I have been at KMBC Channel 9 for many years. They continue to investigate the possibility of some sort of gas leak in the building to explain why I was hired in the first place. In the early years, people watched FirstNews by candlelight. We had traffic reports, back then, that included horse & buggy back-ups on I-435, and, if you've ever had a horse back up on you, you know that's unpleasant. My forecast was based exclusively on the wooly caterpillar and if my left knee ached. (Frankly, there was not much difference in my accuracy level.) I share all of this by way of saying that I am on vacation next week. My kids head back to school and I like to be home for the first morning. When they were little, it was to offer moral support...now, I just laugh and point. "Guess who gets to sit home all day and watch TV, NOW!?! HA HA HA!" I have, however, quit my former practice of dancing through the neighborhood, holding the television remote over my head while chanting "It's mine. It's all mine!"

I've been around so long, I have quite a bit of vacation time. In fact, the powers that be here at Channel 9, strongly encourage me to be on vacation as often as possible. Bryan Busby has also been here awhile and has a lot of vacation time. When he is off, we get worried e-mails asking where he is and when he'll return. When I am off, we get e-mails of thanks and the "what took you so long?" type. One time, there were several...six, to be exact...e-mails begging KMBC to get me back on the air. I was flattered until I realized the six messages were from my wife, four kids and dog. (Until then, I didn't realize the dog used the computer but it did explain all the visits to www.cutepoodles.com.)

Before giving you all a break for about ten days, I'd like to share a great idea for you and your family, for next weekend, Sunday August 20, to be exact. The 5th Annual Stroke, Stroll and Run is taking place at 7:00 a.m. at the HyVee at 122nd and State Line. You can find out more at www.soskc.org. It is a terrific way to help stroke survivors and their families right here in our area.

Okay. That's it. The saddest part about not writing these things for a week is that, according to our records, readership goes way up when I stop blogging. Enjoy your vacation from me and keep my poor family in your thoughts as they have me around even more than usual!