Air Force One, Again!

I know last week's post about Air Force One said that it was likely my last trip on AF1 for this administration but I lied. Apparently the WH likes to take trips every five days and currently there are only two of us covering the WH for my network. So it was my turn again already. When I first found out about the trip (I heard about it first since I'm the pool chair), I heard we were going to LA. Pretty cool I thought. Then I got assigned to the trip. Then I figured out that LA in this case stood for Louisiana, not Los Angeles. There's a world of difference between the two.

So this morning, we headed to Alexandria, LA for a few hours. I think we were actually on AF1 longer than we were actually on the ground but I'm not complaining. It was a very doable day! We had a 2 1/2 hour flight down there which included the part where we actually did work. Dana gaggled (that's our term for briefing off camera) for a few minutes which included a bit of news. When I went back to listen to my audio recorder, I realized that I hadn't actually pushed record! Doh!! Luckily I took really good notes and then when it came time to send an actual word-for-word quote, I just borrowed one of my wire colleague's transcription. It was a little like cheating on a high school test but with his permission and we weren't being graded on anything. And there's not a teacher. Anyway, I'll make double sure that I actually record the gaggle the next time!

Oh and just because apparently my life revolves around food.... we had chicken salad croissants and Greek salad, potato chips, and chocolate ice cream for the light lunch. And we watched "Best in Show".

The event we went all the way to Alexandria, LA for was a business roundtable that we went in to see exactly 4 minutes and 41 seconds of. Literally that is all the time we had at the event. It seems to me we could have done the same thing in Alexandria, VA but then I guess I wouldn't have had my second day in the past two weeks on AF1. POTUS talked about the economy and rescue plan and the bailout and how it all affects small businesses. There were a few new things he said but all in all it wasn't earth-shattering. I had to write up a report in a very short period of time and send it out to the hundreds and hundreds of people from the five networks that read my reports. Again this time, it was a good thing that I took great notes because this time most of what I heard on my audio recorder were camera flashes and people rustling papers. I was 0-2 in successful audio recorder experiences today!

Then we went right back to the airport and waited on AF1 while POTUS met with some families of fallen soldiers and Marines. He likes to do that on many of his trips and it's one of the things that the WH doesn't publicize but POTUS takes the time to do it. No matter what your political leanings, it's a cool thing that he does that.

And then it was just another 2 1/2 hour flight from Alexandria, LA back home to Alexandria, VA... well at least to Andrews AFB and then driving to Alexandria. For the record, we had jambalaya in a sourdough bread-bowl and key lime pie for the light supper. I don't think we hit the 12,000 calorie mark today but we probably came close! I diligently worked for approximately 45 minutes over the course of the day and the rest of the day I spent waiting and eating (even though we were only served two meals today!) I'm not going to lie, I am pretty beat this evening!! Oh, and the movie was some Woody Allen movie. Obviously I didn't pick it because I would have definitely picked "Baby Mama" over the movie that we saw.

Oh, today was officially a success because I loaded up on the Presidential M&Ms. I figured that the number of AF1 trips for this administration is waning so they should be giving the George Bush M&Ms away like crazy! I think I ended up with about ten boxes! E-bay here I come!!!

The Week in Review

I'm sorry I haven't blogged this week but there really hasn't been all that much going on! I was in the bureau for three days out of five and how exciting could that be? I was over at the WH for two days and really only saw POTUS once. On Tuesday, I was in the East Room with the Detroit Red Wings. I have to confess that I'm really not a hockey fan. I barely understand the sport and one thing I don't like is that they don't do overtime. I went to a Capitals game one time and it was intense! But at the end of the game, it was tied and everyone just went home. I needed more closure than that. But I digress. Where was I? Oh yes, at the WH with the Red Wings. I checked out the roster before I went to the event and I noticed that there were only three or four team members that were Americans. Apparently every NHL team is like that! I was also checking to see if there happen to be any cute hockey players that I should keep an eye out for. I figured out why they didn't smile in their team picture. Some of them were missing teeth. During the event, I spent a lot of time trying to decide which guys had real teeth and which had good dentures. They brought the Stanley Cup with them which apparently was supposed to be a very cool thing to see in real life. You can tell that I'm a bit clueless in the hockey world because I didn't even take my camera up there.

On Wednesday, we were travel pool and instead of seeing POTUS three times like the schedule said, I never saw him. The events were all back to back and I have logistical responsibilities of things like feeding the tape, etc. and I missed all of the events. Even the departure so that POTUS could give me a low wave but I was inside when I heard the helicopter taking off. Oh well, next week!

Here are some other random thoughts about this week: I got a phone call at home from my high school principal this week. I hadn't seen or talked to her in about 14 years and how she tracked me down, I'll never know. I didn't spend much time with Dr. Cobble in high school- for good or bad but she took the time to track me down to call me. She had seen an article in the VT Alumni magazine about me and wanted to congratulate me. I think our conversation the other night was longer than I ever spoke to her when I was in high school. She said that she remembered me as such a hard worker in high school. I didn't want to correct her in the fact that I really don't have many memories of doing homework in high school.

My evening tonight was a great ending to the week. I went with my friend Katie to our church's Elvis Fest. Don't ask me why they did it now since there are no important anniversaries going on. But it was incredibly funny. The Elvis impersonator really didn't look that much like Elvis and he didn't really sound that much like the King but apparently he's an award-winning impersonator. He wasn't in the full sequined jumpsuit because apparently the motif of the evening was more from the 50s. But he was definitely closer to the size of the King from the 70s. He occaisionally said "Thank you. Thank you very much." but not even in a really good accent. He also sang and walked around the tables giving ladies scarfs. Apparently the target age of this event at my church was about 75 because we definitely were younger than everyone in the crowd by a good 30 years. I wore my sunglasses that I got from Graceland when I went to visit with POTUS and the Prime Minister of Japan (at the time) Koizumi. It was my most favorite domestic trip that I've ever been on and at the end of the trip, they gave us all bags of Elvis goodies. Included were some authentic Elvis sunglasses from PM Koizumi. I just loved telling people where I got my glasses because remembering that trip just makes me smile. Anyway, I didn't win the costume contest (although my glasses did rock!!) and I didn't get a scarf from Elvis. We did get our picture with him after the show. Somehow this guy does this for a living!!

A Day on Air Force One

I spent the day on the nation's bird, as a friend likes to call it. The rest of the world knows it by the name Air Force One. It wasn't a particularly exciting day but it could have been my last trip on AF1 with Mr. Bush so I thought I would document it somewhat. I'm not very good at multitasking in the sense when there's work to do, I can't snap pictures of it AND get the work done. Luckily today was a long day with not much news from our events so I had a little extra time on my hands.

We had two stops today- in Miami for a fundraiser and then a meeting with Cuban American leaders and then in Charleston, SC for another fundraiser on Kiawah Island. I worked for 12 hours today but it seemed more like two days!! We had three flights on AF1 and two helicopter movements and then about seven hours of sitting in vans or pool holds. And five meals. All of that can really make a girl tired. But I had a fun day! It was a smaller pool (not everyone is covering POTUS anymore) and we actually had a good time together.

We get to Andrews AFB about an hour before POTUS does. This is when we get swept by USSS and get situated on the plane before he gets there. This morning, POTUS had already made a big statement on the economy before he got to Andrews so most of the news had already been committed by the time he got to us. FLOTUS was with him when he arrived but she broke off and took her own plane somewhere and met back up with us later in the day. As they were getting off Marine One, FLOTUS was whispering sweet-nothings into POTUS's ear. It was actually pretty cute.

On the first flight- from Andrews to Miami- we had just enough time to eat lunch, watch Good Morning Vietnam (I didn't get to chose the movie!) and then of course we had a gaggle with Dana, the press secretary. That's when she comes back to our cabin and we have a mini-briefing off camera. There's a science to being able to balance your audio recorder, take notes and actually be able to hear what she's saying over the roar of the plane, all while balancing yourself during minor turbulence. I'm glad Dana is short like me because my arm doesn't get nearly as tired as it used to with Tony Snow or Scott McClellan. Then it's my job to ask questions, take notes, and then send them out to all the networks. The key is finding some sort of signal long enough to get the e-mail out before the plane lands. Oh but in more important news, lunch was pretty decent today- it was an open-faced turkey, tomato, alfalfa sprouts and cheese sandwich along with some macaroni salad, homemade potato chips, and small samples of three different cheesecakes.

We went to a neighborhood in Coral Gables, Florida where we hung out at a poolside clubhouse of a posh neighborhood for about 25 minutes. Then we sat in the vans waiting for a while. Then we went to a restaurant called "Havana Harry's" and sat in the vans while POTUS met with some Cuban American leaders. Then we went inside for approximately :45 seconds while POTUS talked about Cuban Americans. Gloria Estefan was not present. Neither was Ricky Martin. Then we sat in the vans and waited again. Finally we went back to the airport and got on AF1 again.

This leg of the trip was about an hour long. But that was enough time to get chips and a 7-layer bean dip and these chocolate cookie sandwiches with cream cheese in the middle. It was intensely good but I could only eat one!! We started watching the movie "Get Smart" which I decided was just as good without any audio.

We landed in SC at the Charleston AFB where POTUS and FLOTUS (who had joined us by this point) shook hands with some members of the military and their families. He also met with the Softball Little League World Champs who were from Simpsonville, SC. I wanted to tell him that that could have been me. I was on the All-Star softball team when I was 12 and at the peak of my athletic career. Of course my dad was the coach which might have had something to do with my place on the team. Anyway, I digress. Those girls were very happy to meet him and he posed for pictures for a while.

Then we got on a helicopter and flew over Charleston and to Kiawah Island. It was a pretty cool ride!! We landed a few moments before him so we waited for him to land and then had to run to the motorcade to drive to another fundraiser. We went to the Sanctuary of Kiawah Island which is a hotel that I will never ever be able to afford to stay at. It was beautiful and they served us dinner there. We hung out there for about 15 minutes before we went to wait in the vans for a while. At this point it began to pour so by the time we ran to the helicopters and then ran to AF1, I was definitely looking like a drowned rat. Thankfully, the barbeque chicken pizza and chocolate mousse for dinner on the plane helped me feel much better!

With the pool rotation and then the rotation between my co-producers at my network, that could easily be my last trip on AF1 for this administration. But it was a great day and I didn't mess anything up too badly so I count that as a success. The only things I didn't succeed in were getting more M&Ms from the plane and getting up to the cockpit to see my friend Denio who is one of the pilots. There are about 40 USSS agents and probably some anti-ballistic missiles that separate me from getting to go up to the cockpit to see him (not to mention POTUS's office and living space, etc.) As much as the Becky Protective Detail loves me (and I added another agent to my detail today!), there are some rules that they just won't break. I keep asking for a one-on-one interview with POTUS while we're on the plane but I just keep getting laughed at. I don't understand! :)

Mutton Busting

I can't really add to my previous post on the rodeo but I am still smiling about how fun that was. But I will add one picture... it's courtesy of my friend Mark Knoller of CBS with the caption of "young Becky being cruel to farm animals"...

Deep in the Heart of Texas

Wow!! Words are really not going to do justice to describe the cultural experience I had last night! I have three words for you- Saturday night Rodeo. In Texas!! I just don't think it gets any better than that!! I'm really not sure where to begin!!!

First of all, I was there for work and we incorporated it into a story we were doing. So we got the behind the scenes tour of the rodeo. VIP section in style. Royal Cowgirl treatment. Our wonderful escort, Natalie, told us to meet her by the covered wagon. You know it's going to be a good time when that is your first step of directions.

We were at the Heart of Texas fairgrounds and it was the second night of the fair/rodeo. I've been to the Salem (VA) Fair many times before but this was way beyond comparison. Let's just say the people watching on a scale of 1 to 10 was at least a 125. I couldn't even count the cowboy hats. Amazing!!! This was one of those places that didn't serve any food unless it was fried and on a stick. And pretty much you can fry anything and put it on a stick. I was offered "fried sneakers" or at least it sounded like that the six times I asked her to repeat it.

Inside the rodeo, I was clueless. I have seen it in the movies and skipped past it on TV but in real life, it was awesome!!! I quickly became a student of the rodeo and learned so much, mainly just trying to figure out what the fascination was all about. I came to the conclusion that it's in their blood. We were in the special VIP box right next to all the action and I still don't quite understand why grown men would think it was a good idea to ride a horse or bull for 8 seconds and then get thrown off, landing on their back and then trying to run away from an angry horse or cow. I met some really nice Texans, Claude and Becky, who tried their best to explain each event and how they do it. They could have been speaking Mandarin Chinese because I didn't understand a word they were saying. I just smiled and nodded.

I enjoyed the different events and laughed hysterically at some. I think my favorite was the Mutton Busting. I am not making this up as my Texas friends will attest. But basically they put 4 year olds hanging on to dear life to the back of a sheep and then let the sheep out of the pen. A few seconds later, the kid falls off and is semi-trampled by a mad sheep. And somehow this does not constitute child abuse. Only in Texas. You just try to do that in DC!! Anyway, the winner was a little girl who was handed a trophy that was clearly twice her size and she got a new pair of cowgirl boots. Oh and a picture with Miss Texas Rodeo.

I particularly liked the calf scramble. I can now report that I know what that is. Basically they let about 10 mad calves out in the arena and then let 20 mad teenagers out to chase after them and tackle them. I'm not sure what possesses someone to try to take down a 400 pound animal with only a rope but it was quite impressive. The grownup cowboys did that for 600 pound steers. I still don't quite get it.

The pinnacle event was the bull riding and we were in the best seats in the house. Unfortunately with the somewhat dark lighting and my still crappy camera, I didn't catch it in a great photo but I'll post what I did get just as soon as I get home. Eight seconds is not a long time but it certainly is long enough to get thrown to the ground off a huge bull and then barely be able to get up and walk away from yet another mad animal.

Last night was Sweethearts night and while I was hoping that meant I could leave the rodeo after finding my future husband, that really referred to a group of high school girls who had to try out to be part of the Sweethearts group. This was a really select group. They had to have a
'B' average and not have any kids or be married. They did things like help brush off the 4 or 5-year olds after the mutton busting. They were all perfect looking Texas girls.

I thoroughly enjoyed my evening surrounded by cowboys. They were real cowboys, (not the football team!) and I really liked them! I love the fact that they tip their hats when talking to females! At one point I went into the VIP Cowboy lounge and I seriously think every single eye was on me and they were probably pretty close to a random chorus of the song from Sesame Street "One of These Things (is Not Like the Others)". I was literally the only one in the bar that didn't have a belt buckle the size of a hubcap, a cowboy hat, or something that had rhinestones on it. But they still tipped their hat when they said hello to me. Be still my heart! :)

Last Trip to Crawford??

Every time I come here I really think it's my last trip but then something happens and I end up on another trip to sunny Crawford, Texas. I keep thinking this is it, but then I show up for more fun. I really didn't believe we would actually make it to Crawford since the whole bailout situation was such a mess all week. And since I am the pool chair, I knew that the plan kept changing every few minutes. In fact, I really didn't start to pack until I knew for sure the bill would pass the House. Of course once it did pass, I was realizing that I really hadn't done laundry in about four or five weeks. Luckily, I had just been doing some retail therapy (a.k.a. shopping) lately so I had enough clean clothes!

So here I am in Crawford, Texas once again hanging out in the gym of the middle school. The site of the flooded liveshots from August is now beautiful concrete. They should have done that 7 3/4 years ago but I guess it's better late than never? We've done one liveshot but then we redirected our focus to work on a story for tomorrow. My correspondent and fellow producer went to town (Waco) to shoot some elements for the story and I manned the workspace and ate my fair share of ice cream, of course. Actually I'm trying really hard not to overeat but they have my favorite BlueBell in the freezer so I couldn't resist. I did say no to Katie's Custard today. Anyway, I'm not sure if our story is going to come together but it does include a trip tonight to the rodeo!!! I am soooo super duper excited! I have never been to a rodeo before!! What's better for the last trip to Crawford than a trip to the local rodeo?? I CANNOT wait!!! I have no idea what a calf scramble is but doesn't that sound like a rockin' Saturday night?

Pool Chair

Oh, how I wish the term pool chair meant what everyone in the world thought when they heard the term "pool chair"! I didn't spend nearly enough time this summer by the pool. Actually now that I think about it, I spent next to no time by the pool. Thus the reason I am pasty white. Every time I look at the picture of the pool chair, it reminds me that I'd rather be sitting in that chair reading a book and soaking in the sun (except that in reality I don't really soak up rays, they pretty much burn me every time.)

The term "pool chair" I'm referring to is my title for the next three months. Every three months, one network is in charge of organizing the pool for the five networks. Basically, it is kind of like being the manager, lifeguard, and the snack bar operator all wrapped up into one. My network became pool chair starting today and I am the lucky one who gets the honor of filling the role.

So far, I have jumped right into the middle of planning a trip this weekend that in all likelihood will end up getting cancelled because of the bailout/economy situation. But in the meantime, we're planning a trip to Crawford and Ohio (the Nevada part of the trip has already been cancelled.) So I'm basically the liaison between the WH and the five networks. From what I can tell, it's going to be a bit of a headache. So far, I've had to deal with issues such as cancelled stops of trips, the cargo holds of certain planes, schedules that change every five minutes and an estimated additional 500 e-mails a day. At one point someone asked if I could take the dimensions of everyone's gear and suitcases and see if it would fit into the cargo hold of the small plane. I told everyone that as much as I love playing theoretical Tetris in my head, my higher math skills are lacking a bit to figure that out in reality.

So this means that I will have more work to do for the exact same pay but in the end I'll have the general satisfaction of doing a job well done come December. Or at least I'm telling myself that!