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Saturday afternoon, my wife and I were picking up a few painting supplies at Home Depot in the Red Rose Commons shopping center in Lancaster. When we got to check-out, my wife headed back to the car while I paid for the supplies. Just as I was leaving Home Depot, my wife called my cell phone. She told me that a woman just approached her asking for $1.50 for bus fare, claiming that she's been waiting for her friend to pick her up and he hasn't shown yet. My wife did not give her any money.
So, as I walked back to the car with my shopping cart, I stayed on the phone with my wife so that this woman wouldn't approach me. I walked right by her. She did not ask me for money. Why? Well, she was already asking another couple in the same car aisle as us. They did give her money.
When I got back to the car, my wife told me how she had heard of a scam like this and that's why she didn't give the woman money.
So, now my wife and I had a decision to make - (1) Do we just head back home and let it go? or (2) Do we see if we can follow this woman to see if she asks others for money? This would confirm this being a scam.
Well, we decided to do some detective-work and follow her. Sure enough, as we drove across the car aisles (out of sight of course) we saw her asking another couple for money a few aisles down. Then, she asked another couple a few more aisles down.
OK, this obviously confirmed that it was a scam, so we called 911. We gave the dispatcher her description, etc. The 911 dispatcher said that people who do this scam usually need money for drugs or alcohol. Usually, the come to a place like this with a money goal, and when they reach that, they move on.
We followed her all the way down to the other end of the shopping center, near the Weis Market, as she hit several other people who all gave her money.
But, she wasn't done, she started to work her way back to Home Depot. We continued to follow her as she took at least 4 other people.
Then, the Lancaster City Police showed-up. We sat there as they officer questioned her, called her name in and then placed her under arrest.
As this all happened, my wife and I felt good that we stopped others from being taken. But, we felt a real sadness that this woman is at a point in her life that she's doing this.
At the same time, we felt a sadness that this woman is preying on the good hearts of people. And, that incidents like this may prevent them from helping someone someday who might really be in need.
Bottom line, be careful - spread the word.
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As you saw on 21 News This Morning on Wednesday Morning, a school district in Portland, Maine is considering handing-out free birth-control pills to their middle school students.
From WGME-TV CBS 13 Portland, ME...
"The state says 13-percent of Maine middle school students are having sex, but should middle schools be providing birth control? It could happen in Portland.
Should King Middle School be the first middle school in the state to provide birth control pills to students? The Portland School Committee will be taking up this controversial issue Wednesday night.
Here's how it would work. King Middle School's health center would provide contraception to the kids. The center would also give the girls full medical exams and counseling.
Parents need to give the students permission to go to the health center and once at the health center, everything is confidential.
So, a child could ask for birth control without their parents knowing.
The lead school nurse says they would encourage kids to talk with their parents.
King Middle School already distributes condoms to students."
http://www.wgme.com/News/story_detail/story_detail_6.shtml?readmore
My opinion - parents should be responsible for teaching their children about safe sex and contraceptives. Schools should stick with education and not enabling kids (and, middle-schools are kids) to make decisions without the proper guidance of their parents. It's bad enough they're handing out condoms at this school - this takes the insanity to a whole new level.
So, what do you think?
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My wife and I were stopped at a red light the other day, and I happened to look over to the car in the lane to my right. I quickly got a sick feeling in my stomach as I saw a girl maybe 3 or 4 years old standing-up in the back seat and bouncing around. I could just see them getting into an accident and that precious child being thrown right out the front window.
My sick feeling quickly turned to anger at the mother that was driving the car, who, I might add, was nicely buckled-up in the front seat.
Granted, a soon-to-be father like myself might be have a different perspective on parenting, but this is just a safety issue! Why was this child not in a car seat or a booster seat? In fact, there wasnt even any car seat or booster seat visible - just amazing!
What was I to do? Roll down the window and yell at the mother? Obviously, she could care less about her child, let alone what I have to say about this safety situation.
As the light turned green and I turned left and they proceeded straight, I just said a little prayer for the safety of that child and that her mother will come to her senses and think of the dangerous consequences her ignorance might have.
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At 11am on Wednesday, May 9th, the National Hurricane Center put out its first advisory on the storm off of the southeastern coast of the United States. They called it Sub-Tropical Storm Andrea.
(Sub-Tropical Storm Andrea - Source: whptv.com)
So, what is a "Sub-Tropical Storm" anyway? Why don’t we just call it "Tropical Storm Andrea?"
Well, let's figure it out...
The National Hurricane Center defines a Sub-Tropical Storm as “a low pressure system that develops over sub-tropical waters that initially has a non-tropical circulation but in which some elements of tropical cyclone cloud structure are present.”
What the heck does that mean? Well, pretty much, that’s saying that it’s not the normal low-pressure storm system that brings us rain in our day-to-day weather pattern here in the US. But, it doesn’t meet all of the criteria in order for it to be called a Tropical Storm.
So, what does a storm have to have to be called a Tropical Storm? Well, it needs a “warm-core.” This means that it’s feeding off of the warm ocean waters, which help it to maintain it’s strength or even strengthen. Your normal run-of-the-mill storms that pass through Pennsylvania and the US are “cold-core” storms.
So, sub-tropical storms are a hybrid (if you will) storm, with both tropical and non-tropical characteristics.
What’s interesting about these storms, is that more often than not, they form outside of the typical Atlantic Hurricane Season (June to November), and are not as rare as you think…
Sub-Tropical Storm Nicole formed near Bermuda in October 2004. Interestingly, she did not go on to become a Tropical Storm.
(2004 Sub-Tropical Storm Nicole - Source: wikipedia.org)
And, during the very active 2005 Atlantic Hurricane Season, a sub-tropical storm formed off of Africa (near The Azores). This storm never got a name, because it was determined to be a sub-tropical storm during post-season re-analysis of the year’s storms. If it were to have been given a name, it would have been called Sub-Tropical Storm Tammy.
(2005 Un-Named Sub-Tropical Storm - Source: wikipedia.org)
A lot of times, these storms form on the southern tip of weakening frontal systems. This is similar to what happened with Andrea.
So, there you go – your Weather 101 lesson for today.
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You might remember a few customer service blogs that Letitia Miele and I posted back in August.
http://community.whptv.com/blogs/letitia_miele/archive/2006/08/22/788114.aspx
http://community.whptv.com/blogs/paul_lynch/archive/2006/08/23/791640.aspx
Well, I have another customer service story for you - this one, a happier one :-)
Last Spring, I bought one of those weed-wacker things when I bought my house. I pretty much use it to edge the grass around the sidewalk and the curb. Well, it took all season for the nylon twine inside to finally run out (it literally ran out the last day that I cut the lawn last year). So, I figured, I'd just wait until the Spring to take the spool off and re-thread the twine. A few weeks ago, I broke the weed-wacker out of moth balls and tried to take the spool off. No go. I called the manufacturer and they told me that I was doing the right things. They said it might still be under warranty and that I should call a service center and have them take a look at it. I did just that, and I was told that the plastic had “fused together, due to excessive smashing on concrete or blacktop,” and, they could not get it off either. So, I was left with a useless piece of equipment.
Now, the only way to get the nylon thread to keep feeding out as it wears down as your edging, is to tap it on the ground. If you do this on the grass – well, you get a nice little bald spot. So, I always tap it on the concrete or blacktop. I was told that I broke the weed-wacker. I was given two options: (1) buy a new one – cost: $40. (2) pay to have this one repaired – cost: more than $40. Neither one of these options was acceptable to me.
So, I wrote one of my infamous detailed letters to the president of the company, explaining my story and requesting a free repair or a free replacement. I also added that all of my lawn and garden equipment is from this company, because I believe in the quality of their products.
A few days later, I got a letter in the mail apologizing for the problems, and a promise that I would receive a free replacement. Sure enough, only a few minutes later, the UPS truck delivered a brand new weed-wacker.
NOW, THAT’S CUSTOMER SERVICE!
And, I will be sending a thank you note to them too.
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OK, so I'm going to start off being nit-picky with our 3-week early change to Daylight Saving Time. I've heard the traditional "Spring Ahead" reference several times. But, we might want to change that from now on, since we're changing the clocks before Spring officially arrives. Perhaps we could say "March Forward?" Just a thought.
Anyway, on to my real purpose of this blog entry... how confusing this time change can be when you work overnight hours like we do in TV.
I normally set my alarm for 2am when I work Saturday and Sunday mornings. Yeah, it's early, but I've got to give myself time to drive into work, forecast the weather, put-together the weather graphics, record radio weathercasts, meet with our live studio guests, and look over scripts.
But, Saturday evening, it took me forever to figure out what time I should set my alarm for.
I thought to myself, 2am will become 3am. So, do I set the clock on the new time and then set the alarm for 2am? Or, do I set the clock on the new time and set the alarm for 3am? Or, do I leave the clock on the old time and set it for 2am or 3am? So confusing!
After driving myself nuts, I finally figured out that it was probably easiest to set all the clocks in the house to the new time. Then, set my alarm as normal for 2am.
So, I really got up at 1am the old time. Then, when it became 2am, the time skipped over to 3am and I was back on track. And, I got to work on time.
Hope you enjoy the extra daylight during the evenings now - but, man, it's tough to get up when the sun isnt rising now until after 7am. Wait, the sun's not up when I come to work early in the mornings on the weekends anyway.
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So, I know from personal experience how tough this snowstorm has been to dig-out from - with layers of snow, sleet, ice, rain, you name it. But, I was very frustrated on my drive in to work this morning (Thursday).
Can someone please explain to me why at least half of the cars driving on the road were covered with snow - sometimes only leaving the windshield clean?
In my opinion, there is NO EXCUSE for this!!! What was everyone doing yesterday? Obviously, if you car was covered yesterday, you probably were home from work or school. So, what were you doing all day? It seems to me that it's pure laziness.
Now, I don’t care if you leave your car stuck in snow in the street, or leave it covered with snow in the street. I'm sympathetic to the fact that digging a car out after it gets plowed in can be a rough job. But, the minute you take that car onto the road, you better clean it off 100%.
Why, you ask?
Well, I don’t enjoy having HUGE chunk of ice and snow flying off of your car and smashing into my car - like what happened to me on the drive into work this morning.
First, it's disrespectful to the rest of us that got up earlier than normal to clear our cars off. Second, it's against the law! Yes, that's right. In Pennsylvania, you can now get fined if snow or ice flies off your car and causes injury or deal to other drivers or pedestrians. Fines range from $200 to $1,000.
But, do you really need a law to make you do something that should be common courtesy? It all comes down to personal-responsibility - which, by the looks of things this morning, some drivers don’t have.
Be safe!
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OK, so I told this story to Mike Parker and Jason Bristol Sunday evening, and it sounds like something right out of Seinfeld.
So, do you remember that episode where Jerry's going to buy a car and George goes along with him? George was so hungry, so he goes to buy a candy bar. Of course, "the only candy with the cookie crunch," a Twix bar, didnt want to "jump." So, George went hungry. If you've watched the episode, it gets a little more complicated and hilarious than that, but you get the jist.
Well, that Seinfeld episode leads well into my story...
Every once in a while I'll buy a chocolate milk from the vending machine in the CBS 21 lunchroom. I usually dont have the exact 75 cents change, so I use a dollar. Unfortuntately, when my milk "jumps," my 25 cents of change doesnt always follow. Sunday evening this is exactly what happened.
And, this is not an isolated incident - it's happened the last 3 times I've bought milk.
Now, I could understand if most of the drinks had been bought already and the machine just ran out of change. But, that's not the case. The machine is fully-stocked. So, why isnt the change stocked up as well?
What else can I do but put a note on the machine asking for my 25 cents back. And, put a 2nd note there warning others that they wont be getting any change anytime soon.
Oh, and before I forget, the chocolate milk, it was gooooooood!
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Sunday evening, my wife took me to a Hershey Bears game as a Christmas gift. I used to go to Bears games with my dad and uncle when I was in high school and college, but I haven't been back since then. No reason, just never got around to it. In fact, I've never seen the Bears play at Giant Center - the last game I saw was at "The Old Barn."
Anyway, on to my story...
The game kicked off at 5pm and the Bears took an early lead against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, scoring 3 goals in the first 5 or so minutes of the 1st Period. In fact, the Bears dominated the 1st Period, having about 15 shots on goal. The Penguins scored 1 goal in the 2nd and the Bears clinched the game in the 3rd with a 4th goal.
But, it wasnt the Bears winning game that I left Giant Center thinking, it was the "other" action that I saw on the ice - FIGHTING.
Now, I've been to plenty of hockey games in my life, and I know that a lot of fans would be dissapointed if they dont see at least one helment & gloves-off boxing match, but why does it go on?
I'm not talking about a little shoving after a cross-check. I'm talking about the gloves coming off, the 2 players moving to center-ice, everyone else moving to the edges of the ice (including the refs), and these 2 guys circling each other for a good 30-seconds, before a guy threw the 1st punch. Then, the fighting going on or a good 30 sec before the refs even batted an eyelid. I never remember seeing anything like that before.
Now, during this fight, the crowd roared - including the 3 kids (maybe 8 to 12 years old) - that were sitting in front of me with their father. This is what I hear from them... "yeah, go...knock his block off." "Smash his face in." "Come on, you can do better than that." And, the father was encouraging their cheers.
Is this what we should be encouraging our children to cheer on? The Bears do such a great job having family-friendly contests, etc. during the periods and at some points even during the periods, but then this kind of stuff happens. What are kids going to remember, the fight or the other contests, etc.?
I'm not trying to judge anyone, but I enjoyed everything about the game, but that. Yes, hockey is a VERY contact-sport. But, so is football, and you dont see that happening to often, do you?
What do you think?
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When I took my dog for a walk the other day, I saw at least a half-dozen of my neighbors digging in the back of their sheds and dusting off their lawnmowers. And, I thought to myself, is this really December? Is it time to really mow the lawn? Oh yeah, a lot of our lawns are about due for a trim, thanks to all of this mild weather.
Let's compare this month to December 2005...
Through Sunday, December 17th...
- December 2005:
- Average High Temp: 34.0º (9.5º below average)
- December 2006:
- Average High Temp: 49.9º (6.4º above average)
WOW...what a difference a year makes, right? Not only was it bitterly cold last December, but we had 3 snowstorms by this date, totally about 12" in all.
This year, we're cutting our grass in mid-December.
Is this a trend that we'l see all winter? Hmm...hard to tell.
What I can tell you is that it was VERY cold last December, but then we followed that with the 5th warmest January on record, and a fairly average February.
So, will we flip things around this year and go from this mild stuff to a much colder January and/or February? We'll have to see.
In the short-term, I can tell you that it's looking cooler as we head toward Christmas, but not cold. We'll be back in the 40s - but, that's still about 5 degrees above average.
Right now, though, I better stop blogging, and I better go cut my lawn!
Happy Holidays!
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OK, so it's a question many of us ask this time of year... "Should I put up a fake or real Christmas tree?"
My wife and I had this very discussion a few weeks ago. Ya see, this year is the first year that we're spending together as a married couple in our new house. We always used to put up a fake 6 ft tree in one of our apartments in the past. But, this year, when we put that 6 ft tree up in the house, it looked like a Charlie Brown tree - way too small. So, we debated on whether or not to get a real tree or buy a new, taller and larger fake tree.
Ultimately we went out and bought a new 7 1/2 ft fake tree and it looks great. But, I do miss that real Christmas tree smell. I did try buying a "tree smell" spray - nope, didnt smell anything like a Christmas tree.
So, I'm curious what you do every Christmas season. Why do you put up a fake vs. real tree and vice versa? Do you ever switch back and forth from year to year?
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A few weeks ago, Myranda Stephens posted a great blog about Thanksgiving getting no love, and stores moving right from Halloween stuff to Christmas stuff (http://community.whptv.com/blogs/myranda_stephens/archive/2006/11/06/1040110.aspx).
Well, I want to piggy-back off of that blog. I'm not going to talk about stores jumping the gun and rushing Christmas (however, I do wish it would slow down a bit - but, I understand how long it takes to get product out on the shelves). Rather, I'm going to talk about individuals rushing Christmas.
OK....here we go....
I take my dog for a good walk around our neighborhood every day. Last evening, I got a late-start on the walking her and we ended up pushing every last breath of daylight left. As we were making our rounds, I started to take notice of the number of homeowners in my neighborhood with Christmas lights already on their homes.
Now, before I start to go off on my opinions, let me put out a little disclaimer. I just put Christmas lights on my home yesterday, and I'm going to put them up at my parent's home this afternoon (I traditionally put them up right before Thanksgiving, or on Black Friday - depending on if it's raining or not). However, they are NOT lit yet - and won't be until at least Black Friday, if not closer to December 1st.
I completely understand people wanting to get the outside decorations up sooner, rather than later. Of course, being a weather guy, it's going to get a whole heck of a lot colder before it gets any warmer. But, can't we get through Thanksgiving before celebrating Christmas?
I dont know, but to me, it seems like this year people everywhere are turning their Christmas lights on sooner than ever before. I just feel bad for Tom The Turkey - he's really getting NO LOVE this year!
Oh well, this is America, and we should all do what we want, right? Including me, and me putting my opinions out there, but also not turing on my Chistmas lights until I want to (although, I must admit, it's pretty tempting to turn them on right away after putting all that work into setting everything up. Maybe that's why everyone's got their lights on? Hmmmm.).
No matter what....have a HAPPY THANKSGIVING and a GREAT holiday season!
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OK, so I'm sure you've heard about the new book that OJ Simpson is releasing entitled "If I Did It." In the book, he supposedly hypothetically describes how the murders of his wife, Nicole Brown-Simpson, and Ron Goldman would have been committed.
Then, I hear that a TV interview with him is going to be airing later this month. In the interview, OJ supposedly tells for the first time how he would have committed the murders if he were the one responsible for the crime - even though he has denied being involved in the murders.
So, I'm not going to go into if I think he is guilty or not here. He was found not guilty, and that's what I will honor and respect. However, does anyone have a problem with him writing a book and granting this TV interview? And, especially considering the expected content contained in each of them?
I just dont understand it. How is this even acceptable in his mind? This doesnt seem like the way of clearing your name for once and for all, does it?
And, more importantly, he owes money for the wrongful-death suits of Brown and Goldman. Why do I think that no money from this book/TV deal will go to the families?
What are your thoughts?
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On Election Day, I voted at my polling place in Lancaster County. We had the option of voting at the 1 electronic booth that was set-up; or, we could fill-out a paper ballot and then feed it into the counting machine ourselves.
I chose the paper ballot, because the line was shorter and I figured it would be just like filling-out a ScanTron test in school.
As I was waiting in line for an open chair and table to fill-out the ballot, I looked over the ballot so that I could speed up the process for when I finally sat down.
It didn’t take me long to get irritated. Not because I had to wait in line for a few minutes – but, because I had a hard time finding the English! The ballot was written in alternating English and Spanish, making it not so user-friendly.
Now, I am well aware that the United States does not have an "offical" language. But, why was Spanish the only alternate-language on the ballot? And, why isn’t English our official language?
If we're not going to have an official language, how can we discriminate against those who speak another language, and not have the ballot in all languages? Yes, this logistically seems ridiculous, but wouldn't it be more fair?
You may disagree with me on this (and I welcome a good debate/discussion on it), but English should be the official language of the United States.
Our country truly is a country of immigrants. My family came to the US from Ireland, Germany and Italy around 1900. None of them could speak English when they arrived in New York City, but they were eager to learn and mastered English very quickly.
Why? Well, they wanted to become part of their new home and wanted to be an American. Now, they never abandoned their heritage; rather, they embraced the American way-of-life.
Why should it be any different today?
I fully support having preliminary government documents in multiple languages when they first arrive in the US. But, when you become a US Citizen and become eligible to vote, etc…you should be able to speak English fluently.
What are your thoughts?
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This afternoon, my photographer, Nellie, and I were invited to cover a veteran's luncheon at the Pheasant Hills retirement community in Susquehanna Township, Dauphin County, where residents there invited about a dozen veteran's in from the Lebanon VA Hospital.
First, I want to sincerely thank the organizers for inviting us to this very special event.
Second, the warmth and positive-energy that Nellie and I felt in the room the entire time we were there was amazing!
We were not only welcomed with a "hello," but were hugged when we arrived.
And, the respect to those who have served was refreshing. A 21-gun salute, taps, a wreath placed at the flag pole, full-color guard presentation, the pledge and the National Anthem.
So, this Veteran's Day, try to talk to a vet. It'll mean to world to them...and, you'll definitely learn something and leave with a great feeling.
And, if you'd like to view the story click here.
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