Losing my newscasters

Having returned to the USA after being mostly media starved should have been another perk once back. Doug and I were admittedly news junkies for years. When we moved overseas we even found some of our favorite shows occasionally. But instead of picking up where we left off it's turned out to be very sad.

First we lost Tim Russert, age 58, NBC Moderator for Meet the Press and the Washington Bureau Chief for NBC. He died suddenly of a heart attack in Washington, DC. Doug and I loved and respected Tim Russert's work and what we knew of his person. He was a class act in everything we saw that he was involved in. Meet the Press fit in with our church schedule - but if it had not, this would have been a problem for us. We may have had to buy TIVO. Back in early 2000, we had tickets to go to the Republican Primary Presidential Debate at Calvin College. Tim Russert was the moderator. Doug and I had arrived early and were waiting outside the auditorium (probably near the bathroom as I was 8 months pregnant) when Tim walked through to get backstage. We both hollered at him, and told him he is our favorite newscaster. We got a big smile and wave as he walked past. I was more excited about meeting him than seeing all the presidential candidates once the debate began. We appreciated Tim's approach to his guests on "Meet the Press". He would ask questions - even the "tough" questions and actually let his guests respond. No interruptions, no shouting, it was definitely not a show about Tim promoting his own ideas or personality. Now having watched the coverage about Tim and his relationships with co-workers, Washington insiders, etc. we see that he was a man who cared about individuals and those he came in contact with on a daily basis.

Today (Sat. July 12) I heard that another of my favorite newscasters died of cancer at age 53 - Tony Snow. Tony Snow was another man who looked comfortable with himself. It has been several years since I've watched him, because he has been battling cancer and we've been overseas, but he was another class act. When he became the White House Press Secretary I cheered. I knew he would be great in front of the reporters and, sure enough, when he was having a press conference, his ability to articulate the Administration's actions and positions greatly helped my understanding. It seemed like such a friendlier place while Tony worked there. Tony Snow was another who didn't shout and talk over his guests, but let them talk.

So - here's to the good guys who reported our political news from Washington, DC. Gosh, I'll miss them.

Two months have passed since I posted

I now realize that two months have passed since I've posted on my blog. The month of May in Bratislava was a whirlwind of activity. We traveled, wrapped up our work, said goodbye to our friends and were on a plane on June 3.

My first impressions of the US are always interesting (to me at least). I love the big freeways, wide open spaces and being able to read and understand signs and billboards. The familiar is so comforting. My first moments in a US grocery store are exhilarating as I look at the variety of grocery items. Then I inevitably feel like telling the cashier how nice she/he is to talk to. If we converse I thank them for bagging my grocery items and tell them about the stores in most of Europe and Slovakia. Some are even appreciative of my stories!

I've had the most fun laughing about variety in toothpaste and tortilla chips. If I could find a bag of chips in Slovakia, they were quite average in taste and high in cost. Just the corn tortilla chips - round and usually broken from the extra long trip that it took to get them there from Belgium. Chips and some mexican food was imported from Belguim. The other day at Meijer I noticed the following varieties of tortilla chips:

blue corn, yellow corn, white corn, baked, restaurant style, no salt, nacho cheese flavored, triangle shapes, mini rounds, scoops, w/lime. WOW - how can we ever make a decision with those choices, to say nothing of choosing a brand. I dare not even start on varieties of toothpaste.

So, America is by far the country with the most variety of any in the world that I've been to so far!

Another funny thing I've noticed. We are generally a sedentary culture, needing to take our vehicle(s) most everywhere to get our business done. But we still look for the closest parking place to the building. I do the same now that I've returned.

Large cars far outnumber small cars. Pretty much the opposite in Slovakia. They have been paying high fuel prices for much longer than we have.