A quiet place to think out loud Who put the filling in the pie in the sky?
Monday, April 29, 2002
AND THEY ALL LIVED HAPPILY EVER AFTER...
There's a certain pattern to what I do: someone has a bad experience - we ask them about it - we ask the other parties involved why it happened - we offer advice on how to keep from stepping in the same steaming pile of.. well... you know. Today, there was a variation to the pattern that made me uncomfortable. There seemed to be a happy ending.
I say "seemed to be" because we won't know for sure for a couple of weeks if the people who are promising to pick up the pieces and help - actually will. But it seems like they're honestly trying. For a while this afternoon, that turned my world around a bit. I couldn't figure out where to fit this "helping" into the story - or how to best explain the whole "we're going to fix this" part. I'm still a little uncomfortable with the whole thing. But, oh well. Maybe it will all turn out to be lies.. and we'll go back in three weeks...
ONE MORE THING...
Today is the 10th anniversary of the jury decision that sparked the LA riots. I'll spare everyone my recollections of those surreal days.. but if you're interested in looking back.. there are video links from KTLA-TV on the LA Times website. You can watch a composite of clips from each of the days as events unfolded.
Weekends around our newsroom are usually pretty quiet. Tonight wasn't. We spent several hours under tornado watches and warnings tonight.. there were even reports of funnel clouds and tornado touchdowns in our viewing area. We took several calls from people who were concerned about their safety. When things got really bad - at about 9:30 - we started doing regular cut-ins to prime-time programming. That's when it happened.
Let me say upfront - I'm a huge Law and Order fan. Tonight was the season finale of one version or another of that show. This was the least few minutes of the (much hyped) last show of the year. I would have been upset had I sat home watching for 55 minutes and not been able to see the end. I would NOT have called the TV station and said any of the following:
- Why do you need to keep interrupting my show? Only a few people are in danger, but a lot of us is watchin' the show. (No doubt a "good Christian" who spent the morning in church).
- How stupid are you? Don't you know this is the season finale?
- Can't you just rewind it and show the end now?
- Anderson is in the middle of your viewing area? I think you'd better check a map...
Those weren't even the worst - or most insulting ones. There was the guy who called back three times. Apparently he didn't believe that I really didn't know what show was on our air - and no, in fact, there weren't any other people there he could talk to. There were the ones promised they would never watch us again (then wanted to know again when we were re-running Law and Order).
Of course, there were people who called in on September 12th pissed off because they were missing their soap operas because of "them buildins" in New York. The boob tube comes of age...
Simply put, the idea that trying to get a tiny little ball into a tiny little hole that's hundreds of yards away - is somehow relaxing - is just absurd. Add to that trying to do it in less than, let's say, 5 strokes. The people who run the game know it's not really fun - because they hire people to drive around and sell beer while you're playing! They know that if they can keep you drinking every four holes or so - you won't realize how absolutely ridiculous the idea is.
Imagine if other sports did this. The first base coach hands you a cold Coors Light while you're trying to work your way back around the bases and get home. You huddle up to shots of Jagermeister (you'd think I would know how to spell it by now).. on 2nd and 3rd downs to keep your mind off the fact that you're trying to move a piece of pigskin a hundred yards through about a ton-and-a-quarter of angry guys trying to stop (and hurt) you.
I'm starting to think about golf as a form of organized crime. They charge you to play.. sell you all the equipment you need to play.. re-sell you the golf balls (yours probably) they raked out of all that water they put on the course in the first place, then keep you drinking (at inflated prices) so you won't notice what you're actually doing.. until you're done (and, of course, settling into the clubhouse for a drink) and discussing what your next tee-time will be. Wonder where I can buy me a golf course...
I just spent five minutes trying to explain to one of our non-viewers (first thing out of her mouth: I don't watch the news, but....) why we can't do a story about how a certain price-oriented website for buying airline tickets makes you commit to the purchase before you find out your exact flight schedule. It's been that way for quite a while.. it's explained on the site. It's not NEW just because she hasn't seen it (clever slogans for TV reruns are exempted from this rant).
PASS THE CRANBERRY JUICE..
(Burlington, Vermont-AP) -- This year's smoke-in is a bust. The annual pot party at the University of Vermont went up in smoke this weekend. A heavy police presence kept students from lighting up. The school sponsored an alternative event to distract students, a free concert in front of the library. The spring fest was billed as drug- and alcohol-free. While some students wore pro pot T-shirts, they kept their stash out of sight. Police say there was just one arrest, for disorderly conduct.
AND IN CASE YOU WERE WONDERING...
The University of Notre Dame has the nicest bathrooms in the country. Some people actually inspected and voted. Wonder if the Chamber of Commerce in South Bend will add it to their brochures. Bet there's a run (no pun intended) on applications to UND.
Many of you know some or most of this story by now. Some of you don't. I'll be as brief as I can.
In a previous life in a previous market, an intern I once worked with became somewhat obsessed with me. In addition to making me uncomfortable for all the obvious reasons, she's intruded on my life in ways that are more personal than even a close friend could. She's watched me in my home, followed me in her car, shown up (by amazing coincidence) in places where I am (including the lobby of WYFF), scared away women I've dated, and more. The friends who know me from that time - and know her - helped me laugh through most of it. We devised "decoy cars" in parking lots so we could have a drink by ourselves, and other such pranks to both solve - and make the best possible light of - a difficult situation. There are other, darker details, I'll leave out to hopefully leave semi-healed wounds closed.
Recently, she discovered my blog. I switched sites, not realizing there were still some links I hadn't closed down. She found the new one, and my explanation for the switch (you can read that in the post immediately below this one).
Here are her own words of explanation (the two comment posts are in reverse chronological order):
My dearest friend, Please except my most sincere apology, I feel very badly about stocking you every day of your life. And even though I know you don’t like it, and it kind of creeps you out a bit, I just can’t help myself. You see, I have no other life than to check up on you every once and a while, reliving the great times we had and reminiscing about the last person that might have cared about me. I really don’t care if it bothers you, that you told me to leave you alone or that you find it freaky that I’m still trying to be in your life. I really don’t care that you never want to see or hear from me again or that you complain to your friends that I won’t leave you alone. Maybe I should just forget about you, never search for your name on the Internet and deal with the fact that you never want to see me again. And with that, I will hopefully say goodbye FOREVER!
(4/17/2002 8:49:42 AM)
Kim
I am sorry if I hurt you, that was never my intention. I was just trying to keep in touch with everyone. I do not wish to make you feel violated or anything like that. I am sorry I have made you feel like this. I was just being my overly loyal ham handed self. If this is a problem I will leave you alone.... Take Care Buddy
(4/16/2002 8:32:57 PM)
I know, despite what she wrote, that she's reading this, will continue to read it, and will continue to do internet searches to learn any little thing she can about where I am and what I'm doing. I usually don't acknowledge the letters, birthday cards, etc... but here's the problem: When she found this blog.. she also found a way into my friends' lives again. This time it's through internet links.
I know that my choice of career means I give up a significant degree of personal privacy. I also know that writing this blog on the internet means it's out there for anyone to read. All of my friends who have linked to this site.. and been linked from it.. are now at least partially victims of this ongoing problem. I should have seen it coming.
I don't know yet what I'm going to do about this site. I don't want to start another blog... because that feels like deleting five months of thoughts, laughs, etc. A couple of friends (who I will, of course, not mention by name or nickname now) are going to help me explore some options. I may just decide to keep on writing right here - I'm tired of making concessions to this person - despite the always very-thinly veiled threats that hide behind the "friendship." And, I can't very well complain about people reading things I publish on the internet.
After all that whining - here's the question: Since many of you know more about this than I do (the blog/internet part) what do you think I should do? And, from a techincal perspective, how do I do it? :) As always - thanks for reading.
While I resolve some "issues".. I'm moving the few posts from "Time in the Sun" here.. while I figure out what to do about this blog. Pardon the quick cut and paste.
4/16/2002 7:35:41 PM
FEELING VIOLATED
I don't like this new blog. It kind of looks like the other one, but it isn't. I keep pulling it up to write, but then when I see that it's empty, I lose interest. I don't really feel like writing in the other one either now that I know who's reading. She's already violated enough of my personal space/life/privacy over the past seven years. Now she gets to hear my personal thoughts and me joking around with my friends. At least I had kept those away from her before.
Yet still, I can't help but thinking that by doing this, I've let her beat me. I'm thinking about going back to the other one..
Any ideas are welcome...
4/15/2002 10:46:57 PM
GETTING THERE..
Had to pick a new comment link... not sure if I like it.. but it seems to work. Still trying to get things back to the way they were on the other site. Meanwhile, there's a link here to the old site.. that's where all the archives and old comments are.
As a follow-up to my last blog - I had also planned to be rich today. But again, I'm not too upset. Once again - there was no Big Game lottery winner.. and, once again, the jackpot has jumped. Now, it will be over $300,000,000.00.
You can read on other blogs (links at the right) about the various stages of planning we've all put into what we'll do with the winnings. In short: we've discussed partnership agreements, trusts, attornies, indoor frolf courses and much more. But now, the opportunity has increased. Instead of the roughly $2 million after-tax dollars coming to each of us - now it will be about $3 million.
So, I would like to move the discussion from what we'd all do if we won a couple of million dollars... to what we'll each to with the EXTRA million. The first two can be invested/spent/given away in any manner possible. What about the third million? I'm thinking we could each throw the million into a pot (*A* pot) and buy our own resort island. HeCon goes to a whole new level (and, of course, includes women). Our own casinos, places to stay, beaches, etc. available to everyone we know.
Or.. we could put a downpayment on a TV station and take turns telling you-know-who to scrub the floors and wax the cars between her early morning live shots. :)
THE WHITE ZONE IS FOR LOADING AND UNLOADING ONLY...
I'm sad to report that I'm not rich today. I planned to be. The Big Game drawing last night was worth enough that the 14 of us who pitched in for tickets would have each walked away with about two-point-five after taxes.
I even made plans. They involved me being in the Cayman Islands by this time today (only for the DIVING, in case the IRS is reading). The good news is - no one won. So, I suppose I'll invest another $5 or so.. to collect my millions. That only seems fair.
The New York Lotto uses "If I had a Million Dollars" as their advertising theme. In addition to it being a cool song.. it's fun to think about what I'd sing about if I won. Trouble is... a million dollars just doesn't go as far as it used to. Good thing Friday's jackpot is now more than $200 million.
At first glance - two opposing ideas. But alas, they converge beautifully in an American institution we've come to lovingly call the Chinese buffet. One might, as I did today, walk into an eating establishment and not be seated until one's hands are full of food (or, preferably, plates of food). As much as you can eat.. and you're in and out in a half hour.
When it comes to government, the two ideas never seem to speak, much less converge in a blissful union. In our state (the geographical one - not the psychological one), budget cuts are coming down on the backs of people who live here. To a lot of us - they may not exactly be our neighbors - they're the people you see on the news. Trouble is, I work on the news - so they're the people I see everyday. Today, I interviewed a woman who will have to choose three of the 16 medications her doctor prescribes. She lives on $545 a month - and the prescriptions would cost her $400 of that. It's a forced choice -because Medicaid cuts will now limit prescriptions for the elderly to three a month - and doctors will lose their ability to override that decision when it puts a patient's life in jeopardy.
There's a lot of politics here - but it boils down to one side saying they need more money and the other side saying the program needs to be run more efficiently. Both are probably right. If each side were to admit that the other had a valid point - they could most likely create a solution. But it won't happen. So, one night in the near future, a 62-year old woman will sit at her kitchen table and likely choose how she wants to die. She could keep the pain killers and inhalers for her asthma and reduce the pain. Or, she could choose the high blood pressure and cancer treatment drugs that will extend her life - but make each moment hurt. Some choice.
I don't know what the solution is. I don't know if there is one. I hope in the debate someone realizes the system can't be more efficient if people suffer or die to save money. Efficiency means you use less to get the same result. I also know that throwing money at the problem will only require more money in the future. Maybe everyone could get together over a nice quick, excessive lunch and talk it out. Or, as a last resort, open up the fortune cookies. :)
I've written here several times about different aspects of the 9-11 attacks. But this morning was somethine else. At about 8:55am.. the US Airways flight I was taking to New York.. flew past the lower tip of Manhattan. The sky was perfectly clear.. so I had already picked out the spot where the towers had been. It still amazes me to see the blank space.
And then it hit me. It was 8:55am. We were descending.. so we would have been about even with the top of the towers. We were right about where one of the planes that turned in and hit them.. had been. I tried to imagine what it would have felt like to notice the plane turning left and heading for Manhattan. Even the Empire State Building would be much harder to hit now - because of where it sits on Manhattan - but it would have taken no more than a minute to get there. I wonder if anyone was staring out their window trying to pick out New York landmarks - and realized what turning off meant. And then - five minutes later - we're on the ground. It must happen hundreds of times a day.
Something about surprise attacks fascinate me. Maybe it's because I generally don't like surprises. I've spent time trying to retrace the attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii - not to hear the military part - but because I feel a need to know what every person who was part of it was thinking or doing at that time. It could be a form of closure. Standing in the spot where the people involved stood - seeing as much of what they saw as possible. I think I got to do that today - and I think I needed to.
