|
The Old Fogey
Nostalgia and grumbling from an old man in the newsroom.
News Editor Michael O'Connor
In praise of the car heater
Every winter, I wish I were a poet. More specifically, and odist.
I would love to pen an ode praising the car heater.
The lowly car heater shines during the winter. The antifreeze solution that courses through our engines, wicking away the heat that would destroy them and bring an untimely end to our trips, also runs through a secondary radiator known as the heater core.
By placing a fan in a strategic location, the heat from the heater core can be forced into the passenger compartment, bringing us blessed relief from the cold on icy, wintery days like today.
Unlike the heater in my home, which will send my utilities through the roof should I raise the thermostat to provide me with sweaterless comfort, I can crank the dial of my car heater to whatever setting will make me toasty warm.
And this abundance of warmth comes at no extra expense. The air conditioning on my car drags my mileage down. Not so the heater.
Ah, the car heater. Someone really should write a poem.
December 16, 2008 04:22 pm
More entries >>>
HDTV madness
Last night all the local TV channels had a segment to alert viewers as to whether their TV sets are ready for the end of analog broadcasting in February.
A quick check of the Internet showed that stations around country are doing the same thing.
I suppose this is a good thing.
You're sitting in front of your television, and you haven't paid any attention to any of the hundreds of public service announcements, or newspaper articles ,or mentions by newscasters during the news, or the signs in any store that sells electronics, or the notices in the bills of your cable or satellite service, or ... well, you get the picture. The anchor gravely announces they are about to pull the plug on the analog service, which, in fact they don't because they are broadcasting color bars and a crawl that gives you information about the switch.
You happen to be one of the few people left in America who only uses an antenna to receive a signal, so you start seeing the message and color bars.
"My gosh, Martha!" you say, springing to your feet. "What is this? Why have I not heard about this in the last year? What are we to do?"
Now, I can actually imagine that some folks still don't understand, haven't paid any attention for the last year and will be surprised when their signals go dark.
But really, this "test" was too much. And I wondered about the people watching satellite or cable who've been promised they don't have to do a thing. How confusing was it for them to hear an anchor say, "If you're seeing colors bars and a message scrolling across your screen, you're not ready for the changeover."
Maybe they alerted the services, but if they didn't, I'll bet some phone lines lit up.
December 05, 2008 11:32 am
More entries >>>
The stuff they show on TV news
One of the local channels puffed a story about a new product that was supposed to help drivers handle red light cameras.
I was curious, so I hung in to hear what it was all about. I'm thinking it's one of those products that promises to somehow block license plate from view so scofflaws can run red lights with impunity.
But, alas, that was not the case. A manufacturer of radar detectors has produced a product that contains a GPS and a database of know red-light cameras, and when a driver nears one of the intersections in the database, an alarm sounds, a display shows a flashing icon that I presume is supposed to be a red light, and a voice proclaims that a red light camera is around.
The reporter decided to "test" the product. He drove around Dallas, and sure enough, every intersection with a red light camera caused the product's alarm to sound.
How do we know that? Because every intersection was marked with big traffic signs proclaiming that the intersection was monitored by red light cameras.
The reporter ended his story standing by an intersection, talking about how well the product worked, and in the background were bright yellow signs proclaiming that the intersection was red light monitored.
So my question is, who is the product designed for? Blind people? Should they really be driving around?
People who are so busy talking on their cell phones while eating lunch and fixing their hair that they can't pay attention to traffic signs?
And like most laws, if you don't intend to break them, you don't need a product like this. What, if you know red light cameras are installed, you'll be sure to stop, but otherwise you'll just gaily buzz through them?
These things start at about $120. Is that really better than paying attention to signs?
And really, don't reporters have better things to do with their time than drive around confirming that a virtually useless product works? If not, then set them to work solving a true consumer mystery: What are Chia pets, do they work, and does anyone really buy them?
If you wish to comment on this or any other blog, write editor@trcle.com.
November 25, 2008 09:48 am
More entries >>>
Did he say six?
The Dallas broadcast stations have gone ga-ga over the pastor who told his congregation that married couples should commit to having sex every day for a week as a way of strengthening their bonds.
I think if I see one more story on it, I'll scream.
The stations jumped on that story like the proverbial duck on a June bug, but they've done what we in the media so often do -- failed to deal with a religious story in anything other than a stereotypical manner.
The stories I've seen act like Christians are anti-sex, and the suggestion that couple ought to have sex for any other reason than procreation is, gasp, revolutionary.
Hog wash.
Christian counselors, both evangelical and fundamentalist, have said for decades that sex is God's good gift to humanity. What bothers people is those preachers and counselors on the right side of middle tell you the gift is only to be unwrapped by heterosexual, married couples.
But there's hardly anything revolutionary in that either.
I suspect that someone in the church tipped the media off about the proposed sermon for one reason -- to obtain exactly the kind of over-the-top coverage the church received.
Imagine the size of the congregation Sunday.
Does that sound cynical? Well, so be it. But if it's true, it's also not revolutionary.
One of the pastors of the church I grew up in, some four decades ago, used to take out ads in the newspaper proclaiming the title of the coming Sunday's sermon. The titles were always outrageous, and the one I still remember was "What does God say about SEX?"
We had a packed house, er, church that week.
Once upon a time in journalism a movement took root to provide solid, useful stories about trends in religion because such a large population of America says it believes in God, and a sizeable segment says it attends worship fairly regularly.
We seem to have abandoned that movement and returned to highlighting the sensational. I hope our local yahoos are over it now.
I'd rather see no coverage of religion than shallow, sensationalistic coverage like that I've seen in this case.
November 17, 2008 11:26 am
More entries >>>
Grr, arrrgh
I regularly dirve Farm-to-Market 731 to and from work because I live in Burleson.
Hardly a week goes by without me seeing someone do something really stupid. If I leave the house at the right time, I will be passed by a goof who drives a black pick up. He works in one of the city departments housed just south of Wilshire, and apparently he leaves for work just early enough that if he drives about 60-65 mph down the 50 mph section of the road and weaves in and out of traffic, he can pull in the parking lot in time to not be late.
This morning, some moron in another pickup got behind me and grew impatient with my driving. As we started to drive up the hill on 731 outside of town, he pulled around me and passed me -- in a no-passing zone.
I guess he subscribes to the theory that it's a Texan's God-given right to drive any dern fool way he wants to.
Comments? Write editor@trcle.com
November 06, 2008 04:39 pm
More entries >>>
Election night blues
You've watched the coverage on TV, seeing all the people bustling around behind the talking heads.
You've seen the movies, where phones are ringing in the newsroom, computer keys are clacking as reporters feverishly attempt to write their stories while editors yell, "Smith, where's that city council story?"
All very exciting, right?
Yeah, not so much.
We're up here on election night, waiting for returns to come in, which they aren't as I write this.
The process is slow and agonizing. Lots of waiting and doing nothing. Kind of like the definition of flying -- hours of boredom interrupted by moments of sheer terror.
Best part of the night so far? Pizza. That oughta give you a clue.
But we'll hang in here until the bitter end, and when subscribers' papers show up at their houses, they'll know who won.
That's what we do.
November 04, 2008 09:46 pm
More entries >>>
On live remotes
Sure is cold out, isn't it?
Of course it's not that cold, but one local, early morning newscast last week teased a story about how people were coping with the cold.
The temperatures had fallen into the ’40s, see, and they apparently thought that was worth a live remote.
So, when the commercial break was over, the anchor nattered a bit about the cold weather and called on the reporter to tell us all about it.
The reporter stood in front of a DART train at one of the stations and told us, quite seriously, it was cold that morning. She didn't interview anyone on air but told us that she had talked to some people who confirmed that it was cold, and they had worn jackets or walked a bit faster to reach their destination.
Valuable information.
The reporter ended her story by telling us she was wearing a coat and gloves, holding up a free hand so we could see the gloves and urged us to dress appropriately.
My immediate question was, "What? Is that woman from Florida that she thinks this is cold enough to bundle up?"
The problem, of course, is that television stations have invested a lot of money in remote-broadcast technology, and their managers believe the equipment should be used.
I know that television is a visual medium, duh, and real backgrounds are more interesting than studio sets or pictures projected behind an anchor or reporter.
But really, too much of the time, the remotes are ridiculous. The train station didn't communicate cold, and probably nothing available that morning would have. The air was too dry to show breath trails and no frost was visible. I could have been any day at the DART.
Having reporters do remotes from buildings that are closed or standing by a highway in the dark because an accident happened in that location four hours earlier is a waste of a reporter's time, the live-van crew's time, the viewer's time, and the station's money.
And a story about it being cold? What will they do when the weather really turns cold and people are really affected by it?
Maybe they can stick a reporter in front of a snow-cone stand and have her say something like, "A few months ago, customers lined up at this stand to buy crushed-ice treats. Today, the ice is on the stand, and its customers are looking for treats somewhere else."
(If anyone actually does that, I want full credit.)
October 27, 2008 10:14 am
More entries >>>
You'd better watch out
Kudos to the Burleson Police Department.
Apparently they'd noticed a trend of accidents occuring near the intersection of Wilshire Boulevard and Hidden Creek Parkway. It seems impatient drivers on Hidden Creek Parkway, during peak traffic times, have the temerity to drive in the oncoming traffic lane to reach an empty left turn lane for entering Wilshire.
So, they're going to monitor the area and crack down on the scofflaws, according to a press release from the city.
I've see drivers pull the stunt, but fortunately I've not witnessed an accident.
Drivers who are in that much of a hurry need to recognize that, No. 1, they're putting others drivers in danger with their antics, and No. 2, they're going to be a lot later to their destination after they crack up their vehicle, have to visit with the police and try to explain why they were in such an all-fired hurry, and then arrange transportation if they mess their vehicle up too badly to drive it. Never mind the inconvenience later of having their car repaired and dealing with the citation they'll receive for being stupid.
Traffic laws are created to protect us, no matter what we claim about revenue enhancement and all the other blather we create to try to justify our violations of the code.
Let's be careful out there, OK?
October 06, 2008 10:58 am
More entries >>>
We did it; we always do it
I listened to way too much coverage of the nation's financial crisis and the failure of Congress to pass a bailout bill.
Plenty of blame was handed out to just about everyone involved. I waited patiently until I heard it. Then it came. Someone blamed the media.
The media didn't dig enough, ask enough questions. Warn us of the impending doom. So the crisis was their fault.
The liberal media only supported and reported the bailout plan. Never mind that I heard several alternative plans discussed on NPR, supposedly the flag-bearer for liberal media. Never mind that the bailout was proposed by a Republican president who's supposed to be a conservative darling. Nope. it was the media's fault.
One radio show I was listening to castigated the mainstream media for not covering Nancy Pelosi's meltdown on the floor of the House, which helped precipitate the negative vote. Of course, I saw that story on "Good Morning America," but because the mainstream media didn't cover the story, I guess GMA is now a part of the alternative media. Still, the mainstream media, in the caller's estimation, was at fault somehow for the failure of the economy because they didn't report the Pelosi story.
I'm not saying the media miss stories, or fail to be watchdogs or commit any other of a number of failings common to organizations staffed by humans. But really, blaming this mess on media? Cut me some slack.
Time to find another whipping boy.
October 01, 2008 11:24 am
More entries >>>
Three things I hate about driving
First, I'm on Hidden Creek Parkway in Burleson, in a long line of cars waiting to turn onto Wilshire. The people way back in the line notice that one of the two left turn lanes only has one car in it, so, one by one, cars pull out of the line, drive down the oncoming traffic lane and begin to pile up behind the formerly lone car. Eventually, the line is long enough that cars are sitting in the dedicated left turn lane for the Walgreen's parking lot. If you're already late, you won't make up time by driving illegally. And where the heck are the police when you need them?
Second, I can't count the number of times I've been buzzing down the road and some yo-yo, usually an older yo-yo, pulls out in front of me, forcing me to stomp on my brakes, and then proceeds down the road about 15 to 20 mph below the speed limit. What's really annoying is when I'm on a multilane road, in the left lane, and the yo-yo pulls slowly out into the roadway, blocking both lanes, and then settles into my lane. Then, when I pass them, they seem to be oblivious to the presence of any other traffic.
Third, sport-bike riders. You know, the motorcycles that are variously called c**** rockets or by a term now considered an ethnic slur. Some of these twerps give motorcyclists a bad name. Popping wheelies, lane-splitting, cutting in an out of traffic. They're dangerous to themselves and the traffic around them. Chances are good that one of these days they'll leave some motorist traumatized and their families in mourning.
September 30, 2008 04:30 pm
More entries >>>
|
|
|
|
