Ray Dobratz Wake

The casket was surrounded with artifacts from Ray’s life. I saw a pair of fireman turnout boots first. There were work boots too and a fishing rod and photos. A bottle of whiskey and can of beer were at the ready. The moment became deeply poignant.

Marc Robbins and I drove to Old Saybrook for Ray Dobratz wake tonight. There comes a time when you just say to yourself, “God, I’ve been to a lot of these.” I suspect the frequency will rise over time. This is another thing you don’t think about as a kid desperately wanting to be a grownup!

Ray was killed in the Middletown power plant explosion last week. He was sports producer Erik Dobratz’s dad. Knowing Erik got me pretty close to knowing Ray.

What a tribute. The line stretched along the length of the funeral home and around a corner. Most of Old Saybrook High School’s parking lot was filled with mourners. Marc estimates 500 in line. A co-worker I ran into told me she waited nearly an hour and a half. This was as many people as I can ever remember seeing for this kind of thing.

Because we came in the middle of our work day Erik told us how to cut the line. I’m hoping those who waited in the cold don’t feel we were disrespectful to them.

We approached the casket. It was closed as might be expected under the circumstances. The casket was surrounded with artifacts from Ray’s life. I saw a pair of fireman turnout boots first. There were work boots too and a fishing rod and photos. A bottle of whiskey and can of beer were at the ready. The moment was deeply poignant as seemingly random items helped paint a picture.

Erik and his family seemed OK–well composed considering.

I’m not sure what we expect when a family is so suddenly undone. The grief comes in waves. They’ll surely be knocked down again many times over the next few days and weeks.

I hugged everyone and told them how sorry I was for their loss. They hugged back. Ray’s wife, three sons, sister and mother each took a moment with everyone in the long line.

In my religion we don’t have wakes, but I think I understand a lot of what they accomplish. With every hug you’re assuming… offloading if you will… a little piece of the family’s grief. No, you don’t take it all away–not even tonight’s massive showing can do that.

The grief we have is directly proportional to the love we have. There was too much love for all this grief to ever go away.

Middletown Explosion Shake Map

Though not an earthquake the standard quake methodology was use for creating the map. I’ve never gone through the reporting process before, but was impressed with the questionnaire on which the estimates are based.

The USGS has plotted reports from the Kleen Energy explosion in Middletown. Though not an earthquake the standard quake methodology was use for creating the map. I’ve never gone through the reporting process before, but was impressed with the questionnaire on which the estimates are based.

middletown shake.jpg

On The Loss Of Ray Dobratz

I never met Ray Dobratz. His son, Erik, is a friend of mine and co-worker at the TV station. I know about Ray because Erik talked about him–told me stories about him.

Ray Dobratz was killed Sunday in the explosion that leveled the power plant in Middletown.

Sometimes life catches up with you in a hurry. No one said goodbye. Ray left life unfinished.

What I heard about Ray I liked. More importantly, you couldn’t listen to Erik talk about his father without immediately understanding the deep affection they had for each other.

If it’s any solace Ray knew how Erik felt abut him. Erik’s conversations with me left that point perfectly clear.

Not saying goodbye is sad. Not knowing love would be tragic.

We all mourn the loss of Ray Dobratz. Please keep his family in your heart.

Explosion In Middletown

The house shook from an explosion at the Kleen Energy plant in Middletown. That’s around 20 miles from here. Their website says it’s “in construction”:

kleen energy plant.gifAround 11:30 this morning my house shuddered. We’ve been hit by flying branches in storms. This was different. There was no sound, just a compression shock. I got out of bed and headed downstairs.

Helaine was on the sofa. She perceived it differently from me. She said we should check the house. I opened the door and saw nothing. We went to the basement and garage. Nothing again.

The house shook from an explosion at the Kleen Energy plant in Middletown. That’s around 20 miles from here. Their website says it’s “in construction”:

620 MW – Siemens-Combined Cycle, ISO & FERC 345kV Interconnect Approved –Pipeline Delivered – Dual Fuel – Gas & Oil Fired – Water Cooled

Helaine said the shake reminded her of an explosion while we were in Buffalo.

An untrained worker was moving a propane tank with a forklift. The tank fell and the valve sheared off. The propane, being heavier than air, spread out along the ground.

From Wikipedia:

The North Division Street explosion was a powerful explosion on December 27, 1983 in a warehouse at the intersection of North Division and Grosvenor Streets in Buffalo, New York. The building contained an illegal 500-gallon propane tank whose valve was broken off while it was being moved and the building was evacuated. The propane started to leak and eventually reached an open flame. The tank exploded, killing all five firefighters assigned to Ladder 5 and two civilians; and damaging a dozen city blocks and causing millions of dollars of damage in fire equipment.

When it happened Helaine thought a car had run into our house! Within thirty seconds of her calling me at the TV station every phone in the place was ringing.

Right now I’m listening to emergency responders on an Internet delivered scanner channel. There’s lots of activity which seems well coordinated. There’s talk of victims and casuaties. It’s horrific.

I wanted to make sure Ann Nyberg knew about this. By the time I called her she was already at the station helping with our coverage. Stories unfold much more quickly now than in ’83. I’ve posted on Twitter and Facebook and the replies have been coming at a steady pace.

This is a tragedy.

Saturday Night For JDRF

They are working on a closed loop artificial pancreas, meaning blood sugar can be monitored and regulated without human intervention in much the way the pancreas does. This is complex and delicate work with a great payoff.

JDRF GalaSaturday night was the annual Juvenile Diabetes Gala–a fund raiser for diabetes research. I’ve been involved with JDRF for a long time and am convinced it’s a very worthy cause. I wish the money was just there and available for research without all the ‘tree shaking.’

The event was held at The Barns at Wesleyan Hills in Middletown. I’d never been there and didn’t know what to expect. I’m putting together some disconnected strings, but I think the facility is owned by a condo complex and run as a separate business on their behalf.

The main facility is a refurbished barn–a great venue! It’s at the same time rough hewn and elegant. We started in an adjacent large tent for a silent auction and moved into the barn for dinner. The place was at capacity with about 220 guests.

The three honorees were researchers from Yale’s School of Medicine. They are working on a closed loop artificial pancreas, meaning blood sugar can be monitored and regulated without human intervention in much the way the pancreas does. This is complex and delicate work with a great payoff.

One of the researchers sat at my table with his wife, parents and in-laws. This had to be an evening of great pride for them. When I got home I hit Google to try and find out a little more about him. He has a 17-page CV. I’m not sure I’d have that if I annotated each of my forecasts individually.

The night ended with a live auction and some pointed begging for additional funds, but not until a teen age girl with diabetes told her story. She cried. I cried. I’m not sure how anyone could have avoided being touched.

Financially the night seemed to be a success. The money will buy more research. I’m really convinced a real cure is near.

Big rain

Yesterday’s forecast for today was mostly cloudy with scattered showers and thundershowers. I woke up this morning and it was sunny.

Let me pause and tell you one of the weirdest conflicts in my life is rooting for bad weather, just because I called for it! If I say blizzard and it’s flurries, even though I hate snow, I’m very upset.

So, obviously, I was on edge when I saw the Sun.

But, give Mother Nature credit for being somewhat predictable. By mid-afternoon, as the Emmy judges were leaving the house, the radar was showing building lines of thundershowers north and west of Connecticut (there were thunderstorms south too, but they were heading away).

These were big storms, full of those giant economy sized drops that you only get in the summer, and only in thunderstorms. It didn’t take long for streets to develop curb side streams, and puddling to take over low lying areas.

NEXRAD rainfall estimates show around 1″ of rain where I live, with higher amounts toward Waterbury and Meriden, and a significantly higher accumulation along the Connecticut River south of Middletown.

I picked up Steffie at work as a thunderstorm was just tapering off. They had closed the front door to the store because water was blowing in.