November, Already?

Wow! I have no idea how time got away from me! Welcome to November! I have so much to catch you up on! It's been two weeks since my last post!!


Today is Election Day. And today is also my first real day back in the office in almost two weeks (I'll update you in separate posts as those happenings.) But with the election cycle coming to an end today, things have been a bit busy in the last few days with POTUS on the road campaigning for several candidates.


And it all comes down to today. For those who know me, I've been a political geek for a while and Election Nights are exciting for me. I guess my version of the Superbowl, right? As you know, this year is the midterm elections and all kinds of things in Washington could switch after tonight. As you also know, I don't talk about politics on this blog but I think both sides agree there are major things at stake tonight.


So this morning before work, I did my civic duty and exercised my right to vote. In all honesty, I probably took that right a little for granted because I just wanted to get in there and vote as quickly as possible so I wouldn't be late for work. In my district, the only things to vote for were the House and then three amendments that I had heard nothing about until late last night (and this morning) when I made a very last minute attempt to become an informed voter.


I was in and out of there in about three minutes. I didn't need a refresher as to how to work the voting machine. I knew how I was going to vote and luckily there was no line in my polling place. They gave me a sticker as I left and I checked another election off my list. I have never missed voting in an election ever. Not even a primary. It's a badge of honor that I wear proudly.

Speaking of wearing it proudly, I put my sticker on and headed for work. As I was walking to the WH, I passed by one of my favorite places to grab food near the White House... Potbelly's. I love their sandwiches and the oreo milkshake is to die for. Oh and they have the absolute best oatmeal chocolate chip cookies on the planet. I may not have mentioned it here but I could live off those cookies for the rest of my life and never get sick of them. When I was a tutor (remember my student Ernest?) for seven years, I ate at Potbelly's nearly every Thursday night and it never got old. Anyway, suffice it to say, I am a fan of that place. Well... today as I was walking by, a guy in a Uncle Sam's hat was handing things out. Normally, I avoid those kinds of people because the WH attracts people with a cause. But this time, I didn't even have a choice. He shoved something in my hands and said "Thank you for voting." I was a little thrown off because most people who stand there are asking for signatures for some protest for some unknown person's run for president in 2020 or to help free some type of rare bird in South American zoos or some ridiculous cause. But this one I fully support!! He saw my "I voted" sticker and gave me THREE free oatmeal chocolate chip cookies from Potbelly's. I mean, I know my vote meant something when I actually cast it but it was doubly good when I got three of my favorite cookies out of the deal!


I hope you voted as well! And I hope you ran into Uncle Sam handing out delicious cookies! It makes Election Day even better!

In West Philadelphia Born and Raised...

Now, this is the story all about how

My life got flipped-turned upside down

And I'd like to take a minute

Just sit right there

I'll tell you how I became the prince of a town called Bel Air

In west Philadelphia born and raised

On the playground was where I spent most of my days

Chillin' out maxin' relaxin' all cool

And all shootin some b-ball outside of school

When a couple of guys

Who were up to no good

Startin making trouble in my neighborhood

I got in one little fight and my mom got scared

She said 'You're movin' with your auntie and uncle in Bel Air'

I'm sure you're all familiar with this great classic- the theme song to the Fresh Prince of Bel Air. But last Sunday, I got to see it FOR REAL. POTUS and VPOTUS had an event in Philly. While technically this wasn't West Philly and was actually North Philly, the scene was the same and I'm pretty sure I saw the same school in the intro to the show! I understand why Will went to live with Phil and Viv Banks on the TV show!!

When we drove into the neighborhood of the DNC rally on Sunday morning, I knew it was going to be an interesting day. I never get to see the most exciting parts of the city when we travel with POTUS but this by far was more interesting than any industrial park or hotel convention center where we normally are. I was supposed to meet my camera guy Bill at a church parking lot. He said to just roll down the window and go to the smell of the pork barbecue at a church. Now there were many, many churches all in a couple block radius but only one with a guy grilling ribs. The United Church of Prayer for All People, Inc. seemed like a safe place to leave the car!

The neighborhood was a bit rough, to be kind. Bars on every single window. Bullet proof glass at the counters of food establishments. Some rough looking characters on the street corners. (Although to be fair, we encountered many, many nice people!) Let's just say that I was glad that I was there for a POTUS rally because it meant there was a heavy law enforcement presence. I don't want to sound stuck up and better than anyone else but it just wasn't the best part of town to bring the leader of the free world and the guy who is first in line for the presidency to hang out in a park for an afternoon.

The rally itself was in a city park connected to an elementary school. City officials claim that 18,000 people were there... I was thinking more like 10,000 but it was a lot of people regardless of the actual number. It was definitely a campaign style stop with tons of people and signs and loud music to "fire up the crowd". I used my handy-dandy earplugs from my last chopper ride and I could almost hear. We did liveshots continuously about the event and I would have to say there was more electricity/excitement in the crowd that pretty much any other POTUS event.

The highlights of this trip were really not POTUS related. I mean, the crowd was exciting and it was a fun event to cover but blah, blah, blah, blah. Two things really stood out.

First of all, I saw the streaker in the crowd. I don't know if you've read about him but you can here. POTUS was definitely too far away to notice him. But he ran about two feet away from me. I was so shocked that this was first streaker I had seen at a POTUS event (actually now that I think about it, it might have been the first streaker I have seen in real life) that I really forgot to do my job. I admit it. I was just staring. I was trying to figure out what he had written on himself. Then I was trying to figure out why he wasn't running faster. Then I was trying to figure out why no one was stopping him. Eventually, I alerted Bill who caught some of the incident on tape for future posterity. But it was quite a moment. A weird moment. But it was a moment nonetheless. I can officially cross "seeing a streaker in person" off my list of things to do in life. Actually it wasn't on my list but if it was, I would definitely cross it off. I don't have any pictures to share because A) that would probably qualify my blog as some porn site and B) I was too busy staring and gaping that I didn't take pictures. Yes, I admit it.

The second thing was the workspace bathrooms. Now I'm just grateful that we had a workspace inside, safely away from the 10,000 people so this is not a complaint. It was actually in the music room of the elementary school so we were educated with pictures of woodwinds (I was the expert, of course, and was really tempted to move the picture of the oboe over to the other double reed instruments instead of by the flute. OMG, I am such a nerd!!!!) Anywho, I loved the bathroom. I felt like a freakin' giant and that NEVER happens! The bathroom was made for an elementary school but it was sized more for three year-olds than anyone else. I know you can't tell from the picture how low the toilet is to the ground but I'm pretty sure it was a matter of inches. But seriously, I felt like a giant!!

I haven't abandoned you!!

I have just been sick and had serious computer issues at home but I promise to catch up on my blog soon!!! Please stay tuned!!

Being Small in a Small Business World

On Monday, I was able to go to the East Room for another bill signing. This time POTUS signed the Small Business jobs bill that had taken a bit of time to get through Congress. I kept looking for my friend Chad from church, who works for the SBA but apparently he watched it from his office. I might have been able to see a bit more from my office too but for some reason, it's still a neat thing to be in the room when a small piece of history is being signed. Lots of Congress men and women are on hand. Several cabinet secretaries. The leader of the free world. Just a bunch of important people all in one room.

But the minute people stand up (as is protocol when POTUS enters the room or for any other reason), I am automatically at a huge disadvantage. Ironic that it's a HUGE disadvantage considering it's because I'm rather short. This is what I saw but in general my view is a bit blocked due to my petite stature! :)

This is the White House photo and shows what really was happening. Even though I was in the same room and relatively close by, I saw none of this except through the viewfinder of folks' cameras.

My favorite picture from the event- Gene Sperling (WH economic advisor)'s little girl who appeared to be about three years old and she was doing a good job of being still and quiet but after a while, she couldn't take it anymore!!

Medal of Honor

One of the standard WH ceremonies that will never get old to me is the Medal of Honor ceremony. I will always consider it an honor to cover these events because they remind me, in a real way, all that our men and women in uniform sacrifice on behalf of my freedom. It's one thing to read news accounts "6 US Soldiers Die in Afghanistan Firefight" or "4000 War Casualties Since Fighting Began". But unless you know a particular soldier who has sacrificed his life for our country, the average person really doesn't hear their story. It really becomes more real to me when I can hear every detail of what exactly happened while they were fighting on my behalf. It's chilling and humbling to know the lengths that these soldiers, airmen, marines, sailors will go to fight. And when POTUS decides to award the Medal of Honor to one of our military, I perk up and pay attention.

As you might recall, last year, I worked on the story of the Medal of Honor awarded to Sgt. Jared Monti. I was deeply touched by his story and the interview we did with his dad. Delving deep into the circumstances of his death was really a moving experience for me and made me appreciate what those men and women do on a daily basis.

This year, POTUS has announced several new Medal of Honor awards and on Tuesday, he held another ceremony. This time it was for Air Force Chief Master Sgt. Richard Etchberger. The thing that made this ceremony unique (at least from my perspective) was that this was for someone who had died in Vietnam. It took four decades for his heroism and valor to be recognized with this honor. Sgt. Etchberger was working in Laos on a classified mission and basically fought off the North Vietnamese who were attacking his secret mission. He was the last man standing and was loading all of his wounded airmen on a helicopter, exposing himself to enemy fire every time. Then he himself got struck by gunfire and died by the time the helicopter landed. You can read more about him here or about the history of the Medal of Honor here.

Anyway, for this ceremony, Sgt. Etchberger's three sons were there to receive the Medal of Honor on behalf of their father. To see these three grown men, who were extremely young when their dad died, shedding tears more than 40 years later was extremely touching. POTUS said "Today also marks another chapter in a larger story of our nation finally honoring that generation of Vietnam veterans who served with dedication and courage but all too often were shunned when they came home, which was a disgrace that must never happen again." These men felt like their dad had finally gotten the recognition and respect he deserved.

Ride, Sally, Ride!

I'm guessing it would be fair to use the word "geek" or "nerd" to describe my childhood. Definitely if you use the word "news" before either term. Quite possibly, my earliest news memory was when Reagan was shot when I was in preschool in 1981. I remember watching the news coverage with my grandmother. (Maybe that's where the news nerd in me began.) I also clearly remember where I was when the Challenger exploded in January 1986. I was in 4th grade and my class was watching the takeoff live on TV and of course I went home and watched the non-stop coverage. I was really drawn to that story and I'm not sure why. I was never obsessed with the planets or outer space. I was busy playing with my dolls. Maybe it was because there was a teacher on board the Challenger and maybe as a 4th grader, it hit home that it could have been MY teacher up there. I have no idea. Maybe it was just that I was a weird kid. In any case, I remember that I watched a lot of TV and read a lot about the Challenger and NASA and the space race with USSR. I remember that my piano teacher let me read a book of hers about the US space program and I never gave it back for some reason. (I am so sorry Mrs. Goff. If you need it back, I will mail it to wherever you are 25 years later!) I can still remember that the first person in space was Yuri Gagarin. And I didn't even have to google that for this blog. Ok, I lied. I had to make sure I spelled his name right. I promise. And I have also always known that Sally Ride was the first American woman in space. I wrote a report on her in the 5th grade about her.


So this week, when she was at the WH for an event on education and innovations, my network had an interview with her so I got to meet her and I told her about that report. I told her that only if I had met her 25 years ago, my report would have been that much better. I have no idea what I got on that... I'm remembering an A but I could totally be making that up! But meeting her was kind of cool. Since she had accomplished such an extraordinary thing, I had somehow put her on some kind of pedestal. But here she was, just as normal as could be!! She was such a nice, down-to-earth (pun is absolutely intended) person and we had quite a pleasant, yet brief, conversation. And another great thing to note is that she is only a couple inches taller than me. Seriously?! I had always thought I was too short to go to space and I pictured her as this really tall woman. But it turns out that being short is an asset in space because the living quarters on a space shuttle are quite small. So after all these years, I learned that I, too, could have been an astronaut and flown into outer space. But I think it's a little late. Especially since the manned space shuttle is about to become a thing of the past in the near future. Well, in other news... POTUS has begun to hit the campaign trail and on Thursday he headed to Connecticut for a couple of events. It was just travel pool coverage and it wasn't my network's day so I didn't go with him. But it did mean that I got to see him off in Marine One. It was a bit rainy but lovely nonetheless. POTUS didn't wave to me. In fact, I don't think he's ever specifically waved to me like the last POTUS did! I'm going to need to write him a letter!

Presidential Presser

So POTUS and I haven't run into each other much lately. I actually never saw him while he was on the vineyard other than seeing him through the window of his limo. And then I was taking some time off last week, catching up on the things like laundry, errands, etc. This past week I was at the WH from Wednesday on but I only saw POTUS on Wednesday and that was when he was coming home from Cleveland from a day trip.

Then on Friday, that was our first time we really "hung" out this week. POTUS held a press conference, something that doesn't happen every day here. The last one he did was back in May and I was off that day and missed all the fun. Yesterday, though, we were travel pool which meant we had to make sure everything was all set up for all five TV networks. I actually handed travel pool duties off to my colleague Jamie and I stayed on the phone with my network's control room throughout the presser. Oh and I forgot my hands free thingy. I stood towards the back of the room with the phone to my ear for almost two hours (that included the lead-up time to it and then the entire 75 minutes of the presser.) I didn't realize how long that was until at the end when I could barely stand and barely move my arms.

POTUS took questions from about a dozen reporters. And the main thing I remember from the event was that I had never seen 75% of the reporters in the room. I'm at the WH quite a bit and travel with POTUS quite a bit and have been doing this for quite a while. I would think I would at least recognize the majority of "White House reporters". Nope. I have no idea where these people came from. Out of the woodwork? And who were they? I have no idea! Many even seemed to have WH hard passes which "proves" they cover the WH. But I have seriously never laid eyes on them!! I think I recognized more people in the Russian press corps earlier this summer than I did with our own press corps yesterday!