UnSpace

We hardly knew you.

News trucks lined up across from City-County Building.

Awaiting the noon newscast

With Mayor Bob O'Connor "hour to hour," the local television stations had remotes set up downtown in a parking lot across from the City-County building, the center of Pittsburgh government. I imagine there's a similar set of vehicles somewhere near Shadyside UPMC, where the Mayor is being treated.

These photos were shot before the noon news. WPXI's Andy Gastmeyer can be seen at the far left of the second photograph.

With major disasters, like US Air Flight 427 or United 93, the herd of trucks includes national outlets. At 93, they actually bussed the reporters in to the lookout, gave them a few minutes, bussed them out, and then returned with another busload. Smaller events, like the Bloomfield Bridge train derailment in the mid 1980s, the three local stations are represented, along with a few reporters from radio stations like KDKA and KQV. There were similar lineups for the announcement of the death of Mayor Richard Caliguri back in 1988, as well as his funeral. I didn't check to see outside St. Mary's at 3rd and Stanwix around noon for the prayer service, but I bet there were at least some cameramen and reporters lined up, too.

These trucks line up for good things too…I guess. I can't think of a single example. Somehow, for sporting events, they're more spread out. There aren't many other "good" things they gather for.

The trucks are back there for the dinnertime news, and they'll be there for the 11 o'clock "on the scene" reports, or if there's 'breaking news." Heartbreaking might be more like it.

Bob O'Connor became mayor when Pittsburgh was in severe financial trouble. His tasks were difficult, and yet he appeared to be getting done the thankless tasks required to save the city. He was doing what few thought could be done.

Back when he was a councilman, he attended the swearing-in ceremony of some new paramedic Crew Chiefs, one of whom was yours truly. He's not in the official photographs we were given of the event (I checked), but I clearly remember him shaking my hand and thanking all of us for what we were doing for the people of Pittsburgh. He was the only councilperson at the ceremony. Bob O'Connor was a politician, but even so, his enthusiasm for us and our work was genuine.

A while ago, they announced Mayor O'Connor was suffering from a rare form of brain cancer. The official repots were so full of hope. I decided not to blog about his illness, because I was afraid my own intuition, that it would end badly, might creep through anything I would write.

Now, the mayor is listed "hour by hour." Clearly, any hope that Bob O'Connor might beat the cancer has gone. I sincerely wish my medical intuition had been wrong.

If anyone is so inclined, prayers or kind thoughts for Pittsburgh's Mayor Bob O'Connor, his family, friends, colleagues, and the entire city would be appreciated.

Pittsburgh is losing one of its best.

May God bless and keep Bob O'Connor, now and always.

August was the highest month ever for UnSpace, with 4188 visitors according to the Extreme Trackers (I switched from version 2 to version 3 in the middle of the month. So you have to add them together. I've been using the Extreme Trackers since I started blogging, October 20, 2002. I'm also coming up on 40,000 visitors, which I should pass today!

Akismet has caught over 5,000 spam comments.

There are currently 734 posts and 1,423 comments, contained within 37 categories at UnSpace. I'm hoping that I can somehow manage to have 2000 comments by the time I get to 1,000 posts. I like to hear from my readers. We'll see what happens.

Once again, it's Friday Feast time! I've put up my answers for the Appetizer, Soup, Salad, Main Course, and Dessert. If you'd like to play along, go to Friday Feast #109, get the questions, and post them on your blog!

Happy dining!

Appetizer
What are some lyrics you have misheard (such as, instead of "Gettin' Jiggy With It" you heard "Kick a chicken with it")?

Wild-eyed disco wavers, who aren't afraid to die. (From "All She Wants to Do Is Dance" by Don Henley)

Soup
What is the worst movie you have ever seen?

Plan 9 From Outer Space is so bad, it's funny. Attack of the Killer Tomatoes was trying to be bad, which was what made it funny. Those two movies don't count as a result. So I'd have to say "Antibody." I watched it on Sci Fi, and I remember wondering why I was bothering to watch it through to the end. The movie was a bad Fantastic Voyage. I hope they paid Lance Henriksen enough to be in it, because he should be ashamed of that one.

Salad
Using the letters from your favorite number, write a sentence. Example: Tomorrow has really easy experiences.

24: The Wizard earned nothing through yesterday; friends owed Uggoth realms.

(By the way, this was my favorite number before the TV show.)

Main Course
What was the most interesting news story you have heard this week?

I've been following the saga of the space shuttle Atlantis. It was on the launch pad, ready for launch, when the launch tower was struck by the most powerful lightning bolt ever to strike a Kennedy launch tower. Concerns the shuttle might be affected caused them to push back the launch. Then Hurricane Ernesto threatened the shuttle with winds that would damage it. They wanted to bring the shuttle back to the hanger on the crawler. The regular hanger bay became blocked when the crawler there (with a partially completed solid rocket booster) broke down. So, to bring the shuttle back to the Vehicle Assembly Building, they'd have to drive all the way around the building to the other side, adding a couple hours to the trip. The crawlers are slow — the trip from the pad takes about 8 hours normally, and the crawler's fuel mileage is measured in gallons per mile. They started to bring the shuttle back to the hanger, Ernesto was downgraded by the weather forecasters, and so they did a U-turn and put the shuttle back on the launch pad!

I've always wondered about the drivers of the crawler. Imagine what would happen if they goofed and the shuttle fell over. I've had nightmares about that…

Dessert
Which word(s) would you choose to describe your wardrobe?

I wouldn't. My wardrobe would probably kill the folks on "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy." Mostly, it's T-shirts and blue jeans, with a smattering of polo shirts and a couple pairs of slacks. All my shoes are running shoes. My church shoes are actually black running shoes. Like most men, I'm stuck wearing what I wore in high school, only larger.