Weather...Or Not: September 2011 Entries

Posted:

9/30/11

--IPod: .38 Special, "Second Chance". This song came out when I was in high school. A girl had just dumped me for some other guy. I didn't really care…but a friend of mine tried to make me feel like this song should make me really sad. But it didn't make me sad. It just wasn't working with that girl and it didn't really bother me that she was gone or why she left. This song always makes me remember that. I think my friend was disappointed that I wasn't torn up over a break up.

--Goodbye, September. You are the month that finally got us some rain around here. Thank you for that. Although it didn't seem like you were around very long this year. Tell you what…next year try to make it feel like you lasted for more than a week. Love you!

--Hello, October (tomorrow). Things usually start getting chilly during you. And that's okay. We love the smell of burning leaves, bonfires, pine tar, and football.

--This morning I am apparently doing the weather with roller derby girls. I have no idea how this is going to go, or what they are going to do. It's fun that way. And I think most of the time it turns out to be pretty good. I just hope this morning does not include me trying to roller skate because I have no skills on wheels.

"Feedback Friday"!!

From Rick (9/27/11):

Hi Greg, I watched another station's morning show until I caught your Phrase of the Day segment one morning. Now I have to tune in to your show everyday to see what's going to happen. Too funny, big fan of the show, love it.

Hi, Rick! Thanks for making the switch, Bro. And I am glad you like the "P.O.T.D.". It actually started on a whim one morning when I challenged someone to give me a phrase to try and work into a weathercast. It worked that one morning…so we tried it again. And now we can't seem to stop doing it! And while I am VERY curious to know which of our competition lost you as a viewer…you don't have to tell us. Just the fact that you switched is enough for us.

Aight…that's it for today! Thanks for reading. And thanks for watching. Hit the Facebook page. I can't blog from home any more but I usually hit Facebook a couple of times over the weekend.

9/29/11

--IPod: Eric Clapton, "Running on Faith". It's the "24 Nights" version. Great stuff.

--The next couple of days are going to be fairly windy. Today the gusts may be as strong as 45 miles per hour. Most of the area is under a wind advisory through the afternoon today. Tonight and tomorrow will still be fairly windy…but not like this afternoon. Bottom line…if you have anything outside that will blow away you'd do well to secure it before you leave the house this morning.

--The past few Thursdays we've been doing something pretty interesting on my Facebook page. We open up a thread where you can ask me any question you want, provided it is clean. And then later in the day I do a video response. I make the video sitting at my dining room table at home. And I go through the questions and answer them on the spot. Once the video is done I post it on the Facebook page for your viewing pleasure, or displeasure as the case may be! It's been a lot of fun so far, and I think we will likely do it again today. So if you would like to give it a try hit the Facebook link above, "like" the page, and see what happens!

9/28/11

--IPod: East Village Opera, "Overture (Le Nozze Di Figaro). My Dad turned me on to this group. Outstanding. Non-typical. Fun.

--Let me just follow up yesterday's blog by saying I finished "The Hustler" yesterday. Do they even tell stories this well these days? In an era of special effects…I think Hollywood could do well to watch movies like "The Hustler". Not to crank out yet another overdone remake of those older movies. But to remind themselves how to tell a great story.

--Do you ever think about technology? It is amazing how fast things are changing these days. Do you know that power companies now have the ability to put a "smart meter" on your house that will track everything in your house related to power consumption? Including how much power you use…when you turn on a light…when you go on vacation…when you go to bed…whether or not you are using an odd amount of energy to say, run an illegal computer server in your basement…or running enough energy that you could be growing pot in your closet. Don't laugh…apparently the police are already using this information in court to prosecute. Here is a link that is pretty interesting. I have yet to verify the information. But I believe when the power company comes knocking on my door to install a new power meter I will decline them.

Watch the four or five minute video and let me know what you think by hitting the feedback section below. Or just send me an email with "Blog" on the subject line.

9/27/11

--IPod: The Rolling Stones, "Under My Thumb".

--Yesterday I started watching "The Hustler" with Paul Newman and Jackie Gleason. I've never seen it before. For those of you that are a bit younger…"The Hustler" involved Newman's character from "The Color of Money". It's kind of like a prequel to "The Color of Money". What a great movie so far! I still have to watch the conclusion. But Newman and Gleason are classic. George C. Scott is obviously great, too. It's very cool to get the back story to Fast Eddie.

--Many people have been asking me lately what happened to Jillian Deam. So I will take a second and tell you. She no longer works here. A couple of weeks ago she was offered a job, in this media market, and she took it. Chances are good I'll be spoken to if I mention more than that. But if you look around the area you'll likely be able to figure out where she went.

9/26/11

--IPod: The Beatles, "I Feel Fine". Nothing better than the Beatles. Nothing.

--Friday morning WAND News Director Tai Takahashi came to me to ask if I wanted to go to an event in Decatur Saturday night at the Decatur Country Club. For whatever reason he had to back out and asked me to fill in. I checked with Faye and we decided it could be fun. So we went. It was a fundraiser for the animal shelter or one of those animal groups in Decatur. And you know I love animals…so it was something that we could easily get behind.

Tai told me it was "black tie optional", which to me means that I wear a suit and Faye wears a dress. But when we pulled through the country club driveway everyone we saw was wearing a tux or a formal gown. It didn't look so optional! Now this didn't bother me all that much. I mean…I don't care. I would have worn PJ's and not felt out of place. I could make it work. But Faye is a woman. And MOST women very much care how they look…especially at events like this. Faye was wearing a scorching hot red dress. She looked fantastic. But it wasn't a formal dress. So going in we had the feeling that we would be under dressed.

I am not really into the country club scene. No offense to anyone that is. But I've met some very pretentious people at these places. You know…people that obviously just have the wrong idea about what is important in life. And people that go through great lengths to impress people with what they have. I'm not into all of that. There were some people like that at this event. But MOST of the people there were very cool, and once we got inside we realized that not everyone was so formal. And once we started mingling and hanging out we really ended up having a good time.

We met a mother/daughter combo that was at our table. They were having a great time. And the mother was very active in the live auction. The woman spent thousands on things like an old bottle of scotch and a party for 30 people. She said she was going to invite everyone at the table to the party. She even went as far as getting our names and contact info. I don't know if we'll hear from them with an invite. But we talked about it afterwards…and if she calls us we will probably go to the party. They were fun enough that we think the party would be a blast.

9/23/11

--IPod: Amici Forever, "Senza Catene". Beautiful.

--We've switched over to Fall. It happened at 4:05 this morning. Let's hope we start making up for lost Summer moisture, and keep temperatures in the 60's and 70's. That's just my opinion…

--I'm doing something a little different this morning. If it works out I may keep doing it in the future. Basically I am updating the blog later than I usually do. I used to bust my butt to get the thing done before the newscast began. But recently you may have noticed from my complaining on here that I usually don't have much time before a newscast any more. And the blog has obviously suffered because of it. So maybe if I don't keep my self-imposed deadline I can take more time on the blog…and we can get the quality back up to where it used to be. Maybe we will all benefit from that.

It's "Feedback Friday"!

From David (9/21/11):

I think Stephanie is doing great. She seems a bit unsure how to react with the phrase of the day. She'll come out of that!!!

Keep up the good work.

I agree, David. As I said recently I think she is coming along fine. It takes a while to come into a new place and start to gel with people. And especially in Stephanie's case. She was walking into a situation where the person being replaced was on the morning crew for around 5 years…and much loved. And then the two people filling in were liked by many people, too. So it was almost setting up the next person to flop. But Stephanie has come in and picked it up fairly fast. And I think the chemistry is coming around, too.

The "Phrase of the Day" isn't exactly the kind of thing they train you for in anchor school! It is ridiculous. It is unprofessional. It pulls us out of our comfort zones. And I love it. You're right…she'll figure it out soon enough. But first we have to drive out the part of her that needs to be professional!

From Karen (9/22/11):

Good morning Greg..Re:Today's blog about Troy Davis..I signed a petition going around on my FB page a couple weeks ago so I did my part..It went through the courts and when the Supreme Court refused to stop it yesterday there was nothing I or anyone else could do..I have been praying about it..I have been one complaining about the new fb but I and thousands of others have been doing our part for Mr. Daivs and honestly don't know what else I could have done.

I wonder if that Facebook petition was seen by anyone that could make a difference. I've seen many of them over the past year or so. But are they something that have an impact, or just like most everything else on FB…just a benign way to pass the time?

I'm not sure there is anything more an individual could have done. And like you said it did go through the appeals process.

From Cody (9/22/11):

Morning Greg! Normally I don't get sucked into the death penalty debate, but I felt compelled to comment on your blog today. First, it looks like we have pretty much the same stance on the issue: OK with it morally, but opposed to it because of human error. (By the way, the more I get to know you, the more I realize how similar we are in a lot of ways. Scary!)

Secondly, isn't it strange that in death penalty cases the testimony of one person can get you put on death row but that same person recanting their testimony can not get you set free? I guess the associative property doesn't apply in court.

And finally, it seems as though in a situation like the Davis case, when it gets this high profile, doing what is right or wrong takes a back seat and winning takes over. For the state, letting someone go free is a loss and executing them is a win.

Here is an article about the death penalty in Texas when George W. was governor. It is from 2000, so it is more of an attack on Bush than the death penalty, but it still has some interesting numbers.

Cody…please don't ever say that we are similar. It frightens me!

But alas…we are on the same page, it seems. Thanks for the article. Interesting read…

From Scott (9/22/11):

Greg,

I read your blog everyday and today I just had to respond.

You're all over it... What's with our society? That poor man did not have to die.. and facebook to me is overrated.

stay cool.....

Thanks for reading every day, Scott! And thanks for sending feedback.

I wonder if the death penalty is a deterrent. I'm pretty sure if we started cutting off hands for theft it eventually would keep more people from stealing. But it seems most homicides are acts of passion in a moment. I wonder if someone about to kill a cheating spouse, or whatever, would take time to think about the consequences. Perhaps someone has done a study on that?

From Danny (9/22/11):

First off let me say I am not sure how I feel about the death penalty. I have very mixed emotions. Now on this particular one I kept thinking kind of like you that maybe there was doubt and it should be stayed. You said what was another 6 months. Well this has been going on for 20 years. He went through the system even a last minute review by our supreme court last night. So I think there is much more that we don't know that shows he was guilty. With that said I have to believe legally it was the right thing.

Great points, Danny. He did have 20 years through the appellate system. Certainly if he were innocent it would have come out by now, right?

That's it for this week. Feel free to sign up below for email alerts. Then when I update the blog you'll get an email to let you know. And of course the feedback form is down there, too. Have a great weekend!

9/22/11

--IPod: U2, "With or Without You".

--Troy Davis was put to death last night. For those that are unaware…Troy Davis was convicted for allegedly killing a police officer in 1989. Since his conviction many of the witnesses in the case have recanted their stories and said they don't think he did it. They've even gone as far as to say that police coerced their testimony and another man was guilty of the crime. Advocacy groups have come forward on Davis' behalf, as they usually do in these cases.

Even with all of this outcry the state of Georgia went ahead with the execution around 11 last night. Even in Illinois, where most of our recent governors are either in prison or facing prison time…we don't kill people like this. Our death penalty was suspended by one of the governor inmates. Don't get me wrong…I'm all for putting someone down that murders. As a matter of fact…I don't think we are harsh enough with our violent criminals. I wouldn't mind going back to chopping off body parts for some of these people. However…we have to be completely sure the guilty are actually guilty.

Two thoughts about this appall me. 1) Georgia went ahead with the execution without delaying just to make sure they had the right guy. What would it have hurt to put it off what, 6 months? Small price to pay to make sure you weren't killing an innocent man. And 2) the fact that Facebook changed its format yesterday got more play in the media than this particular case. Are you freaking kidding me? And people wonder why it's so plausible that a secret society could take over the world's economic system. When the guard is asleep…the wolf takes the sheep. If the American people are the guard…well you can see where I am going with that analogy.

The Facebook issue is even this TV station's Facebook question of the day. And it's had more responses than anything else in recent memory. Good God…don't change Facebook! But that innocent man being put to death over there?? Eh. Whatever. Maybe if he had given more status updates from death row society would listen to him.

9/21/11

--IPod: The Beatles, "Paperback Writer".

--This morning Mark Rivera is filling in for Scot England. Mark seems like a good guy, although I don't really know him at all. He filled in during the morning news one other time. I think it was him, me, and Jillian Deam at that point. It's always fun working with someone new! And it's a good thing…cause he is the ninth different person I've worked with in the morning in the past 10 or 11 months.

Speaking of new people…it feels like Stephanie Summers is fitting in with us. Even though on the surface we are supposed to act like professionals and appear as though we like everyone that works here…it isn't always the case. Sometimes people just don't get along. But Stephanie has started showing her natural personality and it has been fun. The chemistry for us has actually happened much sooner than I thought it would. Sometimes that takes a while, too. But it seems to be gelling pretty well.

9/20/11

--IPod: Cat Stevens, "Peace Train". Maybe someday, Yusuf. Maybe someday. But first we have to get rid of the need for money.

--All morning yesterday I said that fall begins at 5:05 PM this Friday. I was wrong. It begins at 4:05 AM Friday morning. Minor detail there. In reality that mistake will harm no one. But there is the problem of the perception that I don't know what I am talking about when I make mistakes like that.

--Here is another…and likely the main reason…that the blog doesn't get my attention anymore: time. I just finished every thing there is to be done in the morning now and I have no time to sit here and blog. Four minutes. That is how much time I have to type the blog, transfer it into our web page "program", edit it, and save it. Then I have to do the email alert that I send out every time I update the blog. And then I get to count the hundred or so email alerts that get bounced back to me almost every morning. I'm not complaining, mind you. But this is my answer when people ask the question. Meanwhile if I have something to say on the Facebook fan page I just post a status update and hit enter. You tell me which will be done more…

9/19/11

--IPod: Nothing! I am speaking with Scot England at the moment.

--What a fantastic and interesting weekend we had. On Friday we did the morning show with Dixie. It was great. There are clips of it still on this website. If you have some time to kill today check it out. Hopefully you'll like watching as much as we enjoyed working that morning!

Saturday Faye and I were invited to a hot air balloon party. My buddy bought his wife (also my buddy) a balloon ride for Christmas last year. This weekend they cashed it in…right from their own front yard. It was fascinating watching the balloon people put the balloon up in the front yard…and fantastic to watch a friend fulfill a life-long dream. While she took her balloon ride the rest of us had a party at their house. They live out in the country…so we had a bonfire. All day yesterday my lungs felt like I had spent the day Saturday smoking…but it was worth it!

And of course this time of the year my Sundays are spent in front of the TV, with my laptop in my lap, watching football. I am happy to report that my fantasy football money league team bounced back. Unless my kicker loses 20 points tonight I will be 1-1 to start the season. For those of you that follow football, though, Jamaal Charles was my first round pick. He went down for what looks like the rest of the season yesterday with an ACL tear. I think my team will be okay. It wasn't like he was doing well before he got hurt. Now I just have to find a replacement…which I was thinking about doing anyway.

And of course the Cowboys won in overtime yesterday…which is always nice. Tony Romo apparently broke a rib or two during the game. He went to the locker room for a while…but came back to finish the game and lead the Boys to a much-needed win.

All in all…a great weekend.

9/16/11

--IPod: The Verve Pipe, "Colorful". Yes…it's from the movie "Rock Star" Highly underrated if you ask me.

--There's been a lot of chatter lately about crime within Decatur. We've had many shootings this summer. It's prompted many to ask why police in Decatur are still very concerned about traffic violations when a block away from where they've pulled someone over for speeding there could very well be someone laying in the street from a gunshot wound. It's important for me to preface this by saying that I have no insider knowledge into the inner workings of the DPD. But it occurred to me this morning on my way to work that no one makes any money from arresting a murderer. If you want to be practical about it…the only thing to gain from arresting a murderer, aside from that whole justice thing, is that it makes a police department look like they are putting up a good fight in the war on crime.

What does produce revenue for a city? Traffic violations. I am NOT saying that this is what is happening in Decatur. Maybe I am just saying that someone should be asking more questions.

"Feedback Friday"!!!

From Connie (9/14/11):

Greg, Still like the blog. I do like the phrase of the day. I still don't do facebook!

Stephanie seems to be fitting in good. Seen Lainie?

Hi, Connie! Thanks…but you really should look into Facebook! If for no other reason than to join us on my work page. It's really getting fun over there!

I heard from Laine yesterday. Seems like she is doing well! And I agree…that new Stephanie chick is coming along nicely!

From Nancy (9/14/11):

A friend and I were talking this a.m. and we both wondered if Tara was going to come back to the news room or if she has decided to be a stay at home mom. We really miss her.

Short answer? No. Tara is very satisfied with the decision she has made. Working for her family means a lot to her. That's one of the things that I think made Tara so likeable as an anchor. You could tell by watching that she is "one of us", if you know what I mean. She really is the girl next door. Values and family means a lot to her…and I would fall over in a heap if she ever decided to come back to TV.

From Jennifer (9/15/11):

Just so you know...I sat with one of the "suits" yesterday and watched the licking phrase. I have to say he found it VERY hilarious and we launched into a "why we love Greg Trumbold" conversation! Most definitely a winner, winner chicken dinner!!

Thanks for letting me know, Jennifer! And I will come back with a common refrain…will that translate into more money for me?? J

That's all for this week. Thanks for reading. And come on over to Facebook and see what we're doing there! The link is at the top of the blog. You don't actually have to join Facebook to at least give it a look…

9/15/11

--IPod: The White Stripes, "Prickly Thorn, But Sweetly Worn".

--Have you heard about this show coming up in Springfield about Tupperware? It's a comedy special put on by this dude who plays the part of Dixie. I've never seen the show but Scot England says it gets good reviews. Apparently this guy who plays Dixie is going to be in the studio with us all morning tomorrow. And apparently this guy is going to help me do the weather at some point. I hope he is funny!

From what I can tell you may notice something "peculiar" about Dixie tomorrow morning. And from what I've been told we are not supposed to mention it. You'll understand what I am talking about if you watch us tomorrow morning. But let me just say right now that this is either going to be hysterically funny…or this is going to suck pond water!

--The "Phrase of the Day" from Tuesday morning is now updated on the video player at the top of this page. It's the one where I licked the camera. From a professional point of view it was a stupid thing to do. If I were looking for another weather job somewhere else chances are very good that Tuesday morning would make it hard for another station to say "yeah…let's bring THAT guy in!" From what I can tell most TV stations around the country stay away from stuff like licking the camera. But you know what? Right now I don't work for other TV stations. I work for this TV station. And I work in front of you. And I know that YOU wanted me to lick the camera. Deep down in places you don't like to talk about at parties…you wanted me to lick the camera…you NEEDED me to lick the camera. (Yes…Jack Nicholson, "A Few Good Men)

Oddly enough I really thought I would catch internal heat about that particular "Phrase of the Day". But would you believe that not one person inside this building has mentioned it yet? Maybe that conversation will come…maybe it won't. Meanwhile…the game continues…

9/14/11

--IPod: Norah Jones, "The Nearness of You". It's recently been suggested to me that no one cares what is on my IPod. Yet…the updates continue.

--It's also been suggested to me that this blog isn't as interesting as it was before we began the Facebook fan page. Well…it probably isn't. Part of that is because more energy is needed for the FB page. And part of that is that my life isn't as complicated or difficult (i.e. interesting) now as it was a couple of years ago. So the stories and insight are different. Like Johnny said to Pony Boy…nothing gold can stay. I mean…even the updated "Phrase of the Day" video isn't getting updated lately. So at least the lack of attention to this blog isn't all me. I'm not the only one…

--It was nice to drive to work in the rain this morning. It could do this in places all day today. By places I mean mostly south of interstate 72. That area includes my house. That is great news. I haven't mowed in a little more than a month. I miss mowing! And I am tired of looking at our brown and dead yard.

9/13/11

--IPod: Amici Forever, "Canto Alla Vita". This song makes you feel like you are floating.

--Last week we spoke a bit about the security of the Clinton nuclear power plant. In that discussion someone mentioned the ADM alcohol situation. Well…a former employee of ADM emailed me on Friday to give some perspective. Here is that feedback:

From Anonymous (9/9/11):

Hey Greg! As you know, I worked security for ADM and they have a worst case disaster map for the anhydrous ammonia tanks and for the huge gas silos. If the worst were to happen with the ammonia tanks about 60% of the city would be uninhabitable and a good portion of the cities population would die. We were told that, "one breath and you're paralyzed; two breaths and you're dead." The gas tanks scenario is not as bad, it would just destroy ADM itself and Richland and that's about it. All of what I'm talking about anyway is worst case and they've got a ton of safety checks in place to stop it. Most likely it'd have to be purposefully blown to actually happen.

Yikes. But you know what…and I realize you were not comparing here…but a nuke meltdown is still worse.

--It seems like we made it through the anniversary of 9/11 okay. I think Al Qaeda made a video to commemorate the day. If that is the worst they pulled off then I think we can all agree that it was a success. I wonder if there was any kind of attempt that we have yet to hear about. You have to assume that there are things going on that we don't know about…and it may actually be best that way. Otherwise we might all walk around with that "Disclosure Day" look that all Presidents get on the opening of their term when they are taken into a briefing room and told what is REALLY going on in the world.

9/9/11

--IPod: The Canadian Brass, "Pachelbel: Canon in D". Easily my favorite classical song of all time, regardless of how it was bastardized by GE Soft Light Bulbs.

--Earlier this week we spoke of nuclear power, and specifically the Clinton nuclear power plant. I posed the question of safety. While I used Clinton as an example…I was talking about nuclear power in general. Funny, although unrelated, that there was a large blackout in the Southwest yesterday that left millions without power. I hear there was even a nuclear power plant in California that was shut down just in case something bad happened.

On "Coast to Coast A.M." this morning they had a "grid" expert on to talk about the blackout. It was fairly interesting and this guy did not appear to be a crazy person. Do I talk about that radio show too much? I find it interesting. There was a woman that called in this morning to say that a relative of hers is in the intelligence field and he told her that the blackout was a signal to sleeper cells in the States. Apparently all Hell is supposed to break loose this weekend from terrorism…and this woman and her family are heading to Canada as soon as they wake up this morning. Weird…and I hope that lady WAS a crazy person.

Someone sent me a link to a story about a plant in Pennsylvania that was recently downgraded for safety. The article illustrates that the government is regulating nuke facilities fairly well right now. Here is that link.

--This rain should continue into the day tomorrow, and then later in the afternoon it should start drying up. It still doesn't look like we are in for very much rain overall…it's just a persistent steady rain in places where it is raining. Either way…we need whatever we can get!

--I have a 3 day weekend this weekend. That means I won't be here Monday. It's my Labor Day holiday. No need to call me early Monday morning! Everything is fine…have a great weekend! I will likely still be on the Facebook page through the weekend, including Monday! Check me out there…

"Feedback Friday"!!!

From Danny (9/7/11):

How safe is Clinton power plant? In comparison to what? You think thousands of gallons of alcohol stored at ADM is safe? Earthquakes don't worry me when it comes to Clinton. The plant is designed for it. It was one of the last plants built and is of far better design than the ones in Japan that had so much trouble. Also I believe the earthquake wasn't the real problem in Japan, the tsunami was. Not likely to have a tsunami in Clinton. Terrorist attacks are possible but the very design of the plant makes it unlikely that they can actually do anything. The nuclear power plants are heavily regulated and inspected by the government so cost cutting you are worried about would risk greater cost so again are not likely. Spent fuel rods are a problem but they are building or have built a national depository for these also you may not know that they are recycling rods now too. Now as far as dumping nuclear power my question is and replace it with what? Coal is good but the pollution aspects seem to be a problem. It's easy to let fear keep us from making intelligent choices but all in all nuclear is a good option.

Some good points, Danny. Some more points of my own would be that alcohol is hardly comparable to nuclear meltdown when it comes to measuring disaster. While an ADM explosion would certainly rock Decatur…the impact of that would be FAR less than the Clinton power plant blowing up. And the impact of an alcohol explosion would not last for centuries like a nuclear explosion does. So I see that as apples and oranges. Although both can be dangerous, obviously.

An earthquake caused the tsunami in Japan. You're kind of splitting hairs there. We are talking about the same thing, basically, in this case. We won't likely have a tsunami in Clinton, true. But we could have one heck of an earthquake. The people that own the nuke plant in Japan said theirs was built to withstand disaster, too. Unless a building is actually tested…saying it is safe is just theory.

Also…as to cost cutting and being government regulated…food is also federally regulated, and sometimes bad food slips by and kills people. Anytime you are talking about loads of money at stake you are also talking about the potential for corruption. I think we all know that federal regulators can be paid to turn a blind eye, if the money is right.

Recycling nuke rods is HUGELY expensive, and isn't happening as much as you would suggest. And if the rods aren't a problem in Clinton…what about the surrounding area of this supposed national depository of which you speak? The containment center will have to be maintained for thousands and thousands of years. Are we going to leave a sign for future generations to let them know they have to be especially careful with that part of the land? Will they even speak the same language that is written on the sign in 75,000 years?

My basic point is that nuclear power, in the long run, leaves just as many unsolvable problems as our other forms of non-sustainable energies. A push towards renewable energy…wind, solar, etc…would be much better for our race.

9/8/11

--IPod: For some reason the dogs wanted to go outside twice this morning. That messed up my usual morning routine and I forgot to snag my IPod this morning! Fortunately I've had the ringing in my ears to keep me company this morning.

--I realize that the majority of the people that read this blog are female, for whatever reason. And I also realize that most women could give two squirts for football. But there are some dudes around here…and I love football. So pardon me for a moment while I mention that tonight marks the beginning of the NFL season that some of us thought wouldn't happen this year. Okay…so I knew there would be a season because there is too much money to be made. But there was a chance at least part of the season could have been missed. Fortunately the deal was done…and the season begins tonight!

Rumor also has it that someone famous and powerful is also making a big speech tonight about the potential future of our country, but whatever. The Packers are playing the Saints, and all is right in the world! So many questions to be answered for week one. Will the Colts survive without Peyton Manning? Will Arian Foster play this weekend? How will the Packers respond to the pressure of being the champions? Can Tony Romo and the Cowboys make the playoffs this season? And how about my fantasy teams? I have two…and right now I like them both a lot. But then again I always like my teams at the start of the season.

Well…we start getting the answers tonight!

9/7/11

--IPod: John Denver, "Rocky Mountain High".

--Is the Clinton nuclear power plant really safe? I know what the official word from the company that owns it is. Sure they are going to say there are no issues. But do you know that the used power rods that the fission produces will be active and deadly for potentially hundreds of thousands of years?? What if we have a big enough earthquake to damage the facility? And what about the security of the facility? What is to keep an organization bent on destruction from popping that thing off into the ionosphere? Are these questions we really want to be asking?

Nuclear power plants are mostly owned by private power companies, from what I can tell. That means they are for-profit. How many times in our history have we seen a corporation makes decisions based on profit, as opposed to making decisions based on the common good? I'll give you the short answer…way too many fricking times. So down the road when everyone's guard is down what is to keep the owner of the Clinton power plant to start skimping to make an extra buck? These plants produce waste that last basically forever. At some point a bad decision based on money is going to be made.

When it comes to technology the Germans have always seemed to have the upper hand. They recently dumped nuclear power. Maybe that is something we should really start thinking about.

9/6/11

--IPod: Dan Fogelberg, "Leader of the Band". Geez…trying to make myself cry this morning apparently!

--Yesterday when I got home from work we didn't do SQUAT! Our fun weekend really wiped us out. Faye made a GREAT minestrone soup. We vegged on the couch with our boys and watched "M*A*S*H" all afternoon until I fell asleep. Fantastic. Sometimes you just have to blow off responsibility and take care of yourself.

--I'm thinking about studying alchemy a bit. I heard on the radio this morning that the elites in the world have the elixir of eternal life and I am going to see if I can find it. (Yeah…I heard that on "Coast to Coast A.M." this morning. Another conspiracy!)

--Austin, Texas is burning. It is scary to see some of the images coming from that part of the country. People are losing their homes.

--It looks like a decent chance for more rain here on Friday…with a smaller chance for it to hang around into Saturday. We could use inches of rain over the course of a few days here. But at least this week if it is going to stay dry it isn't scorching hot.

9/5/11

--IPod: The Beatles, "I Will". This song is way too short.

--Man…what a weekend. I need a weekend to recover from this past weekend. We spent it in Effingham with Faye's family and it was a fantastic time! We also had some friends come into town for Saturday night and did a little midnight bowling. I got home late last night and haven't had much sleep!

--As I type this Otis Redding came on my IPod. How can "Sitting on the Dock of the Bay" not be about heroin?

--We're really catching good weather this week, in my opinion. Obviously we could use more rain and we might get some getting into this next weekend. But overall there will be a load of sunshine and temperatures in the 70's most of the week. Not too shabby at all!

--There's been a lot of talk about public safety in Decatur lately. We started talking about it yesterday on my Facebook page. Our news director Tai Takahashi did a nice post about it on his blog on this website. If you would like to join the discussion you can find it on my Facebook page.

9/2/11

--IPod: John Denver, "Annie's Song". Cheesy though it may be…this song makes me think about Faye.

--Let me just get this out of the way off the bat…yesterday on the blog I was referring to no one in particular. There are a few blogs on this website that haven't been given much attention by their owners in a while. It isn't personal…just a factual statement!

--Big weekend coming up. We'll be celebrating an 85^th birthday all weekend and I think it will be a fantastic time. I've yet to meet the birthday girl and am looking forward to it!

--We did another question and video-answer session on the Facebook fan page yesterday. It's really just an experiment to see if it works. So far so good, I think. It is fun for me…and the FB Gregorians have been asking some good questions. There was a question basically about religion that made me a little nervous…but I gave the best answer I could given the format. I would imagine we will do the q/v-a session again in the future. That is not something I plan to over-do, however…

--We've got one more very hot day to get through today…tomorrow gets a little cooler…and then coming out of the weekend it will be FANTASTIC. Hang in there just a little while longer if you don't like the heat. And if you do like the heat soak it up as much as you can today!

"Feedback Friday"!

From Keri (8/29/11):

Gregory,

Your IPod tracks make me smile. Still miss you friend.

I'm glad you dig the IPod reports, Keri! And yeah…I miss you, too!

Keri is a former co-worker that I became good friends with "back in the day". She recently moved to another state. L It was a great move for her, though!

From David (9/1/11):

A real Gregorian would take the time to read both the BLOG and FB.

Have a good FRIDAY, Greg!!

Geez, David. That is so TRUE! It should be written on a tablet somewhere!!

Have a great weekend, All! I'll be working on Labor Day…and from what I hear so will Scot England AND Stephanie Summers…the beginning of a new era…

9/1/11

--IPod: Electric Light Orchestra, "Living Thing".

--Someone was recently telling me that this blog hasn't been nearly as interesting lately as it used to be. I responded, "I know". With the creation of the Facebook fan page it just makes sense that the blog would step back a bit. But it isn't all doom and gloom on the blog! You can still catch "Phrase of the Day" on the video player above. They are archived on the video player, at least until someone decides that the space is too expensive and removes the video. And you can always go back into the blog archives at the bottom of the blog of relive some fantastic blog moments.

But by and large Facebook is just a better format for us to continue this journey together. The entire point behind my decision to start the blog all those years ago was for you and I to better connect. The blog served that purpose. But now there is a new kid in town…and his name is…Facebook. And anyway…it is time someone else around here carry this blogosphere for a while. Frankly my virtual back is tired. The one thing that this blog has provided over the past few years that the other blogs have not is consistency. Even when times were down, both at work and in my personal life, I still blogged just about every darn morning. We have blogs on this website that get updated once every few months. Who is going to bother with that?

Also...with the blog not all the work is up to me. For some blog issues there is work that needs to be done by our website team...that consists of a good dude named Cody. But Cody is over worked the way it is and doesn't always have time to drop everything to help me with a blog situation. When Cody takes time off it is extremely tough to get some things done. At least with Facebook it is MY fan page and everything is up to me. When something doesn't get done I have only myself to blame.

It takes work to blog every day. It can be draining. It is hard. And my guess is that is why not very many put up the effort. However…there is a new blog around here that is probably updated more now that even this blog. I've mentioned this other blog here before. It's called "The Reel Opinion" and it is done by someone that doesn't have the benefit of being on-air here to push his blog down your throat like I have! Geno Reynolds works behind the scenes here.

His blog is becoming "must read" if you have any feeling what-so-ever for movies. He gives critiques and previews and has tied in a Facebook fan page to go along with the blog very well. Between the two there is enough content to keep you engaged. So take a minute or two and give Geno's blog a look. And then check out the Facebook fan page and like it. If you are into movies I don't think you will regret the investment of time.

Weather...Or Not: September 2011 Entries - Wandtv.com, NewsCenter17, StormCenter17, Central Illinois News-

Weather...Or Not: September 2011 Entries