Happy Friday!

Hello, Hello! It's been a week since my last post, but a busy week at that.

Last Saturday, after working 9 NEWS NOW from 6 to 8 AM, I flew down to Birmingham, Alabama to see my mom and sister. You might recall an earlier post about my mom that I wrote on January 12th. I'm happy to say that she is doing better. It's amazing what a difference an elderly person can show if they are getting proper nutrition and enough fluids. Let's hope that continues.

I've probably been to Birmingham about 20 times since 2001, and I have to admit, I like the place. It's easy to get around and has plenty of shopping and restaurants and a decent economy.

On the way home, I was waiting in the airport and I had a chance to meet US Senator Richard Shelby. We spoke about Alabama and Washington and just a few things political. I like the Senator. He was jovial and humble. And I also liked him flying a commercial airline just like the rest of us. He stood on line and boarded with everyone. No special privileges here. At one point in our conversation he did point out that Alabama's unemployment rate is 1% below the national average.

I grew up on Long Island, and yes, I had stereotypes of Alabama as this backward place. Look at the movie My Cousin Vinny. The movie portrays the locals as a bunch of hicks who got it all wrong and this wise-guy from New Yawk is able to fix everything, with the help from the lovely and talented Miss Vito. I love this movie and Marisa Tomei won an Academy Award for this role. I also was surprised that this movie had an "R" rating when it was released, language was the excuse. Today it would probably be a PG-13. I imagine that there may be a few towns in Alabama that could be like this, but my experiences in Birmingham and Huntsville have been good ones.

As for the weekend, I'll be celebrating Mardi Gras on Saturday night and if you're at the Washington Auto Show this Sunday afternoon, maybe we'll run into each other.

Have a GREAT Weekend!