The Seasons are Changing

Winter is over, meteorological winter that is. At midnight, Meteorological Spring begins. Meteorological Summer is from June 1st to August 31st as they are the 3 warmest months of the year.

I must admit that I'm a snow lover. Topper and I often lament that western track that most storms have taken this winter. It's been depressing!

We've had a few ice events and a few snow events. At Reagan National Airport, only 4.9 inches of snow has fallen this season and Dulles recorded 6.5 inches. And that was with the extra day that Feb 29th provided. The winter of 2002-2003 was the last winter with above average snowfall.

With all that, March can still provide some decent snowfalls. March '93, the "Super Storm". The lowest pressure of any storm in DC, 28.54", and that includes tropical systems. Snowfall ranged from 6.5" in DC to over 40" in the Shenandoah Valley near Luray, VA. Parts of the South had tremendous snow with 13" in Birmingham, AL and 22" in Chattanooga, TN. Syracuse, NY received a whopping 43".

There may be 1 or 2 more opportunities for some wintry weather before Spring really kicks in, but the way this winter has been going, I wouldn't place any wagers.

I'm Ranting......

I have to admit that I'm kind of worked up right now. I just found out that I have been wasting my time tracking down a small issue because one of our vendors didn't share a critical piece of information. I'm not going to get into details exactly, can't give up trade secrets, but there are some serious business/customer service issues worth discussing.

As I was tracking down the problem it became apparent that the issue was on our end. So after wasting effort and time, I called the vendor that supplies us the particular software.

What the guy said next floored me. "Wait,I think we have a paper about that problem that explains how to fix it."

I fire back, "You knew you had a problem and didn't pro-actively contact me?"

This is the type of stuff that drives me crazy. Had this vendor taken the initiative and contacted us and helped us fix it, it would have saved a lot of time, frustration and heartache. Now that I know that it could have been fixed possible several weeks or months ago, I'm just really disappointed in this company.

On top of this, I had another issue from a different vendor. We had an "upgrade" last week. Well, something is not working now and I called to inquire. They are aware that there is a "bug" in the software and hope to have a fix later this week. Wouldn't an e-mail sent by them notifying me about the "bug" been an easy thing to do? I'd be informed and I'd feel like they are looking out for me and my company. I don't understand why businesses don't get more pro-active in communicating with their customers. Are they afraid to talk when the news isn't all great?

Years ago I bought a suit at a well known department store during a sale. It was in the early '90s when I lived in New Orleans. I went to pick up the suit on the date promised. When I got there, the salesman told me that the suit wasn't ready. I then had a chat with the manager. He told me that they were overwhelmed with the number of suits they sold and it just wasn't ready. He was apologetic, but I wasn't satisfied. Why did I put my name and phone number on the claim check then? I told him that they should have called me and saved me the trip. Had they called, I would have not wasted the gas and the time to make that first trip and I would have felt like they cared about me. I know it would have required some effort, but the goodwill that would have been generated would have been worth it.

I think we all want to feel we're special. When I'm your customer, treat me with respect and you'll have earned my loyalty forever, treat me with disregard and you won't be seeing me again. After all, it's not business, it's personal!

Flu Central

The germs have been having a party in my house this past week. It all started on Sunday morning when Helaine woke up with a fever and aches. 102.4 on the thermometer is not a good number. I spent Sunday keeping my distance from the infected one. That meant that Philip and I would stay downstairs and occasionally check in on Helaine. I did the nurse thing all day. I brought liquids and Tylenol and extra blankets to ward off the chills.

It was fun just hanging out with Philip. We watched a DVD and had dinner together. But I also had to do those chores that Helaine normally takes care of. I was Mr. Mom.; dishes, laundry, lunch boxes and I also had to get my son ready for bed. Monday came and Helaine was still sick. I had to get Philip breakfast and ready for school while takinig care of Helaine and doing what I needed to do to get ready. I went to work and came home and took care of the household chores and before I knew it, the clock was at 7 pm.

I know that many people do this and more on a regular basis. I don't know how single parents pull it off. I remember being impressed in college with those class mates that worked full time and still managed to take a full course load. I did it for 2 days and I was a wreck.



While all of this is going on, I'm also worried about getting the flu myself. There have been several people at work who also were knocked on their butts by the flu. I don't want to get sick....nobody does. Around the house , I go spraying Lysol and washing my hands all oft the time. Checking out the web site for the Center For Disease Control, and the flu map is brown across most of the country. That indicates widespread flu. (There are also some good tips for prevention and dealing with the flu at their web site.)

By Tuesday, Helaine no longer has a fever and I'm just wondering if this is going to hit me like a brick. Philip seems fine too, that is until Thursday morning when he wakes up with a fever. At least Helaine was feeling better, coughing a lot, but she is improving. Meanwhile, the week is just getting worse. The ice storm on Tuesday made for some very ealry starts on Wednesday and Thursday morning. I was sure that after standing out in the cold rain on Wednesday morning along with the lack of sleep that it was just a matter of time before I developed the flu.

Philip's fever broke on Friday and as I write this Saturday morning, I am still flu free. Did I manage to evade the bug? Perhaps my reaction to the flu shot was more effective than my wife's. Maybe it was all of the Lysol and hand washing. Or couuld it have been the fact that I just kept telling myself that I wouldn't get sick.

My colleague Tony Pann is a big believer in the power of the mind and he told me earlier in the week that I just had to convince myself that I wasn't going to get the flu.

I don't know what exactly has kept me from getting sick, but I'll stay positive and hope for the best. It's a pretty good way to go through any day, flu or not.

Damn the Cold Air Damming....

The ice storm from hell.....a bad forecast....whatever you call it, many parts of the area got an icy surprise last Tuesday afternoon and even where the ice was expected, there was more than anticipated; all thanks to a phenomenon called "Cold Air Damming".

Because of the region's geography, we get cold air masses that can stubbornly hang out over our area even as a storm system passes to our west. The Appalachian mountains block the low level air from the southwest as it moves from the Ohiio Valley toward the Northeast. If we have a northerly/norteasterly wind, the cold air can be almost impossible to dislodge. When the cold air is "dammed" up against the east side of the mountains, that's when we can get our worst icing.

This damming event was almost classic but it was also under forecast. The winds were almost calm. Monday night was very cold and then the colud cover came in early. This really inhibited the expected warming. So, when the rain began in the early afternoon, temperatures that were expected to be several degrees above freezing, were several degrees below. Massive traffic incidents and a horrific commute were the results.

The models really performed poorly, but my falling for those computer predictions and not seeing the event better is where I underperformed. I know that these things happen in this profession, but I don't like it. I've been thinking about what went wrong with the forecast and I will try to learn from this so that I can do a better job next time and not get fooled, like the computer models were. Given the way this winter has been going, I imagine I'll be tested again on another ice event or two.

Follow Up on the Stitches

The stitches came out on Tuesday and all is healing well. Dr. Sanzaro gave me a topical to help with scar reduction it's called "Scar Guard". I have to put it over the injury. It's supposed to minimize how much collagen will form and thereby reduce the scarring. Dr. Sanzaro was pretty happy wth how things look and so am I. I really wasn't a fan of those flesh colored bandages, but they looked a lot better on TV than the real thing.

This incident has been weird. First, it was just stupid, but you wouldn't believe the attention I received. I mean, after all, I walked into a door and needed stitches.

A couple of tv related web sites even ran with the incident. That meant that friends in the TV business across the country could also laugh at my misfortune. Phone calls, e-mails, even posts to the blog were more than you'd think. I do find it endearing though that quite a few people had true concern for me and were able to laugh with me(I know some where laughing at me, but that's ok).

I only missed the 2 minute hit in the 6 AM news that day along with the Noon newscast, but that's it.

Not your Typical Morning

It was a morning like many in the past. Photographer Kevin King, Truck Operator Paul Lester and I were at the NEWSEUM, the news museum, to check it out as they are getting ready to open in early April. The official opening is now scheduled for April 11, 2008.

The goal was to show off the wonderful atrium area, some of the interactive exhibits and talk about the return of the postings of Today's Front Pages. When you're done reading this, click on the link to see the on-line exhibit.

We had our normal short teases at 5:50, 6:07 and 6:37 and our more in depth live shot at 6:10.

Things were going well. I was having a great time and really enjoying being in this new place. They have an HDTV monitor that is 40 feet wide by 22 feet tall. It's AWESOME!


We were in the commercial break and getting ready to do our next live hit from the outside of the NEWSEUM. Our guest, Joe Urschel,
Executive Director and Senior Vice President of the NEWSEUM was inside and I went to get him. We were 2 minutes out so I was walking back outside at a brisk pace when my day turned upside down.

There are 2 rows of glass doors from the outside to the inside of the NEWSEUM. I guess that it helps with climate control. Well, the first set was in the open position and I flew through that. But the second set was closed and I never saw it. It was dark outside and there is no light between the 2 sets of doors. I think I hit the long handle and not the glass, but I nailed it. I didn't pass out or get dizzy, so no concussion, but the blood was flowing.

If you've ever had a head injury, you know how much they bleed. So I have 2 minutes to be on TV and I am now dripping blood off of my face. I'm not even sure how bad the injury is at this point, but I had so many emotions. The biggest was anger. I was just really annoyed. Especially with myself. I felt stupid and embarrassed. I was wondering if I could just run into the bathroom and get a band-aid on and just persevere. Once I saw the damage that was inflicted, I knew that I wasn't going to be on TV again today. I had a small cut on my nose and forehead and a deeper gash also on my forehead. If this cut is on my leg or arm, I just suck it up and put on the band-aid. But this is my face and I do, after all, make a living on television, so I'm a little more concerned about this one.

Should I go to the Emergency Room and hope they have a doctor who knows how to do stitches well? Should I just put on a band-aid and hope for the best. NEOSPORIN has a poroduct called Scar Solution, maybe that's the answer.

As it turns out, Tina Tate, who is the Director of Media Relations for the NEWSEUM, has a close family friend who is a plastic surgeon. She calls Dr. Thomas Sanzaro who just happens to be in and who doesn't have a patient until 9 am and who is also a viewer of channel 9. He tells Tina to have me come right over. After I pick up my car at the station, I head over to Connecticut and Appleton and I find a spot just outside his office. I go right in and within 3 minutes, the lidocaine is being injected into my forehead. That hurt a tiny bit. Actually, just peeling off the band-aid hurt the most. Dr. Sanzaro puts 4 stitches across the deeper gash and applied a Steri-Strip flesh colored band-aid over the nose cut and the stitches. I'm out of there in about 30 minutes. It was a great office visit. How long would a trip to the ER have taken?

I now have perhaps the worst part of the whole ordeal. The paperwork. Insurance forms and accident reports. Talking about adding "insult to injury"....

But in the end, I try to look at the bright side. I didn't break my nose or damage my eyes and I was treated very well by a nice man and good doctor. So when you see me on Friday morning with a small bandage on my forehead and nose, you'll understand.

One more thought, a few weeks ago I got in the middle of the steel ball with the motorcyclists at the International Motorcycle Show and don't even get a scratch. Today I'm at the NEWSEUM and I'm taken out by a glass door. What's with that?

Photo of the NEWSEUM by Maria Bryk/Newseum

Skiing and Snow Boarding

We live in such a diverse area. We have the ocean, the bay, wonderful rivers and even mountains all within a 2 to 3 hour drive for most. I am grateful for the opportunity to get away every now and then. Seeing new things, having that change of scenery...it really is good for the soul.

This past weekend, Helaine, Philip and I went to WISP in McHenry, Maryland for some skiing and snow boarding. It's a haven of recreation that's not even 3 hours away. It's about the same time from DC to Ocean City.

I'm old school, a skier, but Philip wants to snow board and Helaine is happy in the lodge with a magazine. I'm not always the smartest guy, but having him take lessons at ski school was clearly the intelligent thing to do. You know that kids and parents don't always listen to each other but they'll follow the advice of a total stranger without hesitation.

The really cool thing is that most parents have their kids taking ski lessons and not snow board lessons. Philip has been the only student in the snow board class every day he has taken it, so that 1 on 1 attention has been fantastic.

On his 3rd day, he was already on the chair lift and going down some intermediate runs. To be young and fearless....remember those days? I get to live vicariously through my son. I also can't wait for him to get a little better so that we can just go together

without the instructor and just have fun.


By the end of his 4th lesson, he was trying a little jump. I caught him catching some "air".

Speaking of snow boarding, some jerk teenager is flying down the mountain while I'm just doing my thing. I barely hear that scraping sound on the snow that the board makes before I am taken down. He did have the courtesy to ask if I was OK, but he was clearly out of control and fortunately, I was uninjured. I did fantasize about beating him with my ski poles upside his head, but I restrained myself and just said "I'm fine". It was a little terse, but that's as much as I said.

Speaking of terse, Pam Harrison from Oxford, MD sees me on line waiting for the mountain coaster and starts giving me the business about standing on the right side of the map, blocking much of the Eastern Shore.

Pam, like me is a former New Yorker, so we had a connection right there and we became quick friends. Helaine took the picture of all of us and this is what Pam e-mailed to me:

"It was fun talking to you today at WISP. We love Channel 9 news and weather despite my kidding you! The names in the photo are, me, Pam Harrison, Jacqueline Harrison, in the black jacket, Lauren Harrison, and in the end orange jacket, Natalie Furey. We were all at WISP for the Country School of Easton's 8th grade ski weekend. We had a blast--hope you did too!!!! "

I'll try not to block the Eastern Shore as much and I now have a new weather watcher in Oxford that will keep us posted as to any extreme weather events that may occur over there.

And just to prove that I actually can ski, Helaine took a photo of me. I have to thank my friend Joe Murgo and his wife Mara. Joe is the Chief Meteorologist at WTAJ in Altoona. Besides being a great weather guy, he's also a great skier as is his wife. They are both ski instructors and they were there this weekend. Skiing with 2 instructors, as long as you're willing, can really elevate your level. We also did some tubing and it was great hanging out with an old friend and his family.

I went skiing, saw some friends, saw my son excel and I didn't hurt myself...it just doesn't get much better than that.