A couple days ago, I mentioned that the FirstNews team was off. I mean, off to visit the new KMBC building. As it turns out, I can't really tell you anything about the fancy new studio complex. It's top secret. You will be learning more about it in the next few months. Let's just say that my requests for a private kitchen, bathroom with a shower and ping-pong table were not filled. It is a state-of-the-art facility which will clash wildly with my state-of-confusion broadcast style. As I mentioned in the last piece of bloggery, I was concerned that they all may move over there without me. My fears were unfounded. The desk with my name is out there at the new place. Conveniently located at the back door near the shiny new dumpsters.

Of course, moving can be a bittersweet occasion. For example, my wife and I had our first house, perched on a hill, up north of the river, near the hospital. It was a cute little place that had once, many years before sprawl, been a farmhouse. What it lacked in space and extras, it more than made up for with a spectacular view of the city and a mortgage payment that didn't make my teeth itch every month. Also, both of our older sons were born when we lived there. All those factors led me to feel a little misty-eyed as my wife and I made our last trip to get the odds and ends. I wandered through the empty house as the voice of Streisand echoed in my head and heart...."Mem'ries....light the corners of my mind...." It was an emotional time...for me. Meanwhile, my wife had strapped the grill on top of the station wagon and was screeching out of the driveway. My wistful reverie came to an end and, as I was running to catch my wife pulling away, I yelled "Kind of hard to say good-bye to the old place, huh, dear?" Her reply was lost in the loud thump of me jumping onto the hood of the car.

As for leaving the Lyric Opera building, which has been home to KMBC forever, it will not be entirely easy, either. Obviously, not everything is going along. One item in particular will not make the move. In fact, it has already been sold. The Steinway Grand Piano. Back in the days when more than just the newscasts were live and, frankly, when more truly local programming was being produced, there was a very good reason to have a piano in the studio. I used it a lot. I played it on after*words and had our daughter, Samantha, sing along to Rudolfph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. I played holiday music during FirstNews sometimes. Once, Maria Antonia even sat up on the thing which beat the heck out of Liberace's candelabra. Not too long ago, when Elmo and Cookie Monster visited from Sesame Street Live, I banged out a little of that happy theme song.

Off the air, lots of Channel Niners would stop and tinkle. (On the piano, you trouble-maker.) When I used to fill on the evening shift, I'd play between shows a little. I tried to set up a tip jar but found that certain big-shot anchors, who were more than happy to stand near by and sing almost any show-tune, were not too likely to leave a buck behind. When it comes to financial behavior, they tend to be careful...disciplined...frugal...cheap.

When a real pianist would visit, he or she would always comment about how beat up the exterior of the old Steinway was...traces of cigarettes, forgotten coffee cups, nicks and dings. It had character! Yet, when these pros would start to play, their eyes would light up. There was life in the strings and pedals. I once played Heart and Soul with the great Lawrence Welk pianist, Bob Ralston. I played while Queen Bey sang and the McFadden Brothers danced. Of course, my marginal abilities were easily ignored alongside such talented folks.

Well, the old piano has a new home...and...uh...gulp...I'm hearing Streisand....getting misty...can't see the computer screen...gotta go....