Turbulence Trouble

How scary do you think that was?  did you hear about the Continental Flight that made the emergency landing in Miami this morning?   News 5 Today brought you the story with live pictures from the international airport in Miami.  We figured out really fast what happened.  When the stretchers started taking people off the plane and some had neck braces on we knew they had a rough ride.  Some of those passengers were seriously hurt.  Some..bumps and bruises.

Right after we realized what was happening that made everyone start talking about rough plane rides they had.  I hate even thinking about what if?  I think they will have a story to tell.  Thank God they all lived through it.

That’s all for now

Baseball At Any Age

I saw this story on the Associated Press and I had to share it.  the dateline is Westlake, Ohio near Cleveland.   A minor league baseball player will spend the summer with a large host family – the residents of an Ohio assisted living facility.  Lake Erie Crushers pitchers Josh Faiola will stay at the Belvedere.  It’s a complex for seniors citizens.  The Crushers have  host family program for players during the season.  The Belvedere owner says she heard about the program and thought it would benefit both a player and the residents.  Faiola was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in 2006, tore his labrum and was released in March.  He and his wife will stay in a suite at The idents, by the way, have tickets to opening day.

Told you it was a good story.  I’m smiling.  Are you?

That is all.

Are You Concerned?

At this point most people are sick and tired of hearing about Swing Flu.  But now we’re hearing more and more are getting sick.  I think the moaning over too much coverage is now turning to…we can’t get enough of it.  

A friend of mine came over yesterday and the first thing she did was turn on MY television and started surfing channels for more information on the outbreak.

Now sad news today.  A Texas toddler is dead.  Right now doctors are saying that swine flu is to blame.

When the first case hits the tri-state….local experts say it WILL be here….what will you do?  How will you react?   I think fewer of us are rolling our eyes when we hear the coverage and updates.  More of us are listening.

That is all

Johnny’s: Say It Isn’t So!

No more birthday castle key mailed to your house every year. No more Sunday trip to the neighborhood toy store where you could buy the cheapest of trinkets and still feel like you struck it rich. No more running a mile or so down the road to pick up a quick gift for the party your son was invited to today and you just found the crinkled invitation at the bottom of his backpack. No worries…Johnny’s is open. They have gift bags, too.

No more trips for that new bicycle with its ceremonial ride down the aisles careful not to crash into toy displays or people jumping out of your way…smiling. No more spring trips to pick up a kite and run to the park.

A piece of my childhood is gone. And my memories go way back. Back a few locations. Back to Riddy’s corner in Latonia…even before the shopping center location and of course before the mega location on Boron Drive. My memory is with the original store…at least original to me. My kids are past the toy store stage. They can find their heart’s desire at an electronic’s store. But they know Johnny’s. In fact, when we drive by the store even today…one of us will say..”Johnny’s Toys!” And we all laugh.

The store will still be there. But it’s going to be different. No real toys. Some educational things…puzzles..etc.

Another victim of the tough economy. But this one hurts a little more.

That is all

 

Nightmare At Sea

One person pulled from the water.  Three more still missing.  Their boat capsized in 7-foot swells over the weekend.  Two of the missing are NFL players.  The Coast Guard  won’t speculate on the men’s chances of being rescued alive as the search continues.

The lone survivor so far, Nick Schuyler, was conscious when he was loaded onto a stretcher Monday.  Schuyler was dehydrated but alive.  Schuyler was able to help the Coast Guard narrow the search path and told investigators those still in the water had life jackets on.  The missing are 26-year-old Oakland Raiders linebacker Marquis Cooper,  29-year-old free-agent defensive lineman Corey Smith, and 25-year-old South Florida player William Bleakley.

How could this happen?  I know I ask that a lot about stories like this, but so do most people.  Four big guys on a little boat…. only 21-feet long.  the group left Clearwater Pass early Saturday in calm weather, but the winds picked up and the seas got heavy.  More details from Schuyler: The boat was anchored at the time the sea turned rough with 7-foot waves.   It must have been terrifying.    Why did they go out so far?  Why didn’t they start back when the wind picked up?  A spokesperson with the National Association of Charter Boat Operators was quoted as saying he would never take a boat that size more than 20 miles offshore.

Searchers at this point say the physical size of the men themselves will work in their favor in surviving.  They’re strong and take the punishing waters.  I pray they are found.

That is all.

McCafferty Intrigue: We All Want To Know

I think we all want to know what went on inside the Fort Thomas home of the McCafferty’s.  I’ll admit I am interested in finding out how that happened.  How will her lawyers defend her?  What will be the claim?   A dead man’s behavior, personality…dirty laundry will be on display for everyone to see.  I know, it’s like a bad wreck that makes you slow down to see what happened.   I guess that makes me a rubber-necker. 

Why intriguing?   Perfect family.  Perfect house.  Perfect marriage. Perfect kids.  Picture perfect.  And it turns out it was all a facade.  I’m not interested because I take joy in someone else’s misery.  Quite the opposite.  It makes me sad that an entire family worked so hard on ‘propping’ up appearances that they were falling apart behind closed doors.   Or were they?

Will the defense create its own facade?  Will they mastermind a defense that will paint Robert McCafferty as a monster?  An abuser who was as maticulous about his family’s behavior as he was about his well-manicured lawn  (and putting green in the back yard)?  Will we learn the truth about what really happened before, during and after the shooting?

Who will intensify the intrigue?  I’m afraid it will be the missing link in all of this.  The kids.  Will they take the stand to help the defense team clear their mother or at least lessen the charges and possible punishment?  I believe the kids are the missing link.  From the beginning it has been Cheryl McCafferty’s word against the reputation of a dead man.   By all accounts (except Cheryl’s ) Robert MCafferty was a kind, upstanding member of his community.  Like-able guy, volunteer and baseball coach.   Remember the newspaper photo right after the murder…of one of Robert’s friends standing in front of the house with a member of the Ft. Thomas Police Department.  They were hugging eathother..consoling eachother over the loss of good friend.  Who could derail that?    The kids.  The kids  lived in the house with both parents.  Did they witness or even endure the alleged abuse?  Surely the kids will take the stand and try to support their mother’s claims of abuse and shooting their father in his sleep was self defense.  Remember the prosecution will get a chance to question the kids if they testify.   What will they say?  Will the truth set their mother free?  Or will we find out that Cheryl McCafferty is just that…a cold blooded murderer.  And that begs the question..and one the prosecution will drive into the ground:  Why didn’t you just leave?  Take the kids and leave.

I will admit.  I will be slowing down to look and hear.  I want to know what happened to a family that was so bad and awful that it ended with one parent shooting the other?  Intrigue.

That is all.

The Great Meltdown!

Did you hear water running all weekend?  Off the house.  Down the down spouts.  Down the street.  Creeks are running high.  The river has taken on a dirty (more dirty) brown color because of all the runoff.   I looked out my upstairs window a half dozen times just to look down and see grass.   The view had been snow-covered for so long it was just strange.  And each time a little more grass was showing until Sunday when the only trace of winter was the once  mammoth pile of snow…now only a bump at the end of the driveway.

I have said this before:  February is kind of  a dreary month.  There are two things about February that make it survivable for me.  My daughter’s birthday and my father’s birthday.   It’s hard to keep a cheery disposition during February.  So if I am a little crabby please understand    It’s not you.  It’s the month.

Derek says we will be getting some rain this week.. and Wednesday could bring the possibility of severe weather….rain not snow..thank goodness.

 

That is all.

Detroit Auto Show 2009: The Mother of All Car Shows!

You can’t believe the size of this place.  This is the Cobo Center in downtown Detroit.  It’s huge…as far as the eye can see …you can see cars and displays and big screen projection screens.  And people. Tons of people.  Each area of the center is clearly marked…by 20 foot signs that read: FORD, DODGE, MERCEDES, GM…and so on.  700,000 square feet of carpeted car heaven.  I swear I thought I would be walking and walking on hard cement floors.  I wore my most comfortable shoes only to find that the entire car show…I mean every inch of showroom floor is carpeted.  Some displays are raised and I tripped a couple of times because you walk around with your head in the air looking in every direction except in the direction you are walking.  And you can sometimes just follow the crowd or you see people standing around ’something.’  You know something hot and exciting is nearby because all you see are human beings surrounding ’something.”  Then you find it.  An exclusive sports car. Everyone is taking pictures.  Some of the high-end makers let you ‘in’ their display to touch and see and experience…like Mercedes.  Beautiful cars.  I sat behind the wheel of some machines that blew my mind.  Opened and closed doors.  Checked engines.  Inspected trunks.  Others-Bentley:  look but don’t touch..thank you very much!

Now to the practical.  The Big Three:  Ford, GM, Chrysler.  Even in the domestic zones at the car show, it’s glitzy.  Since this is my first time I have nothing to compare it to.  But my research indicates that all the Big Three cut back on some things or everything.  From the displays to bigwigs being wined and dined during the show to the people standing around to help you figure out what is new, what is concept and what is green.  Yeah…that is the new buzzword.

More coming up on the theme of this year’s car show:   GREEN.

That is all.

The Detroit Auto Show: The Buck Stops Here

Welcome to Detroit.  The outskirts, anyway.  I’m in Romulus, Michigan.  About 20 miles from downtown Detroit.  The international airport is here and so are many people who will visit to the North American International Auto Show.  Better known as the Mother of All Car Shows.  Even out this far the economy gets a boost from the car show.  And they need it.  Since the cutbacks and bailouts of 2008 began, the trickledown effect has hit nearly every corner of America including the tri-state.   Plants closing and cutbacks and businesses that rely on the big three started suffering.  The say goes:  The economy of metropolitan Detroit is a key pillar of the economy of the United States.

So, the first part of my auto show visit revolves around the economy and how the auto show injects excitement into frightening times and hope for the future.  And the future will be a large part if not thee largest part of the auto show and in the history of the auto show for that matter.  The future will mean green.  More on that once I get to the show in the Cobo Center in downtown Detroit.

For now…the economic shot in the arm.  I am staying at a Hotel near the airport, the Crowne Plaza. Shuttle Driver Cliff Lance says the hotel is seeing more guests and he describes them as more “upscale” and to Lance that means they are spending more money.  “Last week my tips were averaging about $50 a day.  Now I am averaging $100 dollars a day in tips,” said Lance.  Lance says everyone knows the auto show isn’t going to be what it used to because the carmakers know the road ahead will be rough and people just aren’t buying cars so they are tightening the belt and in many ways.   

I am about to take off and experience the Auto Show for the first time.  I have no expectations because, well I’m a rookie.  But I do know the importance of what automakers are showcasing and hoping for in 2009.

That is all

 

Deep Freeze!

The icy lock has gripped much of the country.  It’s bad here.  It’s worse in other parts.   We’re talking staggering below zero readings.  So cold that volunteers are walking the streets around the favorite homeless hangouts trying to encourage people to come in from the cold and into shelters now open.  That could be lifesaving.

Meanwhile, the weekend is approaching and it looks like a warm up. At least as warm as January can be.

That is all.