I must say I was a bit surprised yesterday afternoon.  My children and I were driving around town when I heard on the radio that the financial bail out package failed to pass Congress.  In my opinion, parts of the legislation seemed flawed.  At the same time, the President warned the repercussions could be dire if Congress didn’t pass the bill.  So, after learning the plan failed my first thought was… what’s next?  I’m afraid to check our 401K plan.  Part of me wants to hang tough and just ride it out.  Another part of me wants to cash it out and put what is left under my mattress.  Of course with my luck, the bedroom would catch on fire.

My kids and I finally made it to the store yesterday.  Two things struck me.  First of all, there were very few people in the craft store.  Second of all, the Halloween items were on sale.  It seems like in past years, you can usually find Halloween decorations for half price on November 1.  Yesterday I found lots of great seasonal decorations for 30 to 5o percent off.  Also, the store was packed with Christmas items.  The kids looked at me and asked, “Mommy, why do they have all of their Christmas trees out?”  I think it’s clear that retailers are concerned about the holiday shopping season… and with good reason.  Most businesses are trying to lure consumers into the stores any way they can.  (When I was discussing this on the set recently, Tom laughed and called me Grace Cavuto).  Well, I’m no financial expert, but I have enough sense to be concerned about my dollars and cents.  Even though some toy stores are having decent sales right now, I’m holding out.  I figure if the economy continues to struggle, which it certainly appears that way, toy stores will continue to slash prices as we get closer to Christmas.

Let’s hope someone comes up with a plan that can turn things around for all of us.  Even though it’s Fall, none of us want to see the economy fall too.

The gang is back together again!  Dan returned today after a slightly wet but fun vacation.  He and his friends went to the Carolina coast last week.  As you might remember, the coast got quite a bit of rain last week.  Still… Dan and his friends had a good time and enjoyed some great food.  Dan told me about a restaurant where they had all you can eat crab legs.  We both agreed that after one big plate of crab legs, you’re usually full.  At any rate, I could eat seafood everyday.  I’m a big fan of fish and shrimp.

Paul, on the other hand, doesn’t like shrimp at all.  I’ll never what happened several years ago.  Our producer decided to have Paul and my co-anchor at the time have a shrimp eating contest.  (I don’t even remember why they had the contest.  I’m guessing we were promoting some kind of festival.)  At any rate, my co-anchor practically inhaled a pile of shrimp while Paul delicately peeled his first one.  After we went to the commercial break, Paul confessed that he hates shrimp.  I felt bad for the guy.  I told him he should have said something before the contest.  Even so, Paul was a good sport.  He didn’t get the least bit crabby about the seafood “scarf down.”

Speaking of food, thank you to the Visiting Nurse Service for dropping off a tray of fruit and sandwiches this morning!  The fastest way to a news person’s heart is through his/her stomach.

We hope all of you had a wonderful weekend that included plenty of family, good friends and great food.

It’s been a busy week here at RTV-6 and I’d like to thank Rafael for all of his help.  Rafael always does a great job filling in for Dan.

Rafael is such a hard worker.  He’s one of those guys who gets in early and hits the ground running fast.  I always feel a little guilty when I arrive at the staion, sign on to my computer and discover that Rafael has already written a couple of stories. 

Rafael is also our union representative.  So, in addition to helping people in the community with his Call Six segment, he also helps anchors and reporters if they have any union issues.  Rafael also helps negotiate our union contract with managers.  I must say that’s a job I would not want.  I hate the whole back and forth of the negotiation process.  Rafael is really good at it, though.  When he says he’s on your side… he means it. Thanks, Rafael, for sitting by my side this week.  It’s been fun. 

I hope all of you have a fun weekend.  Dan will be back with the gang next week.  We hope you join all of us bright and early Monday morning.

I’m not sure how we got on the subject, but during one of the commercial breaks this morning, the guys and I started talking about The View.  Paul, Tom and Rafael were quick to point out that they’ve never actually sat down to watch an entire episode of the show.  I was like, yeah… right.  But seriously,  we have television sets all over the station, so it is hard for us to miss at least parts of the show.

Rafael says he enjoys Sherry Shepard.  In his words, she seems to be the most real and down-to-earth.  Tom did not share the same enthusiasm for Sherry.  He really likes Joy.  Tom says Joy has some great one liners.  Paul says he used to like Joy’s humor, but he says Joy is starting to “wear on him a bit.”  Paul believes Elisabeth is definitely the cutest, but he really gets a kick out of Barbara Walters.

I like the fact that we live in a country where a group of women can sit around a table and express their views on national television.  Also, even though they have different views on certain subjects, they all seem to respect and like each other.  Let’s face it.  It wasn’t always that way on the show.

I don’t always agree with her opinions, but I enjoy Whoopi.  I think she’s intelligent.  I agree with Rafael that Sherry is very down-to-earth and I can relate to many of the stories she shares about the trials and tribulations of parenthood.  Even though I don’t always agree with Elisabeth, I wish there was at least one more conservative on the show.  People have told me that they think Elisabeth can “hold her own.”  Still… as a journalist (and a Libra), I like to see a balance in things.  At times, the show seems really stacked against Elisabeth.  At least, that’s my opinion. 

Whatever your opinion, I hope you can take a little time today to enjoy your view.  And of course, stay tuned after The View for Six News at Noon.

Today is shaping up to be a really hectic day.  I’m sure many of you can relate.

Just after 9-o-clock, I have a gentleman coming by the station to go over a script with me.  I’m serving as the Mistress of Ceremonies for an event Saturday and I need to make sure I’m on the same page as the organizers.  After the meeting, I’m doing a satellite interview with two of the stars from Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.  The stars are in Los Angeles and they literally do dozens of interviews with reporters in different cities, one after another.  Each television market is given 5 to 10 minutes to interview the celebrities.  I have found that the interview usually goes smoother if I’m the third or fourth reporter to talk to the stars.  If I’m the 10th or 11th on the list, the celebrities are usually pretty tired and a little less entertaining during our chat.  Then again, everyone I’ve ever talked to from Extreme Makever has been absolutely wonderful.  I don’t know about you, but I have yet to watch an episode of that show without breaking out in tears.

Once that interview is over, I’m anchoring our live coverage of the deflation of the RCA Dome.  It’ll be strange not to see that huge dome anymore, won’t it?  Hopefully everything will go smoothly.  You can watch the deflation here on our website, starting at 10:30. 

Once our coverage is over, I’ll hopefully have a few minutes to go over scripts for the Noon Show.  It’ll be a jam-packed morning, but at least it’ll go by fast.  I hope you enjoy your day and you can slow down long enough to enjoy yet another beautiful sunny day.