a pancake joint where we could get assaulted by the waitress and denied service simply because we were too nice. We had a lot of good times.

But, with my work schedule, it’s gotten harder and harder to keep in touch.

In short, then, we didn’t get into a fight.

Aren’t you being kind of a sissy about your schedule?

Nope.

During the weeks I wasn’t out of town presenting, and particularly when I didn’t have bronchitis, .NET Rocks was a joy.

The weeks during which I was out of town, however, were different.

Presenting takes it out of you. The travel takes it out of you. The meetings, the email, and other commitments take it out of you. It’s wonderful, rewarding work, but it will wear you down, especially if you do it week after week.

By the time Friday rolls around in such a week, my brain just wants to shut down. Sometimes this led to a mediocre performance on .NET Rocks, and sometimes it led to my absence. As the co-host, this just doesn’t work. It’s not fair to Carl, and it’s certainly not good for my image. The last thing I want is for people in Croatia to think that I’m a feeble-minded softy who can’t even stay awake to co-host a one hour and thirty minute show.

How do you feel about Richard?

Great. The very first time I heard him do his Toy Boy spot on the show (old format), I knew that he would eventually replace me. He’s a great guy, and he’s enthusiastic. The only bad thing I’ve ever heard him do was a report from a boat, but the reason it sucked was that there was too much background noise and he didn’t fulfill my request that he shove everybody overboard so that we could hear him. Aside from that, he’s solid gold audio geek material.

I think this is a fabulous way for the show to progress. As early as last July, I suggested to Carl that we have rotating co-hosts. Carl should remain the center of the show, but he should be swapping out the co-host on some sort of schedule. It would help keep the show fresh.

My idea was that co-hosts should be swapped weekly, and that there would be a pool of about eight people from which to choose. Things haven’t turned out that way, but what’s happening is still better than nothing.

I also like this because different people have different tastes. There were those who lamented Mark Dunn’s departure, and there were those who welcomed me with open arms. At the same time, there are listeners out there who think I’m the biggest jack-ass to have ever walked the planet. They deserve a good show, too, and hopefully they’ll be happier with Richard.

In a way, it’s almost like Bond movies. This would make Mark Sean Connery, me Roger Moore, and Richard Timothy Dalton. I don’t want to be Roger Moore, but that’s the way things happened. Maybe it would be better to put this in the context of The Avengers. That would make me Diana Rigg playing Mrs. Emma Peel, and I’m down with that. Diana Rigg was a sexy fox.

Everybody will have his own favorite sidekick to John Steed.

Are you going to do any other internet radio stuff?

I’ve thought about it - even before leaving. The problem is that I don’t know if I’m willing to commit the kind of time required to do a good job. It’s a lot harder than it looks.

Maybe I’ll start a talk show called “Tuesdays.” I don’t know.

So that’s it, eh?

Yup.

Anything else to say?

Yup.

Well spit it out, then…

Carl: Thank you very much for letting me co-host your show for a year. It was an insane experience that I wouldn’t trade for anything. It’s strange to think that .NET Rocks has given me the chance to spread my personality, like a virus, to the far corners of the planet, but it has, and it feels like quite the accomplishment.

I’m going to miss doing the show. I’ll miss talking pharmaceuticals with Geoff (read it twice: that’s talking – not taking).

I’ll miss getting letters from people in the Middle East, Asia, and Europe. I’d say that the best letters were the ones that sounded like four hours at a computer, painstakingly writing a letter to Carl and me in a second language, and then sending it halfway around the world, but the truth is that a lot of our mail from fellow Americans sounded like that, too, so maybe I’ll just say that the international aspect of our fan mail bag was appealing.

I’m going to miss you.

I’m going to miss you, too, boldface-type.