D&C Troubles

UPDATE: This is as good as it gets! http://www.rbj.net/fullarticle.cfm?sdid=56591.... this was just published a few minutes ago.


Does anyone else in Rochester think this is nuts? http://rochesterdandc.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050824/NEWS01/508250328

I've heard about the rift between the union and the D&C for years, but it must have just really hit me that they've now gone 13 years without a contract. THIRTEEN YEARS???? Doesn't this harken back to a time when US Presidents inserted themselves into these kinds of labor disputes? Reagan and the air traffic controllers? Or Clinton and the MLB? There must be some way to resolve this labor dispute. Clearly negotiations are not "in good faith" as Thomas Flynn suggests. If they were, perhaps there'd have been some conclusion to this, oh, say, a decade ago!

I have a buddy who's a local and national news nut - yup Scott, that's you - who's been keeping me informed on this for years, but I've only paid coursery attention to it at the most. But I think the D&C, by running the story in the first place, has finally caught my attention. There are no labor disputes that cannot be resolved. There is some give and take in every negotiation. Scott suggests that it's up to the subscriber base of the D&C to cancel their subscriptions and write to the paper letting them know that it's because of the labor dispute that they're cancelling. That may be a good solution, but would enough people actually care to do it?

Would a resolution of the labor dispute lead to higher quality reporting in the pages of the D&C? I tell you what, that's something that would grab MY attention. Most Sundays for me are spent first reading the D&C Sunday paper and realizing how mediocre it is. I then usually hop in the car, head over to Wegmans and pick up a bagel and a copy of the New York Times. I spend the rest of the morning and early afternoon sitting outside with my coffee, bagel, and NY Times and read it almost from front to back! I then think to myself, "Why is the D&C such a crappy paper in comparison?! Why do they even get the comics section wrong!? We're a good sized city with lots of stuff going on... maybe if they raised the price a nickel?"

I've also gotten into the habit of reading The Buffalo News on occasion, and their local news coverage is far superior. Their editoral section is better, and I'd say it's more broadly based in terms of opions expressed. Now granted, their a far more independent organizations, but shouldn't the D&C - founded by Frank Gannett - the former headquarters of one of the biggest newspaper companies in the world - be one of the best small market papers in the world? With our educated workforce, and with the proliferation of the internet and information, isn't there more that could be written that isn't included in the D&C already? I ask you!

Vegas trip, et al

Well, right after I posted that last weblog entry we got an announcement that the flight was delayed because of "bad weather in Chicago." Riiiiight.... let's see... thanks to the WiFi at the airport, and weather.com, I immediately checked the weather which was basically nice. So, immediately I knew United was lying to me. Oh well... perhaps I'd be spending the night in Chicago? We did get back on track about and hour-and-a-half late, and once on the place got the straight story. Apparently there were air traffic control problems. The captain added that is was windy in Chicago (imagine that!) and that they were only using two runways. But the real problems were technical. Add to that they had issues with an airshow that was being held over the weekend with a couple jets accidentally touching wings, and some pieces falling off, and that couldn't have helped.

Just one more comment about the flight, before I post the pics, but I decided to listen to the flightdeck through the headsets they give you. Very interested stuff. I don't know what many of the acronyms mean, but as we were flying over Buffalo, control said something wasn't working and the response from the plane was "Oh God!" Yeah. That's really what you want to hear!

Anyway, here's the photos!

First off... if you ever get the chance to drive from Rochester to Tucson a word of advice: DON'T. Granted, I guess it's better than being at work, but 15 hours of driving per day, stops for gas and generally mediocre food, and an aching back sure don't make for a fun time. I tried listening to local radio shows throughout the trip and ironically, some of the funniest stuff was heard as we were driving through BUFFALO. The rest of the country has something in common... here's a picture to give you an idea of what I'm talking about:



Yes people, that's purportedly the world's largest CROSS. The farther away from civilization you get, the more religion you drive by. There was one stretch where Rob and I counted a half dozen churches in probably only 30 miles. Not small churches, but these enormous houses of God. When we didn't see churches, we saw the following:




Yup, lots of billboards. I thought this one was particularly interesting. Fireworks and pancakes. How can you go wrong? The other picture came out really nice, and I think was taken while driving through New Mexico. Actually, that pic is much better than most of the rest of the ride. We had overcast skys from Rochester to just about New Mexico. It's just that the land was very bare.

Now, onto the more fun stuff. For instance, here's a couple pics of the strip from around New York, New York, and the Star Trek Experience:







That Star Trek Experience is amazing! Anyone who's a, um, nerd like me, will love it. If you're not a ST fan, you'll find this whole thing ridiculous. When you're standing in line to enter and a Ferengi pushes his way through the line to cut to the front, and think this is perfectly normal, you know you're a ST fan. I also got the obligatory picture of myself sitting in the captain's chair which I'll scan and post later. Also got to go into the Borg assimilation chamber, though I didn't get my picture taken in it. Oh yeah, and the Klingon ride is great, unless you get motion sickness easily. I do. Hell, I get sick reading in the car! But it was still really amazing. The Borg 4D thing was cool, but it seemed too short, or was generally lacking something. But I still highly recommend it. Even had a drink at "Quarks," though nothing with alcohol as it was AFTER the Klingon ride and I was still feeling like making my own gagh right on the bar.

More to come later!

Vegas Trip Nearly Over

Well, I'm sitting here in the airport waiting to board my flight back to Rochester (via Chicago) watching folks get off the plane. I know this is a bass-ackwards way of posting about my Vegas trip, but unfortunately, I stayed at a, um, classic Vegas hotel which apparently hasn't figured out wi-fi for all the hotel rooms yet. Ironically, in the middle of nowhere in Missouri, I had BETTER access to wireless. But the Vegas airport seems to be doing quite well.

Anyway, as soon as I'm back in town and have a moment to reflect on this whole trip - including such exciting times as driving from Rochester to Tucson - something EVERYONE should do at least once - to driving from Tucson to Vegas, and then all the nifty stuff we saw, did, and ate. I wish I had carried my camera more, but it's a little too large to comfortably carry with me all the time. Guess it's time to pick up a new pocket-sized digital camera.

Anyway, we're boarding soon, so I'll post this and get some pics up later. Cheers!