April 2005 Archives

This weekend, we go from 'standard' time to 'daylight saving time.' I'm sure, today in the newsroom, someone will read a piece of copy and tell someone else it's 'saving' not savings.' That's an act as dependable as DST itself.

Like everything else in life, DST has its good and bad points. I like seeing the Sun later in the day, and since I'm asleep most mornings for sunrise (or just getting to bed), that's all positive.

On the other hand, I work in an environment that is neither on 'standard' or 'daylight saving time'! In order to coordinate weather readings from around the world, everything I use at work is in Greenwich Mean Time also known as Zulu, "Z" or UTC¹.

Tonight at 7:00 PM, it will be Friday evening for everyone at the TV station except for me. On my weather maps and models it will be 0000Z on Saturday. 0000Z Monday (after the DST switch) will occur at 8:00 PM EDST Sunday.

Confused yet? It's nuts because every timestamp I look at has to be translated.

Here's the real downside in weather. Since UTC doesn't change as EST becomes EDST, all my computer data will start coming in an hour later.

That was once more of a problem than it is now.

With speedier computers crunching the numbers, some data gets to me an hour, or more, sooner than it did just a few years ago. Still, there will be some model information that I'll have for 11:00 PM and not 10:00 PM and some that will now have to be 'flash' absorbed minutes or even seconds before air.

There is one thing that happens every year on the switch back from 'daylight saving time' to 'standard' that does irk me. It has to do with smoke detectors and batteries. Though it's six months in the future, let me get it off my chest now.

It's not necessary to change your batteries every year and it smells very much like a ploy to sell batteries - nothing more.

I searched Google for the words "batteries smoke detector fire chief," went to the first link and came up with this quote from the town of Elmwood Park, Illinois.

Hmmm. Energizer should have a capital "E," but you get the point. Whose behind this: battery manufacturers. They have found a way to make money by claiming batteries have a shorter life than they really do!

This is not a lone example. I feel the same way about optical companies collecting unused glasses for charity. I'm not saying the concept is wrong - it isn't. It's just when people with an economic interest get involved and try to look like altruistic players, it upsets me. Why would it be in the optical industry's interest to make sure you don't have a spare pair of glasses?

Before you say I'm heartless, let's look at smoke detectors. They ALL have circuitry which makes them chirp or beep as the battery is beginning to wear out. In fact, if you've ever heard one, they're pretty touch to ignore! A smoke detector battery should last years, not need to be changed each year.

Some smoke detectors now have batteries that last 5 years or more!

OK - that's it. I'm done. I need to go and start banking sleep now for the hour I'll lose Sunday.

¹ - UTC stands for Universal Coordinated Time. The acronym is based on the French translation, hence the seem out of place in English.

I enjoy looking at the Matt Drudge's links. However, one should never be confused that Drudge might run his site like a traditional journalistic endeavor.

For instance, at 1:46 PM EST Pope John Paul II was dead - at least on Drudge. Two minutes later, he was back.

Don't hold your breath waiting for Matt to apologize or move a correction. He might point out other people's errors, never his own.

Christina DeFranco, who used to be a reporter at the TV station, gave me a call, asking if I'd help with a fund raiser for her kid's school - Pine Grove Elementary in Avon. Their auction, silent and live, was scheduled for this evening at the Avon Old Farms Hotel.

First impression. This was the best dressed, best put together group of parents I had ever seen.

Considering it was for an elementary school, this was a huge turnout and everyone seemed to be having a good time. Hopefully, they raised a lot of money. There certainly were more items than I'm used to seeing for a silent auction.

So, you might ask... what did I do there? My best explanation is, I play the part that, in the Catskills, was called "tummler¹".

Actually, it's something I enjoy doing. I go around from auction table to auction table, trying to get people into the spirit of the event, trying to get more bids, trying to get higher bids.

Tonight, the microphone wasn't really working well, which made it tougher. Still we got through it all. Especially since EBay, people wait around, trying to get their bid in at the very last moment. I try and move them along.

The only problem tonight was the distance. This was a 45 minute drive in each direction with only the time between shows available to me.

I'm glad I was able to go.

¹ - tumm·ler Pronunciation Key (tmlr)
n.
1. One, such as a social director or entertainer, who encourages guest or audience participation.
2. One who incites others to action.
[Yiddish tumler, from tumlen, to make a racket.]

We had horrendous rains today - thankfully less than I expected. Still, rivers are running high.

During a lull in the action, a viewer was driving through Cornwall and got this shot. The river is very high... and there was heavy rain after this video was shot. Earlier, flooding was expected to be severe, but the Weather Service cut that back to moderate.

It still looks pretty scary.

I can't show this on the air, so I thought I'd show it here.

A few weeks ago I felt I could do no wrong playing poker. Now I feel I can do no right!

Poker is amazingly fickle. Skill controls some, luck controls more. And, like a baseball player in a slump, it's possible to slip into bad habits.

With my recent run of bad luck and skill, I thought I'd write tonight while I'm playing in a tournament. There is a rule of thumb for me: The earlier I have to be up in the morning, the later I am held in the tournament. In this case the tournament has been going a little over four hours.

My investment was small, only $9. Originally there were 666 players. Now we're down to 44. Of those, 31 will be paid $215 and the 32nd will get $70.

Numbers 33 through 44 will get nothing. At the moment I am 33rd.

In fact, as I am typing, I have just pushed all my chips to the center with an Ace/King.

Everyone folded. Now I'm 28th.

If I end up in the top-31, I will feel good and write about it later. If I'm out before then, I will curse loudly.

Back to 32nd of 42. I hate this part.

Now 36th of 41. It's only $9. Why am I sweating?

I hit a few decent hands and then decided to hang on for dear life, hoping others would get tapped out. I folded Ace/King and Ace/Queen... just layed them down. But, it paid off.

"Unregister" is just what I'm going to do. And breath a sign of relief.

We had to make a rush trip to Cherry Hill, NJ earlier today. Google's new maps program says the round trip was about 354 miles. That seems right. It's about the limit for driving and getting anything accomplished before heading home.

Luckily for us traffic wasn't too bad. We missed morning rush going into New York City and afternoon drive coming home. The only real snag on the trip was here in Connecticut, around 6:30 PM, traveling through Fairfield County.

I have no idea why went went slowly... but it did. It was worse than anything we saw on the Cross Bronx Expressway, if you can believe that.

I would guess a large park of our traffic free passage had to do with the advent of E-ZPass. Having this RFID tag in your car eliminates making the trip unnoticed, but it sure does speed things along.

The toll booths near Meadowlands Stadium were always a choke point. With E-ZPass we breezed through at highway speed. Same thing for the George Washington Bridge.

My only concern was a cryptic message at NJ Turnpike exit 4, when we saw a sign that told us to go - though our tag hadn't been read. Honest officer, it was on the windshield.

It will be a surprise to find out what the toll actually is. I have no idea. It wasn't posted anywhere.

This is a trip we used to make all the time while Helaine's parents were alive.

I remember stopping on the Jersey Turnpike, driving our Mazda 929. When Steffie was an infant, the 929's trunk made the perfect open air changing table.

The rest areas are still named after famous New Jersey residents like Joyce Kilmer, Vince Lombardi, Grover Cleveland and Thomas A. Edison.

Is Grover Cleveland's family proud to know that this former president's most conspicuous achievement in the 21st century is having people mention his name when they need to make a pit stop¹? It would probably be defensible if he were still on the $1000 bill.

Speaking of the rest areas, it looks like they've been rebuilt, adding additional outward ugliness to what were ugly buildings to begin with. There are flowers near the sink (and loud music) in the mens room. The restaurant section is a medley of your favorite fast food joints in a food court arrangement.

New Jersey continues to lead the nation in "Full Service" gas stations. From a National Review commentary:

It slowed us down, as we had to wait after the car was filled for the attendant to remove the hose, take my credit card, run it through the machine and bring the receipt back for me to sign. On the other hand, gas was $2.03 9/10 per gallon, a full 30¢ cheaper than here and I got my windshield washed!

Some parts of the trip remain the same. It is astounding to see the dozens and dozens of warehouses and distribution centers that line the Turnpike. New Jersey is the Garden State. It might as well be the Distribution State as well.

There is a derelict ferry, the Mary Murray, just east of the highway in the Raritan River and visible from the northbound lanes. I started taking this trip when I lived in Philadelphia in the mid-70s. It was there then... a derelict then.

There was a rumor that it would be turned into a restaurant. Thirty years is a long time to wait for a table.

If there was one thing that made our trip go a little faster, it was the opening of the baseball season. The Phillies have moved from WPEN (a station with a bad signal, and me as a former employee) to WPHT (the former WCAU). Now they have a 50,000 watt clear channel behemoth, though at one time it was rumored to be the only 50 kw clear in the nation to get "--" in the ratings.

The Phillies beat the Washington Nationals. That means Helaine's prediction of a 0-162 season is already dashed.

¹ - I know next to nothing about Cleveland, so I took a quick trip to Wikipedia to bone up. He actually was a pretty interesting guy with a Woody Allen like marriage!

I'm going to write a little about the Wikipedia. If you would have told me about this idea, I would have said (without hesitation) it would never work! Wikipedia is the free-content encyclopedia that anyone can edit.

It's just too strange. Anyone, without even signing in or giving their name, can add or edit any article of the over 500,000 articles. I know because I just added something to an article about Grover Cleveland.

In my last blog entry I cited Wikipedia's article on Cleveland. After re-reading the Wikipedia entry, I realized there was one fact that was deficient.

Grover Cleveland lost an election with a majority of the popular vote. Wikipedia said that also happened to Al Gore. That's true, but it also happened to Samuel Tilden in 1876 - one of the dirtiest, most questionable elections in U.S. history.

I went to Wikipedia, found the article, hit edit and -bing- it's corrected.

The Cleveland article has been expanded and edited dozens of times since its original 13 word submission in 2001. I know because every change is documented and it's possible to easily compare two versions of the same entry.

Here's the weird part. The more I look at Wikipedia, the better its 'research' seems. Certainly there's an inherent bias whenever any person writes. I would venture to guess the Al Gore comment came from a disgruntled Democrat.

Over the long run, with Wikipedia It makes little difference, as bias and errors seem to be quickly corrected. After all, I fixed the Cleveland article (which wasn't wrong, just incomplete).

Try it yourself. Pick a subject you know and see how Wikipedia does. If it's a good article, you'll be hooked, as I am. If it's bad, you can go away or fix it. I'm guessing you'll be hooked.

All of this would be so much easier to explain if the name wasn't so... well, if it wasn't so ridiculous sounding. Wikipedia! Come on. Who thought of that?

I called for mostly clouds - it was mostly sunshine. I said yesterday that should this happen¹, we'd get into the 70s. That part came true.
When the time came to head to work, Helaine followed me. I opened the car door and as I was about to slide in she said, "Put the top down."

Again, she is the insightful one in the family.

I hadn't even thought about it. It's been at least five months, maybe six, since the top went down. For the last six years my main car has been this little convertible. A car that, for all practical purposes, is impractical in the Northeast.

I put my suit coat in the trunk, engaged the trunk's safety switch and flipped a red switch between the driver and passenger's seats. As motors started to whir, the trunk lid opened up, the cars roof folded and slid into the abyss. Then the lid closed.

The 'carmometer' read 56° as I pulled out of the garage, By the time I was on the hill, racing down to the main road, it had equalized with the outside air and was in the mid-60s.

I turned the radio on and turned it up loud. It was perfect - Don Henley's Boys of Summer was playing.

Your choice of radio programming, as my daughter has told me, is much more critical when you're driving with the top down. You don't want to be listening to something that's unhip, or something that's too hip for me. There is a musical sweet spot to find.

Forget about talk radio or all news. It's a top down no no.

The high point, temperaturewise, of the trip was on I-91 in North Haven when it briefly hit 70° before retreating to the mid 60s in New Haven.

OK - I'll admit it. These temperatures are actually too cold for the top down! Remember the wind chill. Though the windshield blocks most of the breeze, there's some and so you're cooler than the thermometer would imply.

There is a way around this. It's the secret of every convertible owner. You turn the heat all the way up and blast it. My car also has heated seats. Those go on full.

Convertible compatible days are much too infrequent here in Connecticut. You've got to take advantage of every one.

¹ - As a rule I don't say what will happen if my forecast is wrong, but this particular one had a decent probability in busting as far as clouds were concerned. Not every forecast has an equal degree of difficulty.

I finally went to sleep around 6:30 this morning. It was test/quiz night for Mississippi State and, as always, I waited until the last minute.

This is so thoroughly ingrained in me. If there was one thing I could change, this might be it - my Achilles heel - the terrible habit I have of putting things off. I don't blow them off, because I've made every assignment on time. I'm just never early.

OK - There was a time, a few weeks ago when we were going to California, that I finished my assignments a week early because I was unsure if I could do them on the road. Even then, I waited until the last possible moment the night before we left.

Last night's big test was in Thermodynamics - the toughest course I've ever taken. It was a 'homework test.' That means the test questions were a subset of the homework. Do the homework and fill in that answer when it comes up on the test... if it's on the test.

Early on I could just do the homework as I took the test, and as the clock ticked. These courses demand a little more work.

A large part of last night's work dealt with Skew-t charts. These are oddball graphs used to visualize the atmosphere above a specific place at a single time. Click here if you're geeky enough to see an example!

As part of my course material this year I was required to buy a giant plastic Skew-t chart. It came shipped in a cylindrical container. Even now I still have to tape it to the table to keep it from curling up during use. I write on it with erasable markers.

I watched the lectures and thought I knew what to do. But, when I came to the first question, I looked at the Skew-t with that quizzical, head slightly cocked look a dog gives when it's unsure what to do.

Finally, after hours, I got the hang of it. I suppose that's the goal of the course.

Here's the problem. I will use this Skew-t chart as often as my pharmacist grinds his own medicines with a morter and pestle! Sure, I use Skew-t's, and will continue to use them, but they're computer generated - and much faster and better than I could ever do it.

This is a recurring theme of my higher education. Much of what we do, or learn, is only important to academicians. There is little practical purpose, or the practical purpose has been trumped by technology.

There's another thing I've noticed. It is nearly impossible for school to keep up with the advancements of the 'real' world. We are being taught about some technologies and techniques that have become outmoded. These changes only happened in the last few years, but students leaving my school will be surprised that some of what they learned is old news, even as they're walking out the door.

They're young. They're good looking and well dressed. They're well educated. They're here to apply for internships all over the TV station.

I hate them.

OK, maybe I don't hate them... maybe that's an overstatement. But, think about it. Their goal is to (some day) take my job and the jobs of all the other people working here. And, of course, they have this advantage of being younger, better looking and willing to work for less.

Damn you interns!

The good news for them is, if they are accepted for an internship they'll probably learn as much or more than they learned in school. At least they'll have that access and meet people. They'll have the opportunity to get a foot in the door.

You would be surprised at how many interns come to the TV station and then do the minimum required, getting little out of the experience. I've seen interns leave at the end of their 'shift' though the news is just starting. Hello? If I would have been given this opportunity while in college they would have had to shoo me away to make me leave every night.

Because of labor laws and our union agreements there are a lot of things interns can't do. Actually, that's good. This is the time they're supposed to watch and absorb. When there are interns who express a desire to be on the air, our photographers always accommodate them and let them cut a tape and go through the on-air motions of a reporter.

From the other side of the studio I can hear them being asked to leave two copies of their resume. What could they have possibly done at 20 or 21 to put on a resume? Those with little, or nothing, are probably feeling intimidated. They shouldn't. Meaningful experiences for their resumes are ahead of them.

In some ways I am envious. Their whole careers are ahead of them. Will they make the right decisions... or will they think like 20 year olds?

I wish them lots of luck and good fortune, as long as they promise not go after my job.

Steffie called earlier this evening to tell me the "Internet was down."

There are many possible failure points before leaving our house, but a quick check of some user forums shows the problem was Comcast's and not limited to Connecticut. There are some angry subscribers out there tonight.

Could that have been written to be any more confusing? I think it means it's out... it's still out.

This is related to their DNS servers, the Comcast computers that tell your computers where to find other computers, were down or slowed or otherwise impaired. So, when you type www.geofffox.com, your computer is never told that corresponds to 66.225.220.189. There are rumors, which I can't confirm, that this is some sort of organized attack on the Comcast DNS to route users to infected websites.

There are some simple fixes for users. I talked the husband of a co-worker through the procedure in about 90 seconds. Hopefully that won't be necessary too much longer.

Now that Internet access is being used for everything, including phone service, it's time it became as dependable as a public utility.

I work on TV and when I'm on the air, everything I say is an ad lib. Yes, the anchors and sports reporters read most of their copy, but for some reason the weather person has always been afforded this privilege.

Ad libbing can sometimes cause problems. I often speak with 'salty' language off the air and have to be careful I remember when I'm on.

My biggest ad lib problems have come when I've said something innocent and it turned out to have a second meaning. It is interesting, from my vantage point, to see the anchors biting their tongues, trying to keep from busting out laughing.

As it turns out, my ad lib problems put me in the same boat as Bill Clinton. Here's an email I got this afternoon from a friend.

Mr. Clinton, I feel your pain.

It's been a while since I've entered anything in the weekly DPChallenge. I hadn't taken any shots that fit their criteria and during the winter I didn't feel like going out to get them!

This week, when I looked at the site, the open competition was "Abandoned Buildings." As it turns out, there's a barn being torn down to make way for an assisted living center near here. I had been spying it even before I read about the competition. It was sunny today - a perfect photo day, so I decided to give it a try.

Here are some of my more interesting shots. I shudder (pun intended) to think how many I took and how digital has really changed the quantity of picture taking, which will probably lead to an increase in the quality of picture taking over the long run.

Each of these photos is clickable to see a higher quality, larger version.

When I went out yesterday to shoot photos of the abandoned building, I parked my car in the parking lot for one of the best things in my town.

A long time ago there was a canal, and then a railroad, that ran north/south near here. They've both been abandoned for decades. Today, the right-of-way, a narrow strip which runs for miles, is the perfect linear park.

The trail runs from Hamden north to Cheshire. There's talk that it will, someday, be extended south, down to New Haven.

On most dry days during the warm weather months, the trail is jammed. There are bikers and skaters, walkers and runners. As far as I can see, everyone peacefully coexists.

Every day on my way to work, I cross the trail. Often, on weekdays, there are moms pushing their babies in strollers or sometimes towing them in little baby trailers.

Over time I have made one observation. The best bodies belong to the skaters! The motion of roller blading, which seems to be low impact, builds lean muscle... or maybe it's lean, muscular people like roller blading.

I don't know this as fact, but I have been told that the linear park is our town's busiest - busier than all the other conventional parks.

It's a great idea if you've got a railroad right-of-way and no longer know what to do with it.

As a parent there are some moments that are benchmarks - signals your child has reached an important milestone. Sunday was one of those days.

We woke up early and drove to Hofstra University, where Steffie has been admitted for the class of 2009.

It was a spectacular day with bright sunshine, dry air and comfortable temperatures. I asked Helaine to shoot a few pictures as we crossed the Throgs Neck Bridge, because on a day like today, Manhattan in the far distance is very impressive.

Our trip to Hofstra went without a hitch and took around 1:30. By the time we got there other families were also arriving. There was little need for on campus directions - all we had to do was follow the throng.

As we walked along there were students and faculty wearing ribbons and "Ask Me" name tags. One of them corralled us, took Steffie's registration information and handed her a cloth bag with school materials and a very large, gray, Hofstra t-shirt.

We stood around in the sunshine for a few minutes and then walked into a large theater, taking our seats in the fourth row.

About 15 minutes before the scheduled start time the Hofstra Pep Band began to play. They started out of sight, but were lifted up to stage level on an elevator in the orchestra pit. Though they weren't the tightest group I'd ever heard, they accomplished their goal, because we were getting enthused.

It should be noted, there are pep band songs that every school's band plays. It's probably very lucrative to own the rights to "Give Me Good Lovin'" originally done by the Spencer Davis or a dozen others that are played wherever hoops are shot.

The first official speaker was the president of the university, brought on the the dean of admissions. The the provost came and spoke a little longer.

Though Steffie has already made up her mind to go to Hofstra, it became obvious that a major thrust of this session was to sell undecideds on choosing Hofstra.

Colleges and universities have a difficult job. They must take enough students to fill their school, but they have no way to know how many who are accepted will really attend... or how many who are wait listed will still be around if they're needed.

Even as a non-profit, without a neutral or positive cash flow each year, schools won't survive.

Steffie has decided she wants to major in public relations which is within the School of Communication. In a wonderful talk, Professor Ellen Frisina explained the long painstaking deliberations that came before deciding to call it the School of Communication, not Communications. She admits she still isn't quite sure what the difference is, but it is singular!

We were very impressed by Professor Frisina and went up to talk with her, as did with many others, after the session.

There is one thing I'll disagree with. I heard it today, and it had been a theme when we visited other college campuses. The claim is their program will prepare you to walk out of college and into a job, already having mastered in college what you're going to be doing in the professional world.

I don't see how they teach, or what they teach, but college is not the real world. I have yet to see anyone, ever, walk in off a college campus "good to go." There are always nuances and pressures not experienced in college which factor into every job from day one.

This was a positive experience for all of us and I think (at this moment) Steffie is more confident than ever in her choice of a major.

I am more than a little jealous after having read a brochure for their on campus facilities. Each dorm room is connected to the Internet with OC-3 speed - 115 Mbps. That is approximately 25 times faster than my cable modem delivers!

It was also interesting to see this bank of copying machines on the lower level of the library. I'm curious if the availability of 'cut and paste' research materials has turned these into expensive dinosaurs?

Our school visit over, Stef asked if she could make a short stop at Roosevelt Field Mall. I've written about this mall, built over the airfield Lindbergh used when he flew across the Atlantic, before.

While they shopped, I attempted to sleep in the car. I parked in the garage with the thought it would be cooler out of the sun. That was true. However, the radio reception was awful and I learned everyone on Long Island... OK most people on Long Island... have car alarms which chirp when they're enabled and randomly wail!

Over the past few years I've documented my vacation trips by writing about them here on the web. Usually, when I'm writing about life on the road, hits on this website go up¹. Still, I have wondered whether it was really an exercise in futility, taking time away from my vacation?

Today I decided it was all worthwhile, and all because of the short emails I've gotten every day (as have a half dozen others) from my friend Wendie. She has left Miami for a quick vacation to Iceland!

Who would have thought to vacation in Iceland? Not me. But I have been reading Wendie's notes with interest - looking forward to each one.

They're not long, but I've gotten a feel for her trip. Prices are high. Food is good. Sights are spectacular. It snows.

It's like being there, without needing gloves. I'm glad she wrote. I'm probably not alone in feeling that.

¹ - They go up in a dependable fashion, though not by great numbers. As it turns out, only about 1/3 of daily readers come to the home page first. Most of my readers have searched for something online (using Google, for instance) and go to an 'inside' page.

It's been a few months since I've written about the long distance debacle I suffered at the hands of Sprint and GTC Telecom. My complaints to the FCC had fallen on deaf ears. No response.

A few weeks ago I decided to give it another try.

They replied.

No! My complaint had to do with Sprint's actions once they found out this was a mistake, not the slamming itself, which I believe was a series of unintentional human errors.

I followed with this.

Again, they misread... or didn't read my letter, because I got back.

I couldn't believe it. Maybe I was going nuts. The concept didn't seem so difficult for the FCC which deals with phone companies all the time. I gave it one last try.

I attached the long descriptive letter I had sent months ago (and was published here)

It wasn't long before I got a reply.

Wow! Exactly what I wanted to hear.

This is no assurance that action will be taken. Sprint is big enough to make systemic change difficult at best. But maybe I will be heard. What was done to me was probably done to others as well. That's what should perk up the FCC's ears.

When a company tries as hard as Sprint does to isolate the public from managers and officers who are authorized to make decisions or take action, it's worth being persistent. At least to me it is.

There will be follow-ups

Blogger's note: Early on, this thread became a 'category' on the blog, meaning you can read it all in real chronological order by clicking here.

I entered one of the shots I took last Saturday in the DPChallenge photo contest. So far my score is a 6.2 out of 10. I know that sounds awful, but these people are very tight when it comes to grading. Last week this score would have placed me 25th of 265.

It's depressing to see all the abandoned buildings. I suppose every community, everywhere around the world has its share of abandoned buildings. Many, in this contest, are farmhouses looking out over huge expanses of land. That's depressing, because you know these houses have to have some sort of history to them.

Lots of the shots are similar... just snapshots of buildings, as opposed to something more artistic. Not that I can talk.

I will spend the next week clicking on the DPChallenge site, seeing how my score moves up and down as more people rate the 500 entries received.

As of last night my Internet connection had slowed to a crawl. Nothing has changed.

Comcast has a DNS problem. That's their computer which gives my computer directions on where to go when I type in www.geofffox.com or any other website.

There is a fix and I know it, but my particular router doesn't support it! It must be the only one. So, I sit and wait.

Some websites, like the one I use at Mississippi State, have many separate files for each webpage. Trying to get through to them is worse than brutal.

We have quickly grown dependent on speedy web connections. It's an inconvenience now. We will only grown more dependent with time.

OK - The headline is misleading, though catchy.

This entry has to do with a school project Steffie just participated in. Her school owns "Baby Think It Over," aka "Baby Shut Up."

First, Steffie wore a pregnancy vest, weighing 35 pounds with a protruding belly. She said it was uncomfortable and made her back hurt. So, in that way it simulated the experience of being pregnant... though Steffie only got an afternoon's worth.

Then, for two days, Steffie became mom for "Maggie."

I never got a chance to examine the doll, but she is electronic and randomly creates the fuss a little baby creates. Steffie, wearing a non removable bracelet with a key, is the only one who can comfort "Maggie."

A few nights ago at 3:45 AM, I heard a colicky cry from upstairs and before long Steffie and child were downstairs. Last night the crying happened earlier and I walked by Steffie's room to see the light on. It's my understanding that for two nights "Maggie" had cried while Steffie went into the shower. A few times she cried for two hours at a time!

Steffie can't wait until 2:30 this afternoon, so she can give the baby back.

On the surface, this seems like an interesting and valuable project. I know Steffie wasn't interested in having a child now at age 17 and this experience has confirmed that in her mind.

On the other hand, this baby doesn't give back affection or grow with love. It only simulates the worst parts of raising a child. There is no upside. There is no promise of upside.

Still it's interesting... and as soon as Steffie gets a full night's sleep and is no longer cranky herself, I'll ask about it.

I was driving to work today when I hit a small bump - nothing terrible. It is, after all, pothole season here in Connecticut, a state built on an active pothole fault!

Immediately I heard BEEP, BEEP, BEEP and saw the red light between the seats start blinking. The sensor that checks that my convertible top is totally closed had tripped. It's a false positive - one of hundreds I've gotten since I bought the car.

A quick forward push on the blinking switch, the whir of gears and all was well. Except, as I scanned the dash, another light was now on: SRS. It took me a minute or two to figure this out, but it finally came to me. SRS is Supplemental Restraint System, in other words, my air bags.

Later this evening, when I went to pick up dinner, the SRS light went out as always. Too late. This is the kind of thing I need 100% confidence in. So, I'm dropping the car off overnight for a quick once over. If it was just the bump, let them tell me that. If it's really the air bags, I want them to deploy if they're ever needed.

All this from a guy who, when he was 19, drove around for months with no brakes other than what he could get by downshifting and the emergency brake. I was dumb then. I'm probably over cautious now.

My friend Bob recently moved from Minneapolis to Austin, TX. Is there anything these two cities have in common? I assume there's culture shock... in fact I know there is.

OK - we'll scratch Austin off the list.

I got the call from the car dealership concerning the SRS light incident of yesterday. The onboard computer spit out what had happened, and my light was on because of a momentary failure of a microswitch in the driver's side seatbelt.

First, I'm a little surprised the seatbelt latch is wired like that - reporting back its trouble. Maybe I shouldn't be.

The light has gone off. The problem was probably momentary, but how can I be sure? I can't. And without an assurance the air bag system is working, driving the car becomes a chancy proposition.

I told them to fix it, though it is not cheap. How could I not?

I'm on my way to Cherry Hill, NJ tonight and was looking forward to taking my car... maybe even riding with the convertible top down this weekend. Instead I'll be 'borrowing' Steffie's car.

Yesterday, I wrote about my friend Bob and the discovery of a scorpion at his new Austin, TX home. Now this!

Again, Austin has been crossed off my list.

I'm writing this from the kitchen of my friend Peter's condo in Ventnor City, NJ. Honest, there is a Ventnor City, NJ... just down the road from Atlantic City. The people here call it Ventnor.

My journey started after work Friday night. Knowing I have no organizational skills, or willpower, going home after work would have just meant an extended period of putting off going to bed... so I set out for Peter's house, in Cherry Hill, NJ at 11:35 PM.

That was a good idea because traffic was light and I made it in just under three hours. Not bad. EZ-Pass is good on the NJ Turnpike, making the trip even easier.

I didn't relish the idea of a long drive but I had my cell phone along with the earpiece I seldom use. I knew if I got my Cousin Michael on the phone from California... well, let's just say Michael is never at a loss for words.

That's a good thing because I enjoy talking with him. Between Michael, Melissa and Max (their son) I kept busy through the Bronx, over the George Washington Bride and well into New Jersey. Finally I gave up because my ear was getting sore.

I also decided to run a 'science experiment' during the drive. I put my laptop in the front seat, powered by an inverter, working off the car's battery so it would last the whole trip. The laptop had a wireless network card and GPS receiver hooked up and ran a free piece of software call NetStumbler.

As I drove along, sometimes every few seconds and sometimes only a few times an hour, a little sound went off and the computer would log the presence of a wireless access point. Some were password protected while others would have gladly (OK - gladly is overdoing it) allowed me to connect to the Internet or anything else behind their firewall!

After I return to Connecticut I'll try and publish some lists and maps to show you what got logged. It was very interesting to me and I tried disparately not to look at the computer screen as I sped along at 70 mph.

I made it to Peter's house around 2:30 AM. For me that's the shank of the day. For Peter, it's the middle of the night. He woke up and let me in. He even nuked a few burgers for me!

Saturday morning started with a visit to his nephew's baseball game, breakfast at a deli and then a trip to the Jersey Shore. Peter recently bought a 2005 Acura RL and we felt it was necessary to test all the buttons¹.

Some parts of the car, like the XM Satellite Radio, were interesting. Peter and I agree the XM 'decade channels' play too many marginal songs (not hits) - probably an effort to avoid repetition and there's no real 'oldies' channel as such. I did find the comedy channels interesting and am envious of his ability to hear every baseball game... though as a non-sports fan he will listen to none.

When a car is packed with gadgets, as this one is, there are things which seem superfluous or a little over the top. If, instead of touching a button, you'd like to wait five or ten seconds and hope your command is understood, you can tell the car's climate control system to turn down the fan or adjust the temperature. Using the button is easier!

Mostly this is a sweet car and I enjoyed the ride to the shore.

Though sunny, today was blustery and cool. Still, we decided to take a walk down the boardwalk. The water was rough with spray coming off each breaking wave. The beach, as you might expect for April, was empty.

As we walked the beach, we ran into a flock of tiny birds. Though they do fly, most of the time they scamper on the sand, chasing the waterline in and out with the waves. They're looking for food, I'm sure, but they were fun to watch because they're totally in sync and choreographed perfectly.

There is no outward sign of communications between these birds, but they must know what the others are going to do. They change direction on a dime and never bump into each other!

Tonight we had dinner at the Tun, near the Atlantic City Convention Center. I'm on Atkins (again), so I told my waitress I'd rather not have the potatoes with my meal. Could she substitute something else? "How about French Fries," was her reply.

The steak was very good and there was plenty of it. There was no Splenda for my coffee (a recurring theme of late), so I pulled a pack from the stash in my wallet. This is what 54 year old guys carry in their wallets instead of condoms.

After dinner we went to the Tropicana to see a comedy show. The Comedy Stop at the Trop has been there for at least 25 years. Recently it moved to nicer quarters in the hotel's new wing called The Quarter. In fact the whole addition is very nice, somewhat reiniscent of the shops at some Vegas casinos.

We stopped in the Spy Store where I found some items going for many multiples of what the same thing sells for on EBay. I wasn't expecting bargains, but this was a little ridiculous.

The comdey show itself was good and the comedians fine... at least that's my impression from the audience reaction. Maybe I just wasn't in a comedy mood tonight?

¹ - There is a button that Peter just can't figure out. If you have any idea what the "DISP MODE" button does, drop me a line.

Sunday was beautiful. The sun was out. The wind was down. The temperature was up.

The highlight of the afternoon was a walk up the boardwalk to Atlantic City. Once we got to the casino end of town, the boards became very crowded with an unsavory mix of everyone you'd meet at the DMV or an arraignment.

Actually, walking the wooden boards and even the metallic ones they have for part of the distance in Ventnor City, is very comfortable and relaxing. I often wonder about my sedentary life and its effect of my health. It's reassuring to take a very long walk with no noticable physical consequences.

We left the shore and drove back to Cherry Hill. I was undecided when to leave, so I went online and checked the live cameras from the New Jersey Turnpike. Everything looked fine. I took off.

It is only now that I realize all the cameras are north of the biggest potential tie-up! The trip that took about three hours Friday night, took four and a half hours tonight.

To add insult to injury, a sensor light came on in Steffie's car. It's a picture of a cutaway tire with an exclamation point in it. This is supposed to signify bad air pressure in a tire, though I never would have guessed without the manual. I pulled the car to the side of the road to look.

I'm so petrified of being hit by oncoming traffic (even at the walking pace it had tonight) that I pulled past the shoulder and onto the grass. The car was so far into the grass I could only check the tires on the driver's side.

I got back in and drove to the next service area, about 5 miles up the road. There, a mechanic pulled out his trusty gage and checked the pressure on all four tires. They were each about 10 pounds high! He adjusted them to the indicated 29 psi, but the light stayed on.

Great, another car that needs service. I'm thrilled.

There was one good part of the trip. I was able to listen to the Phillies beat the Braves, pulling off a come from behind victory in the 10th.

I do have one question I'm left with after the trip. As you get on the George Washington Bridge, on the roadside, there is a sign admonishing drivers (and passengers too, I suppose) that picture taking is not permitted on the bridge.

What, exactly, will I find that hasn't already been posted on the web? Google has hundreds of photos of the GWB already indexed. Is this another example of good intentions beng carried to an extreme, and with no real positive result from the action? Probably.

If you've read this for any length of time, you know I have been frustrated with the policies of Cingular, my cell phone provider. Maybe Cingular's actions are just part of the prevailing attitude of cell companies in general.

Here are some snippets from an interview with Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg as conducted by the San Fransisco Chronicle.

The fact that he thinks this is not surprising. The fact that he's actually said it in public (as opposed to having it dispatched to lawmakers through a lobbyist) is astounding. Somewhere within Verizon, some PR person is suffering cardiac arrest.

This is hubris. Ivan, can you hear me now? Good.

Blogger's note - T-Mobile now provides high resolution coverage maps from their website.

This just came in my e-mail. It was written in such a way that it would pass by my spam protection. It's also written with an innocence that will get people to open it. That's social engineering at its finest, I suppose.

Of course if you open the attached zip file - ZAP - there's a payload which is probably a virus or spyware or something bad for you.

I took a look here on my Linux machine (which won't run Windows programs, so is safe against these virii delivery systems) and found the program inside the your_text.zip file is actually called: Mail-document.Datex-packed.exe. The ".exe" part is the tipoff. It's an executable program.

As long as people fall for this stuff... and they surely will... they will keep being delivered.

I had always postulated that being the weatherman in San Diego must be a living hell. Virtually all the year there's nothing to talk about, except how nice it is.

We're in the final stages of a San Diego-like period of weather here in Connecticut. It's been sunny, warm and dry for 11 days at the moment, and there's one more nice day to come.

You know what? It's not bad. I didn't have that "nothing to talk about" moment that I had feared.

Would it be this way if we went a few hundred days without bad weather? I don't know, but I'm willing to participate in that experiment.

I put a photo into competition last week on dpchallenge.com. It's a great site and I love the thought of competitive photography.

I thought... well, I still think it's a pretty good photo. Right now (with 1.5 hours to go) it's rating is 5.7855 on a 1 to 10 scale. That's not terrible.

I've been trying to decide where I thought it would place among the nearly 500 who submitted shots this week? I will be happy if it's in the top 15%. Top 20% would be less rewarding, but understandable. Any lower than that and I'll be depressed.

I'll report back tomorrow.

Our string of 12 sunny days in a row is coming to and end... as are the comfortable temperatures. In the meantime, the trees, flowers and shrubs have begun to bloom.

Connecticut is probably its prettiest this time of year.

I'll be taking more shots later, but just to document the beginning I went out in my pajamas and snapped a few.

What is going on here? This was the ultimate "us" versus "them" appointment by the Bush administration. John Bolton, their designee to be United Nations Ambassador, is a man reviled by Democrats with a well documented career and strong opinions (including some spoken in front of rolling camera, now distributed by liberal groups).

But what could the Democrats do? They are a true minority party and have virtually no power on Capitol Hill at the moment.

Then, last night, a Republican senator started getting cold feet. From FoxNews.com:

I won't discuss the merits of Bolton's nomination. I don't want partisan politics here on my blog. My interest is the process, not the merits of the appointment.

However, this is a stunning turn of events. It will be very interesting to see how this plays out, as it has become more than a simple nomination. This is now a test of the mettle of the Bush administration and their ability to rally, maybe even control, other Republicans.

There is no chance anyone could have predicted this nomination would end up in political limbo. Stay tuned.

It was over five years ago that I came to the realization that I had gotten too heavy. OK - actually it wasn't originally my discovery. My mother had been telling Helaine I had gotten a "fat face."

Hey, if your mother can't tell you, who can?

So I worked hard, mostly with the Atkins diet, and shed the weight. Right now I'm 15+ pounds lighter than I was back then. I'm trying to lose another 10 pounds.

It is not easy. It demands willpower - something I am not loaded with. I now push away pasta. Cinnabon has become a sin. Bread is banished.

As I suffer and do without, I take solace in the fact that less Geoff is healthier for me. Well, I did until this morning.

Grrrrrrrr. Upset? Me? Yes!

So what's next? I haven't smoked cigarettes for over 20 years. Is that next? Maybe chocolate - specifically Hydrox Cookies - is the true fountain of youth?

Shoot me now.

A good friend of mine is a highly placed producer at Nightly Business Report, the financial news show that runs every night on most Public Television stations¹. When last I heard, it was the most watched daily financial show on TV! That means bigger than Neil Cavuto or Lou Dobbs or anything on CNBC.

Usually, I don't get a chance to watch. It's on at 6:30 PM and we have a nightly news meeting at that hour. This week, my boss is out-of-town. No meeting. Last night I got to watch NBR.

It's a good show, nicely produced. I love the incidental music they use under graphics (though I'm a sucker for 'industrial' music to begin with). Because it's financial and on Public Television it often covers less than sparkling topics featuring word parsing public officials.

There is a point to this entry - honest.

Last night they were talking about some stock and posted a graph showing its movement over time. I don't remember the specifics, but let's say the stock trades for $100. Over the time span of the graph it's been down to $80 and up to $110. The graph was drawn to only cover the movement. So the bottom might have been $70 or $75 and the top $115 or $120.

The exact numbers here are for example and aren't important. This is a conceptual problem.

By concentrating on the movement at the top of the stock's real value the graph made it look more volatile than it really was. When you don't do zero based graphing, rises look more sharp than they really are, declines more steep.

This is by no means limited to NBR. Years ago, when I knew someone at CNBC, I pointed this out to him. He said it was something they had mulled over, but had never changed.

When a graph has an arbitrary starting point, it allows 'noise' to be misinterpreted as valued data. That's the wrong way to go.

In my opinion, financial TV shows should display graphs with zero basing. Instead of a linear scale on the "y" or vertical axis (1,2,3,4,5,6,...) they should use a logarithmic scale (1,2,4,8,16,32,64...) which is more representative of the way most of us value financial instruments.

Financial television isn't the only place I've seen this scheme in use. There are charts, used to paint out a global warming scenario, also use a high starting point. It is done for shock and effect. Not all graphs are created equally.

¹ - Thanks to viewers like You.

Today, I started getting ready for a quick trip to Atlanta. My friend Jeff, who used to work here but is now at The Weather Channel, is marrying Lauren. I'm looking forward to this because I like them both.

Jeff is the first of my friends to have met his wife-to-be online. If Lauren represents potential spouses on the Internet, a lot of people are going to be running to find their mate on the net. She's a knockout.

I haven't been to Atlanta in about a zillion years. The first time I was there was in the early 70s. I was flying to Charlotte, NC from West Palm Beach, FL. Charlotte got snowed in! Eastern Airlines paid to put me up in a motel. I met a girl from my flight and spent most of the evening with her... though less of the evening than I anticipated.

There won't be much time to poke around, but a friend at CNN will give me the 50¢ tour and the groom-to-be is taking me to The Weather Channel (though I still can't figure out where he'll find the time).

Part of the fun of this trip is the fact that I can leave and return through New Haven's little airport. Though Atlanta's dominant carrier, Delta, now flies to HVN, I'm going on USAir via Philadelphia. My first leg is on an 18 seat prop plane - something I don't mind... though I know many do.

The advantage of Tweed-New Haven Airport is its tiny size. No crowds... or few crowds and easy access. The disadvantage is the number of flights and choice of non-stop destinations - two, Philadelphia and Cincinnati.

I'm writing from seat 2F onboard my flight from New Haven to Philadelphia. This laptop's battery isn't what it once was, and that will limit my writing time.

The trip to the airport was quick... quick enough to be there an hour early. I was by no means the earliest. Most of the passengers look to be leisure, rather than business flyers.

Tweed-New Haven Airport has changed a little since my last trip through. Delta now flies there, with jet service to Cincinnati. The TSA has moved their gear in, limiting the space in the terminal area and the parking lots have been reconfigured.

Let's talk parking first, because I went to park in the much smaller long term lot only to face cones and a sign saying "Full." I'm going to have to pay about $3 more a day because I was forced into the hourly lot. The good parking news is I parked amazingly close. It was literally a 20 second walk from my car to the terminal building.

I'm trying to think about the real cost of passenger screening at an airport like Tweed. There are few flights, each with a limited number of seats. There is no economy of scale here. I'm not sure how the costs are allocated but it can't really be figured on an actual cost per passenger basis.

The plane pulled up to the terminal right on time. This dark blue USAirways Express plane is a DeHavilland Dash 8. It's four across seating with a flight attendant. This is a great improvement over the day when 18 seaters flew here. On the other hand, we used to have service using Dorniers to Pittsburgh, a much nice prop plane.

The interior of the plane looks tired. It's the difference between someone's home and a summer cabin. Maybe shabby is the right word. I'm hoping USAirways is saving the money it might spend on refurbishing the cabin and using it on... oh, maybe engine maintenance. That would be nice.

If you've never flown a smaller plane like this, you might be surprised by the legroom. There's plenty of it! The seats are narrow, but you're not bumping into the person ahead of you.

We're in the clouds now and the flight is a little bumpy. Not terrible, but noticeable. Jets fly above this. It's also noisy. On the inside, small prop planes are much noisier than jets.

Even with the noise... even with the bumps... even with the shabby surroundings, this flight is worthwhile because of the ease and convenience of Tweed-New Haven. I wish there was more service there.

More later from Atlanta.

Getting to Philadelphia was no problem. It was leaving that seemed to be the sticking point.

I had a long layover in Philadelphia - over an hour and a half. The Embraer Regional Jet to Atlanta was in on time. We boarded on time. And then the announcement.

The pilot came on from the cockpit to tell us thunderstorms around Atlanta were going hold us up. It would be an hour until he found out when we'd be!" And, since the gate was needed for another plane, he'd drive to a quiet spot for us to wait.

I'd like to tell you the passengers protested, or the wait was interminable or some other tragic story of passenger pain, but it wasn't that bad. We left Philadelphia about an hour and a half late.

I actually found the plane, an ERJ170, reasonably comfortable. Just like the Dash-8 I took from New Haven to Philadelphia, this plane had plenty of legroom in narrow seats. The interior was spartan and somehow European. The interior actually reminded me of a Fokker-100.¹

Is it just me or is it weird to be on an airplane designed and built in Brazil?

The trip to Atlanta was bumpy, but uneventful. Getting off in Atlanta was another story. The terminal looked like a mall on the weekend before Christmas. It was jammed - as busy as any airline terminal I had ever visited.

Helaine had found a great deal for a medium size car from Avis. That ended up being a Chevy Malibu. It is possible there is a car that has less style, but I doubt it. It looks like it was designed and built with absolutely no anticipation anyone would actually want to own one. They were right.

My hotel is the Hilton Garden Inn - Perimeter in one of the many exurbs that ring Atlanta. This is actually a fairly nice hotel and a good value. And, along with everything else, there's free high speed Internet service (though not enough signal at the desk in this room to use it from there).

This evening (a late evening) I joined Mark and Annie, both of whom I worked with at Channel 8, for dinner. I left it up to them and we went to Ted's... owned by Ted Turner and featuring Bison meat!

We all had Bison burgers, which were very good. I also had New England clam chowder (could have been warmer and larger, but it was very tasty). This being Atlanta, Coca Cola's world headquarters, I broke down and had a Coke, which was served from the glass bottle.

Next stop was CNN, where Mark and Annie now work. This is interesting because there are familiar views in the CNN Center that I've seen for years.

Visiting CNN at night, there were no on-air types to be seen. Most of their nighttime programming is from New York or Los Angeles (Larry King).

Actually, that gave me more of an opportunity to look around. Their newsroom, directly behind the news set, may be the most photogenic TV space I've ever been in.

Busy day. I'm going to bed.

¹ - The Fokker 100 is a small, though older, regional jet. USAir used to fly them to Buffalo. They were quite comfortable, except for the low ceilings. They were low enough that I once asked a flight attendant if her assignment in this particular model was penance for something she had done?

If someone walks by my hotel room at 3:00 AM talking to a friend, I don't want it to sound like he's in the room with me. It did.

That's Jeff Mielcarz on the left. He is the reason I'm in Atlanta this weekend. Tonight at 6:00 PM he'll be marrying Lauren.

I had told him I wanted to visit The Weather Channel, where he works. He said, "Yes."

I said, "Jeff, you're getting married in a few hours. Wouldn't you rather have someone else take me? Maybe there's something you need to do?"

He was having none of that.

I met him at The Weather Channel at 1:00 PM. The Weather Channel is located in a nondescript modern office building in the Atlanta suburbs. There is a small sign at the entrance to the parking lot, but no signage on the building itself that I could see.

I snapped a few pictures of their satellite dishes before a guard came out to ask me to stop. He was pleasant, and I understood. I stopped.

Inside, the building is modern and nicely appointed. I've always felt you can judge a company solely by its lobby - and their lobby is nice with photos and awards, plus a split screen of some of their programming.

The studio itself is in a working newsroom, very much as it looks on the air. I was a little surprised by how connected it is to the working guts of the newsroom, where people were walking around and staying busy. The forecast area, in the back, is behind glass.

I saw a few people I recognized from TV, including Bob Stokes, Mark Mancuso and Stephanie Abrams. I think Mancuso was there when they went on the air! I also ran into Dr. Greg Forbes, their severe weather specialist.

The facility is very nice, don't get me wrong. And, Jeff showed me where they're geting ready to build a bigger studio. But, last night I was at CNN and this just doesn't compare.

This was the payoff of the trip - to get an watch two friends get married. It's always a little chancy when you go to a wedding. There are weddings and there are WEDDINGS. This was the latter.

The wedding and reception were held at a restaurant/caterer located within a very nice office park - Villa Christina.

Jeff and Lauren got married under cover, though outside. The guests sat in chairs on the lawn. It was breezy and chilly, but it was raining where Jeff grew up and snowing where Lauren grew up. Breezy and chilly was good.

The first good sign was when I overheard the usher tell another guest there was no side for the bride or groom - anyone could sit anywhere. I found a seat in the back, but on the aisle. I wanted to take pictures.

It was a very informal ceremony, performed by a very folksy reverend. A few times, when appropriate, Jeff made comments to the crowd. There was lots of crying... good crying.

I was very impressed when Lauren's grandmother came up to the mike and recited a very sweet poem, from memory. It was a nice touch, as was Lauren's sister's singing.

If I've ever been to a wedding with more good looking women, I don't remember it. Yet I still desperately missed Helaine. I think I would have had even more fun sharing this time with her. It really was contagious.

After the ceremony there were appetizers and an open bar. I managed to get some food on my suit. Maybe it was better Helaine wasn't here after all.

Dinner was in the ballroom upstairs. The food was very good and the ambiance continued to be great. I was assigned Table 5 and ended up with a bunch of people from The Weather Channel, including Jim Cantore, their best known on-camera meteorologist.

Before I wrap this up, I have to relate one story which goes to the general mood of the evening. There were two still photographers at the affair, one shooting Nikon and the other Canon. Both had nice pro level cameras and lenses.

I tried to be out of the way as they shot. After all, they were there to document this for Jeff and Lauren and though I'd be shooting away, they take precedence. A few times during the evening we chatted, and they were friendly.

All was fine, until my battery went. I had taken over 120 shots at the time, and though I was surprised it went, I shouldn't have been... and should have brought a second battery with me.

The Canon photog, seeing my plight, offered me a spare battery! These are special batteries made just for these cameras.

I told him I didn't want to have him take a risk, but he insisted as he knew I'd want to shoot the bride and groom as they made their entrance.

I took my shots and then, guilt ridden, brought the battery back to him with thanks. A few minutes later he was back, with his charger. A half hour later, I was all set with a charged battery.

This guy was great. This was a selfless move by someone who cared enough to see I was having a good time.

I tried to print my boarding passes for tomorrow's trip back home. Printing your own boarding passes has its advantages. USAir boards by zones (with assigned seating). Printing your own pass early gets you on the plane early, guaranteeing overhead rack space.

Unfortunately, the free remote printing doesn't seem to work. Bringing my laptop to the business center didn't help either.

I asked the clerk behind the reception desk, who admitted the printer wasn't working. Then, instead of telling me "TS," he offered to print them for me!

Thank you Hilton Garden Inn. You have a friend here.

I am home and a bit overwhelmed by my weekend's travels. More later after a nap.

I can't believe how exhausted I was coming home from Atlanta. I'm a firm believer that travel is just as exhausting as work - and this is more living proof. From the time I left the hotel until I got home was nearly 8 hours. That includes driving, flying, waiting and even taking the Atlanta Airport subway.

I'm starting to get bugged by the TSA screening at some airports. I'll use Atlanta as an example. Usually I would take photos to illustrate my points, but the TSA has never shown a warm and fuzzy side to me. To their mind: photo equals full body cavity search.

In order to get to the screening apparatus it is necessary to move through a long circuitous line. I was thinking 'cattle' as I walked it, only to hear the woman behind me blurt out just that word!

I never take off my shoes for screening, but was told if I didn't, I would be searched. My shoes have now been x-rayed and I've walked through an airport barefoot. The world's a safer place.

Exactly what is accomplished by screening everyone? Isn't it possible to build a system that provides trustworthy people with a modicum of trust? I'll vouch for my mom.

Why do US Senators need to be hand screened at an airport, as recently occurred? Are we really worried about them? Are we really worried about me or the elderly white haired woman with breathing apparatus and a wheelchair I recently saw being screened at Bradley International?

Maybe it's just the attitude. There is never a doubt when you deal with some of these screeners that they know they have limitless power over you. Tick them off, pay the price.

I brought a digital camera, laptop computer, cell phone and other wired devices. Do they really know the electronic makeup of these items? Aren't they better off knowing me - or whomever is being screened?

After arriving in Philadelphia and before boarding my New Haven bound plane, there was a problem. The plane had been 'overbooked' and volunteers would be needed.

Each volunteer would receive one round trip ticket for anywhere in USAir's system plus a ticket on the next available flight - 8:15 tomorrow night, or approximately 27 hours wait.

As we got ready to leave, I noticed the seat next to me and a few others in the plane were empty. What was going on? The flight attendant told me there were weight restrictions.

That seemed very odd. Sometimes in the summer when the air isn't quite as dense, planes don't have enough power for takeoff. It was cool today. The wind, which had been gusty earlier, had slacked off. I just don't get it.

I know a few pilots read my blog. Maybe one of you will explain this to me... better still, explain it to the 'bumpees.'

On Friday I wrote about being forced to park in a more expensive lot when the long term lot was full. I mentioned this to the cashier tonight and he immediately adjusted the price down to the long term rate. My guess is this had nothing to do with me being on TV (making it an even better find, since it represents a real policy - a smart policy at an airport trying to build a customer base).

Flying from Tweed is a pleasure, and I'm glad that's how I booked this trip.

Finally, as I left the airport I noted the Sun setting over New Haven Harbor. I drove into a nearby park, but soggy ground prevented me from getting a shot which was totally in the clear. As it turns out, I think the trees in the foreground add nice contrast.

Unfortunately, while in Atlanta, I missed seeing my friend Jodi who was out of town. She had been a producer here in Connecticut and is now high up the food chain at CNN.

Here's what I wrote.

I was up until a little after 5:00 AM taking my two quizzes and two tests at Mississippi State.

I am still finding the thermodynamics course tough. I got an 88% last night, but should have done better. Eight of the points I lost, I lost stupidly on questions I probably knew. My fault.

For both of my two course, this last week is critically important. The quizzes I took are worth less than a point on my final grade, but the tests are 7.5% and next week's final is 30% of my final grade. So, nearly 40% of my final grade will be decided over a very short period of time.

Why am I anguishing over these grades? No one will ever see them. Yet I do anguish.

The tests are timed, the quizzes are not, which last night almost led to a sticky situation. As I was finishing a quiz, getting set to move to a test, I pressed the button to register my answer and... nothing. I tried again with the same result.

I went upstairs to see the 'cable' light on my cable modem off. Comcast was doing something (probably maintenance of some sort. It was 3:45 AM) affecting my service.

If this had happened five minutes later, I would have been in the timed test - and screwed. There are lots of 'no exceptions' admonitions on the course websites.

I waited a half hour or so, writing a note asking Helaine to make sure I was up this morning early enough to finish my work before the noon deadline. Just before I went back to bed, I looked and the light was back on.

Sometime before Wednesday I'll take my two finals and be done with it... only to start up again May 16th. This summer semester, a shortened period with the same number of classes, quizzes and tests, is the end of the line for me.

I've found lots of the work interesting, though some of what I've done was trivial or needless. There is much too much emphasis on severe weather (thunderstorms and tornadoes) and not enough on the challenges a forecaster faces on a daily basis.

The Airbus A380, the world's largest passenger plane, took to the skies on its maiden flight Wednesday. It is an immense plane flying through a sea of hype.

Each time I've seen a TV package or read an article about this plane there was always the mention of its ability to fly with a gym or casino or shops or something other than 800 of your closest friends, all with their knees pressed firmly up against their chests.

It's true. This plane can bring these incredible amenities to the sky. It won't happen, but it's true.

I remember American Airlines first transcontinental flight of a Boeing 747 in 1970. There, in the piano bar, was Frank Sinatra, Jr. entertaining. Hey, you can have a lounge in a 747!

MGM Grand Air flew jets with private compartments and movie star treatment between LAX and JFK. Here's a page showing what they offered. It's similar to the Airbus claims. Of course MGM Grand Air went out of business years ago..

When was the last time you hopped aboard a plane and found a lounge act or a private sitting room? Hell, when was the last time you hopped aboard and found food?

Any plane can be outfitted any way. There are 737s equipped for private transportation. The one pictured on the left looks pretty comfy. Wave some cash at Boeing or Airbus or any airplane manufacturer and the world is your oyster.

Unfortunately in the real world, air travel is a commodity. People shop by price and the price of flying in an airplane filled with anything other than seats is out of the question for most of us.

Last weekend at the wedding in Atlanta, I met people who traveled from Connecticut to Atlanta via Detroit! Delta has non-stops, but Northwest via DTW was a lot cheaper¹. Price wins.

I'm not sure why Airbus has gone to such great lengths to tout a level of service few, if any, of us will ever see. Maybe it's because they don't want us talking about how long it will take to get on and off the A380 with 800 of your closest friends? Who wants to think about how much time it will take before 800 sets of baggage hit the carousel?

Air service is not returning to the suit and tie days of the 50s, 60s and 70s. This is going to end up a huge cattle car in the sky. Just pray it's efficient enough to allow fares to stay as low as they are.

¹ - I find it curious that Northwest can undercut Delta's non-stop price considering the costs involved in flying extra miles, additional crew and aircraft time plus the expense of transferring passengers and their baggage.

I'll write more about this later today, but I wanted to pass along word that one of the two Mars rovers, Opportunity, is stuck in a 'sand dune.' Its wheels are buried right up to their hubs.

Though the misson's team is optimistic, I am not. I hope I'm wrong.

I wrote earlier today about the setback for Rover Opportunity. It is stuck in some sand as it scoots around the surface of Mars. It has now been operating nearly a year beyond its expected Martian lifetime. It owes us nothing at this point.

Those in charge feel confident it will extricate itself. Good luck. I hope they're right.

Also today, NASA announced they were pushing back the next launch of the space shuttle. What was scheduled for May will now go off during the summer.

The problem relates to ice. Much of the propellant for the shuttle is incredibly cold and any exposed area of its plumbing or tanks will cause ice to form, even on a warm Florida day. If the ice breaks off... Well, you remember what happened on the last shuttle flight.

The shuttle program started in the early 70s. It was a good idea at the time, but 30+ years later, it's obvious we need to go a new way.

The shuttle is bulky, expensive, labor intensive and extremely dangerous. Close your eyes for a second and think how your car differs from the one you drove in the 1970s. We are flying a 1970s shuttle fleet.

The shuttle program was predicated on many promises, such as advances in pharmaceuticals, metallurgy and the like. In reality, shuttle related progress in those field has been minimal.

Certainly there have been benefits, like communications satellites, integrated circuits and computer chips. Today, it seems like the shuttle is without a real mission. The International Space Station, one of the reasons for continuing shuttle flights, is doing less than the shuttle did!

On the other hand, our two robotic Martian missions have been astounding successes. They have lasted longer than expected¹. More importantly, they are doing real science on a real mission.

We can take chances... even get stuck in the Martian sand, because no lives are at risk.

We are using robotics more and more to replace humans, especially in dangerous situations. Unmanned drone airplanes fly recon over Iraq (and probably other places our military doesn't admit to). Even portions of the New York City subway system are scheduled to be operated robotically.

The state-of-the-art in robotics is well beyond anything imagined in the early 70s. Yes, NASA gets some credit for that. But now it's time to take advantage of that technological edge and move our space program into the 21st Century.

There might be a time in the future when men, again, will be necessary for space exploration. They aren't now. Another space disaster would be devastating to our nation. Along with the human toll, that bit of national vanity must be considered.

It's time to ditch the shuttle and start flying smarter.

¹ - I suspect, based on past experience, that NASA timelines are always conservative, making every success look that more successful.