1 July 2006

Some random notes & observations today:

1) We're wall-to-wall with Shuttle coverage today--Discovery is SUPPOSED to lift off in a few hours. When I mentioned to my partner that it's going to be a big story she said: "Wait, aren't we OUT of shuttles?"

2) My associate producer saying she once had an Asian Barbie that she named "Connie Chung." The doll had a bowl haircut and a kimono. Sensitive.

3) My cable news network--always on the cutting edge of graphics --has a NEW "breaking news" banner that it's in huge block letters with a repeating crawl over the top of the screen. A guy I work with said, "Jesus, why don't they just put a frickin' SIREN on her (the anchor's) head!"

4) Two of my guy friends at work --trying to settle a bet about whether Jews like chili dogs. (One of the guys is Jewish). Again, sensitive.

29 June 2006

You know how when you get a Snapple there's always some kind of "fun fact" or "witty" quote inside the bottle cap? Here's the one under MY cap today: "The most sensitive parts of the body are the mouth and fingertips." Hi.

28 June 2006

Just for fun, I just took a look at Sasha Cohen's website. After the Olympics, she tried to go all "Hollywood" --doing a bit for the TV guide channel for the Oscars, had a few guest spots on the late night talk shows and even a cameo on the NBC show "Las Vegas". Apparently she didn't quite catch on b/c after 5 months of nothing - she's now selling saline solution in a new commercial. And she's REALLY lame. Watch it here.

28 June 2006

The sun is out! The clouds have parted! There's blue sky! Everything is slowly but surely drying out after our deluge of rain. 11+" since Saturday night. The weather folks said it was a one in every 300 year event. (God, I HOPE it is!)



I drove to work today with the top down on my car, just to dry it out. (Oh yes, the convertible top leaks like a sieve!) We avoided any major water damage to the house, so I'm VERY grateful. There are TONS of horror stories about there, too. Really sad. Anyway, looking forward to everything getting back to normal. (I'm even excited about moving our -- now TOTALLY overgrown -- lawn!)

The affects of the storms are still with us, unfortunately--the rivers are all cresting (including the Potomac) and areas like Alexandria and Georgetown are vulnerable to flooding. They had to evacuate folks from a section of Rockville, Maryland--about 3 miles north of us --because a dam on a nearby lake was about to bust open. (The lake is about 25 FEET above normal.) Keep your fingers crossed.

Aerial of Lake Needwood:




P.S. The website DCRTV had a fun write-up about how the flooding impacted some of one of the local TV stations here...

"4's Water Woes - 6/28 - With the heavy rain of late, DCRTV hears about how some serious water got into the basement at Channel 4/WRC killing the power and the backup generator. The Nebraska Avenue NBC station was off the air for about 30 minutes Monday evening before, slowly, the power was restored. No newsroom computer system, no rundown for the 11 PM news, no prompters. Two out of three cameras power supplies were blown, the 11 PM newscast was started with one camera, that's why there was lots of "zooming" going on. Jim Vance explained the situation at the top of the show, and eventually the weather camera came back. All of the cameras were OK as of the AM shows Tuesday, but the backup generator system is still down, awaiting parts....."

27 June 2006

Rain, rain go away! BLEH!

I feel like I'm living in the Amazon. It's downright tropical here. Steamy, wet, rainy, everything overgrown. It's absolutely gross.

We managed to keep the basement relatively dry throughout this ordeal. The first two nights were fine. But last night was quite challenging. The water started seeping into our basement under the door from the garage--so out came the wet vac. But it kept coming...and coming. So I ran outside to see what was going on with the drain -- it was completely overwhelmed, water up to above my ankles. My neighbor took pity on me and helped me bail it out -- he with a pail, me with a plastic trashcan. After about a half an hour we managed to bring the water down and the drain started working again. When I came back in, wet, muddy, back sore, TC had the wet vac going and the basement was completely dry. We vowed to deliver a lasagna and some wine to our gallant neighbor.

We're expecting one more night of this. Keep your fingers crossed.

Meanwhile, here's a interesting bit from a member of the White House press corps about how the White House has been impacted by all the rain...including various leaks in the press room and how a tree (planted by Teddy Roosevelt, no less) toppled over on the White House lawn. Check it out HERE.



Interestingly, the good folks at Reuters discovered that the Roosevelt tree is the same one that's on the $20 bill.