Reminiscences

I remember the first days in all the newsrooms I’ve worked. I already wrote about Cadillac.

My first day in Lansing, after filling out the paperwork, was spend on my feet, in the media gallery, of the Michigan State Senate. All eight hours of my first day. It was a rough indoctrination into covering the legislature. I hated it that day, and every single time thereafter I was sent there.

I was shadowing Tom Schmidt. He was the chief photographer at WLNS. The reporter was Paul Friefeld (at least, that’s how I think the last named is spelled). And I didn’t do ANYTHING except stand there, all frickin’ day.

The days got better in Lansing. There was a real feel of camaraderie in that newsroom then, mostly because we were all getting paid for crap, so we all hung around together. Chris Bolla, Kelli Saam, Pete Ziemilis, Brian Baltosiewitz (two last names I’m sure I got wrong!), are but a few of friends I made there.

After three and a half years, I headed for the worst (or second worst, I’m not sure) mistake I ever made. I took a job at WEYI. I thought it was a good move. They were adding newscast, buying new gear, I was moving back home. But, oh my GOD! was that a rotten place to work. The new gear they bought? New 3/4 gear. In 1993. It was downhill from there.

My first day there was spent shooting a story with Pat Scott. We did some story at the University of Michigan-Flint. And for some reason, on the drive there, I kept thinking how trusting people are. Here I am, driving a station vehicle, using expensive equipment, with a woman who has never met me. Hell, I could have been an axe murder!

Again, all of us being stuck in a hellhole, we (mostly) pulled together to make the most out of a bad situation. After 47 weeks, I had had enough, and moved to Battle Creek.

When I interviewed for the job at WWMT, for the bureau photog position, Steve Hayes met me at the Battle Creek bureau, showed me around the place, asked me questions. Then he bought lunch at Schloztskis (again, I’m sure I’ve messed up the spelling). I remember telling him that he had to hire me, just so I could keep having lunch there! Mmm, that’s good eating! Or was, until they closed up.

I loved working there. Battle Creek is a great town. Big enough to have things to do, small enough to not feel crowded. And I learned how to be a good photographer there. The station had a photog-oriented philosophy. Good video, good editing, good story telling. And I ate it up. I watched the newscast to see how other photogs shot their stories, and try to emulate them. I made good friends there, both at the station, and among the community. And, I was at spot news so much that the fire chief would walk up to me to give me information.

Every spring and fall, the zoo would move the petting zoo animals either to or from winter quarters. And I got to shoot video of it. They (or maybe me) called it “the running of the goats”. It was tricky to shoot because there wasn’t a lot of time to shoot the animals, and I had to make sure I didn’t get trampled! But it was fun!

Eventually, for partly personal reasons and partly professional reasons, I left the Cereal City to head back home. I got hired in the newsroom I wanted to work in almost since the first day I had a camera on my shoulder.

I remember watching ABC12 while growing up. Mom would watch WNEM at 6 o’clock, and ABC12 at 11pm, and even then I thought ABC12 was a better product. When I started learning about shooting tv news, I began to understand why I thought ABC12 looked better. And I wanted to work there.

Phil Hendrix called me up in June of 2000 and asked if I still wanted to work there. I said yes, and I gave my two-weeks notice to WWMT the next day. I liked working there from day one. The first day there was spent basically standing around, getting the feel of the newsroom, the way they did things.  Then I went with Stan Simmons to a live shot at the Atlas Country Club, a live shot for Ed Phelps, the dean of sports in the area.

There’s a certain feel about that newsroom, a professionalism balanced with an understanding that there’s life outside the newsroom. And it my opinion, that feel is because of Jim Bleicher. He’s the best news director I’ve ever worked for. He balances being boss with being friend. And that’s a hard balance to find. I figured I’d end up retiring from there, unless of course Diane wanted to move somewhere else.

But the old feeling kept creeping in. The feeling that I didn’t want to have a camera on my shoulder until retirement, standing in the cold, shooting fires in the rain, doing live shots while dodging lightning strikes. And the feeling that the business is run by consultants. The stupid “next great idea” that the business would chase after. I wore me out. I’d had enough.

When I saw the job opening at Mott, I knew that this was my chance to get out of the business that I’d loved since day one, the business that I had become disillusioned about. I’m going to miss shooting news, miss the newsroom, the people, I’m just not going to miss the inanity that I feel is rive. I feel I would think this way no matter where I would work. I’m not running away from ABC12, I’m escaping a business I don’t like anymore.

Seriously, I am!

One thing I wanted to address in the previous post is that I am still around the blogosphere, I’m just not posting very often.

I bring this up because in addition to Pud asking if I was still around, Dyck also posted a diatribe about my lack of frequent posting.  Here’s why.

A few months ago, work discovered the blog, and while they never said I can’t post about whatever I want, I just can’t do it at work, which is where I used to do a lot of posting, mostly because the topics that came to mind were fresh in my mind while I was at work.  Now, I post from home, and to be honest, the emotion, the passion that made posting fun for me is lost by the time I get home.  When I do try to post from home, my writing is pure vanilla, so boring even I wouldn’t want to read it.

So, while I don’t seem to be around, I am.  I’m still reading the daily blog roll, for the most part.  I just don’t post here all that often.

I’m still here

I know it’s been a while since I’ve posted. I got an email from Pud
asking if I was still around. Yeah, but lurking mostly.

However, I’d be remiss if I didn’t pay tribute to four compatriots who died in a horrific helicopter crash Friday. I was out of town camping all weekend, and didn’t hear about the crash until last night.

Jim Cox, Scott Bowerbank, Rick Krolak, and Craig Smith were just four guys, doing a job not unlike mine, trying to make a living, and were killed in the crash.

I didn’t know these guys, but I feel their passing deep down. There but for the grace of God…

There isn’t much I can add, other than my sincere condolences to the families and the newsrooms. Here, however, a pretty lively discussion is going on. Stop by, and hear how our community is dealing with this loss.

FREE GAS!!!

I read this on the Associated Press this morning…

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) – Flint and Warren rank among the nation’s safest driving cities and are among the most improved, according to a two-year study done by Allstate Insurance. Detroit is second behind Milwaukee among cities with populations between 500-thousand and one million people. Allstate bases their rankings on two years of internal crash data for 200 of the nation’s most populated cities. In Flint and Warren, drivers go more than 13 years between accidents. In Detroit, drivers go nearly 12 years. To reward residents for their rankings, Allstate will give away free gas at the Fast Track service station in Warren beginning at 6:30 a.m. this (Thursday) morning.

After getting up off the floor from laughing, (calling Flint a “safe driving” city is funny to me) I noticed in the rundown that the producers are having Kevin go live with this story. Ok, there’s nothing better going on, why not.

Kevin and I chose a busy intersection (well, the intersection will be busy when the morning commute starts), and commence a morning series of live shot.

Just after finishing the last live hit, seven, count ‘em, seven people came up to the live truck to ask “Where can I get me sum free gas?!” As Kevin mentioned during all the live hits, the free gas was being given away in Warren, an hour away from Flint. Dorkheads only heard “free gas”, and heard nothing else. They saw where we were going live from, and thought they’d “hear on over.” Egad.

Look out!

Ok. This is blog-worthy.

This morning, I was sent to shoot a bunch of people planting flowers and bushes and stuff, all part of a project to make the “gateways” into the city look better. I pull up to the location, load the disc into the camera, extend the tripod, sling the camera over my shoulder, and head across the street to shoot the video.

As I approach the corner, I look to make sure the “Walk” light is lit…it is. I then look for oncoming traffic (I don’t trust most drivers), and see a truck headed toward her red light. I then look the other way and see a minivan headed for her green light.

“Uh, oh”, I think. Then CRASH!!!!! The pickup ran the red, t-boning the minivan. I’ve never actually witnessed a crash before. I started over to the van to check if any one is hurt, all the while looking at the other vehicle. I notice at least three people with phones to their ears, so I figure 911 is covered.

In the back seat of the van are two young children, one less than a year old, I’d guess, who is unhurt, but crying up a storm. The other boy, I’d guess about four, has some serious cuts to his face from the window that shattered right next to his face. Mom is holding a cloth to his face to try to stop the bleeding, while asking someone to call her husband, which I gladly do, telling him where the accident happened.

The whole thing just kinda freaked me out, making me think about our accident in November of ‘05. Just like this accident, someone ran the red right in front of me, and we t-boned his truck.

A hell of a way to get the adrenaline flowing.

(What a dumb-ass.  I wrote this last week, and thought I had published it.  Apparently not.  I must have clicked the save button instead of the publish button.  Dork.)

Sleeping

Ok. I try not to make this a “dad” blog, but this is an example.

A few months ago, we had to put one of our cats down, Sylvester. He was about 14 years old, and was very ill. Diane wanted to wait a while before getting another cat.

Two weeks ago, she did it. After talking with a woman who’s cat had a litter for about a month, Diane made arrangements to adopt one of the kittens. She came home with TWO. She was worried about having kittens in the house, since she had never had kittens around.

Ever since then, Diane has been THRILLED watching these two play around the house. She now knows why people like kittens around. They play with EVERYTHING!!!

I love to hear Diane laughing at the kittens antics. Literally, anything is a toy, including each other.

Polanco is a Siamese, and cute as can be. Startlingly blue eye, playful, he’s just the cat Diane wanted. She had a Siamese years ago, and has wanted one for a long time. Drew came up with the name by borrowing the name of the Detroit Tiger’s second baseman, Placio Polanco. It’s good to be thirteen.

Pandora was the runt of the litter. She’s small, thin, and is the one most likely to get into crap! Diane didn’t plan on adopting her, but when she went to pick up Polanco, Pandora would have been left alone, and they were planning on dropping her off at the Humane Society. Being the softy she is, Diane just couldn’t leave Pandora behind. And I’m happy she didn’t. Diane came up with her name because she gets into everything!

This is the three of them sleeping.  Too cute for be to not take a picture.

(Sorry Stew.  I know you don’t like kitten blog posts.)

Wow! He’s alive!

Yeah, I know.  I haven’t posted in a month.  I’m working on it.

Today was one of those days I hate.  A fatal accident involving two teenagers.

The girl was 16, driving down a paved rural road, driving too fast.  She lost control, crashing into a tree.  Her and her male passenger died instantly.

Kevin and I were live at the scene for the morning show.  We didn’t expect any students to stop by until 630am, and we steeled ourselves for the emotional onslaught.  However, we didn’t encounter anyone until about 73o, when two girls who knew the kids in the accident arrived.

The worst part of this job is to approach people grieving.  Hate it.  Hate everything about it.  Still, it is part of the job.

Randy and Eric were live at the school, where they got sound from the principal and of a few students arriving.  I’m sure they were thinking the same thing.

Thoughts

This morning I was watching the Rachael Ray show (we air the show, and I was stuck in an edit bay editing for the noon show), and they had Colby Donaldson (Survivor fame) doing a story about chivalry and whether it’s dead or not.  After the story, Colby was talking with Rachael and said something to the effect of doing nice things for people (like opening doors, helping carry things, etc.) makes you feel good.  And he’s right.

Today while driving home, at a four-way stop near home, I got to the intersection at the same time as another vehicle, and we were both going to be going the same way.  Since I was driving the old truck (which is a bit slow to accelerate), I waved the other driver through, despite me having the right of way.  It was kinda nice, and I felt kinda good about it, especially when I saw that she accelerated much faster than I was.

The reason I’m driving the old truck is that some idjot hit Diane’s van, while parked at school, and tore the front bumper off.  Now it’s in the shop, and Diane is driving my S-10, leaving me with the old truck.

I’d fogotten how much I enjoy driving that truck.  I bought it eleven years ago, and she’s never let me down.  Now, she’s looking a bit rough, and needs some exhaust work (she’s REALLY loud), but she’s still getting me where I need to go.  I miss driving that truck.

The big reason it mostly sits in the driveway is because it’s a gas guzzler, and with gas prices as high as they are, I just can’t drive it everyday.  But there’s something nice about sitting above most of the rest of the vehicles on the road (she’s a full sized 3/4 ton pickup and she’s not small).

Of course, when another idjot ran a red light in front of me back in 2001, causing me to hit him, it cruched in the driver’s side front corner of the truck.  Ever since then, the truck’s look have been declining.  But I just don’t want to replace her.  We need a third vehicle for when one is in the shop, and we need a big pickup to haul stuff, so until she starts to cost too much to keep running, we’re gonna keep her around.  Plus, I’d miss her if we sold her.

Oh, you may notice a few new widgets on the right side of the blog.  One is an image I created at meez.com .  Just something I was playing around with.  I discovered from Weaver.

Second, I was playing around with the widgets that wordpress provides, and found the map!  I’m planning to put my shoots on the ma.  Feel free to add any locations you want as well.

Stupid dog

As my fellow photog blogger Newshutr wrote..

“I haven’t let the blog go. Just nothing of note to blog about. We got a whole lot of snow today but writing about snow coverage is about as exciting as actually covering snow.

So, when something happens, I’ll put it here. Otherwise, I’m sorry for the lack of posts but then again, I’ve never been all that interesting of a person anyways.”

My thought exactly.

Well, today I have something to blog about. It’s going to be a long one.
In February, 2003, Diane, Drew and I went to the animal shelter looking for a dog to adopt. With me working nightside, Diane was uncomfortable being in the house without a dog. Understandable, seeing that we were living in the city of Flint at the time, and bad things happen there.

So, we started looking. We walked through, trying to find a dog that we liked. We didn’t have a specific type of dog in mind, just something that would bark (and maybe give pause to a potential criminal). There were a lot of dogs at the shelter. Too many, actually. It’s sad to see dogs that may be put down.

As we were finishing our first lap around the kennels, we saw a dog that grabbed my eye. An obvious chocolate lab-mix. Labradors are great dogs. We grabbed a leash, and took her outside for a walk. After spending time, and a lot of discussion, we adopted her.

I love dogs. I was happy bringing a dog home. Until she dropped a load in the middle of the living room as soon as we got her home. Not a good beginning.

That night, after dinner, the three of us broke out a dog-name book to find a fitting name for the poop-meister. I was throwing out outrageous names (as my personality requires of me) while Diane thumbed through the pages. Nothing seemed to fit.

Until we got to the “T’s”. Toffee. We all looked at each other after I read it. Toffee. It was perfect. Toffee it is.

Over the next four years, Toffee has become a member of the family. She’s a good dog. She minds well, even if she doesn’t want to. I’ll tell her to lay down, and she looks at me as if to say “But I don’t wanna”. But lay down she does. She almost always minds me, even if I have to say something three or four times, just like the perpetual three-year old child most dogs are.

Toffee is the most emotionally needy dog I have ever met. She needs to be in your personal space. Not just close enough for you to pet her, noooooo. She needs to be in your lap. As I already said, she’s a lab-mix, weighing in at about fifty pounds. She is NOT a lap dog, despite her thinking she’s a lap dog.

Toffee’s a sweetheart. We got her as a crime deterrent. Good thing we never had to put that to a test, because all she could do is lick someone to death.

When Diane’s dad visits, she just goes wild. She gets so excited to see him, she starts whining with joy. She doesn’t do that with anyone else. It’s the funniest thing to watch. Bill and Joyce don’t have any pets, but Bill is a natural with dogs, and they just love him, Toffee included. Sometimes she get so excited around him we have to put her in the bedroom until she calms down for Bill to have some peace!

In June of 2005, we got another dog, Einstein. Diane has always wanted a Norfold terrier, and Einstein was just the dog she wanted. We picked him up from a pet rescue agency in Monroe, Michigan. It was hot that day, damned hot. And the house where we picked Einstein up at had no air conditioning, and a lot of animals. Aromatic is a polite way of describing the house.

We knew Einstein had health issue, after being badly treated in the past. We didn’t care. We fell in love with him almost instantly.

Toffee was hesitant about the inclusion of an interloper in her house. But, they got along well, mostly because of Einstein’s bad health. In fact, Einstein got so bad, we had to put him down just six months later. I didn’t want him to be alone when it happened, so I stayed in the room with him until the end. And I cried like a baby carrying him out to the van.

After a month of internet searching, we found another terrier like Einstein from another pet rescue agency. We had to drive to Athens, Ohio, to pick her up. She was a handful, full of piss and vinegar. We named her Solace, with the hope she would help fill the hole left with Einstein’s passing.

Toffee has a bit of pit in her, which means that sometimes she doesn’t get along with other dogs. Toffee and Solace got along well, it’s just that Solace was just a bit more than Toffee wanted to put up with. After a year, and a lot of soul searching, we sold Solace to a nice family. We kept Toffee because she minds so well, and Solace tends to run away whenever she had the chance. That left just Toffee as the sole dog of the house.

Last week, Toffee was favoring her hip, so much so that she couldn’t walk without visable pain, and couldn’t squat to poop. We took her to the vet, he gave her some pain pills and steroids, thinking that she had some pressure on her spinal cord. The pain abated, but she is still hunched over, still walking stiffly, still not pooping.

I took her back to the vet today, and he said it’s her spine, and there’s nothing he can do about it, he would have to refer us to someone else. That’s going to get expensive. Money we’re not willing, or able, to spend.

Which means we’re going to have to put Toffee down. And I’m tore up about it. Diane’s out with her teacher friends right now, so at this point she doesn’t even know about it.

But this will be Toffee’s last weekend. We could put her down tomorrow morning, but I don’t want to cheat Drew from a weekend to say goodbye. Or maybe I don’t want to cheat myself from a last weekend with her.

For the last week, Toffee has been camped out in our closet. She feels safe in there. And she stays in there until we make her go outside. That’s all she’s going to do, if we don’t get her into surgery. And as I said, that’s not happening.

This is going to be a long, sad weekend.

Good Couple ‘a days

As the title implies, the last two days were relatively good.

Yesterday, Karen and I shot an interview with a couple that have been married for 65 years!

65!!  And they’re full of vim.  They’re both in their eighties, and other than what appears to be some recovery from a stroke in the husband, they’re both in good health, and still deeply in love.

Karen and I were there for about an hour, and we were both fascinated listening to them tell stories about how they met, jobs they’ve had, places they lived.  In fact, the way they helped each other finish sentences, and josh each other, they reminded my of mom and dad.  I haven’t shot that interesting of an interview in a very long time…one of the consequences of working the early morning shift.

This morning, after finishing the AM show live shots in Saginaw, Lisa called to send us to Bay City for a barricaded gunman that was holding his family hostage.  When we got there, the family had already left the house, just leaving the guy who wouldn’t come out.

Kevin and I did live shots for the 825 and 855am cutins, got an interview with the chief of police, and waited the guy out.  And while that sounds boring, and on some level it is, it also kept us out of the newsroom!  That’s never a bad thing.

Until…

The police told us that the guy surrendered to police at about 1125am.  Why couldn’t he have waited just thirty-five minutes more!!!     What made that challenging is that with the barricades in the road being taken down, we had to move our live shot location.  The mast started coming down at 1130.  Kevin rotated the dish back to the home position while I reeled in cables and stuff.  We moved the truck (to a better location…right across from the house, which is a plus), sent the mast up and retuned the live signal.  We were ready for the live shot with five minutes to spare!!!  All the time in the world!!!

I love days like that…spending the day at a news story, hustling to get the live shot set up and video fed.  Things I don’t get to do much working early morning.