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.)

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Rules of the Road

Ok. Enough VT stuff. I’m going to give the rules of the road, according to photogguy.

First, however, allow me to share my little conspiracy theory. This theory is in jest (mostly), so don’t call the guys with the white jackets. At least, not yet.

The theory goes like this. There is a group of evil people, who have monthly meetings where they discuss ways of irritating the ever-loving crap out of me by driving stupidly in front of me! The theory goes that there is a spotter near where I begin driving, be it at home, work, wherever, and once he/she/it/they/satan spots me, the rest of the group jumps into action, with the goal of driving as idiotically as human possible.

Why do I pose this theory? Years of quantifiable visual evidence. A reporter that used to work with me on Saturdays noticed it herself, even before I told her about my theory.

So, now, here are the rules. If you see me around you in traffic, please follow them before I have a stoke (unless you’re in on the conspiracy, then you can eat shit get out of my way.

1. Drive a consistent speed, especially when traveling down the freeway. Nothing frustrates me more than passing someone, only to have them speed up to pass me, then slow down again, over and over and over again. Most cars nowadays have cruise control. Use it.
2. Don’t sit at a green light, picking your nose, only to finally go when the light has turned red. I had this happen to me early Monday morning, only I was going in a different direction than him. I stopped for the red, noticing Gomer sitting there, ignoring his green light. As soon as I got the green, and began to go forward, he hit the gas. Dude, pay attention…although you probably can’t afford it.
3. If you’re lost, get off the road and look at a map. Don’t slow way the f*ck down, looking at addresses, road signs, or maps while you’re driving.
4. When driving at night, when you see an approaching vehicle, turn off the damned brights!  Oh, and don’t wait until you’re only fifty feet away to do it.
5. When entering a freeway, use the acceleration lane for what it’s designed for, acceleration.  In other words, don’t wait until you’re actually on the freeway before getting to freeway speed.
6. Conversely, use the deceleration lane correctly, to decelerate from freeway speeds.  Don’t slow down on the freeway.

These are but a few rules to be followed.  I’ll post more as they come to me.

Monday morning quarterbacking

One of the things that grabbed my attention during the Virginia Tech shootings was how many people focused on placing blame on the campus police department and the university for not locking down the campus after the first two deaths.

Now, hindsight is 20/20, and we all can see the consequences of that decision.  But when the police were first dispatched at about 730am, there were only two victims, and it appeared to be a simple double homicide.  The police had information that the shooter was no longer on the scene, and no reason to think there would be more shootings.

Listening to all the reporters ask why, hearing all the “experts” saying they campus should have been shut down, well, it’s easy to lob rocks from the cheap seats.  No one on the scene could have foreseen this guy staying on campus, taking another 30 lives.

Dear God.

Yesterday was just tragic. Watching the coverage of the Virginia Tech shootings is just disturbing. Trying to understand why anyone would feel the need to get a gun and just start shooting people…well, it’s incomprehensible.

That’s the personal side of what I’m thinking. The professional side of me was thinking this…

Diane and I watched the news conference the president of the university and the chief of the university police, listening intently to the information they were giving out, in disbelief. Especially when it got to the question-and-answer part. Here’s where it got depressing to me.

When I’m in on the coverage of a big story, shooting a news conference, I despise the q-and-a part. It starts innocently enough, with reporters asking pertinent question, questions that the public want, need the answers to. Once those questions are exhausted, it degenerates into what seems a contest to see who can ask the most inane questions. Usually, it’s ok. I just roll my eyes, try to hide behind my viewfinder, and feel embarrassed by the questions. Those questions are usually only heard by media insiders and the people who are enduring the questions.

Big national stories, where the news conferences are being aired live, well, the whole nation gets to hear the dumb questions. And there were plenty of them yesterday afternoon at VT. One guy asked something like, (I’m paraphrasing) “Why didn’t anyone try to stop him. I mean, if I know I’m gonna die, I’m just going to try to stop him myself.” Right, Rambo. I’m sure you’ll the hero at the next mass shooting. That wasn’t the only stupid question, but was the only one that stands out.

And is there any reason why we as a profession aren’t respected by the public?

Oy.

Today, however…

Whereas yesterday rocked, today was it’s antithesis.

Kevin and I spent five hours in court to shoot just more than 20 minutes of video.  Two and a half hours were spent on the hallway floor reading a book.  Two hours were spent waiting in the courtroom for something to happen.  A half hour spent shooting video.

Oy.