Well, it is a soggy, gloomy day in Kansas City which seems just the perfect setting to share a few of the e-mails and voice mails that came my way this week:

*One lady sent an e-mail taking me to task for ending two sentences with the word "at." Oops. I did it again, right there! She said I made her "wince" not once but twice by saying something like "Let's see where the rain's at." Frankly, making a viewer wince only twice is better than I usually do regardless of what I may actually say. I'm not sure that ending a sentence with "at" is what they call a dangling participle but, if it is, maybe I should see a chiropractor. I question this viewer's judgment, however, because she also referred to me as "an intelligent person who ought to know better." Still, the viewer is right about my lack of good grammar. Well grammar? Great grammar? As a matter of fact, I did have a great gramma. She loved me no matter where I was at.

*I got a voice-mail the same morning I received the above e-mail, angry with me for not mentioning Harrisonville during my weathercasts. The fellow said "You only talk about us down here when something bad happens and you want to embarrass us." Actually, I really like Harrisonville. Our youngest son thinks it was named for him. His name is Ville...I mean, Harrison. Honestly, I think I mention Harrisonville whenever the weather there is relevant and, as for the "embarrassment" factor...well, if you've watched me long enough, you know the only truly embarrassed person, place or thing would be me and my family-- who have often applied for the witness protection program, hoping to be relocated to Harrisonville.

*Wednesday morning, after saying the area would be "mostly dry," one Lenexa resident e-mailed to say he was soaking wet. He had been outside doing his exercises and a shower rolled through. He suggested we install a window in the weather center to go with all the computers and radars. Unfortunately, that particular morning, a window downtown would not have shown me any of the drips falling out south. Still a window is a great idea. It would make my forecasts "pane-ful" in addition to painful.

*Finally, this murky morning, I got the following e-mail, exactly as you see it here:

"This message is for Joel. Please, please make you weather messages more positive. I spend a year and a half doing the weather while I was flying with the Air Force and in grad school and on thing that really frustrated me while listening to other weather reporters was their negative presentations. You do the same. Joel why not say on a partly sunny day..."today will be partly sunny"...instead of mostly cloudy. On a partly cloudy day say "today will be mostly sunny." I think the news media over stresses the negative and sensationalizes the weather, sports and news. I know you are only a weather reporter but for gosh sakes be positive."

Well, I always thought I did put a fairly optimistic spin on things...like calling a morning "mostly dry." (See above!) There have been times when we've had an extended stretch of cloudy weather and I've said "another dreary day" only to be called on the carpet by folks who like the clouds. Now, I don't think I could get away with saying "Partly sunny" if it is really mostly cloudy. I know what you're thinking "Since when is being accurate a priority for you?" To be honest, I was feeling pretty upbeat about things this morning...until I got the e-mail. Now, I simply don't know where I'm at. At? Darn it!

When I first started in broadcasting, it was rare to hear from viewers and listeners. For someone to take the time to actually write a letter, meant it must be pretty important. Now, the click of a mouse or the push of a telephone extension and you can make a connection. I'm not convinced it is always a good thing to reach out and touch someone that easily. Lincoln used to write angry letters to his adversaries then stick the missives in a desk drawer. He rarely regretted that time to cool off.

*Oh, there was one positive communication this week. I got a voice mail from a long-time viewer saying I had gone from "Geek to sleek." I think that is a good thing.