Not-So-Handyman

I can't believe I actually promised to do a daily post ... and it's taken me like 2 weeks to fall off the horse altogether.

Well, at least I have a small reason.

You see, I've undertaken a small renovation project in my home.

Well, actually it was forced upon me.

A week or so back, I woke up to the sound of dripping in my downstairs bathroom.

Upon further inspection, I discovered water pouring from the area around the fan.

Uh oh. That can only mean one thing. My hot water tank (which is on the 2nd floor) had given up the ghost.

No problem. I get the tank replaced. Life is good.

Except now, I have to re-do the ceiling in the bathroom. Which is fine.

But, that leads to me tearing down the crown molding.

Which leads to me tearing down the wallpaper.

Which leads to vanity and chair rails being removed.

Which, in the end, becomes a near-total bathroom renovation.

Again, it's a small bathroom, so it's not a big deal right?

Well, it's time for my confession.

I suck at this kind of stuff.

You see, I'm no Bob Vila. I'm not even Tim Taylor. I'm not handy at all.

When it comes to simple things, like painting and such, I'm just fine.

But, when drywall and other items enter the picture, I'm completely lost.

I know, being un-handy takes points off my "man" card. So does the failure to change my own oil. Or worshipping football.

So, I'm muddling through. Learning as I go. Asking for advice and borrowing tools all the time.

We'll see how this turns out ... it's either going to look pretty good ... or be a complete disaster.

There will be no in-between.

How "Not" To Sell Papers

So, in these days of declining subscriptions and revenue, newspapers are doing all they can to get readers.

Which makes this sales call from the Cleveland Plain Dealer (to yours truly) almost inexplicable.

Let me recreate as best I can:

RING

Me: Hello?

PD Saleswoman: Hi, I'm calling from the Plain Dealer. (laughs). Before you hang up ...

Me: (laughs). OK.

PD Saleswoman: We're just calling to see if you're interested in subscribing to the Plain Dealer.

Me: No, I'm really not interested.

PD Saleswoman: Well, we've made a lot of changes. We've added a lot of new sections ...

Me: Sorry, I'm really not interested at this time.

PD Saleswoman: CLICK. Dial Tone.

That's right ... the PD saleswoman hung up on ME when I turned her down.

There was no "Well, thanks for letting me take a few minutes of your time."

There was no "Sorry to have disturbed you this evening."

There was no "Well, if you reconsider, just log on to Cleveland.com or call this number and we can hook you up."

It may actually have been the first time in my life that a telemarketer hung up on me. I was actually the nice one in this relationship.

Hey, Plain Dealer, if this woman works in-house, it might be time for a discussion.

And if she's outsourced through a call center, you might want to find a new provider.

A dying industry shouldn't rely on rudeness to sell papers.

Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word

Well, he's gone and done it again.

I'm talking about Akron Mayor Don Plusquellic, who, even when he tried to keep a lower profile, always seems to end up making front-page headlines.

The latest stems from his actions this weekend, related to a downtown Akron fight, and the police response.

I won't recap the entire story, you can certainly get the best coverage here and here.

Now, let me preface the following remarks by saying something.

I've always liked Plusquellic. He's one of the strongest mayors in the state. Yet, as I've stated before, he does have quite a bit of the "high school bully" in him.

I even spoke out (wrote out?) in defense of the Mayor during his recent recall battle.

But, this latest episode reeks of poor City Hall spin to me.

Look, I'm not naive enough to think everything that comes out of downtown Akron is legitimate and trustworthy. The Mayor is a politician, and there probably needs to be a certain amount of spin-doctoring in order to forward his ideas and agendas, not to mention fund his re-election campaigns.

But, in this case, it's gotten out of hand.

First off, the 911 tapes were officially released by City Hall, not the police department. As a longtime member of the Akron media, I know that this almost NEVER happens.

Usually, you call the PD, ask for the tapes, and they provide them to you, warts and all.

In this case, however, the city released three calls, all of which, I'm going to assume, have been heavily edited and sanitized to help the Mayor's side of the story.

Why do I believe this to be the case? Well, if you listen to "Call 1", as it's listed on the city website, Plusquellic clearly states that this is not the first call he's made to operators.

You can bet there's going to be an ugly fight, that will perhaps head into court, to get the full 911 tapes from that evening.

The second part of this that feels like "spin" is the following quote from the Mayor, courtesy ohio.com.

"What I did was vitally important to cracking this case"

I'm sure the Mayor actually believes this. But, this isn't a Scooby-Doo mystery and Mayor Plusquellic wasn't wearing an ascot (to my knowledge.)

Leave the police work to the police, Mr. Mayor. I get that you have a background in criminal law, I really do, but getting involved in a police investigation after having a few drinks isn't in your, or their, best interests.

In other words, if the police tell you to butt out, butt out!

Look, I'm not going to rush to judgment here. It wouldn't be out of the question that a gung-ho police officer decided to flex his muscles a little too much. And certainly, the head of the police union loves to make mountains out of molehills.

But, would it really be so bad for Plusquellic to simply say "I'm sorry"?

What's wrong in admitting you're human ... you had a few too many ... and that clouded your decision-making ability. Then, follow that apology with a sit-down with those your cussed out, and give them a heartfelt "sorry" as well.

Maybe it would be political suicide for a Mayor to admit he was a little drunk. My opinion, and this is just me, is that he's still a human being, and should be able to enjoy a night out as much as the next guy (as long as he's not driving).

But, I'll tell you one thing, an apology would win a lot more points with this blogger, than a transparent attempt to spin your actions into "Don Plusquellic, super-hero gumshoe of South Main Street."

But, as we've seen time and time again, sorry really does seem to be the hardest word for elected officials.

Reunited?

This weekend, my high school class will celebrate out 20th anniversary of graduation ... otherwise known as a reunion.

I will not be there.

I wrestled with the decision, but ultimately decided to pass.

Why? Well, bear with me here ... I'm going to try and state my case in a way that doesn't make me sound like a complete jerk. But, I might fail.

The town where I grew up was small, quiet, rural, overall a decent place to raise kids. But, it was also a town where everyone seemed to know everyone else. And if you didn't have the correct last name, it was hard to get ahead in athletics or, sometimes, socially.

Despite that, my high school experience was a good one ... I wasn't "cool" ... nor was I a "loser" ... but was happily tucked into the netherworld in between.

However, when college beckoned, something inside me was happy to leave, and not look back.

For some reason, I fell out of contact with most of the folks I graduated high school with, even my closest friends.

Why did this happen? Well, it seems my specific group all had big goals and big ambitions, and those seemed to come before old high school friendships.

I made new friends in college, many of whom I am close to today, then began my travels to pursue a career.

That path caused me to move several times, and any chance I had at re-connecting with high school classmates, disappeared.

It also caused a new cast of characters to enter my life ... folks I consider my closest friends right now.

Oh sure, there were random meetings with the high school gang ... maybe at an Akron bar, maybe inside a mall, but most were fleeting.

That's why, a decade ago, it didn't surprise me when my mother called, and told me I was listed as "missing" as the Class of 1989 was organizing it's 10-year reunion.

(By the way, this is how the old hometown works. I was discovered to be "missing" when my name was printed in the local, once-a-week community newspaper, read by an old neighbor, who proceeded to call my mother.)

So, I got in contact with the reunion organizers, and attended.

It was honestly nice to see some of the folks, including a couple old baseball teammates and some old friends.

But, some of my closest pals chose not to attend.

And, to top that off, the entire evening felt, well, awkward to me.

You see, in the time since high school, I had lived on a college campus that was 5 times the size of my hometown, in Illinois' second largest city, and in a pair of Ohio's largest metro areas.

I was working in the media, and was employed next to the television anchors and reporters who were beamed into local homes every night.

I had traveled extensively with friends from college and work.

And now here I was, back in the same small-town, with a group of people I didn't feel especially close to, reliving days that, while they were enjoyable, were certainly not the highlights of my life, nor anything I think about all that often.

To top it off, all of our "bios" were published in a pamphlet for other classmates to read. These included our jobs.

There was a strange feeling of "hero worship" directed towards me, because of my role as an Executive Producer. In fact, one former classmate said "Wow, you pretty much own that station don't you?"

My response was "No, you don't realize how far down the ladder I really am."

This reaction was extremely uncomfortable for me. Many of my classmates were accountants, pharmacists, architects, all very good jobs. Yet for some reason, working at a tv station made me a sensation.

When a former baseball teammate saw that I lived in a Cleveland suburb, he asked if I attended a lot of Indians games.

When I said that I made it to 6-8 a year, his jaw fell open.

And that's when it hit me in a wave. The small town feeling. My former classmates weren't used to living in the shadow of a large city. They weren't used to knowing people who worked in television. They weren't used to seeing live trucks driving around ... or a 10-minute drive to see the Cleveland Indians.

And I don't fault them for this. They're good people, living good lives. They stayed in the area of the old hometown because that's where their families still live. And there's nothing wrong with any of that.

It just wasn't for me anymore. I don't think I'm better than any other graduate, mind you, I'm just a different person, in a different place.

Flash-forward to today, and the 20-year reunion.

A decade has brought a lot of change. The Internet has allowed me (through this blog, and especially, Facebook) to reconnect with a few of the high school classmates that I was closest with.

It's the same group that did not attend the 10-year reunion, and will not be attending the 20-year, either.

These are the people I want to see, the people I want to catch up with. And if our travels allow that to happen, you can bet I will take advantage.

So, to the rest of the Class of '89 ... I wish you best on this reunion weekend.

To those attending that might have a desire to catch up, and don't think I'm a colossal jerk for writing this, drop me a line.

As for me, I'll spend the weekend looking forward to the future, instead of reliving the past.

Off A Cliff

Anyone who's read this blog for a regular basis knows I'm a pretty big baseball fan (despite being a fairly lousy baseball player.)

And, most of you also know the Cleveland Indians were/are/and will ever be my team.

Some of you may also know I've been a little disenfranchised this season with the front office, and business office, and just about any single one of the Tribe's other offices.

So, I feel like I should add my two cents on the Cliff Lee trade.

You see, while I'm a baseball fan, I'm also a realist.

The economic structure of the game is such that the Tribe will always be stuck developing players, only to watch them walk away for greener pastures.

I'm ok with that.

That means teams like the Tribe must be strong in another area, player procurement and development. Namely ... scouting, drafting, and coaching.

This is where I feel the Mark Shapiro regime as General Manager has come up short.

When you have to trade the Sabathias and Lees of the world, you're not doing it to restock the farm system, you're doing it to plug holes in the dam from where that system has failed.

Which brings us to the Lee trade.

Unlike 95% of the other fans out there, I'm not upset Lee was dealt. It was the prudent thing to do, faced with a ball club that's likely going to be as bad next year as it is this year.

It's the return that has me fuming a bit.

You see, the Tribe's largest area of need is upper level, high-impact pitchers. This deal netted exactly one of those.

It also landed the Tribe a teenager, with huge amounts of "upside." Which is fine.

But, as any fan knows, a lot can happen to a player between the time he's 18 ... and the time he might be ready for the bigs.

But again, you have to trade for this type of player, because you've failed to acquire many of them on your own through the draft.

It's the last two components of the deal that downright baffles me.

Mark Shapiro decided to buy low on a pair of players ... to acquire a catcher and a shortstop.

Now, keep in mind, even if the team trades Victor Martinez, they still have four ... yes four ... catchers between AA and the majors who seem capable enough.

As for the shortstop, well he's going to be next year's utility infielder, since ownership won't allow any new expenditures.

So, in my opinion, Mark Shapiro traded one of the ten, best starters in the majors for a starting pitcher (because he's failed to develop them), a high-upside kid (because he hasn't drafted many of them), and two players who can "fill out" the 2010 roster cheaply.

As a Tribe fan, I hope deep down that this deal will work.

I mean, if Mark Shapiro has one talent, it's the acquisition of good players in deadline deals.

It's too bad he has to use that ability more than any Indians fan could ever hope.

Wither Ethics?

I have to say that the past couple of weeks have great fodder if I were teaching a journalism class (Mr. Strukel, you out there?).

And it really makes me question where journalism is going.

The first big moment, for me, was during the Michael Jackson death coverage.

TMZ.com apparently became the "go-to" source for much of the breaking developments.

There's one small problem, though. You see, TMZ holds its website to different ethical standards than the mainstream media.

They can report something and just say "we're told" ... without ever having that 2nd or 3rd level confirmation.

But, what's really disturbing to me, is when local television stations use TMZ as a source for their own stories in the evening news.

At least one station in this market does that on a regular basis. Perhaps they feel it's acceptable, given their "tabloid" format.

I happen to know they prefer to "push the envelope" when it comes to journalism.

But, at what point is the line crossed ... at what point do you stop trying to confirm anything (even if it's "celebrity news"), and just go with what you think is correct?

Even CNN got into the act during the early hours of the Jackson coverage.

They actually ran a graphic over their coverage that used the phrase "unconfirmed reports." Isn't their job actually to confirm those reports before passing them along?

But, what really caught my eye about the downfall of ethics occurred yesterday.

And this time, it wasn't at a broadcast station ... it was in a newspaper (and on their website.)

The NY Post (another "tabloid" outfit) reported on the Erin Andrews/peephole video story.

It's certainly salacious. A beautiful ESPN sideline reporter is surreptitiously video taped naked through a peephole drilled into her hotel room wall.

Most mainstream papers and websites picked up on this.

But, the NY Post took things to the next level. You know, instead of just running the file photo of Erin Andrews like everyone else (including me here), the Post actually used screen captures FROM THE ILLEGAL VIDEO.

Yes, they put black bars over what Monty Python famously called the "naughty bits."

But, essentially, this means someone at the Post either downloaded or viewed the illegal tape, which by that point in time had actually been yanked from its originating website under threat of lawsuit by ESPN and Andrews' lawyer.

Now, nothing disappears in the Internet forever ... reading comments on the Andrews story on various sites, commenters have made clear that the video is still available on various peer-to-peer torrenting sites out there.

But, here the point. The video was captured illegally. It was distributed illegally.

So, why on Earth would a newspaper actually use photos from that "illegal" video?

Simple ... to sell papers. And to flush journalism right down the pipes.

It's telling that those photos ran within days of the death of Walter Cronkite.

I'm sure he's looking down from above ... shaking his head at what his business has become.

Poll Dancing

Imagine my surprise today when I opened my mail, to find that I have a new polling location for upcoming elections.

And the new site is somewhat surprising to me.

You see, instead of voting at the quaint little church right down the hill ... instead, I'll be casting my ballot at a local "alternative" school.

I find this interesting on a couple of levels.

First, the church seems to me to be the perfect spot for polling. Quiet, empty on Tuesdays, ample parking, etc.

Secondly, there's been a recent trend to get schools OUT of the polling process, because of concerns over security and traffic.

Add to the fact that the new location is an "alternative" school ... and it's even stranger.

You see, these types of schools are set up for students who, for one reason or another, seem to fail in the traditional school environment.

Even its mission statement states that learning "will be accomplished by emphasizing the development of both academic and social skills."

So, here my question: Will these students benefit from the disruption of their daily routine, by a parade of strangers entering and exiting their parking lot and building.

Perhaps they will. Perhaps it will serve as a real-life lesson in democracy.

Or, it just might cause such a distraction, that learning on that particular day will become even more difficult.

I happen to know for a fact that neighbors of the school weren't really happy when it opened, probably because of the influx of "non-traditional" student in their neighborhood.

I wonder how they feel now ... knowing the congestion that voters will bring to the area.