October 2008 Archives

It poured this morning. It was enough to wake me.

I've come to a strange place in life. As I laid in bed, hoping to quickly fall back to sleep, I thought "medium sized drops." During the summer we often get super sized giant drops. This storm was different. It made up for drop size with drop quantity.

I did all that rain thinking with my eyes closed. Weird. I'm obviously much too attuned to weather. I have no doubt my sightless observation was correct.

Early this afternoon we headed to the Sleeping Giant Tower Trail for our every-other-day hike up the mountain. As we approached the trail head I heard running water. A stream was moving swiftly throwing white water over rocks. In our five plus months on the mountain we'd never seen this stream run!

"Maybe we shouldn't go today," Helaine offered.

"We're just like Lewis and Clark," I said, trying to keep my footing on the wet leaves that are beginning to cover the trail. We walked a few minutes before coming upon a cluster of a dozen college students.

Helaine said, "Don't say anything."

"What class is this," I asked?

I know. Helaine wants to be unobtrusive. My asking the group of strangers what they're doing there is more than a little dweeby. I couldn't be held back.

It was a biology class doing some field work. Quinnipiac University is a few minutes walk from the trail. What a great classroom. I suspect they don't get that aspect yet.

We continued upward. It was quickly obvious we'd be behind our normal pace to the top. Footing was bad and from time-to-time water rushed across the trail. I was upset "Clicky" wasn't along for the ride. Some of these ad hoc waterfalls were really beautiful. I'm not sure when I'll see them again.

About 2/3 of the way to the top the trail levels for 150 feet or so. It's the only flat portion of the 1.6 mile trip. There were four large puddles to be forded.

The last few minutes of walking saw no running water. There were gullies that were wet, but no flow. At this time of year, running water near the top doesn't last long. As the ground gets saturated and colder that will be less of a problem.

This little mountain never ceases to amaze me. It is constantly changing. The trail is never boring--always a little different. It's just five minutes from the house. I kick myself we waited 18 years before getting started.

Today reminded me the seasons are changing. It's becoming clear the trail will be more difficult as we move to colder weather. I'm not sure it's going to let us hike for all 12 months. Damn shame.

I am an opinionated guy. I have a position on nearly every public issue. I'm not sure whether that's good or bad. It's just how it is.

That's why this whole bailout issue is so perplexing. I have no idea where I stand!

I am worried what will happen to our country if our banking and financial system fails. Maybe it is to big to fail. Even if I'm pissed at the bankers, I don't want to cut off my nose to spite my face.

On the other hand I worry we're rewarding bad behavior by allowing these big businesses to survive. No one can convincingly deny that.

I hear a lot of talk about keeping the credit markets open, but don't we need the credit markets to be a little tighter? Wasn't the whole sub-prime mess caused by too much credit being available to too many people?

If you can't afford it, I don't want governmental policy encouraging you to borrow. There's something fundamentally wrong with loans that can only be made when usurious rates must be charged. Hey, Gary Coleman--I'm talking to you.

I don't want the people who caused this to benefit. That especially goes for bankers. Do you think we consumers don't understand you're right up there with airlines in your contempt for us? For many people you have turned borrowing into the financial equivalent of heroin addiction.

Finally, there's a hard sell on. I see it on the cable news networks especially. Any time the pressure's on to make a quick move I begin to count my fingers and hide the silverware.

I really wish I knew. This is too big a decision to be rendered without me having an opinion.

I'm heading to my friend Rick's house right after work. We're playing poker. I've got a card table in the back of Helaine's SUV... just in case there's too big a crowd for Rick's table alone!

Though Rick doesn't work at the TV station most of the players do work here. Midnight is the shank of our day.

I like playing live with friends. It's how I learned (expensively) to play. We'll be much more limited tonight, playing low limit tournaments so no one can get hurt.

I'm curious how awake everyone will be when 2 or 3 AM rolls around.

I'm a sports fan--much more now than when I was younger. This is totally the fault because of Helaine. She is "the" sports fan in our family. It was Helaine who brought the subscription to Sports Illustrated into our relationship. It was she who shared Phillies season ticket plans with her dad. I was an Eagles season ticket holder, but the short season makes that much less of a commitment.

We are spending the evening watching the Phillies/Brewers playoff game on TV. Right now the Phils are behind. However, Helaine's persona during a game is not lead dependent. Each pitch, no matter the score, is pivotal and cause for anguish.

She will poo poo this, but I've never watched a game with anyone who had more insight. Helaine watches and comments... and often the TV voices comment behind her.

It's the bottom of the 7th and the Phils are down 4-1. If I wasn't here the sound would be off. She'd be watching the game, but not listening. She is that intense.

I brag to my friends about having a sports fan wife. They are often very jealous--as well they should be. Not many people are married to a woman whose perfect Sunday is spent in pajamas, on the sofa, watching the NFL.

The big buzz in media (all media, not just TV) is user created content. It's free--what's not to like?

Helluva scoop if it were only true. I'll let a professional writer pick it up. This is from the Washington Post.

CNN has tried to distance itself from the iReport site and its 'reporters'. That's going to be tough. It's CNN's cred that keeps the site active. In the last month CNN used nearly 1,300 iReport submissions which encourages even more participation.

Having journalism performed by actual journalists doesn't guarantee accuracy, but it seems to be a step in the right direction when you supervise the reporter and he/she is answerable. Citizen journalists are not. Actually, that's not totally true as the Steve Jobs heart attack citizen journalist might be answerable to the SEC.

Last September I wrote about my upset with Fox News 'assigning' a story to viewers. I didn't say it was FNC but why hide it.

It still bothers me.

The presidential campaign is getting ugly. Obama and McCain are both slinging mud. OK--I think McCain is slinging more, but it really doesn't matter. He's way behind and sees no other way. I can't justify that, but I almost understand his frustration.

Here's the part I can't take anymore--the lying by surrogates! Uhhh... guys... sometimes even your candidate's shit stinks. No one's perfect. Not even your guy.

Why must you reframe the argument or not even bother answering whenever it suits you? Do you think we don't see?

These surrogates would be nowhere with their enablers--mostly (but not totally) the cable news networks with their voracious appetite for content. Notice I didn't say good or bad content, just content! If the cablers would start making the surrogates answer for the words coming out of their mouths this would stop.. or at least it would slow down--I'll take what I can get.

Somewhere along the line news has turned into uncensored propaganda. Who's served by that?

Back 25+ years ago while I was hosting PM Magazine/Buffalo I ran into a nice young girl woman producer. She made sure I hit my mark and properly intro'd Captain Carrot and Chef Tell.

Obviously she had her act together because her career has really done well and she's been responsible for some pretty big TV hits and has some Emmy awards to prove it. Recently she and her business partner split and she decided to take me up on an offer I'd made many times over the years--put up a website for her.

I did a little work this weekend and more last night. The site's not ready to unveil yet but it's coming along.

This site is based on MovableType, free blogging software (though useful for more than blogging). I use MT because Peter Sachs who installed it also used it! He put in what he knew--and I'll always be grateful. For my friend's new site I decided to try WordPress. Again, this is free software, heavily supported by a very active community.

Wow!

The website installed in under five minutes. There was some information to fill into forms to get the program to properly speak with the server, but that was fairly painless. I'm not a neophyte. I know my way around the backend of a webserver. Still, I think anyone could have installed this without too much trouble.

What really impressed me with WordPress was the ease of modifying the look.

Hold on. Let me take a step back. What software like WordPress, MovableType, Joomla, Drupal and other do is separate content from look. I can change how this website looks without messing with my entries. Everything should fall right back into place. For web design that's power.

I was able to take a template and modify it to fit the look I wanted in just a few minutes. I was astounded how easily I was able to accomplish my goal.

My friend's website is hosted on a plan that costs her $9.99 a month, includes three domains (geofffox.com would be a domain), unlimited mail addresses and more storage space and bandwidth than she'll ever use. And since I'm doing my part free, it's quite a deal.

When I'm done, I'll post the link. Right now I just want to put out the word, it's easier than you think.

NBC's Weather Plus is going off-the-air. If you're like most people you won't miss it because you didn't know it was there.

NBC recently bought the Weather Channel--probably the final straw for Weather Plus. Unfortunately, Weather Plus matches up poorly against the Weather Channel. It's a badly formatted service that provides little not already available and was viewed accordingly. Using a combination of local and national talent the service was neither polished nor compelling.

It's on Channel 248 on my cable system. That's a problem too.

I've paused a moment to watch Brad Field, hopefully recorded since it's 3:18 AM. I believe Brad is the longest running 'main' weather guy in the market. I wonder if he'll miss taping these segments?

A friend from another Connecticut station with their own cable weather channel (Channel 247) said he's gone on-the-air and asked people to email hm, just to say hello. At last check he'd never gotten a viewer response!

So many channels. So much competition.

The TV is off. It's quiet down here in the family room. My feet are up on a table (sorry) and the laptop's in my lap. I can't bring myself to turn the TV on. The financial news has been too depressing these last few weeks.

I understand why what followed 1929 was the Great Depression. It's more than numbers that were down.

I'm not an old guy¹, but I'm old enough to be planning for retirement. Much of what I was going to use has now disappeared--poof. It took until 1954 to recover fully from 1929. I'll be 83 in 25 years.

Helaine and I have stopped talking about the meltdown. I assume she's feeling the same way and there's nothing we can do. I was going to say "not much we can do," but "nothing" is the reality.

We've got it good. We're virtually debt free. Our mortgage is down to its last few years. I can't imagine what it's like for people who'd been living on the edge. The edge is moving closer to them moment-by-moment. Money is a cause of stress even in good times--but now!

I've made up my mind for president. I think my choice is wise, but I suspect there will be little he can do in the short term. You can't stand in the middle of the Interstate and stop cars by holding out your hands.

And how was your day?

¹ - After Tuesday's debate my parents, both long retired and living with other seniors in Florida, said McCain looked old. Wow--where's the love?

Just got a call from my secret friend in the San Fernando Valley. His assistant is on vacation, visiting Italy.

As his assistant tells it, she ran into people from Connecticut and told them she knew me. They knew me back.

"We've watched him age," they said.

I hope it rains for the rest of the trip.

I've just reviewed Tina Brown's new news aggregator site, TheDailyBeast.com, over at AppScout. I really enjoyed writing this, though it took too damned long and required too much effort.

I wish I knew why enjoy writing so much? Why did this writing obsession come on so late in life? It's very different than the buzz I (still) get from TV.

Helaine and I were on our way down Sleeping Giant after our hike to the top when she complained about her glasses. "I really can't see the rocks," she said. Probably glare. I told her we should look for polarized lenses.

We will now.

A few minutes later she tripped on one of those rocks she couldn't see and fell forward to the rock strewn path. Both her elbows were bloody as was the heel of her right hand. Her cheek was a little red--it had scraped the ground.

"I need to sit down," she said. So we headed to the side of the trail where she sat on a convenient small boulder with a flattened top. She was a little nauseous--a little woozy.

She sat for a few minutes until two young women came by, asking if there was anything they could do. By this time I was concerned, so I left Helaine with them and began to run down the mountain. I would later find out the young women were nursing students from Yale. I can't begin to thank them enough.

It's the Friday before the 3-day Columbus Day weekend. I got to the ranger station and found vehicles, but no people. Like an idiot I walked through the parking lot next to the station yelling, ""Ranger!"

There was an emergency number on the door. I pulled out my cellphone and called the DEP dispatcher. A little less than five minutes later an officer (Officer Wirth, I think) in an ECON POLICE car drove up.

He opened the ranger station, went to the garage and attempted to fire up a little utility vehicle so we could drive to Helaine. Wuh-wuh-wuh-wuh... nothing. Wuh-wuh-wuh-wuh... nothing. Wuh-wuh-wuh-wuh... nothing. The motorized cart finally did start just as I began to panic.

By the time we got to Helaine on the trail she was on her feet and walking down with the nursing students. She was feeling a little better. Still, she got into the cart and drove the rest of the way to our car.

She's home right now watching the Phillies. She's got a headache, feels a little sore and has bandages on her elbows and hand, She'll be OK. We'll probably be back walking on the mountain before the weekend is up.

When you love someone you worry about them. I worried about Helaine.

We are both grateful to the three strangers who took the time to help us out.

Zealot –noun
1. a person who shows zeal.
2. an excessively zealous person; fanatic.

Zealots are easy to fire up. They are much more difficult to calm down. It looks like the McCain campaign has realized that and, at least John McCain himself, is getting a little uneasy with what's been unleashed.

It's important for this election to be heartily fought--for ideas to be vetted before the voting public. We should know what each candidate stands for. What is wrong is to fire up zealots through incendiary language and vitriol. That can't be turned off and could easily become a ticking time bomb.

Do I need to go into specifics here for you to know why we need to worry? The language needs to be toned down now. Senator McCain's answers today are a good start.

I just set up a forward search for Sonia Baghdady from our newsroom. Now any time she's mentioned on the web she should get an email. I think that includes this time!

Didja' get the email Sonia?

Helaine is still sore... still on the mend. While she napped I headed out to try and find some fall foliage. I was about a week too early.

I'd been tipped off to a beautiful area in Prospect and headed that way. As is so often the case I missed the cutoff and walked in the wrong direction--still really pretty. I didn't walk far before pulling out my tripod and attempting some shots--not very successfully today.

I was slowly heading back when I saw a couple and their Labrador dog walking in my direction. The dog is Max and he is one with the outdoors! So far, his is the only photo shot today I really like. I'll do a more thorough assessment later and post anything I find.

Do you know Max's owners? I'd be glad to send them this photo.

We have become the designated "dogsitter" for Tallulah. Tracey thinks we're doing her a favor. Right! Tallulah will be visiting this time for a little over a day and we couldn't be happier.

As I type this Tallulah is curled up in her bed on the floor here in the family room. From time-to-time she'll make a deep almost guttural noise. It reminds me of my high school days, waiting for the subway while an out-of-service train sat on an adjacent track. That train was doing nothing, but every once in a while it would make noise, then go quiet. That's Tallulah exactly.

"She's made of magic... and cheese," is Stef's analysis of Tallulah's charm. Stef is correct.

Being a dogsitter is like being a grandparent. You get all the fun with none of the responsibility. And, like a grandparent, you can spoil to your heart's content with full deniability..

Tracey, if Tallulah has developed a taste for sushi, we don't know how. Honest.

Blogger's note: You can read more about Tallulah's visits, with photos, by clicking here.

Marketplace on National Public Radio just opened their Sunday show by using "Don't Fear the Reaper," by Blue Oyster Cult.

It's come to that? Really?

That pyramid on the left is a graph of oil prices over the last year. We're lower now than we were a year ago--$77.70 a barrel.

With that lowered cost in mind, why are the airlines still charging fuel surcharges? Actually, I think I know the answer.

Back when oil was nearly $30 bbl more than it is now the AP said airlines weren't considering rolling the surcharges back. As far as I can see nothing's changed. Didn't they also justify other price increases on fuel costs?

I have expressed my distaste for airlines (other than Southwest) more than once. They have managed to game the business to the point where we've no choice but to take it. They have created a system where rules are one sided and never benefit the passenger.

Except for our money, airlines have no use for us.

Our family physician. Steve, reads my blog. That's why he let me know Helaine's cuts warranted a tetanus shot. She took it today. Her right arm, which she wasn't able to sleep on anyway, is now more sensitive.

In many ways the Internet has made the life of a physician more difficult. By the time Helaine spoke to him she had already read a bunch of web sites where the worst effects of a tetanus shot were discussed and described. It's a busy week. All she was being told was what could go wrong!

We'll take a few days off before returning to Sleeping Giant. I'm sure the mountain will wait for us. Hopefully the skittishness I expect her to have--returning to the scene of her spill and all--will be short lived.

Nearly a month after I won my hearing on Stef's parking ticket--no check! I went to 200 Orange Street this afternoon. I am told a check will be cut.

Truth is, this isn't my screw-up. The city was wrong with their sign which is what started us down this rabbit hole. This is now my third trip to 200 Orange plus the other hoops I've had to jump through.

I feel bad because New Haven is in a financially difficult time. However, this ticket isn't how they should be working their way out of the crisis (and I suspect it is a crisis).

You can beat city hall, but is it worth it? Maybe I should have just paid the seventy two dollars and said screw it?

There's a presidential debate tomorrow night in Hempstead. It will be at Hofstra University--the Harvard of Hempstead. Wow! The election just is three weeks away.

Is there anything that can be said or done tomorrow which will turn things around--save the day for John McCain? What over-the-top trick could he have up his sleeve? Is there an October surprise?

The cable buzz is McCain will bring up William Ayers and possibly Reverend Wright. Is it too late for those associations to resonate? It's no longer a matter of helping the undecideds make a decision. At this point John McCain will have to turn some people around to win.

The politics of slime is distasteful to me. However, what if you're running for president, feel you have all the answers and your opponent will be taking us to hell in a handbasket? At that point does the end justify the means? Is it acceptable to slime if in your heart-of-hearts you're sliming for "all the right reasons."

It will be interesting to watch the battle unfold. I suspect Obama will try to go on offense before McCain can. No matter what, I'll bet fewer people watch than last time.

Helaine and I did the mountain today--first time in five days. She's starting to feel a little better. She was, however, very apprehensive about the walk down. Who can blame her after last week's tumble.

She will be black and blue (and a few other colors) for a while. There are some deep bruises that aren't going to heal overnight.

The market lost another gazillion points today. It's actually worse than it looks. AIG (the big insurance bailout) was pulled from the list late in August, replaced by Kraft.

If you watch TV (it's good for you) you've probably seen the experts telling you to hold your ground--take the long term view. And, I suppose, most people do just that. That's what I'm doing. Does that mean it's the "hold your ground" experts selling their positions that are making the market so volatile?

I'm be gamed by them again, aren't I?

I stayed in the newsroom for the final out. The Phillies beat the Dodgers and with that go to the World Series. There were so many times I thought this would never happen.

I plucked the cellphone out of my pocket and held down "9." As Helaine answered I said the magic words: "Put another one in the win column for the Fightin' Phils."

One of the Phillies' announcers used to say that. He's gone from the team now, but the phrase lives on.

Helaine couldn't stay to talk. Stef was on the other line from college. She'd been watching the game too and wanted to share the bottom of the ninth with her mom. Stefanie, do you know how good that made your mother feel?

I later heard Stef watched the presidential debate first. One for Helaine and one for me. Good child.

The Phillies open the World Series, probably at that really ugly stadium in Tampa, next Wednesday. It's all very exciting.

Earlier today I asked Helaine if the Phillies' season would be a success if they just got to the World Series? No answer. The pressure's on.

I sat down at my desk at work and turned the TV on. It's good to work in TV (well, for this one benefit it is). A story was running on CNN about David Letterman's scheduled interview with Senator John McCain tonight.

I forgot to set the DVR. Damn!

No problem. My MythTV homebuilt DVR is online and within 90 seconds I found the show in Myth's online database and set it to record. Pretty simple, which brings up the question--why can't my Comcast DVR do this?

The Comcast DVR is made by Cisco, a company well versed on Internet technology. Comcast provides Internet access to my house. The DVR itself is a digital device with its own IP address (probably only internally addressable within Comcast's domain). In other words, if Comcast and Cisco felt it was in their interest this hardware could surely support the level of sophistication my homebuilt DVR, built with a discarded computer and free software. provides.

Seriously, do you think I don't notice this?

Helaine woke me at 10:00 AM for a quick kiss and goodbye. She and Stef (who came back late last night) are on their way to Saugus and Beverly, MA for a Rick Springfield show and a half.

The real show is tonight in Beverly (Behv-uh-lee). Tomorrow he's in Charlotte. Sunday it's Chandler, AZ. I don't want Rick Springfield's travel schedule--only his frequent flier miles.

This afternoon the band is playing Saugus with a brief set for a Boston radio station--Mix 98.5. The event is called "Cougarpalooza," and it's contest winners/invitation only. Probably an acoustic set, I got them tickets through a friend of a friend. Just a few songs--I'll call that the half show.

What's interesting about Saugus is I once (briefly) lived there... in the middle of a swamp! It's a long story. You really don't want to know.

The girls return tomorrow. They have "Clicky" so I expect documentation.

We're going to a birthday party this evening. I can't remember the last birthday party I attended. Dennis and Sue are 50 and it's pizza for everyone!

Helaine and I went to a birthday party for our friends Sue and Dennis. They are both 'sort of' fifty, so it was a twofer. Actually, it was a 'threefer' because another friend, Rick, turned sixty today.

We'll allow fifty, but Helaine and I have decided we're much too young to have a friend who's sixty. Rick--you need to fix this right now.

The party was at Bar a New Haven restaurant/bar best known for its pizza... and very long lines to get in. In fact I have gone a few times, but never gotten to eat! The wait has always been too long.

The party was held in the back room. I'm pretty sure it was once a stable. It's been converted perfectly into a party space with small bandstand, nice sized bar, a few private alcoves and lofted deejay booth.

We had appetizers, drinks and pizza. When you're in a situation like this you often just grab a slice that looks good without knowing exactly what it is. That's how I tried my first mashed potato pizza. Pretty good, but I'll reserve final judgment until I try again.

The music, food and company were all good. Helaine and I weren't the people getting older and we didn't have to wait in line! What's not to like?

Blogger's note: "Clicky" was left home. This is from the cellphone camera--proof positive that shouldn't be your first choice for photos.

I, like much of America I suspect, made sure I was in front of the TV for Saturday Night Live. Sarah Palin did the "cold open" and Weekend Update.

I was very surprised she looked so wooden and uncomfortable in both hits. This was not her comfort zone.

I was trying to think of an analogy--maybe someone from Hogan's Heroes who sneaks out of the Stalag and ends up at a party with Gestapo officers. Actually, considering the circumstances that's a pretty good analogy, isn't it?

We've lived in this house nearly 20 years, yet I often forget how beautiful my neighborhood is. We live a few hundred yards from Jepps Brook where these photos were taken. it's a small, shallow brook visible on few maps that runs year round over a rocky bed.

The fall colors are becoming more vibrant here. It's just a shame the leaves don't change in unison. We've got some leaves falling while others are still green.

You can click here to see the photos as photos.

I am creating a website for a friend. It's almost done, but it's still at the stage where the "robots.txt" file is telling Google and Yahoo to stay away. It's built on WordPress, a program I hardly know... in fact, until this project I'd never used it. I love it now.

Yeah WordPress, I love you.

This weekend I was going to enable some menus for the website. The site owner wanted them ordered in a specific way with some items excluded. I guessed at how it could be done. I anguished over it. I put off coding it. I didn't start until 1:00 AM this morning!

It worked the first time. I'd ad libbed something the program wasn't set up to do but was still capable of doing. One glance at the documentation was all it took. This program is great!

My case of "coder's block" was unwarranted--though very real. I feared trying my ideas. I put everything off as long as I could. What a fool I am. This, unfortunately, is the story of my life. It is the weakest part of me. I hope my daughter doesn't inherit this trait.

I enjoy programming. It is a very logical experience. I'd like to do more.

When you do something right the result is predictable and dependable. I wish I knew more about more languages. WordPress with its simple scripting language is easy. PHP, Perl, and Javascript--not so much.

There are things I'd like to do if I only knew how.

Helaine and I are thrilled the Phillies are in the World Series. For Fox Sports it's not a glamour matchup. I would guess the expectation is for low World Series ratings... meaning lower promotional effectiveness... meaning lower newscast ratings on the Fox affiliates. It's a vicious cycle.

My friend Peter sums it up best in this email:

Record low ratings are on-the-way.

Oy! Stef was on the phone yesterday afternoon. Her laptop is running at stone age speed. She's an hour and a half from here so I used Logmein.com for some remote access.

I've written about Logmein here and on AppScout.com. I used the remote access package they gave me for my AppScout story, but the free product would have worked--albeit, it's tough to explain how to install it to my non-tech daughter.

The computer is definitely not well. I poked and prodded. There are no simple signs it's got a virus, but that's probably what's happened... or possibly some out-of-control Facebook applet. The CPU was running at 100% but all the cycles looked to be assigned to programs that were supposed to be running. Maybe something is leeching onto already running programs?

I ran CCleaner (it was originally called Crap Cleaner) purged the caches and trash, checked the registry and rebooted. It came back close to it's real self. I left a note for Stef and shut it down.

Unfortunately after five minutes of use today the problems were back. She'd started AOL IM and Facebook--nothing else.

Tonight around 7:00 I'll jump back into her machine. Maybe there's something I missed I can try? If not we swap.

I've got an older laptop which I'll bring to Stef tonight (actually, we'll meet halfway). As I type it's running through some disk maintenance routines. It is much slower than her Dell--when her Dell isn't slow itself.

It is frustrating I can't find this problem. That's something I normally do without much trouble.

My friend Wendie asked me to take a look at the attached video a few days ago. She is Managing Editor of Nightly Business Report, the long running daily financial show on PBS. Like everyone else in broadcasting they're trying their best to think outside the box.

This video was put together by a photographer/editor--an old school team member. It's part of the changes we're all going to have to make to embrace and compete with the Internet.

Left work early. Not feeling well. That's very unusual for me--not the not feeling well part, but the leaving part. I can't remember the last time that happened. If anything, I'm too willing to work while sick.

Got home in time to watch Matt fill-in on the weather. I can't thank him enough for coming in at the last moment (literally and figuratively).

I was asleep by 10:30 PM and awake at around 2:00 AM. I'm feeling a lot better now. I'll put in a few hours of work (continuing to fix Stef's computer and writing) before going back to bed.

We'll put this in the 'unexplained but past tense' category.

Though Stef's laptop seemed stable for six or seven hours at some point this afternoon her problems came back. The CPU usage level shot to 100% with normal programs taking abnormal resources.

This is really vexing. I have no idea what's going on, though it seems like something is leeching on normally occuring processes. I don't even know a good search term to use on Google!

Helaine drove to Stef's college this afternoon. I think (hope) she's on her way back now. It was a computer swap with Stef's modern Dell coming to me and an old PIII-800 laptop going to her.

"It's as slow as the other one," Stef told me on the phone after the tiny PIII was fired up.

That might be true, but the good news is, I'll fix the other one and send it back. Or, possibly, I'll just reformat and reload. Stef has few programs installed. Maybe the end's in sight?

Stef's laptop is now sitting on the kitchen table, a few feet away from me. It is working perfectly! When it was picked-up by Helaine yesterday it was running at 100% CPU usage 100% of the time.

This is much too strange.

When I shut it down a moment ago to run McAfee (required and provided by her school and set to keep out other virus protection) in Safe Mode, a program with a cryptic name hung. It was on the shutdown cycle--to brief to write down the name. It looked like "app." followed by a long and random string of letters.

But, again, at the moment it's running fine. Maybe I just haven't found the trigger that starts the process?

Oh--speaking of McAfee, why does it diligently spot and mark cookies? They are marked as "Potentially Unwanted Program." My suspicion is this is a way the program can always find something!

Thanks to all who've sent recommendations. Most have or had been done. I've been troubleshooting PCs forever. All the obvious tricks have been played.

A few headlines from this afternoon:

• Group files complaint over Palin clothes
• Salvation Army: We'll take Palin's clothes
• McCain has terse response on Palin shopping spree

There's some mainstream media traction with the revelation the McCain campaign spent $150,000 on clothes for Sara Palin and family. It seems like a lot of money to me, but that's not my problem with it. After all, I get a clothing allowance--though a tiny percentage of hers.

I'd like to keep this non-partisan, but I can't find an easy analog from the Democrats. This is not a $400 haircut and I'll tell you why. John Edwards is a wealthy man.

The McCain campaign has done its best to portray Governor Palin's connection to mainstream America. It is among their most repeated bullet points. She is the "hockey mom from Wasilla." And yet, when they wish to physically portray her, they want to show affluence a hockey mom can't afford.

Is the real fear a true portrayal of a hockey mom's clothing budget just isn't as appealing? Are we being sold sizzle or steak?

Whatever the bottom line, this is a temporary annoyance for the Republicans, but it keeps them off their game while already weak.

I just watched the "Saturday Night Live Weekend Update Thursday" from earlier tonight. It was laugh-out-loud funny. You don't get to say that about SNL too often. Oh, hell. You never get to say that about SNL.

The myth of SNL has always been that there was a time in the distant past when it was consistently funny. It never was. I was in the audience for show number two. Disappointing! Watch some old episodes and see if you can make it all-the-way through.

On Thursdays, with only thirty minutes to write (or whatever fraction is left after commercials) and the main bits locked in, the show is more focused and sharper. Yes, the election is low hanging fruit, but I think not having to worry about sketch concepts plus jokes makes this show more likely to succeed than the 90 minute epic.

I wouldn't be surprised to see this format and show return on a more regular basis after the election.

My friend Woody, sometimes seen commenting as Wudzy and legally named Elwood, recently went into semi-retirement in Santa Fe, NM. It's a beautiful place.

Maybe Woody wasn't ready to totally retire. He's sent me his new listing from IMDB! As it turns out Santa Fe is an artist's community and film production center.

Holy crap--he's in a movie with Steven Segal!

Helaine and I spent an hour or so going up and down Sleeping Giant early this afternoon. There are still plenty of leaves on the trees, but the brushy growth along the trail has really begun to die back and it's changed the entire look of our walk. The dropoff at the edge of some trail sections is now a lot scarier looking. It's as if the mountain is balding--rapidly.

Up on the top this afternoon we ran into students from a middle school in the Bronx. the boys from that school were there a few weeks ago. Now the girls. The girls were louder and more physically active--at least when we saw them.

I was taking photos when one of the chaperones told me to stop. The truth is when you're in public, no matter what your age, you have no expectation of privacy and photos are fine and unrestricted by law. Of course that doesn't comport with what this guy wanted, so he made up a rule. I'm going to have to start carry my "photographer's rights" in my wallet.

This isn't about taking pictures of the kids. I would never take a photo that might compromise anyone's safety. This was just about the increasingly hostile atmosphere toward photographers. I can't tell you how many times I've been asked to stop for no apparent reason.

It is great that these kids get the opportunity to spend some time in the country. It's got to be the other end of the Earth for them.

My web host has lots of different sites on this server. Unfortunately all the tenants suffer if the server comes under attack. That happened this evening with a DDOS or distributed denial of service attack. Geofffox.com disappeared from the Internet for an hour or so.

In a DDOS the website is blasted with much more traffic than it can handle. The traffic comes from multiple sources at once--that's the distributed part. The attackers are often unprotected PCs turned into zombies. The owner of the PC might not notice anything except his computer's a little slower.

There's nothing I can do. There's not much my host can do either. The DDOS might be random, or possibly someone's upset with one of my server neighbors. It might even be an extortion plot against someone. I'll never know.

Hopefully whatever it was has run its course and gone away. Hopefully.

I frequent a website called Hacker News. This evening someone posted a survey: What generation do you identify with? There are four choices--Generations X and Y, Baby Boomer and Silent Generation. So far 534 people have participated and just 13 are in the oldest two! I am a baby boomer.

I don't feel old, but I notice nowadays a lot more people are young.

If understanding the technology and keeping on the cutting edge is what youth is all about, I'm there. I'm not about to let the world pass me by. I will not be marginalized as things change. Screw that.

The electricity went off at 7:40 this morning. Seven and a half hours later, I'm doing this with the laptop's battery while using an improvised Internet connection.

We have tickets to a show tonight. At the moment it's in doubt we can leave.

We are in the country. Without electricity we only have as much well water as remains pressurized.

This has stopped being fun.

The power was restored around 5:40 PM.

This gives me the opportunity to mention the electric company originally said we'd be back by 12:37 PM then between 3-4 PM and finally by 6:45 PM. OK--how much experience do they have with explosions in substations? Hopefully, not much. Still, we would have done a better job canceling and changing plans if we knew.

Where were we?

"IT'S LIKE TRYING TO TELL A STRANGER ‘BOUT ROCK AND ROLL" - John Sebastian/Loving Spooful

Sebastian knew there are certain things in life that are indescribable--you talk about them anyway. Such is Helaine's love of sports. She will watch any NFL game and most baseball games. She roots Philadelphia exclusively and the Eagles and Phillies religiously.

She understands the minutiae that goes on--the game within the game. I'm not sure any other friend has ever had her deep grasp. She's always ahead of the announcers on strategy--always.

As you can imagine, tonight is pretty special. The Phils are in the World Series and Helaine is hanging on every pitch. It is very intense.

Being with her on a night like tonight is a lot of fun. Her love of sports is one of her most endearing qualities.

Ira Ludwin called me tonight. I haven't spoken to him in a while. Our mutual friend Harry Wolf was killed in a car crash. I hadn't spoken to Harry in a while either.

Harry and I, to use the term currently in vogue, palled around in the 70s. We were friends through ham radio. I knew Harry when he met, moved in with, then married Debby. They were married 32 years. They had a son and daughter--both in their twenties now.

Harry was an off-center kind of guy. Bald early, Harry wore glasses and was never confused with an athlete. He was a smart guy who knew a lot about a lot of different things. He ran a self-financed talk show on a little station in Jersey. I understand he was teaching recently--at Temple, his alma mater.

His relationship with Debby was the best part of the story. She was an amazing catch and Harry knew it. She loved him unconditionally from day one. It is difficult to conceive a more nurturing relationship.

Tonight on the phone Debby reminded me of July 4, 1976. I was living in the Philly area. Harry and Debby, along with a few other friends went to Washington, DC for the Bicentennial fireworks.

We sat on a small hill overlooking the Mall. Our section applauded loudly when, from our vantage point, it looked like a shell would hit a plane. I know that sounds awful today, but we knew it was just an optical illusion. It was a good natured example of homogeneous crowd personality. It was a memorable day all around.

What do you say at a time like this?

This is the part of life they never explain when you're growing up.

Helaine and I went to Mohegan Sun last night to see Terry Fator. He's the guy who won America's Got Talent--and he does 'got' talent. I'm not sure that's enough. More on that in a sec.

Mohegan Sun is a beautiful casino complex. It is now as good looking as nearly all the hotels in Vegas (this is not faint praise). It is also immense.

I have mentioned before, the Cabaret Theater is a great place to see a show. It's intimate by today's standards with excellent acoustics and sound. It's perfect for comedy which is much more demanding of sound than a music act (seems anti-intuitive, doesn't it?).

OK--back to Terry Fator. There's no doubt he's extremely talented. He's a ventriloquist who does impressions. Most of his impressions are excellent. Few are less than very good.

Soon he'll be performing in Las Vegas as Danny Gans' replacement at the Mirage. Gans is also an impressionist and considered by many Las Vegas' premiere house act. He may be the highest paid act you've never heard of! The bar is high.

What Terry Fator doesn't have is a polished act. He has many 2-3 minute bits, but the transition from one to the other is mainly slow and nearly always disruptive. He is not helped by his use of canned music, which really locks in his ability to shift timing and gauge an audience.

There are moments of silence during Terry Fator's act. That's a no-no.

Fortunately for Terry the format of America's Got Talent hid this problem. He never had to worry about transitions because he never got more than a few minutes!

If I had the choice to have no talent or no act, I'd choose the latter, because an act can be bought or developed. I suspect that's what will happen here. There's too much talent in Terry Fator to squander.

Jacob Wycoff is 'my' intern (it's like I own him, right?) at the TV station. As is usually the case, he's younger, smarter, better looking and would do my job for a fraction of what I charge. I've shot people for less Jacob.

Jacob wanted to put up a website. My pleasure to help. I used WordPress--a program I like more each day. I wish this blog was on WordPress.

Of course a website without a link from another website might as well not exist at all. So, tonight Jacob, your first link.

Don't go after my job. Savvy?

Why did they attempt to play World Series Game Five tonight in Philadelphia. Oh commissioner?

Seriously? I want to know who the forecaster was that made that call? My suspicion is there was none. The numbers were just made up. Selig took a chance.

Especially for the World Series, games should be decided by the players playing. Adverse conditions, like inept umpires, should be avoided.

Have you been out tonight? Holy crap--it's winter! The temperature's low. The wind's blowing. Some parts of the state (not here) are getting snow showers.

I brought Helaine's car to work today. My little roller skate has zero traction in any kind of bad weather. It's spun out in flurries (really-no hyperbole).

Now the months of dread begin. I hate winter. I hate cold. People find that strange. A meteorologist should love active weather they say. Not me.

"Are you calling from the cockpit?" Those were the exact words from a friend as I called from the car a few days ago. My little car is noisy and my Bluetooth headset doesn't help--actually it makes things worse.

I broke down last week and bought a model known for its noise canceling acumen. It's a somewhat obscure brand and not available locally. I ordered online.

Like every other purchase nowadays I received a tracking number. I have tracked it a dozen or more times since last Thursday. Tonto wasn't as dedicated a tracker as I am! It's currently "out for delivery."

This anal retentive ability to track a package should be satisfying, yet I'm always wondering why it's stopped? Why isn't it moving? What's taking so long? Often billing information is received long before the package!

Google Maps (another refuge for the impatient) says the first leg is a 14:33 drive. What happened in the three plus days from "Departure Scan" to "Arrival Scan?" I suspect it really didn't depart, but waited over the weekend.

It's certainly possible we'll be getting GPS based tracking before long. As soon as one company adds it they'll all have to follow.

My point is, maybe we (and by "we" I mean "I") would be better without access to yet another tool allowing me to overload with information.

It's my dad's birthday. He is 83.

"I look in the mirror and see an old guy," he said on the phone today, "but I don't feel old." Life has not passed my father by.

He only has one working eye. He wears hearing aids with varying success. Often his hands quiver like the paint mixer at Home Depot. With daily drugs coursing through his rebuilt circulatory system he is a miracle of medical science.

My father is the Bill Gates of Boynton Beach. He teaches weekly computer classes to people in their 70s, 80s and even 90s. "Harold, you're so smart," is a common student-teacher comment. They're right.

We were kidding around on the phone when I said, "This is the most important birthday."

"No," said my dad. "The next one is always the most important."

I wrote an entry about Matt Drudge over on AppScout.com. My favorite line:

Writing is fun.

My friend and fellow meteorologist Brian Lapis writes:

Still to come. Have no fear.

The Phillies won the World Series. It's strange that I, a well documented Phillies fan, should be so late to the game with this news. They beat Tampa last night to win the Series 4-1. Helaine and I are very happy-obviously.

It's a shame this series was touted as uninteresting--played between two teams that no one cared about. Yes, that did diminish my enjoyment. I probably shouldn't be so shallow, but I am. It was actually a well played series by two really good teams.

"You know Geoff," I've been told a dozen times in the last few days, "these are Philadelphia fans who threw snowballs at Santa." Enough. I moved to Philly in 1975 and it was legend before my arrival. Let it go. The city would have gotten paroled for manslaughter sooner!

I am impressed with many of the Phillies individually. Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins and Ryan Howard are bright guys. It's a pleasure to hear them interviewed. Charlie Manuel is a steady hand who never seems to panic--especially in situations where I would.

Helaine especially likes Chris Coste (who didn't get an at-bat during the World Series), backup catcher and author of "The 33 Year Old Rookie." After reading his book, she sent him an email which he answered. Yes--that makes a difference.

Based on place of birth I should be a Mets fan. In fact my folks took my sister and me to Shea Stadium a few weeks before it opened in the early 60s. We got to stroll the outifield on that sunny Sunday afternoon. For an apartment dweller, that beautiful expanse of emerald green grass was exquisitely foreign.

But it was Philadelphia where I realized I wasn't a kid any more. It's where I worked the second half of the seventies. I was there at "The Vet" for the 1977 National League Playoffs when the fans intimidated Bert Hooten with the loudest crowd noise I've ever heard.

Of course, Philadelphia is also where I met rabid Phillies fan Helaine.

The fun of a World Series win is short lived. Pitchers and catchers report in February. At that point it's, "what have you done for me lately?" The anguish will start again.

Jose's wife brought Luna to the TV station this afternoon and, of course, I put her on-the-air.

Is there anything cuter than a baby on Halloween?

As it turns out, Luna is always happy--always. That made a mid-stride hand-off from father to weatherman a whole lot easier.

When Stef was Luna's age she was "Little Miss Cold Front." OK--not a major costume stretch. Helaine cut a cold front out of paper and pinned it to her. She was a baby. She couldn't complain (she has since developed that skill).

Halloween was great for me as a kid. Living at 65-43 Parsons Blvd, Apartment 5E, I just walked to the sixth floor and started knocking on doors. Six apartments per floor. Six floors in the building.

We were connected to 65-45 Parsons Blvd, so a ten second walk and you were set with another 36 apartments. Scores of kids would walk up and down the halls. The building was built for trick or treating.

As far back as fifty years ago--my earliest remembrances of Halloween, there were warnings about 'altered' candy being passed out. That is not a recent scare.

For some reason I didn't want my mother to put make-up on my face. That meant no moustache for a cowboy or whatever I was that year. Of course now I wear make-up on a daily basis. Go figure!

I used to collect for UNICEF. I remember the little milk container with a slot. I felt really proud to be doing something good. It probably came to a few dollars per kid, but we were all collecting. Why don't kids do that any more?

My best costume spot this afternoon was at Dunkin' Donuts. One of the servers was wearing a wig and gold medals. It was actually pretty funny. I'm glad DD let him wear his costume and that he let me take his photo.