Blog Suspended For Now

With the way things are going with the economy and jobs within the company that owns us, I'm temporarily suspending posting on the blog unless something big happens.

It's just a tense time and I'd rather not rock the boat either way..

Just To See Them Cry

Our morning anchor, Abby, made two people cry in two consecutive days. One a fourth grade boy and the second, a grown adult.

Made them both cry. I'll expand more tonight when I have down time. I'm in the middle of moving and the Direct TV guy just showed up.

The Nights Are Getting Colder

It's getting chillier in N.E. Ohio. The scanners have been unusually quiet. I have a feeling that we're going to go bonkers this week, possibly tonight because there are flurries possible for tonight. I'll probably have to chase each and every one of them.

Then comes the vacant house fires. The homeless will break into a vacant home set a fire to keep warm while they sleep and as usual the fire gets out of control. And I'll have to chase those down.

It's a never ending cycle.

Running of the Brides

Take about 400 brides to be, heavily discounted bridal gowns and a Filene's Basement and what do you get?



Look for the two women to face plant around the 1:55 mark... Loads of fun to be had. Although, I saw more tattoos than a tattoo artist, yesterday.

Almost getting run over by frothing at the mouth brides was an experience in itself.

Can't wait to do it next year...

The Height Of Entertainment

Is watching your wife try to play Guitar Hero II while under the effects of a quarter Ambien.

I don't think I've laughed harder in my life.

Happy .40 Cal Birthday To Me

I hit the big one today. 40. Yes, I've turned the corner into middle age. I expect my AARP application in the mail any day now.

Anyways, this morning at work, I was sent to do a live shot at the house where a fire took place three and a half years ago. The fire killed nine people, eight children and one adult. The fire was ruled arson and the killer had not been caught until yesterday.

Well, the house is not in a particularly safe area of Cleveland so, the producers asked me if I felt comfortable going there for the shot. I explained that I'd been there by myself before and felt okay with it. I wasn't really alone, as I had my reporter Bill with me.

Boy, was I wrong this time though.

We arrived at the house and I went about setting up the shot. I established the signal, ran the cables, set the lights and then got my camera. As I was plugging my camera up to the cables, I hear Bill calling my name fairly urgently.

I walk back to the truck, where Bill is on the phone. I see a figure on a bike turn the corner and ride away. Bill looks at me and says, "He had a gun."

"What?"

"He had a gun. He rode up about twenty feet away and was shaking his hand. I looked down and he had a gun in his hand. He was waving it around at me," Bill told me.

I barely saw the guy but yes he did have a gun and he definitely put an urgency to my movements. I called the desk while Bill was telling 911 what he saw.

We scrapped the live shot.

And all I got was an upset stomach for my birthday.

At least we weren't shot or robbed. I'm thankful for that.

Bloody Week

It's been a bloody week and how appropriate for my first week back from vacation. This Wednesday a man was robbed and shot in the parking lot of his apartment complex. He was shot in the arm and hit in the brachial artery. He jumped over a fence leaving a lot of his life on the wood. He bled out running up the street and passed on someone's front stoop, leaving handprints on their door.

Thursday morning, a fatal one car accident where the driver was ejected and died at the scene. I arrived in time enough for me to see them covering up the driver's body. Lucky me. It wasn't pleasant and I could have lived my life without seeing what I saw.

This Friday morning started out quite peaceful. I did a live shot at Cleveland's Benedictine H.S. where I had to shoot the monks having daily mass. Right after mass was over, my phone vibrated and I was told to head to a multiple car accident with a fatal.

One of the monks must have heard me talking to the desk because he came over to me and said, "You must see a lot of bad things." I told him about where I was going and what I'd seen in the two days prior. He put his hand on my shoulder and said a prayer and blessed me. Then he smiled and walked away saying, "Go with God."

I almost cried on the spot.

It's Over...

My vacation, that is. I'm on my weekend then the daily grind starts all over again Monday. Am I looking forward to it? In a strange way, yes. I miss the interaction with co-workers (some, I should say), the spot news coverage and seeing what lies at the scene when I get there.

It'll be good to get back.

Oh Joy...

The remnants of hurricane Ike came through my area last night and let me tell you, I feel for those poor people in the Southeastern part of Texas.

Because of the winds from Ike, I now have no power, running water (from a well), no sanitation capabilities (no power to run the water to refill the toilet), no refrigeration capabilities (hope the freezer holds for another day) and no way to cook food.

So, I'm at a motel with my wife, kids and the dog.

Great way to start the second week of vacation..

Vacation

I'm on two weeks vacation and I'm not going anywhere. I'm staying at home and redding up this cesspool of a home. Lots of toys and accumulated crap is going to be tossed.

It's going to be a fun vacation for sure.

/sarcasm

ABC Producer Arrested In Denver

This is what happens when the police ignore the First Amendment and bully the media.

ABC Producer Arrested In Denver

Police in Denver arrested an ABC News producer today as he and a camera crew were attempting to take pictures on a public sidewalk of Democratic Senators and VIP donors leaving a private meeting at the Brown's Palace Hotel.

Police on the scene refused to tell ABC lawyers the charges against the producer, Asa Eslocker, who works with the ABC News investigative unit.

A police official later told lawyers for ABC News that Eslocker is being charged with trespass, interference, and failure to follow a lawful order. He also said the arrest followed a signed complaint from the Brown Palace Hotel.

Eslocker was put in handcuffs and loaded in the back of a police van which headed for a nearby police station.

Video taken at the scene shows a hotel security guard, wearing the uniform of a Boulder County sheriff, ordering Eslocker off the sidewalk in front of the hotel, to the side of the entrance.

The sheriff's officer is seen telling Eslocker the sidewalk is owned by the hotel. Later he is seen pushing Eslocker off the sidewalk into oncoming traffic, forcing him to the other side of the street.

About 15 minutes later, on-duty Denver police arrived and placed Eslocker under arrest after Eslocker asked why he was being ordered away from the front of the hotel. Dozens of pedestrians can be seen walking by the hotel, located in the heart of downtown Denver.

This is so wrong, I don't even know where to begin. I just hope the Denver police dept. has a good amount of money put away. Makes you wonder who the Denver Police Department works for.

95% of the time the police work well with the media. This is when the five percent rears it's ugly head.

I Hear You Knocking But...

I don't want the damn Watchtower. I don't want to be woken up by my children, after only twenty minutes of my nap time (I still work overnights), telling me that there's a guy with a shirt and tie on with a ticket book at our front door.

I don't want to talk abut Jehovah. Or Yahweh or Buddah, Shiva, Mohhammed, or Confucius either.

I don't want any damn literature or pamphlet.

I want you to go away. Quickly. As in right now.

I have nothing against you or your religion. But as of right now...


I want to sleep.

I want my home to be a bastion of privacy from people knocking on my door, scaring my kids and waking me up to talk about God.

I want to sleep.

I want to pick you up by your collar and belt and physically heave you fifteen feet or so into the air whilst I grumble, "You woke me up...", as you land on a patch of grass in my front yard. Hopefully that patch of grass has been used by my Blue Heeler as her chosen toilet that morning.

And no, I don't want to by frozen meat out of the back of your truck. I don't want to help you with your college student trip to Uzbekistan by buying magazines.

I wonder if a "No Trespassing" sign will work...

What A &^#$@!* Day !!

It started out very badly. One of our cats passed in the morning. We sort of knew it was going to happen but it's not a pleasant time when it does. Max didn't suffer. He just went kind of quickly. He was very loving yesterday, wanted petted, did the normal rub up against you cat things a cat will do when they are affectionate. He also kept staring at me. I loved on him all morning, then went to bed for the day (my night..). I woke up and could not find him. I finally did though, in our basement. He was just laying there, breathing but hardly moving. I picked him up and brought him upstairs. We wrapped him in blankets to make him comfortable but he jumped out and ran downstairs. We decided that we'd take him to the vet to be put down if he made it through the night.

This morning, I woke up and found him, still alive, in the same position in the same spot as yesterday. So I called the vet and got a noon appointment for him. My wife came home early from work and we went downstairs to get him. We couldn't find him right away but I finally did. He managed to settle down in a small space between two boxes and pass away in peace. I dug a small grave for him in our back yard and we placed him in it. He'll be missed.

Oh but the day got better. We were to go to a Lake County Captains baseball game. They're the Class A affiliate of the Cleveland Indians, in case you didn't know. We we supposed to go with my oldest son's boy scout pack. We told the pack leader we would all attend so that would be four in our family for tickets. We got to the park and went to the will call window to pick up our tickets. We're told that there are only two available for us under our name. We try to figure out why that happened (the pack leader screwed up...royally, but that pales in comparison.)

We try to see if there are two closer seats to where we're supposed to sit and of course the answer is "No." But they'll bend for us and comp the two tickets we were given and they'll sell us two other tickets for a total of four tickets together in a different row but at least they'll be together. So, we pay the $14 and get four tickets together. We go to those seats and see that someone has put a jacket and umbrella in one of our seats. I moved it and sat down.

We waited for the game to start when we saw someone from our boy scout pack. I went over to talk to them and explain why we weren't sitting with them. I came back to find my wife talking to a older couple. Seems that they had two of the tickets we were just sold. So the Captains double sold the tickets.

Wonderful.

So, we go and get an usher and explain the situation. He calls over a Captains staffer (an intern with a radio) and we explain the situation abut the lack of tickets for us, the exchange and buying the tickets for those four seats. The intern takes our tickets and says, "I'll see what the problem is and be right back." He comes back about 5 minutes later tells us they double sold the seats and hands us four different tickets. This time the tickets are for the "General Manager Seats" right behind home plate. Section 110, Row S, Seats 13, 14, 15 and 16. So off we go.

And you guessed it....

THERE WAS SOMEONE ALREADY SITTING IN TWO OF OUR SEATS. We showed him our tickets for those seats. Then he showed his tickets for those seats. Guess what? THEY DOUBLE SOLD THOSE TICKETS ALSO!!!

Mother......

Anyways, we go to guest services and are livid. I started to yell at poor Justin, the kid from the Captains guest services department, until my wife shooed me away with the kids to go watch the game we're now two innings into. Well, after another half inning down, my wife comes over and finds me. She says Justin will be back. He's checking on four seats that are first row, right behind the visitor's dugout on the third base line.

Justin comes back, hands us vouchers for free food and four tickets for those coveted seats. He asks us to follow him and escorts us to those seats. The seats are empty and they're wonderful. We couldn't believe our luck.

(say it with me, everyone....)

UNTIL.........

The skies opened up.(Ahhh, you thought I was going to say people showed up and wanted their seats, didn't you??) Lightning, thunder, torrential rains. Heck, if fire fell from the sky, locusts ate our hot dogs and Lake Erie turned blood red, I wouldn't have even batted an eye. It was beyond surreal at this point.

We went to the concourse and shoved ourselves into the mass of humanity huddled together for shelter. We had had enough. The kids were freaking because of the storm and most importantly, they weren't able to get a foul ball!!! Oh the HUMANITY!!

We left. We ran though horrendous rains that soaked us, as well as almost everyone else, when going to the parking lot. It was raining sideways, people.

So, here I am, dry now, at home and blogging about our night from in hell.

Oh, the total number of innings we actually got to watch tonight? Less than one whole inning actually sitting down and watching.

I don't think if they even gave us luxury box passes for the suspended game, I'd go.

A letter to their guest services and ticket offices are going out on Monday.

Here Kitty Kitty

Sent down to northern Medina county overnight to check out a man attacked by a mountain lion.

Yes. I said a mountain lion.

I didn't find a scene when I got down there but apparantly the guy has it as a pet. And he was very uncooporative with the authorities.

I thought I was in for another giant rooster attacking cars story.

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Wow...A Taawdy

My own little award thanks to my fellow blogger Taawd. Finally I'm recognized for my brilliance. Ok..would you believe my apathetic approach to my blog? Yeah, I think that's what I'd believe also. The only reason I think I got this award was because of a Mojito addled Taawd getting home and pressing a few keys on his keyboard. I'm not knocking it. I'll take any drunken award I can get my grubby little fingers on. So, thank you Taawd.

But there is a catch to the accolades. I need to nominate at least seven other blogs and list them here. So, here goes...

1. Mystery Classmate - This is a blog set up by an alumnus of my old high school. He basically takes pictures of our classmates as we are now and then asks the rest of us, Who Is It? It's a fun way to see what our friends and classmates are up to. And how much we've aged.

2. Up The Downstair - A blog by one of our directors at our station. Great insight and wonderful photos. Especially of one of my favorite places on Earth...The Outer Banks of North Carolina.

3. Turdpolisher - A fellow photog from Baton Rouge, LA. His perspective on life, the daily grind and his unique philosophy are the draw. He shames me into wanting to be a better blogger.

4. All Things Cleveland - A blog about the beauty of Cleveland, my adopted hometown, and everything to do with Cleveland.

5. OtakuPhotog - Another fellow photog, Erin Winking. He's in Oklahoma but I've followed his adventures since he was in Illinois. Great reading and he's a great guy.

6. TV Photog Blog - Another brother videographer. Chris Weaver is a photog from North Carolina and another blogger that makes me want to be a better blogger. His sense of humor, caring and our mutual admiration society of Lenslinger, the Godfatehr of photog blogging, is why I give him this award. His stories are wonderful. He's also a good family man. Check him out.

7.J.Y.O.A.G. - A hit or miss blog. Looks like it was gone for a while but is back. Written by someone who speaks his mind and isn't afraid to upset people or kowtow to political correctness.

So, after getting this award from Taawd, I'm giving these blogs above the Taawdy. But there's a catch...

1. Put the logo on your blog.
2. Add a link to the person who awarded it to you.
3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs.
4. Add links to these blogs on your blog.
5. Leave a message for your nominee on their blog.

There you go. Have fun and check up on those bloggers above.

Shift Killing

This was about as much shooting I did today. Taking a still of my camera outside the Cuyahoga County Administrative Building as we were waiting for a county official, who is under investigation by the F.B.I., to return to work.

He didn't show up while I my shift was up. I figured I might as well take a picture of something.

What's on tap tomorrow? Probably the same thing but different county official with the same F.B.I. problems.

Say What?

This past Friday I covered the funeral for a fallen police officer. We were in the small town of Tallmadge, OH where the funeral home was. People had placed small American flags along the street where the procession would start to take the officer to his funeral.

I was setting my camera up after running cable (this was at 4:45a.m.) when a man driving by slows, rolls his window down and asks, "What's going on? A parade?"

Excuse me? Pardon my language but Whiskey Tango Foxtrot. Now I'm smart enough to understand that not everyone keeps up with the news. As much as I'd like people to be more aware, it just isn't going to happen.

But why would anyone think that news cameras lined up and pointing at a funeral home could possibly suggest a parade?

Oh but it got better. I was asked a second time by a totally different person driving by, with their child in their car, when the parade started.

A Summit County deputy was walking past and mumbled loud enough for me to hear him.

"Dipshit."

I couldn't agree more deputy.

Neato

On Thursday, I did a live shot at the Canterbury C.C. in Beachwood, OH. They're hosting the 2009 Senior PGA Championship. We did the shot to promote the event because ticket sales were starting which was OK with me. We had a nice location to do the shot from. It's always nice to do a shot from a country club atmosphere instead of the double murder at the inner city intersection of Crack and Pipe.

Anyhow, I was amazed when they brought out the trophy for the winner of the championship. This thing is the original trophy that was created in 1937. Ha all the winners names engraved on it such as, Snead, Trevino, Player, Palmer, etc. You get my point.

Look at this monster...



It's over three feet tall and weights a good bit. I'd at least estimate it at thirty pounds.

Well, that was my thrill of the day. I did contemplate doing something with the trophy and eBay but, I thought more about how much I love my freedom so I quickly dropped all of those ideas and finished my live shots like a professional should.

It's An Interesting Night Already

Just finished shooting a fire on Cleveland's west side. Was asked by a local resident, "Can I be on TV? I just had work done on my tattoos."

Yup....interesting start to my shift.

UPDATE...

Oh the night just got better from then on. I was returning to my station when I drove in front of the homeless shelter that is on our street, when this guy jumps out in front of my truck causing me to lock the brakes. He starts jumping up and down and screaming nonsense at me and cursing.

Wonderful. Just what I needed. I back up and drive around him and head back to the station.

Then about two hours later I'm called out to a standoff...but that is another story involving desk people and me thanking God that I have a scanner...

Now THAT'S A Fire!!

Big Fire in Elyria, OH overnight. An old warehouse about a block long caught on fire.

Very long night. I'll blog about this when I wake up in a few hours..

Follow the link and click on play icons. I got the ground video and the explosions..

I OWN THIS STREET!!!

Homicide. Another person shot on Cleveland's east side and I was sent to cover it. It was at East 90th and Harris and happened sometime around 3 a.m. on Thursday. I was sent around 7 a.m., after our morning show was over. I figured it was just another routine homicide, if you can classify homicides as routine.

When I turned on to E.90th and drove approximately 100 feet, a woman came running up the middle of the street waving her arms and yelling at me. "Ain't no m.....f...... news cameras going to come down my street and take pictures!!", she screamed. "I own this mf'ing street. I ain't letting you do shit here. I won't even let the mf'ing cops down here. They killed my n.....!!"

I cracked the window a little and asked, "The police killed your friend?"

"No, you dumb ass cracker!! Some n's did and I'm gonna get those mf'ing n's !! And I ain't letting you do take any mf'ing pictures...!!"

She then stood in front of my live van and crossed her arms. I shrugged and picked the phone off of my belt and started to call the desk to inform them of my predicament. That's when the loudmouth started up again.

"Go ahead and call the mf'ing cops, white boy! I won't let the cops down my street! I own this street!!"

Just as she was saying this, and the timing couldn't have been better, the Cleveland Police evidence van turned the corner behind her and started to come up the street, followed by two detective cars. I smiled and pointed for her to turn around.

The cops pulled up behind her and hit their radio horn notifying the lady to move. And I know this might be a shock but...she moved.

I let the police van pass and then I drove down the street a little and called the desk to let them know of the hostile enviroment that I was in. They told me to wait for the reporter to show up before shooting anything. Fine with me, I'll wait.

So when Bill, my reporter, showed up I let him know of what was going on with the owner of the street and the hostile environment, he told me he'd watch my back. I felt so much better.

We walked up the street and I began rolling as soon as I got the camera out of the van, just in case there needed to be a record of our untimely demise. And true to form, loudmouth came running down the street again, right at me screaming all about her n and those mf'ers that shot her n. She also reiterated her stance of the fact that she wasn't going to allow any cameras to take any pictures on her street. She actually did the old, "I'm going to stand in front of the camera lens and wherever you go I'm going to stand in front of you" routine. The detectives just laughed and rolled their eyes.

The tirade continued for another ten minutes but not before her friends came and pulled her out of my way. One of them actually made sense, telling her, "Let him do his job. They'll help catch the n that did it.."

Needless to say the yelling continued from the porch of her house but it was laced with the previous n-words, mf'ers and other sundry curse words.

Made for an interesting morning. I haven't had one that tense for a while.

Water Spouts!!

It's been very slow the past few weeks. The mildly cold spring/summer we've been having has put a slight damper on overnight news. The shootings that usually are numerous have slowed down to a trickle. Its good news for the police but it makes for a slow night for me.

This morning though we had a weather system move through and it brought about a rare event over Lake Erie. Water Spouts. They are more common in the fall but this cold air system that came in brought about these water spouts. I spotted one at Huntington Beach out in Bay Village, OH after driving along the lake shore for twenty minutes.

They didn't seem to reach the water but it was interesting to see them form, start to stretch down and then dissipate.

You can see the pics and the video here.

What's With All The Touching?

I'm currently watching the pre-show to the last leg of the triple crown. The cameras are following Big Brown live, to what I can assume is a walk to the racing paddock. Of course there is security all around this horse and I can say I understand that. What I can't seem to understand is why these security officials feel like they can put their hands upon the camera and try to push it out of the way. I'm speaking of Big Brown's exercise trainer and some woman official (at least it looks like a woman) in a sports jacket and sunglasses. The camera is the network camera that is showing the race. You'd at least think that the official would know that the camera is there for the network. The camera wasn't even that close to the darn horse! The cameraman wasn't rushing the people or the horse. Wow...that walking backwards is surely threatening.

The cameras just followed the jockeys from their room to the spot where the traditional jockey photos are taken. Nobody even blinked about the camera being close to them.

And then a couple of nights ago, during the Celtics-Lakers NBA Finals game, Paul Pierce goes down with a supposed knee injury. After Pierce is put into a wheelchair, the camera, which is a network camera once again, follows Pierce being wheeled through the tunnel and back to the locker room. While Pierce is being wheeled back, a guy puts his hand up and tries to block the camera's view.

What kind of bullshit is this?

The cameras are there because of the desire to showcase the talents of the athletes love of money that TV broadcasts bring in. If you don't want the cameras to be there, then fine. Enjoy not getting all that revenue that these TV cameras and the networks provide. Go back to the days of life without TV revenue and the limelight that the cameras provide to the moneymaking athletes.

Nothing pisses me off more than seeing someone try and push a camera away from where they have the right to be. Especially when they're providing the coverage for the event.

Fuel Tank Rescue In Auburn Township

Breaking news !! Three men injured while cleaning inside a large fuel tank in Auburn Twp., OH. Reports are that it's a man and his two sons that were inside the tank. The father and his sons may have been overcome by fumes that were remaining inside the tank.

The father was rescued, alert and conscious. When I left the scene, one son was still inside the tank awaiting rescue. One son was removed in a conscious condition.

This happened about eight miles from my house.

UPDATE: One of the sons died. He was a junior in high school.

TV People Just Ain't Right

Went to get coffee the other day at work and when I opened the cabinet for some sugar I noticed this mug had been altered. If you can't read it, it's a mug warning about dangerous train tracks. Someone has a "news" sense of humor.

Poets and Pirates Tour, Part II

Ok, it's the morning after the concert and I'll put down my thoughts. I thought that the first main act, Gary Allen, was wonderful. He's not a major act yet but he did put on a high energy show nonetheless.

Leeann Rimes was next and like I said before, I didn't know many of her songs so, I'm not an expert on her music but she has a great voice. However, her energy on stage is lacking. She really has only one move which is to shake her shoulders. I was not all that impressed with her performance. Probably why she's second on this tour.

Third out was the Red Rocker, Sammy Hagar. Hagar put a great performance right from the start. He interacts with the audience, serving them a couple of drinks, having major fun with the show and playing incredible guitar. His backup band was just as good. He played a couple of Van Halen hits but it reminded me that he had a great career going before Van Halen. One song that I'd forgot about was "Heavy Metal". He has fun with life it seems. His act showed it. His voice can easily carry any stadium and it was the best vocal performance of the night.

Keith Urban was next. All I have to say is that he should have been the headliner. His show was stunning. His crew had a couple of minor feedback problems in the early going but if you could get by that, then it was full on fun from there on. I'd go see him again...anytime. His guitar playing borders on legendary. If you ever have the chance to see him in concert, GO!

And lastly was Kenny Chesney. I'd like to say his performance was great, and I'm sure it was. But if it wasn't for the two fat cows in huge cowboy hats that decided to stand up through the first part of Kenny's show, I'd probably have enjoyed it more. As it was, my wife was cold and the fact that we could hardly see the show, we left after seven songs. He seemed to put on a good show but if I had my druthers, I'd have ended the show after Keith Urban.

Poets and Pirates Tour

Spending the day and night at a concert in downtown Cleveland. It's Kenny Chesney's tour. It features Gary Allen, LeeAnn Rimes, Sammy Hagar, Keith Urban as well.

The tickets were free through our station and I'm so glad they offered tickets to us.

Right now, Gary Allen is on stage. He's fantastic and the concert should only get better. I'm not a huge fan of LeeAnn Rimes but I'm sure she puts on a great show. My wife is excited to see Keith Urban. Wonder why???
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Frustration

This morning the generator in my live truck has died twice. Once at the most inconvenient time.....right in the middle of a live picture.

Hope it gets fixed quickly....yet again.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Test

Testing to see if my Blackberry is working properly again.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

The $.23 Pizza...Would You Wait?

Today is the day that the Papa John's Pizza chain apologized to Northeastern and Northwestern Ohio for mocking LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers for complaining about deliberate fouls on James. The pizza chain in the Washington D.C. area printed t-shirts with the words "23 CRYBABY" on them, which didn't go down well here in Cleveland. Plus the Wizards had their butts handed to them by the Cavs which made the shirts seem even more childish.

Papa John's decided that to make up for it, they'd offer $.23 cent pizzas to all northern Ohio residents that wanted to have a pizza. People are lined up all around the pizza shops waiting up to four hours for a large pizza with one topping. Lines are stretching around buildings, through parking lots and up to a block in length. People have even been arrested for cutting in line and causing disturbances.

We were live at a Papa John's store this morning before the chaos ensued.

They seemed to have their ducks in a row. They had lots of pizza boxes folded and ready to go. Even bringing in rental trucks to hold the folded boxes.



Had their dough made and started prepping the pizzas in anticipation for the onslaught of customers.


Got their sauce...literally hundreds of gallons ready for the day.


Plus they made us a few pizzas to take back to the station. Nothing like pepperoni pizza at eight in the morning.


The phones were ringing off the hook starting at 5:30 a.m. with people wanting to get their slice of the pie...literally. Stores weren't to open until 10 a.m. but people just didn't seem to grasp that concept. We had one guy even walk into the store and want his pizza at 6 a.m. He was quickly turned away.

Stores are starting to run out of pizza and ingredients. Some stores have closed already.

I'm waiting for the riots to start.

Clearance Issues

I was sent out as soon as I stepped into the building this morning. It's been pretty slow the past few weeks so I've been looking for something to happen overnight. My assignment desk guy Russ, called and told me he thought he'd heard of a shooting. He sent me out to the RTA rapid station at Superior and Euclid avenues in East Cleveland.

I left the station and headed off to the scene. I took the quickest way that I knew of to get there. I wasn't driving my usual Unit 2 live truck. It was out with generator issues so I grabbed our newest truck which has the highest mast clearance of twelve feet. I really didn't think anything of it until I got close to where the RTA tracks cut through neighborhoods. They're elevated and I need to pass under the tracks. The small underpasses are old tunnels or small bridges that aren't built for taller vehicles.

My first route took me under the tracks at an underpass that was said to be twelve foot clearance. My truck is twelve foot tall so, I had to turn around. At least this underpass was marked. I wasn't so fortunate at my detour route. I came to the next underpass and it wasn't marked. Plus the streetlights and the lights in the underpass were out, making it very suspect to say the least. No sign to tell me what the clearance was so, I turned around yet again.

I tried four other underpasses and they all were the identical of each other. Not marked and dark. I had to go close to a mile and a half out of my way to get to the scene. But I decided that ripping a mast out of a live truck was not the way to start a Monday off. And waking up on a Tuesday, jobless isn't a much better prospect. I'm sure that I did the right thing by not trying my luck on one of those underpasses. If it meant going five miles out of my way, I'd still do it.

X-Ray Results

Well, I had my x-rays last night and I've got a Grade 2 ankle sprain. I guess it could have been worse. I have a partial tear of a ligament and pooled blood on the inside of my foot.

I'm heading back to work tomorrow but walking is very painful. I guess the kids can't go out bike riding anymore. It's too dangerous to my health.

Robots Are Going To Kill Me

Currently I am lying on an air matress in the Carnegie Science Center, in Pittsburgh. I'm here for my son's boy scout sleep over. To my immediate right is an orange industrial robot that has been programmed to shoot a basketball at a hoop.

Every once in a while the robot spins around and extends it's two pronged appendage in all sorts of directions as if it's "looking around" to see what is near it.

I'm sure that it's not happy that it has been retired to a life of free throws when it used to do heavy lifting or precise work that engineers took months to program.

The dance it does is really a facade. It's plotting to kill someone while they're sleeping, in revenge for it's demotion.

I hope I make it through the night.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Well, I Really Did It..

Well, I really did it..

We went out about an hour ago to take/teach the kids bike riding. Their bikes needed air in the tires after a winter not being ridden. We took the training wheels off today.

We(the family and I) went to the local gas station to get air for the tires (.75 cents...ain't that a bitch!!??), so I get the first bike out and set it to the side. I go back to the van to get the second bike out.

Unknown to me, the first bike must have rolled back behind me (training wheels weren't off yet) and when I stepped back, there was a bike in my way.

I stumbled backwards, holding the second bike out to balance myself as I was geting my right foot tangled in the first bike. I awkwardly danced back about three more feet and caught my left foot in a crack between a concrete and blacktop section. I felt a stretch and a pop and then I saw the sky. My wife came out and was aghast.

Now I'm in agony, my left ankle is swelled up to the size of a beefsteak tomato(e) and I've just downed two tylenol with codeine.

Ice and Tylenol 3, elevation for the foot, ibuprofen and muscle relaxers. What more could a guy ask for?

Oh yeah....rear view mirrors.

Well, It's Gone

My Xbox 360 did finally die again. After a couple weeks of good use after I did the Towel Trick to get it running again after the 3 RROD reared it's ugly head.

I sent the 360 off to Texas this morning. Hope I get it or another one back quickly enough.

I'm going to start to get the shakes and sweats....360 withdrawl.

Damn, it's a tough monkey to shake.

What Will I Chase Down Tomorrow Night?

Probably, and this is just a guess, I'll be chasing down the 10th vacant house fire since last Monday. Seems that on Cleveland's east side near the Broadway/Union area, there is an arsonist that is torching vacant homes. Some people need a hobby, huh?

I wish that I didn't have to run out and cover these but it's the unknown factor that makes us run and check the fires out. One never knows when or if the firefighters will find a body in the burning building or worse yet and God forbid, something happen to a firefighter.

Hopefully they'll catch the idiot that is setting these homes on fire.

Yep...

APRIL FOOLS..see..?

In a surprsing announcement, Barak Obama will announce at 11:00 a.m. EST press conference, that he will forgo his bid to become President of the United States and become Hillary Clinton's running mate.

"I've decided that such an ongoing war of words between the Clinton campaign and mine is fruitless and damaging to the Democratic Party", Barak Obama said.

Staffers were stunned by his willingness to become Hillary Clinton's VP running mate...

To Kenny.

Hey!! Send me your e-mail address. I've seemed to have lost it in the transition from PC to Mac.

Thanks!!

Back From The Dead...For Now

A couple of weeks ago I was playing Baseball on my Xbox360 with my oldest son. The screen froze and I reset the console. Bad things then happened with my 360 mocking me with glee as the three red rings of death (3RROD) appeared. Now I'm sure that this has happened to some of you and you've cursed and thrown things. I couldn't as my seven year-old was at my side. So, I did what any normal male, the age of 39, would do. I wept silently when no one was around.

I bit the bullet and called Microsoft to get the 360 fixed. Long story short, it's going to cost me $99 to fix. Why, because I'm not the original owner of the 360. I got around it so it's not going to cost me, but I'm not going into detail about that (boring and not really necessary).

I look up on the internet on the 3RROD causes and stumble upon The Towel Trick. It's simple, I thought. "Hey..I CAN DO THAT!!!" It involves removing the HD (if you have one), plugging the 360 in and turning it on. Then wrap the 360 in 2 to 3 cotton bath towels, thus making it heat up. Let it slowly cook itself for about 20-25 minutes.

After that span of time, you unwrap and turn it off. Let the 360 cool for around a half-hour. Then, after that time has expired, plug in everything and hold your breath while you press the power button.

And I'll be darned...



IT WORKS!! Albeit a temporary fix, you can get it to work for you and you can play for a while, while waiting for the Microsoft box to arrive so you can send it back and get it repaired.

Some people have reporter it working for about 45 minutes then the 3RROD appears again up to fourteen days of usage, and beyond.

Awwww....GEEEZ!!

I'm upstairs in my "man den", the wife is in the kitchen doing the dishes. My children have taken over the living room because they've set up a vast battlefield with their Army men.

I'm on the computer and I hear my youngest yelling, "FIRE...FIRE...FIRE" very loudly in a stressed out voice.

I run from my seat, down the hallway, downstairs (taking two at a time), where I almost step on a cat passing the bottom of the stairs. I jumped a little over the cat(to keep from killing the poor thing) only to hit the wall across from the stairwell...

My shoulder put a nice round crack in the drywall about 1 1/2 ft in circumference.

My wife looks at me like I'm crazed...

The kids are looking at me like I'm going to kill them...

The children were playing and got into an argument...the youngest was yelling..."LIAR...LIAR....LIAR" at the oldest..

Now I've no idea how to repair drywall..

And I have a sore shoulder...

Drive Through Doughnut Shop

This accident happened last week but I've been too damn lazy to blog about it. I'm on vacation and decided I'd better do something worthwhile while lounging around on the couch, watching the NCAA tournament and seeing my brackets taking a beating.

Two guys in a Ford Focus lost control of their vehicle, hit a curb, went airborne, took out the storefront of the Doughnut and Smoke Shop, landed on their side which killed one man in the car and critically injured the other in the car.



The picture doesn't do the damage to the store justice. Now you might think this is a one in a million happening. But this is the sixth...SIXTH..time this has happened to the store and the owner in twenty seven years. The strange part is, this store is on a straight part of the road. Kind of hard to wreck a car into a building there but people have managed to do it six times in the past.

The car didn't fare very well though.



No word, at least that I know of, if drugs or alcohol were involved. And there was no police chase involved.

It's St. Patrick's Day..

Big Fat Hairy Deal.

Seriously. I've never celebrated SPD. Why? Because I'm not Irish. Why pretend I'm something I'm not? I don't think the idea of drinking green beer is fun. I abhor the thought of wearing green just because...

And what I hate the most is pointing a camera into the midst of a bunch of yelling drunkards that wear shirts that say "Kiss me, I'm Irish" and who couldn't find Ireland on a map if their next beer depended on it.

I guess that's why I like working the overnight shift so much. If I do have to face the "Irish" of this day, there's not a whole lot of drunks at 5:00 a.m. in the morning.

I'll spend the day sleeping (after working, of course) and trying to figure out why my wife's computer isn't printing from the Airport Extreme.

Happy March 17th. Just the 17th. Not that other God forsaken day.

Oh and like the song says...

Give Ireland back to the Irish....JPM.

A Big Thanks

I'd like to extend a heartfelt thanks to Brian, the snow plow driver, who after doing my neighbor's driveway, did my driveway. I did pay him for his time and I overpaid for it but that was my choice because I needed to go get my wife out of the hospital after her surgery.

So, again, I'm very grateful to this one Mr. Plow.

I Know This Is Going To Seem Wrong

But since I'm alone and the kids are at the in-laws for te second straight night, I decided to have a few margaritas while I'm all alone. And I have to tell you that I've noticed that...

1. It's difficult to to type when inebriated on margaritas.

and

2. Using chopsticks when eating Chinese while in said state of inebriation is very difficult and if someone else was here besides the cats and the dog watching me, this would be very embarrassing. But animals don't care and they won't laugh at you.

and

3. Talledega Nights is funnier when you're totally in the bag.

A Waiting Game

Currently, my wife, Elizabeth is in surgery at a local hospital. I'm glad I took my laptop because I discovered they have Wi-Fi available for patients and their families. keeping occupied during the surgery is a must. I don't want to fall asleep in the waiting room and reading magazines from 2003 is torture.

So, I'm able to keep busy and pass the time.

One funny story this morning concerning work. I had to get up early to take my wife to the hospital. My work cell phone rang which is strange because I normally get no reception from the new cell phone carrier my station chose. Anyways, the phone rang at 4:56 a.m. and I answered it. The voice on the other end said, "Brian!!! Where's the truck parked?"

I recognized the voice as Bill, the reporter I usually work with in the mornings. I told him, "Umm, Bill, I'm off this morning. Call Derek." The words, "You're off?" and "Oh Shit!" were heard by me as he hung up.

I turned on the news quickly to see if Bill made his 5:00 a.m hit, which he did but a little hastened to say the least.

Been A Busy Time

Wow. It's been a while, huh? There's been a lot that I've been doing but not enough time to blog about it. It's been a whirlwind of activity the past couple of weeks. Carjackings that turn fatal for the carjacker, apartment fires where six families were awakened by a man who spoke no English. Chasing Obama and Hillary around Cleveland, fighting bitter cold, snow, sleet and freezing rain.

And on top of that, a huge water main break that happened this morning while we were two blocks away from it. The water from the 150 year old pipe, flowed down city streets and onto and over my feet and my reporters feet while doing a live shot. Nothing is better than having soaking wet feet when its 26 degrees outside while having your reporter scramble up a snowbank and become an trapped up there because of eight inches of water on the sidewalk.

And to top it off, home has been a fine and pleasant misery. We've had a septic blockage in our main line and had to deal with all the trials, tribulations and smells that accompany such a problem.

And in the wings, a March snowstorm that is set on dumping up to a foot of snow in some areas this weekend. Plus my wife is having surgery tomorrow morning so it's going to be a less than enjoyable weekend.

I hope that things slow down so I can tend to the blog a little more often and be able to add more images to go along with the posts.

Coackroach 30, Staff 0

This is too funny not to post...

COCKROACH GETS TV STAFF FIRED

Thirty TV station staff have been sacked after a cockroach was seen scuttling across a news reader's desk during a live broadcast.

Disgusted viewers bombarded the station in Turkmenistan with calls saying it had put them off their dinners.

The large brown insect crawled a full lap of the newsdesk on the 9pm news programme, Vatan.

But the appearance of the insect had more far-reaching consequences than viewer complaints.

The country's president, Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedo, was told about the incident.

He was so horrified that he fired 30 workers from the station.

The sacked workers included journalists, directors, camera operators, and technical staff.

The country's minister for culture, Gulmurat Muradov, has also ordered an internal investigation.

According to The Guardian, it is not the first time the country's leader has had a run-in with the state news channel.

Former president Saparmurat Niyazov, whose authoritarian eccentricities were world renowned, sacked several executives after drunken technicians failed to screen the new year's address to the nation.

The bulletin eventually aired at 3am.

I find it ironic. Usually management doesn't appear on the air...


Hey!! No heckling in this blog...!!

Ahem..

But this isn't the first time a bug has caused hysteria on a news set..



Even a little gecko gets into the act...



What was it W.C. Fields said? Oh yeah, "Never work with children or animals."

Apple

I'd like to say that those cutsey commercals that have the younger, hipper kid as the Apple and the frumpy bespectacled middle aged man as the PC were the reason that I wanted to get an Apple. That's not the reason though.

My laptop, a Gateway, was three years old and starting to give me error messages and just shutting off anytime it felt like it. Well, now it can go to the senior citizens rest home called, "The Kids' Computer" now.

I got a Mac Book Pro, 15.4", 2.4 GHz laptop. Man, this thing is fast!! Came with a free printer, after the $100 rebate.

I need to get used to the lack of a second button like the PC has. But If that's all I need to get over, it's not a bad switch at all.

Now all I need to do is set up the new printer and the wireless print server whic will probably take all day for me.

Why Is It?

That people feel the need to honk their horns when we're going live with a freeway behind us? We're about 50 feet from the roadway, looking down on it and someone going by at 65 m.p.h. thinks that they're going to get our attention.

What are we supposed to do? Stop our broadcast to say, "Look...!! That person in the white Kia just honked at us!! They're great aren't they folks?"

Pay attention to your driving and lay off the horn, you attention whores.

Mr. Plow...That Name Again Is Mr. Plow.

Why does every man who has a pickup truck and adds a snow plow to the front of it think that he is saving the Earth and democracy in that order. Homer Simpson wannabees totally.

Having a snow plow driver dude with a pickup truck swearing at me for being in his way when he needs to plow a large parking lot, even though I was there for two hours before he showed up was very funny to me. I couldn't move my truck because my mast was up and I had one more live hit to do so I told him to start at the other end and I'd be gone by the time he got to me.

He started swearing at me again.

Go ahead Mr.Plow. Saving the world from snow, communists and Islamic radicals.

Mr. Plow I salute you. Now go plow yourself.

Rain, Rain, Rain

Yesterday here in NE Ohio, our area got about 2-3" of rain. I guess I should be happy that it wasn't snow but truthfully, I'd have been happier with the white stuff instead of the wet stuff.

But we got rain and with that much rain falling you get a lot of water pooling under overpasses. You also get a few people that can't tell when there is a lot of water in front of them and they drive their cars into about three feet of standing water.

I was sent to one of these places where five people decided they could make it through that much water. Each one needed to be pulled out of their cars because they couldn't make it through. I shot my video from the north side of the overpass then realized that I could get much closer if I went to the south end of the scene. I did what any logical person would do. I drove around the area using side streets to get to the other side.

I set up my shot, edited three v.o.'s of various flooding areas that I'd shot that night and fed them back. Then I waited for my reporter to show. About 15 minutes before our hit my phone rings..

"Brian, where are you at?"

"I'm on the south side of the water. Where are you?", I asked.

"I'm on the north end. Can you see when I turn my headlights off and on?"

"Yep, I can see them. But you'll need to come around. The scene is better from this side."

"Ok...but I think I can make it through the water."

"What??!!?!"

"I think I can make it through. It doesn't look that high."

"Um...I don't think you should do that. There's already one SUV that is stuck in the water. Your's won't make it through that.."

"But it doesn't look that deep. I think I can really make it.."

"Famous last words.", I told him. "Go around through the Metro Parks and don't risk it."

I could just see our reporter becoming part of the news story by getting his car stuck in the high water. I know that his car would have flooded and he wouldn't have made it through.

He eventually went around and made the shot but I didn't need the headache of my reporter not making the shot because he thought he could make it through.

Although, it would have made great video....

How Yunz Been?

Me? I've been sick for pretty much the past three weeks. Sore throat, cough, clogged up ears, headaches and gunk pouring from my eyes. Yes, it's been a fun time span and I'm still not over it.

I'm popping pills (all non-narcotic) like there is no tomorrow and I still feel like crap. I'm back to work but it's difficult to get through the day without coughing up a lung or my left ear feeling like it weighs 10 pounds and wanting to fall off.

I hope I feel better soon. It's getting very frustrating.

Please Pray

A good friend of mine and a former co-worker, Mom2Amara has had surgery yesterday. Please keep her and her family (Dad2Amara and Amara) in your prayers. Hopefully she'll be out of the hospital soon.

I hope that her recovery is quick and painless.

Plane Into Lake Erie

Currently I'm watching search and recovery efforts happening right off the pier at East 9th street here in downtown Cleveland. A twin engine plane took off from Burke Lakefront Airport in downtown Cleveland and quickly crashed into the frigid waters of Lake Erie at around 7:30pm last night.

Water temperatures are very low and life cannot be sustained for more than a few minutes before hypothermia sets in. But I'm always hoping out for a miracle in situations like this.

I'll try and update when possible.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Behind The Scenes On The News Set

Here's Katie Couric on the news set between news updates. It's light hearted banter between her techs, floor producers and staff. I guess the only sensational thing here is the dropping of an S-bomb. There's no diva attitudes and no screaming tantrums. This is from Harry Shearer's site, "That Damn Channel".

So, What's Up?

Well, I'm back. I'm sure you all missed me..

Hello...hello, is this thing on?

Anyways, the past few weeks have been agonizingly slow. Minor shootings here, couple of minor car accidents there.

And I had almost two weeks of my regular desk guy being on vacation. I hate working without him because we gel. We work together so well. He gets "it" when he's behind the desk.

His replacement...? Well...lets just say...

Shooting in the Flats area of Cleveland. I get sent to 1118707 Old River Rd.

That's not a typo. I got sent to 1,118,707 Old River Rd. to check out the scene.

But of course, there isn't a 1,118,707 Old River Road. Why? Because if it existed, it would be in INDIANA with that damn address!!!

And people wonder why I cry so much.