ABBA Reunion

I'm just really happy to learn that ABBA is going to come out with a couple of new songs. I have enjoyed their music in the past, although in recent years I have become a lot more appreciative of their music. I find myself listening to them more often. Dancing Queen is one of my all-time favorite disco songs. I'm just looking forward to hearing the new songs when they come out.

ABBA NPR

Tips For Going on a Cruise

Several wonderful points about taking a cruise include:

• It's an all-inclusive price for your accomodations, gourmet meals, on-board entertainment and activities.
• You only have to unpack once to travel to various destinations.
• You have a different "view" outside your window every day.

If you've never cruised before, you may be a bit overwhelmed by the choices. There are cruise lines and ships available to suit many different desires. There are medium-sized to mega-ships that appeal to a broad segment of the population. Some smaller ships create a more intimate experience and/or sail to exotic locations. Some ships create a party-like atmosphere while others offer a more sophisticated experience. River cruising is gaining in popularity; you can sail through Europe or Asia on long, narrow boats that feature cabins just as decked out as full-sized ships. To determine what sort of cruise suits your needs and desires, you can research and book yourself on the internet or you can use the services of a travel agent.
The cruise lines that offer a fun experience for families and couples include Carnival, Disney, Norwegian and Royal Caribbean.
The cruise lines that offer a more sophisticated experience include Azamara, Celebrity, Holland America, Oceania, and Princess.
Luxury cruise lines include Cunard, Crystal, Seaborn, Silversea, Regent Seven Seas, and Windstar.
Exotic locations include Costa, MSC and Paul Gauquin.
River cruise lines include Uniworld and Viking.
There are cruise lines and paddleboats that sail some of the rivers in the United States, and others that sail the Great Lakes.

What can you do when you're on board? Activities may include: Vegas/Broadway-style shows, live music, discos, piano bars, nightclubs, indoor and outdoor movies, casino gaming, classes, lectures, pools (some are adult-only), waterslides, wave pools, hot tubs, exercise rooms, running tracks, miniature golf, rock climbing walls, ice skating rinks, basketball, bowling lounges, teen centers, and plenty of kids activities. Many ships offer babysitting or supervised childrens' opportunities so that parents can have time to themselves. Extra cost items on board a ship include spa treatments, massages, specialty restaurants, and shops & boutiques.
When you're in port, you can choose to remain on the ship if you desire or you can visit the local area. You can book a shore excursion, which may include sightseeing or any of dozens of activities. You can get off the ship and just walk around the local area, which generally includes shopping, places to eat and some activities.

Costs: The costs you see advertised for a cruise generally are for the cruise only. These are usually per-person based on two people per cabin. If you have a third or fourth person in the same cabin, they are usually at a lower rate. The cost will vary, depending on the length of the cruise, what cruise line it is, where you are going, what time of the year it is, and what your accomodations are (see below). These costs include your accomodations, meals, and entertainment. Alcoholic and soft drinks are extra. You can usually find juices and some other drinks for free. Taxes and port fees will be added at the time you total up your price. Generally you must make a down payment of around $200-$300 per person at the time you book a cruise. Full payment will be required approximately a month before the departure. If you are booking a 'last-minute" cruise, you will be required to pay the full amount at the time of booking. Gratuities and amounts are optional, but most cruise lines highly "recommend" certain amounts, which generally total around $10-$15 per day for each passenger in your group. Many offer the opportunity to include gratutities in your total bill at the time of booking. Shore excursions are extra. You can book ahead on shore excursions or you can book them once you are on the ship.

Trip insurance: I can't stress how important I believe trip insurance is, especially for a cruise or when you are travelling in foreign countries. There is a very high probability you will not need it, but if you do, it can save you from financial ruin. I don't mean just the little things like lost luggage and missed connections, but if you are sick or injured at sea, in international waters or on an excursion, costs can run VERY high. Your medical insurance very likely does not include foreign travel. It's bad enough if your vacation is ruined by illness or injuries, but if you need hospitalization in a foreign country, it can be a disaster for you. You will also need to get home again. Trip insurance can cover such hospitalization, ambulance transportation, airline transportation back home, and even an airlift off the ship if it were to become necessary. Also, medical services on the ship itself are not included in the price of your cruise. Trip insurance can cover it. The cost of trip insurance is very low when you consider the peace of mind you get for it.

Meals: Meals included in your cruise fare include breakfast, lunch and a gourmet dinner in one of the ship's main dining rooms, the cafeteria-style restaurant, plus snack fare including pizza slices and ice cream. Breakfast and lunch are usually open-style, meaning you can go to the designated dining room anytime it's open. There is no assigned seating. The cafeteria-style restaurant is always open-style for all meals. Traditional dining in the evening is at an assigned time at an assigned table, which is usually arranged before you even board the ship. There is usually an early serving, around 6:00 PM, or a late serving, around 800 PM. If you choose traditional dining, you will select an early or late seating at the time you book your cruise. You will have the same wait staff for the entire cruise; they will get to know you and your tastes early on. Some cruise lines now offer open-style dining as an alternative in a separate dining room. One cruise line, Norwegian, has no traditional dining; they advertise their cruises and meals as being totally "free-style." Disney offers tradtional seating and times, but you will rotate among dining rooms on different nights. Your wait staff will move with you. It's true what they say about eating as much as you want; in the dining rooms and in the cafeteria, there is no limit to the amount of food you can eat. I've seen people order several meals at once in the main dining room! Most ships also have a number of specialty restaurants on board. You need to pay for these meals.

Accomodations: The prices you see advertised for a cruise are usually for the lowest-price cabin available. This is usually an interior cabin on a lower deck. From there, everything goes up in price. Generally the higher your cabin is on a ship, the more you will pay for it. Interior rooms cost less. If you want a window, you will pay more. If you want a verandah (balcony) outside your cabin, you will pay more. The typical cabin on a cruise ship is usually quite small, especially compared to an average hotel room. Usually they are fine for two people, but if you have a third or fourth person, it will get a bit crowded. If you want more space, such as a larger-than-usual cabin or a suite, you will pay more. What you choose should be based on what you want to do in your cabin. If you only need it for sleeping and the basics, and plan to spend most of your time elsewhere on the ship, an interior cabin will do just fine. If you'd like to see outside, you can get a cabin with a "view" (meaning a window). If you'd like to relax on your own private balcony, you can get a verandah room. Royal Caribbean's larger ships have another class of cabins with a view of the promenade that runs through the center of the ship. Some cabins come with an "obstructed view." This means you have a window, but something outside the ship may be blocking part of the view, such as a lifeboat hanging above the window. Cabins come with their own private bathroom and shower. All cabins come with TV's, which have some standard channels for news, sports, movies and cable channels. They also have specialty channels for the ship. You will see video crews roaming around the ship for your entire cruise and will often see shots of you and your shipmates on some of these channels. There may be a channel that shows a live camera view outside, and/or a map showing where you're going and where you've been. Information about the ship's speed, time/distance since you left port, time/distance remaining, and weather conditions are often posted.

Before the Cruise: After booking a cruise, your cruise line will have you fill out various forms and let you know when and how to receive your boarding papers. Much of this can be done on the cruise line's website. Beginning several weeks before the cruise, boarding papers can either be printed out from the website or they will be mailed to you. If you are flying to your cruise port, I recommend that you fly in a day early and spend the night in a hotel. This will ensure that any airline delays will not cause you to miss your cruise departure. Otherwise you will be one very unhappy vacationer. Make sure you have the necessary documents including passports when you arrive for your cruise. The cruise line will let you know what time you can begin boarding. This process takes about 3-5 hours. Most cruise lines take your luggage outside the port and bring it to your cabin, although it may be several hours before your luggage arrives at your cabin. So pack whatever you need for the first few hours in a carry-on bag (swimsuit, sunscreen, etc.) What's nice is that your vacation begins as soon as you step on board the ship. Bands may be playing, pools will be open, the cafeteria will be serving food, and the ship will generally be open for touring. You can visit the spa (you can book treatments at this time), the children's centers, teen center, see the various nightclubs, the theatre, etc. (Once the ship embarks, the children's center is generally closed to adults. Parents must sign their kids in and kids are only released to parents or others authorized to pick them up.) I like to tour the ship as soon as I get settled in my cabin. I take the elevator to the highest deck and explore each deck as I work my way down. With people still boarding, the elevators will be crowded so it's easier to start at the top and work my way down the stairs. Most cruise lines offer a soft drink card; this card will allow you unlimited soft drinks for the duration of the cruise. You can purchase your soft drink card after you board. Also, if you have any issues regarding your dining room time/seating, this would be the time to see the maitre'd and resolve those issues.

After the Cruise: If you are flying home after the cruise, make sure you allow enough time to disembark the ship, go through customs, travel to the airport, check in, go through security and get to your gate on time. Depending on your cruise port city, your cruise line can help determine how much time you need, so plan your flight accordingly. The ship's crew will be anxious to get you off the ship as soon as possible when you arrive back in your home port. The process takes several hours and they need to clean the entire ship for the next group of passengers, which will begin arriving late that morning. Traditionally, you pack most of your luggage by the last night, set it outside your cabin, and then it will be available for you to pick up when you disembark the ship. Many cruise lines are now offering the opportunity to carry your luggage off the ship. It's your choice. Follow the instructions for disembarking. Once you are off the ship, you will need to go through customs. After that, you're on your own.

Safety: As with anything else in life, there are reasonable precautions you should take to ensure your own safety. Keep your valuables locked (cabins usually come with a safe), keep your cabin door locked, use common sense around people you just met, and follow the safety information posted in your cabin or given to you during the muster drill. All cruises must begin with a muster drill. This will usually be started approximately an hour or so before departure. Follow the directions given to you at the time. Use common sense with alcohol; the tragedy of people falling overboard is rare, but the news reports I've seen regarding this seem to imply they are usually alcohol-related incidents. Norovirus outbreaks can and do occur on ships, but do not happen as often as media reports seem to imply. The best way to avoid being infected is to wash your hands frequently. For detailed information on this topic, you can see this link about norovirus oubreaks by the Center for Disease Control. It's comprehensive and has links to inspection reports on individual cruise lines. When you disembark in a port, remember that you are in a foreign country. Make sure you carry ID and passport information and use common sense regarding whoever you come in contact with. Make sure you return to the ship by the designated time; the ship will wait for no one.

My Autobiography, Chapter 7 - Broadcasting Memories, Part 4: Getting Started in Television

by Paul Pakusch

Near the end of my junior year in college at SUNY Geneseo in the spring of 1982, I was looking for a summer job.  My friend, Brad Smith at Geneseo, was working at WROC Channel 8 at the time and told me about vacation summer relief jobs.  I figured I didn’t have anything to lose by applying, so I sent in a job application and resume.  In the meantime, I was offered a job as s security guard for a security company (I don’t remember which one).  When I got home from accepting my new job, my sister told me there was a phone message from Channel 8.  Chief Engineer John Coon wanted me to come in for a job interview.  I think I went the next day and was hired on the spot.  So I called back the security company and told them I got another job.

My job at Channel 8 was to work in the control room and studio.  It was a temporary job for the summer with full time hours.  My WeMoCo training came in handy here.  I started out on studio camera, then added audio and master control.  My hours were 2:45 to 11:45 PM; I was involved in daily late afternoon production of commercials and interview shows.  Then we got ready for and produced the 6:00 PM newscast.  In the evening we did the 11:00 news.

Master control was a lot like running a radio station except with video.  I found I really enjoyed that, and it remained my favorite control room position through my entire 32-year television career. The times we had to scramble for special reports, breaking news, or other quick program changes were invigorating for me.  I prided myself in quick, smooth changes.

I also learned how to edit video for news.  We were using ¾” U-Matic videocassettes at the time.  I was often assigned to edit some news stories in the evening.

It was just a few short months for me at WROC Channel 8.  As my temporary job was coming to an end in August, I started thinking about continuing my career in television instead of radio.  I recognized that control room TV jobs were a lot more secure than pretty much any job in a radio station. There were no permanent openings at WROC, so a longtime employee and supervisor at WROC, Joe Mazzaferro,  offered to call his friend, Jerry Evans, chief engineer at WHEC Channel 10.  I stood right in the office while he made the phone call to Jerry.  He told Jerry that if any openings came up, he had a guy he could recommend.

My last evening on the job at Channel 8 was a Sunday.  The crew wished me well.  The following Wednesday, I got a phone call from Jerry Evans.  I was interviewed on Thursday and offered a weekend part time job on the spot.  It was perfect!  I could go to school for my senior year at Geneseo during the week and work weekend evenings at Channel 10.  I started the following Saturday, so I didn’t miss a weekend!

You get familiar with certain places and routines.  The weekend I started at Channel 10 I was badly missing being at Channel 8.  But I got over it quickly enough.  I continued working studio camera, master control, audio, and editing news at Channel 10.

In 1982, it was still common for TV stations to sign off during the overnight hours, and channel 10 signed off around 1:30 or 2:00 AM.  While I was working there during my senior year, Jerry told me they were going to start staying on 24 hours a day during the week.  He offered me a full-time job for the overnight hours.  It was tempting, but since I was trying to graduate from college, I turned it down.

Towards the end of my school year and graduation, I was once again offered a full time vacation relief job.  I did that for the summer of 1983 at Channel 10; in August, a full-time position opened up and I was offered the job. My part-time college job turned into my full-time career.  There I would stay for the next 31 years.

In my next chapter, I will have memorable highlights from 32 years at WHEC Channel 10.

https://paulpakusch.blogspot.com/2018/05/my-autobiography-chapter-8-broadcasting.html

Big Plane vs Small Plane

By Paul Pakusch

Many times I see people express concern over flying in a small plane, especially if it's a plane that connects them in another city to their destination. Smaller planes are not necessarily any more dangerous than larger planes, which do tend to feel more stable because they take up more mass.

Personally, I enjoy flying smaller planes because I like to fly. Being in a smaller plane makes flying seem more pure. Airlines don't use turboprops very much anymore for short flights, but when they did these planes tended to fly lower and therefore you could see the ground better. I booked those turboprops whenever it was possible.

The only real issue I have with smaller planes is the lack of legroom in the seats. Being 6 foot 5, legroom is a huge issue for me on any kind of a flight. But in those turboprops it was a bigger problem.

So, the next time you find yourself in a smaller plane, just sit back and enjoy the ride.

Original song

Here's an original song by my old band, The Mods, from 1982. Listen to Make it Right - The Mods by PaulPakusch #np on #SoundCloud
https://soundcloud.com/paulpakusch/make-it-right

How to Watch the Weather Forecast Like A Pilot

by Paul Pakusch

Last weekend, as the ice storm was approaching, Stacey and I considered whether we should go ahead with our plans for a night out or not.  Stacey doesn't particularly enjoy driving, so she often leaves it up to me.  She said, "You're the driver, so you decide if we go out or not."

My main concern was whether roads would have black ice or not.  Actually, the correct term is "clear ice," if you want to talk knowledgeably like an airplane pilot.  The ice that you can't see on roads is actually clear, but it is commonly known as black ice because you see the blackish pavement below the ice, not the ice itself, which is clear so you can't see it.

When a pilot checks the weather forecast for a flight, he or she gets a personalized weather briefing from one of two services contracted by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).  (Aviation fuel taxes pay for this, in case you wondered)  The briefing includes such things as current and forecast conditions at the departure point, the destination and along the route.  Pilots need to know what sort of weather they can expect to need to deal with along the way.  The briefing includes severe weather alerts and other conditions that pilots need to know about.  These and other factors are considered as a pilot makes a decision about whether to proceed with the flight as planned, or make other alternate plans as needed.

It's important to realize that no weather briefing is cast in stone.  Conditions constantly change and sometimes pilots need to make changes to the route while in flight.  Therefore pilots get timely weather reports while in flight. A pilot must always have an "out."  If the weather deteriorates significantly, he or she must be able to return to the departure point, alter the route, or go to a different destination.

As a private pilot myself, I take the same approach when I'm considering driving in bad weather conditions.  For example, in the case of a winter storm, I check several weather sources for forecasts to see how they compare.  If I feel comfortable making the drive, I proceed, but with an "out." I consider what might make me decide to turn around and come home, and I keep watching weather conditions as I drive.

In the case of last week's ice storm, we kept our plans for the evening as tentative.  It appeared to me that the ice accumulation that was expected was not arriving in our area as early as originally forecast.  Our destination for the night out was in Farmington, NY, and our home is in Brighton.  I considered that most of our route would be on the NYS Thruway, which I know from experience is generally maintained well with salting and snow removal.  So, we set out as planned, I was ready to turn back home at any point, and I kept a sharp eye on the road for clear ice.  I even safely slowed down a few times and braked hard to see if my mini-van would slide or not.  Everything seemed fine so we proceeded.  As it turned out, we had no issues whatsoever with weather and enjoyed a night out!

Life in Charlotte

This was published in Deaf Rochester in 2007: