I Owe A Lot To Jack Reilly

“We all laughed in the control room,” he said. “Would you like to come to New York and do some fill-in for us?” he asked.

Jack Reilly passed away today. I can’t begin to tell you how much I owe him.

From TVNewser:

Jack Reilly, the former Good Morning America executive producer and later vice president of news at CNBC, passed away this morning at St. Vincent’s Hospital in New York at the age of 84.

Reilly was VP and managing editor of CNBC from 1994 to 1998. Before that, he was the executive producer of ABC’s Good Morning America from 1986 to 1994. Reilly transformed GMA, a faltering #2 show, into the nation’s top-rated morning show – a position the show held for more than five years.

reilly_jack.jpgThe time was the mid-90s and I was working here in New Haven. One afternoon our news director Liz Crane (now Liz Gray) asked me if I’d like to do the weather on Good Morning America/Sunday. “This Week with David Brinkley” was interviewing someone at Yale, had already asked for our satellite truck and then as an afterthought asked if we would also supply a weatherman.

This was a big deal to me and I told EVERYONE I knew to watch. Truth is, this kind of affiliate hit was nice but inconsequential to the network. You do it. Your friends and family see you. Life goes on.

The first hit followed an interview with tennis great Tracy Austin. She had just gotten married. While Dana King (I love Dana King) conducted the interview from New York Tracy stayed at home in a room full of wedding gifts.

Dana finished the interview and briefly introduced me. This was my chance to play it straight–just do the weather. I didn’t.

“Dana, if you talk to Tracy again, would you ask if she got the Corning Ware we sent?”

After the weather ended our sat truck operator ran out of the truck. “The producer wants to speak to you.”

Oh s**t. I was in trouble. I could feel it. On the other end of the line was Jack Reilly.

“We all laughed in the control room,” he said. “Would you like to come to New York and do some fill-in for us?” he asked.

OMFG!

I continued to be GMA’s go-to guy working weeks at-a-time until one winter’s day Spencer Christian got stranded on the West Coast. A lower level producer called and asked me to fill-in. I felt committed to do the day in Connecticut–a big weather day.

That was it for me. The GMA calls stopped. I have second guessed myself a million times on that call.

I aggressively pursued trying to get back in their good graces–but it didn’t happen. A few years ago I gave up.

I liked working at the network. What made it better was parachuting in while keeping this job. It was a very cool place to work–seriously big time with loads of people and pressure to perform.

Jack Reilly made that happen. It didn’t matter to him I was working in New Haven. He saw me. He laughed. He followed his gut.

Later on he was squeezed out at ABC. The show was never quite the same after that. Whether the Today Show passed GMA while Jack was there or after I can’t remember.

Jack Reilly is a lot of what TV was and no longer is. He will be missed. My condolences to his family and friends. Thanks Jack.

My Folks Go Back To Florida

My parents are both significantly older than they look or act. That’s no small compliment

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The phone just rang… or whatever it is they do nowadays. “I’m sorry. Did I wake you?” It was my mom calling from Atlanta. They are halfway home. She knew after we dropped them off at the airport I’d head back to bed. I am much more easily predicted than the weather!

It was a successful trip. They got to watch their last grandchild graduate college. They were in the studio for my 25th anniversary. We spent lots of time together.

My mom had back problems this past winter. She could hardly walk. Yesterday she went to Manhattan with Helaine and Stef. “I walked 8,000,000 steps,” she said. Later it became, “I walked 9,000,000 steps.”

My parents are both significantly older than they look or act. That’s no small compliment.

My dad who had his own back problems yesterday and doesn’t match up well against a hot New York day stayed home with me. This is what is meant when the words “quality time” are used.

What we did wasn’t as important as the fact we did it together! I’m saying that because I think we watched MSNBC for 12 or 13 hours straight. If I saw Dick Cheney one more time I was going to waterboard myself!

My dad and I went to the diner for dinner. Just two guys going for omelets.

It’s a place I’ve been going to for 25 years so as we left I started to talk to the boss and then a few of the waitresses. The conversation got around to Las Vegas and my dad took out “the picture.”

Holy crap, he carries it around!

We joked around at how lucky we were to have the wives we have. He said he couldn’t figure out why Helaine settled for me when she could have done so much better. He was joking–right?

After a full week my parents were ready to return to Florida. Their friends are there. It’s in their comfort zone. There’s BINGO tonight (which they play though both claim they hate it). Now they can rest.

There’s another trip in store for them before this year is out. They’re going to Milwaukee. This winter they’ll become great-grandparents! My niece Jessica, their first grandchild, is expecting.

Where they live in Florida becoming a great-grandparent is equal to winning an Olympic medal.

The Graduation

This past weekend is a blur! Even while it was in progress it was tough to see where Saturday ended and Sunday began.

Stef has graduated college. We all attended yesterday in what was a whirlwind weekend!

Helaine didn’t walk at her graduation and though I finished the meteorology program at Mississippi State that didn’t qualify me to walk. This was my first.

We headed to Long Island and got there in time to see some of Stef’s friends and take a few pictures. Stefanie lived in the dorm for four years, but we met at a small house. It was really more of a “housette” on a nondescript street in Hempstead.

One of the girls told me how much she (and by she I suppose she meant her parents) are paying for monthly rent. I did some quick in-my-head multiplication and figured the house goes for around $4200 a month. Seriously? For that it should come with maid service… which it obviously did not. Obviously.

The day was gray and chilly and we walked the few blocks to the school’s football stadium. My parents, both in their 80s but looking and acting much younger, hoofed it without trouble. Yes, that’s very good news.

The parents and guests filled two thirds of the stands while the grads–reported as about 2,000 by Newsday–sat on folding chairs set up on the field. There was rain, but not much. There were three commencement speakers and, as Helaine noted, no valedictory speaker. I wonder why?

First up was Senator Charles Schumer of New York. Here’s what I took away. The most important part of college is Chuck Schumer.

Next was Nichols Negraponte of MIT’s Media Lab and the One Laptop Per Child project. I have been a fan of his for years but his speech was anything but inspiring. This was the definitive speech when people talk about graduation speeches they don’t remember!

The third speaker was Bob Schieffer of CBS News. He is connected to the school by virtue of his moderating the presidential debate at Hofstra last fall. Scheiffer was charming. He just seemed like a nice guy&#185. I’m not sure there was anything earth shattering said, but I wasn’t disappointed.

All three speakers acknowledged how difficult it would be getting a job in this horrendous economy. No one wanted to hear it, but it’s certainly the 500 pound gorilla in every grad’s life.

By the time we got back to Stef’s dorm room we were down to two hours to vacate! No problem. We’d taken some stuff last weekend and were prepared. With plenty of time to spare her possesions were packed into the back our Helaine and Stef’s cars.

We were back in Connecticut around midnight. I was exhausted and not alone in that regard. Helaine, Stef and my folks were soon in bed and asleep. I followed a few hours later.

This past weekend is a blur! Even while it was in progress it was tough to see where Saturday ended and Sunday began. I woke up this morning thinking it was Sunday.

Stef has graduated. It’s a hell of an accomplishment. We are very proud.

&#185 – Someone I work with was an intern for Scheiffer in Washington and confirms he is a very nice man.

Colgan Air Disgusts Me

We’ve all had bad bosses, but most of us have assumed they didn’t run things in critical sectors like hospitals and airlines. Surprise! They are there too.

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I have been interested in and read as much as I can about the crash of Continental 3407 this past winter in Clarence, NY, outside Buffalo. There are two things to be learned from the accident (probably more, but I’m writing about the two most obvious).

First, air travel is very safe with an intricate mesh of safety features and procedures. Missing one or even a few is OK because the system is designed to be fault tolerant. That’s a good thing and why we all are happier to fly a long distance than drive it.

There is, however, a finite limit to how far you can push that margin of safety–as we’ve seen.

Second, there are bad bosses and bad operators in every field. We’ve all had bad bosses, but most of us have assumed they didn’t run things in critical sectors like hospitals and airlines. Surprise! They are there too.

Reading the NTSB hearing transcripts and other evidence in this crash it seems to me the operators of this flight had too much confidence the system was unbreakably safe. They cut corners knowing a few errors wouldn’t bring a plane down–until it did.

It seems the pilot and co-pilot were not rested, undisciplined and poorly trained. Beyond that, this particular plane though a well respected workhorse had a few quirky features they hadn’t been trained on.

From Flightglobal: The pilots also selected a switch that adds 20kt (37km/h) airspeed to stick shaker and stick pusher stall warning system trip levels, a safety factor that takes into account the fact that wing ice might increase the aircraft’s stalling speed.

The stick shaker activated because of this arbitrary setting, not because the plane had actually stalled (lost its lift). As I understand it that’s not the way most other transport aircraft operate. If the pilot had known that maybe he would have acted differently? Probably.

It’s reported the co-pilot made around $16,000 last year while the 47 old pilot made about $55,000. That income level impacted the operation. Neither could afford to live where they flew. How could a skilled, career oriented pilot choose to fly for Colgan?

Prior to the flight the pilot slept in a crew lounge. Though doing that was against company policy, the lounge was configured in a way which facilitated using it instead of paying for a hotel. Colgan should have known this. The co-pilot flew cross-country the previous night to get to work.

We cannot get back the poor souls who died aboard that flight. Of course that is the tragedy. I hope prosecutors take a very close look at Colgan’s actions and criminal charges, if warranted, are pressed. In that regard prosecutors should be strict.

One last thing. This Colgan flight flew with the Continental name and livery on the plane and tickets. I’m not sure how responsible Continental is, but maybe it’s time we stopped little operations flying with the more respectable name of their partners… or held the named carrier to blame.

Brokaw Beats Me To The Punch

Our system of local government has barely evolved over the past one hundred years and we are still governed by these same archaic institutions formed before the invention of the light bulb, telephone, automobile and computer.

For the past few weeks I’ve been mulling over the cost of decentralized government, wondering how to blog it. Then I picked up this morning’s Times and Tom Brokaw had beaten me to it!

He doesn’t mention Connecticut by name, but we have many problems similar to those he cites for New York, Iowa and the Dakotas.

“Here are a few examples. It’s estimated that New York State has about 10,500 local government entities, from townships to counties to special districts. A year ago a bipartisan state commission said that New Yorkers could save more than a billion dollars a year by consolidating and sharing local government responsibilities like public security, health, roads and education.

One commission member, a county executive, said, “Our system of local government has barely evolved over the past one hundred years and we are still governed by these same archaic institutions formed before the invention of the light bulb, telephone, automobile and computer.””

Each of our 169 towns and cities duplicates the efforts of its neighbors. We have fire and police departments along with road crews and recreation workers.

Some towns, West Haven comes to mind, have multiple fire departments within the same town, each with its own chief and commissioners!

In Connecticut, probably elsewhere too, the wealthy communities don’t want to throw their lot in with the smaller ones. At the same time little towns don’t want to be drowned out by their larger neighbors. I get it.

Having all these layers and levels of government is expensive. Right now it’s a luxury we cannot afford.

My Biz Goes Through More Changes

This business is changing rapidly. TV was once a business of glamour and high salaries. No more.

Local news continues to change. At dinner tonight Ann asked if I’d heard Len Berman was let go at WNBC in New York?

Wow. He’s really good. Is talent that unimportant? Stations would love to believe (and who will stop them) that we on-air types are interchangeable. Commodity anchors are cheaper.

chuck-scarborough.pngNow Gawker speculates (with a denial from WNBC) Chuck Scarborough is on his way out! I can’t imagine a station being more identified with a single talent than Channel 4 and Chuck.

I’ll call him Chuck though we’ve never met.

This business is changing rapidly. TV was once a business of glamour and high salaries. No more. Chuck Scarborough is rumored to earn $3m, Len Berman $1m. Those days are gone. This is not “bank error in your favor” time.

They’re On The Road Again

I was a horrendous bachelor. I’d grocery shop, gorge myself for a few days, then starve while waiting to go again.

Helaine woke me with a kiss this morning. She opened the bedroom door as she left because I was about to be alone in the house. She and Stef got in the car and headed north. It’s concert time in Verona, NY near Syracuse. The Rick Springfield Stalker Tour lives!

OK–they’re not stalkers. It’s just fun to say.

I was once a bachelor. I can take care of myself for four days, right?

I had a 1:45 PM appointment in Branford to get my hair cut with Francine at Allusions. At 1:45 PM I was on the “Q” Bridge and on phone. “I’ll be a few minutes late,” I said. That didn’t take long.

I’m not sure how or why but even a day alone leaves the house noticeably messier. Is Helaine walking behind me undoing my mess when she’s home? It’s possible.

I was a horrendous bachelor. I’d grocery shop, gorge myself for a few days, then starve while waiting to go again. Helaine still talks about the ketchup bottle “ketchupped” to my ugly yellow Parsons table. Clean clothes would lay on the floor and never quite make it into the dresser or closet. At one point I had an apartment with mushrooms growing from the bathroom vanity.

I’m not proud of myself as a bachelor, but it’s been nearly 30 years. We’ve passed the statute of limitations. We have, haven’t we?

Though they’re gone there’s no doubt Helaine and Stef care and worry. As I was about to fly out the door I saw the two plates of butter cookies with fruit jam centers.

I can be bought off with food.

How Much Longer?

We headed upstairs past clusters of people smarter than us. I got a cup of coffee in the back and headed to my favorite spot–the magazines.

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Thursday night in New Haven, CT. Noah was off in New York for the Big East Tournament. Ann left to have dinner with her husband and an old college friend. Ted and I were alone for dinner. Usually that means heading somewhere we can’t go with Ann (very picky with food). Thursday night that meant Gourmet Heaven on Broadway near Yale.

Dinner was great and quick. We were left with some extra time which meant walking down the block to the Yale Bookstore.

The bookstore is really a Barnes & Noble re-badged to reflect the community and probably ease the pain caused when the original Yale Co-op was squeezed out a few years ago.

We headed upstairs past clusters of people smarter than us leafing through heavy tomes on weighty subjects. I got a cup of coffee in the back and headed to my favorite spot–the magazines.

The photo at the top of this entry probably shows half the titles on sale at the bookstore. They range from the common to specialized to esoteric to totally off-the-wall weird. The computer mags are close to some with bikini clad tattooed women leaning against motorcycles.

This part of the bookstore might as well be on the endangered species list. Pulp publishing is a dying business.

I remember as a college student subscribing to Time Magazine and poring through its pages weekly. The news and analysis were still new to me when the magazine arrived. Now, even the morning paper is sadly dated by the time it hits my front steps.

Too slow. To expensive. Too bad.

I remember when growing up how my parents would claim radio drama had been superior to TV as a medium of the mind. I’ve heard old radio. They were mistaken. TV was better. Will I be looked upon as having made the same mistake?

The Internet is better for transmitting words and pictures than magazines. I’m still in love with type set on paper.

Two Stops On A Busy Day In New York City

I’ve been writing for PCMag.com’s websites since May. My only contact has been through email and phone calls. They know I’m alive because I cash their checks!

I am not from the morning people! Unfortunately, the only way to spend the day in New York City is to wake up and leave early. I was up by eight–don’t laugh that’s early for me. I was on the 9:30 AM quasi-express (local to Stamford then express 125 Street) from New Haven’s Union Station.

nh-train-station-underground-tube.jpgAround 20 years ago the underground passageway to the New Haven platforms was turned into a tube of aluminum foil. I took two photos before someone from the New Haven Parking Authority told me to stop. “Homeland Security,” he said. Right.

Just last week the National Press Photographers Association wrote Amtrak (Union Station is theirs) about this very same problem saying, “As far as we can determine, there are no pertinent laws, rules, or regulations specifically prohibiting photography nor any Amtrak rules or regulations establishing a permit scheme.”

metro-north-trains.jpgI stopped taking pictures, though the inner Geoff was screaming at me to press the point.

It is nearly two hours from New Haven to GCT. I reverted to my 12-year old self and stood at the front window looking down the tracks. There’s a lot of rail traffic on this line and a lot of maintenance work being performed.

I wish Metro-North washed their train windows more often.

NYCTA-subway-car.jpgI snapped a few shots in the terminal than headed down into the subway for the trip to PC Magazine. I know many out-of-towners dismiss the the subway but it’s the best way to get around by far! The trip to 28th Street took around ten minutes. My destination was a block away.

I’ve been writing for PCMag.com’s websites since May. My only contact has been through email and phone calls. They know I’m alive because I cash their checks!

I cleared security and headed to the 11th floor. Carol Mangis, my editor, was waiting there. I like referring to her as “my editor.” It makes me feel like a real writer.

She’s very nice. Of course I’d already figured that out. This was just on-the-ground confirmation.

We walked around the office and I got to put faces on the names I’ve been reading–some for years. And again, as with Carol, they seemed very nice.

pc-magazine-lab.jpgOK–an admission. I have a weakness for writers. They are my rock stars. The writer’s skill set is one I value greatly. That they allow me into their fraternity scares me. If they’re letting me in, maybe it’s not as cool as I thought?

There’s a lot to be said for the PC Magazine offices. As you enter the first thing you see is the lab. There is row after row of test benches. One line had laptops. Another row had desktops. There were techie toys all over the place.

pj.jpgI finally got to see an OLPC in the flesh. Small. Toylike. Disappointing. It’s probably why we are seeing so many netbooks today. Like the first generation of PCs the OLPCs real purpose seems to be to spur innovation from others.

I visited PJ Jacobowitz in the photo lab. The new Canon 5D Mark II was sitting on a table with a 28-70mm f4 IS lens affixed. I looked for something weighty to knock PJ unconscious so I could make off with the camera. Too much security… though it was tempting.

carol-mangis.jpgCarol and I headed to lunch at an Indian restaurant. She said the neighborhood is now known for its huge Indian contingent. A line of taxis stood parked on the street. Probably Indian ex-pat drivers getting their lunch.

I could describe what I had, but I have no idea. There was some sort of chicken and some variety of bread and cauliflower in a spicy sauce. It was good. Isn’t that enough detail?

I spent a little more time at the PC Magazine offices before heading downtown. Again it was a very easy subway trip taking the local to Union Square then the express to Wall Street and the New York Stock Exchange.

I didn’t realize until yesterday how secure and isolated the NYSE has become. Wall Street is no longer a vehicular thoroughfare–just foot traffic. The NYSE’s building itself is cordoned off from the street. They’d probably build a moat if they could.

wendie-and-geoff.jpgNightly Business Report, the daily business show on PBS, was celebrating its thirtieth anniversary. They were at the NYSE to ring the closing bell then broadcast the show from the trading floor.

My friend Wendie is the executive producer. That’s why I was there. I was also the semi-official behind-the-scenes photographer.

Getting into the Stock Exchange is no small task. If you’re on the list you enter from a canopied area at Broad and Wall. Inside you pass through a metal detector then get shuttled to the sixth floor.

I can’t remember the last time I rode in an elevator with an elevator operator!

Wendie and the others were working on the show. It sounds glamorous to be broadcasting from this storied location, but any time you’re away from home base there are a variety of obstacles to overcome. It’s never as easy as being in the studio.

nyse-board-room.jpgToday the problem was Internet access. There were three laptops on a large table, but I never saw more than one working at the same time! And the particular one that did work would change from time-to-time.

After a while we headed into the boardroom for a presentation. It is exactly what you’d expect–a huge table with embedded microphones. The walls had large portraits of past NYSE chairmen. There was intricate gold work on the the walls with more elaborate trim where they met the ceiling.

It didn’t just reek of money. It reeked of old money–very old money.

nyse-trading-floor.jpgOne of the exchange’s PR people caught sight of me. I was wearing an untucked shirt and jeans. Maybe, I could wear the jeans on the floor, but I’d need a coat. Luckily there was a closet full of them! They’d had this problem before.

As the Nightly Business crew moved up to the balcony from which they’d sound the closing bell I headed to the floor. IMG_6094.jpgOMFG! I’d had an experience like this before when I walked into Mission Control in Houston. Here was a place I’d seen a million times on TV and it was larger than life.

There wasn’t the frantic yelling and gesturing you’ve seen in movies, but there was plenty of noise and plenty going on.

The stock exchange floor is a room within a room. If you look up you can see the old high ceiling. Beneath that is a metal superstructure which makes the de facto ceiling today. There are clusters of computer monitors flanking the trading stations.

nyse-no-photo-sign.jpgI saw the little workspace reserved for Fox Business Network. It’s the size of a New York apartment’s half bathroom. That gives you an idea of the value of space in this place.

Considering all the times you’ve seen this place on the tube it was funny to see signs warning about photography! I wasn’t alone with a camera. There were crews from the various financial channels roaming the aisles and a house photographer who hung with us.

I photograph all signs that say no photography.

nbr-on-air.jpgWe headed back to the sixth floor to finish working on the show then back down around six. Now the elevator was without an operator. The trading floor was quiet. It was still very impressive.

The Nightly Business News crew had already moved in two cameras, lights, TelePrompters and everything else you need for a show. There were glitches with audio and some glare to be taken care of, but nothing more than any other night on any other show. There was no reason to panic.

paul-and-susie.jpgFrom 6:30 until 7:00 the show aired flawlessly. If there were problems they certainly weren’t noticed at home.

I gave Wendie a hug and a kiss and headed home.

The long trip from Connecticut to New York City seems even longer when going home. I easily made the 7:37 from Grand Central and was home before 10:00 PM.

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Crime Pays–That’s Upsetting

We have now shown that for years consumers were consistently low-balled to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars.

I’ve just read a story in the Times about a database run by United Health Care. IT was used by UHC and other insurance companies to come up with the “reasonable and customary” numbers used to decide out-of-network reimbursement.

UHC’s subsidiary that ran the database estimated low to the tune of 28%. New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said:

“For years this database was treated as credible and authoritative, and consumers were left to accept its rates without question. This is like pulling back the curtain on the wizard of Oz. We have now shown that for years consumers were consistently low-balled to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars.”

New York reached an agreement with UHC. It’s not cirminal and it takes United Health off the hook. Cost to United Health Care–$50 million.

Hold on. Didn’t Cuomo say, “consumers were consistently low-balled to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars.” Taking Attorney General Cuomo at his word the least UHC could have made was $200,000,000. So, at the worst they had a 4:1 return on this investment.

Where is the disincentive to be evil?

Up All Night With Law And Order

This last episode had Richard Libertini in a smaller roll. That’s a pretty good catch for episodic TV. Nancy Marchand is in this one. Same sentiment applies.

The house is quiet. I am playing poker. The TV is on. I’ve been watching Law and Order–original cast.

This is such an excellent show. Because of my hours it was difficult to appreciate first-run.

Obviously, the ensemble cast was great but the show also calls upon the huge pool of New York actors–and these are different than the people you see in Los Angeles.

This last episode had Richard Libertini in a smaller roll. That’s a pretty good catch for episodic TV. Nancy Marchand is in this one. Same sentiment applies.

It’s witty. It’s clever. It’s good enough to motivate me to watch it on TNT.

Our Busy Weekend

We found out his Mac notebook doesn’t have a VGA out port. He couldn’t plug in to the projector. Seriously–no VGA plug? I am surprised even though my friends with Mac always tell me how much they like their machines and how frustrated they are by some tasks they can’t perform or programs they can’t run.

For the Foxes this was a busy weekend. We had events Saturday and Sunday.

Saturday evening was spent with Harvey and Sandy in Woodbridge. They have an annual Chanukah party. We’ve been going most years for as long as I can remember. Ages ranged from 11 weeks to too old to gracefully ask.

We get to Wodbridge totally on smaller secondary roads. At one point we take a narrow 2-lane road twisting along the shore of a reservoir. There’s water on one side and a fence on the other. Saturday evening was extremely foogy. No fun driving in that.

menorahs-w250-h250.jpgDuring Chanukah Jewish families light the menorah each night at sundown. The tradition at Harvey and Sandy’s party is all the families bring their own menorahs and light them at once–which was great because the party used to be early in Chanukah.

Saturday each family lit seven candles plus an additional ‘helper’ candle. Helaine and I discussed standing by with 9-1 dialed on the cellphone. The dining room was noticably warmed by all those candles.

We look forward to the “pigs in blankets” served each year. As we walked in someone was carrying them to the basement. That’s where the kids usually hang out. Did we go downstairs just for the pigs? I’ll never tell.

Harvey always has fun toys to play with. This time he had X-Plane installed. Running on his Mac with a flight yoke and pedals it was amazingly fun to fly. It was impossible for me to easily control.

One of their three grown, daughters&#185 was home. She works in New York as a production assistant on some Bravo productions. Both Helaine and Stef were impressed she was working on Top Chef, which they enjoy and I’ve never seen.

Sunday the occasion was totally different. It was my friend Farrell’s mother’s 90th birthday. Being 90 is a difficult job. Ruth is equal to the task.

I wrote about Ruth in August 2005. She was about to get caught up in one of the biggest news stories of the decade.

I just got off the phone with my friend’s mom in New Orleans.

We’ve never met in person, but she knows me. I’ve fixed her computer by remote control. She’s seen me on TV while visiting her daughter in Connecticut. I’ve known her son for over 25 years and he’s a trusted friend.

She understands I’m looking out for her.

“Leave,” I said. “Leave now.”

ruth_meisel.jpgRuth lives in Connecticut now, near her daughter. Her home was flooded and destroyed in Katrina’s aftermath.

A few days ago Farrell sent me an email, looking for a way to make a slideshow of family photographs. I suggested Animoto. Farrell came with the slideshow in his laptop…his Mac laptop.

That’s when we found out his Mac notebook doesn’t have a VGA out port. He couldn’t plug in to the projector. Seriously–no VGA plug? I am surprised even though my friends with Mac always tell me how much they like their machines and how frustrated they are by some tasks they can’t perform or programs they can’t run.

I found a way to convert the slideshow video to an m4v file (never heard of it before) which was somehow compatible with another laptop–a Dell. We used ‘sneaker net’ in the form of a USB stick to move it. The slideshow did go on.

At age 90 you get a note from your congressman (Rep. Rosa DeLauro) and a proclamation from the governor declaring your birthday as Ruth Meisel Day in Connecticut.

Ruth wore a crown. It’s good to be Queen.

&#185 – Sandy went to the hospital to give birth to their second child. It was only after the delivery they discovered there was one more child in there. Really.

Some Christmas In New York City

Here’s a little feel of New York this time-of-year.

After meeting Stef at the museum we had sushi on the West Side. Then I drove her to Penn Station. What was I thinking? It’s the height of Christmas traffic in the city!

“Were you ever scared to drive in New York?” she asked. Never. Maybe it’s because I grew up there. I’ve just never found the aggressive jockeying for position in Midtown Manhattan to be a problem. It’s one place you can’t drive without 100% attention.

Here’s a little feel of New York this time-of-year.

The Hillary Trial Balloon

I might live to regret saying this, but it’s not going to happen.

It’s tough to go to a news website today and not see Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton’s names linked together. Here’s a sentence from the Times:

“Speculation in recent days has focused on the possibility that Mr. Obama would ask Mrs. Clinton, a second term senator from New York, to be his secretary of state.”

I might live to regret saying this, but it’s not going to happen. That prediction has nothing to do with the relationship between Clinton and Obama and everything to do with what amounts to a demotion for her.

As New York’s Junior Senator Hillary Clinton can speak her mind. If she disagrees with President Obama she can step in front of the cameras or onto the Senate floor and let it all out. As secretary of state she becomes his surrogate. It’s his policies, not hers, that she’ll be selling.

This is not to say secretary of state isn’t a pivotally important position. You can have a hand in world peace… or tumult. But you are not your own man woman. I sense that’s important to her.

Hillary Clinton will find a place of prominence in the Democratically controlled US Senate. I can’t image her not taking advantage of that.

The Numbers Are In

Nielen ratings are in for last night’s debate

The Nielsen ratings are in for last night’s debate. I’m confused by the list of stations aggregated which doesn’t include Fox News and MSNBC, both of which would add significantly to the final total.

If these overnight numbers stand, the ratings are well below other recent debates.

OK–I’m a little surprised. I thought for sure there would be a lot more interest considering all the buzz.



DMA Rank Market RTG Rank RTG SHR (000) 21 St. Louis 1 52.1 82.0 649 48 Memphis 2 49.5 67.0 330 26 Baltimore 3 47.1 66.0 515 9 Washington, DC (Hagrstwn) 4 44.6 68.0 1030 29 Nashville 5 44.0 66.0 424 46 Greensboro-H.Point-W.Salem 6 42.2 61.0 285 32 Columbus, OH 7 41.5 63.0 377 43 Norfolk-Portsmth-Newpt Nws 8 41.4 59.0 298 58 Richmond-Petersburg 9 40.3 55.0 211 18 Denver 10 39.7 65.0 586 24 Charlotte 11 39.3 54.0 426 7 Boston (Manchester) 12 39.3 58.0 944 22 Portland, OR 13 39.0 74.0 450 31 Kansas City 14 37.7 61.0 350 16 Miami-Ft. Lauderdale 15 37.2 52.0 573 38 West Palm Beach-Ft. Pierce 16 36.4 55.0 282 27 Raleigh-Durham (Fayetvlle) 17 36.2 54.0 377 51 Buffalo 18 36.1 54.0 230 25 Indianapolis 19 35.3 59.0 379 53 New Orleans 20 34.8 48 209 11 Detroit 21 34.3 55.0 661 59 Knoxville 22 34.3 51.0 185 61 Tulsa 23 34.1 55.0 178 45 Oklahoma City 24 34.0 55.0 231 40 Birmingham (Ann and Tusc) 25 33.5 48.0 245 52 Providence-New Bedford 26 33.5 50.0 211 15 Minneapolis-St. Paul 27 33.4 59.0 569 19 Orlando-Daytona Bch-Melbrn 28 33.4 52.0 479 62 Ft. Myers-Naples 29 33.3 51.0 164 28 San Diego 30 33.0 59.0 349 50 Louisville 31 33.0 48.0 218 17 Cleveland-Akron (Canton) 32 32.9 55.0 505 37 San Antonio 33 32.9 48.0 261 20 Sacramnto-Stkton-Modesto 34 32.7 55.0 454 4 Philadelphia 35 32.1 51.0 941 44 Albuquerque-Santa Fe 36 32.1 50.0 218 23 Pittsburgh 37 32.1 51.0 371 6 San Francisco-Oak-San Jose 38 32.0 62.0 779 13 Tampa-St. Pete (Sarasota) 39 31.7 49.0 569 49 Austin 40 31.6 52.0 201 36 Greenvll-Spart-Ashevll-And 41 31.5 46.0 265 64 Dayton 42 31.4 50.0 161 1 New York 43 31.3 48.0 2317 8 Atlanta 44 30.9 52.0 714 3 Chicago 45 30.7 51.0 1067 14 Seattle-Tacoma 46 30.3 58.0 541 30 Hartford & New Haven 47 30.2 45.0 306 47 Jacksonville 48 30.0 47.0 196 33 Salt Lake City 49 29.9 63.0 261 35 Milwaukee 50 29.2 49.0 262 34 Cincinnati 51 28.3 49.0 256 42 Las Vegas 52 27.9 46.0 196 5 Dallas-Ft. Worth 53 27.7 46.0 671 2 Los Angeles 54 26.4 50.0 1484 12 Phoenix (Prescott) 55 24.8 47.0 448 10 Houston* 56 0.0 0.0 0 Weighted Avg. of 55 markets* 33.2