Why, you may ask, am I posting a picture that's almost 4 years old? One of Pope XVI from his visit to Yankee Stadium on April 20th of 2008?? Well, it's because of the events that transpired today.
I was at the old Yankee Stadium that day for Fox 5 TV in N.Y. Today I was back at the new Yankee Stadium, for the fourth time. My first visit there was during a pre-tape of a digital short for Saturday Night Live. My next two visits were with Fox 5, for the first games of the Divisional Championship Seires and the World Series in 2006.
Today, I was back there for a live broadcast of Good Day New York, Fox 5's 5-hour long morning show, which airs from 5 am to 10 am. Our call time for today was 4 am at the studio on E. 67th Street. As I worked here until 11 pm last night, doing the 5, 6 & 10 o'clock news shows, I didn't bother to go home. By the time I got home, I would have had to turn around and head back to work again, as it's about a 2 hour commute each way. Instead, I stayed at The Hotel Vert Salon, which is more commonly known as a couch in the Green Room here at the station.
The remote at the stadium went pretty well, despite the weather being less than clement (it was cold and raining lightly, with a little sleet mixed in too for a while). It wasn't until we got back here to the studio that I thought to ask my two partners on the shoot if either of them had grabbed my knapsack, which - most germane to this story - contained the keys to my car and house. Neither of them had, so my bag - at this point - is still somewhere in the bowels of Yankee Stadium. Our production manager has called the stadium, and so have I, but nobody's gotten back to either of us as of yet. I had a few things I wanted to get done this afternoon, so I could deliver my entry packet to the gallery I'm submitting 10 photos to. This is for a juried photography show whose deadline is tomorrow. I have to leave for work tomorrow at 1 pm, and the gallery is about 20 miles away from home, so I was hoping to get everything finished this afternoon. But without car and house keys, even if I did make it home, I'd have no car for a few days. So I figured that, while I'm waiting for a call back, I'll start today's blog post. And as I haven't any new pictures
to post, and I've done 4 or 5 days in a row of bayhouses as Pictures of the Day, I decided to look in my online archive of images to see what I had up of Yankee Stadium. I only have two - this picture and one of Monument Park, and both were shot the same day.
I'd really like to start heading up to the stadium, as it's about a 15 minute subway ride uptown from here on the #4 train, but I'd hate to get all the way up there and find out that the trip was for naught. I think I'll make another call to the stadium first, and then take it from there. I'll have to finish this later ( it's 1:42 pm now).
Update #1: No one's found it as of yet, but this second person I just spoke with is checking with security and she said she'd call me back, either way, as soon as possible.
Update #2: It was somewhere between 2:30 and 3 pm when I heard back from the stadium. I was told that security wouldn't be able to check for my missing bag until after the game was over. I hemmed, hawed and racked my brains about what to do, and finally decided to bite the bullet and head back to the Bronx. After checking at Gate 2, where the people I'd been speaking to work, they suggested that I check the lounge for the TV production crews, back on the ramp of the loading dock. No one in the production office there had found anything, but they recommended that I check with lost and found. After thanking them I went back to Gate 2, only to find that Gate 2 is the land of lost and found! At this point Rich, the first person at Gate 2 I'd spoken with by phone, said there was nothing else to do now but wait, and see if anything turns up in a day or two. He said he'd call me and let me know. I thought I'd reached a dead end - for today, at least.
As I started walking through the stadium, back to the subway station - which is diagonally opposite from where the entrance to Gate 2 is, I had a thought. My credentials were good for both field level and the press box. As I'm reasonably friendly with Duke Castiglione, the Fox sportscaster who was with us this morning, I decided to head up there and see if he was still around watching the game. I thought that maybe he'd know someone else to contact. But Duke had already left.
To put a Reader's Digest version on the ending of this story: I spoke to two men there, spoke to two men outside the clubhouse, and finally, finally, someone talked to someone else who checked with a third (and maybe fourth) someone who heard that yet another someone might have my bag. He did! And I was so happy and relieved I almost kissed him. Almost.
Final Update: After leaving the stadium I re-called Don, our production manager, and gave him the good news. He was very glad I'd found it, but had some bad news. The person who was supposed to hire someone to replace me here at Fox tonight didn't, she forgot, and Don - who found out at about 3 pm I guess, which is when our call time is - couldn't find anyone. As it was now almost 4:30, and as I had to go back to the studio anyway - to get a few things I needed to bring home for the juried photo show - I offered to stay and do tonight's 3 - 11 shift also. So, bottomline: I've now been on the clock continuously since 3 pm yesterday, and will continue to be until we leave here tonight at 11. That makes for a 32 hour workday, including a four hour nap late last night. This eclipses my previous longest-ever workday by 2 hours.
As a P.S., look again at today's picture. The cleric in black garb, inside the Pope Mobile, appears to be looking directly at me and smiling. I'm smiling too, now - both at the successful recovery of my knapsack and the 10 extra hours of OT I'm getting. :-)
Camera Data
Update #2: It was somewhere between 2:30 and 3 pm when I heard back from the stadium. I was told that security wouldn't be able to check for my missing bag until after the game was over. I hemmed, hawed and racked my brains about what to do, and finally decided to bite the bullet and head back to the Bronx. After checking at Gate 2, where the people I'd been speaking to work, they suggested that I check the lounge for the TV production crews, back on the ramp of the loading dock. No one in the production office there had found anything, but they recommended that I check with lost and found. After thanking them I went back to Gate 2, only to find that Gate 2 is the land of lost and found! At this point Rich, the first person at Gate 2 I'd spoken with by phone, said there was nothing else to do now but wait, and see if anything turns up in a day or two. He said he'd call me and let me know. I thought I'd reached a dead end - for today, at least.
As I started walking through the stadium, back to the subway station - which is diagonally opposite from where the entrance to Gate 2 is, I had a thought. My credentials were good for both field level and the press box. As I'm reasonably friendly with Duke Castiglione, the Fox sportscaster who was with us this morning, I decided to head up there and see if he was still around watching the game. I thought that maybe he'd know someone else to contact. But Duke had already left.
To put a Reader's Digest version on the ending of this story: I spoke to two men there, spoke to two men outside the clubhouse, and finally, finally, someone talked to someone else who checked with a third (and maybe fourth) someone who heard that yet another someone might have my bag. He did! And I was so happy and relieved I almost kissed him. Almost.
Final Update: After leaving the stadium I re-called Don, our production manager, and gave him the good news. He was very glad I'd found it, but had some bad news. The person who was supposed to hire someone to replace me here at Fox tonight didn't, she forgot, and Don - who found out at about 3 pm I guess, which is when our call time is - couldn't find anyone. As it was now almost 4:30, and as I had to go back to the studio anyway - to get a few things I needed to bring home for the juried photo show - I offered to stay and do tonight's 3 - 11 shift also. So, bottomline: I've now been on the clock continuously since 3 pm yesterday, and will continue to be until we leave here tonight at 11. That makes for a 32 hour workday, including a four hour nap late last night. This eclipses my previous longest-ever workday by 2 hours.
As a P.S., look again at today's picture. The cleric in black garb, inside the Pope Mobile, appears to be looking directly at me and smiling. I'm smiling too, now - both at the successful recovery of my knapsack and the 10 extra hours of OT I'm getting. :-)
Camera Data
Canon
Canon PowerShot SD1000
1/501 second
F/4.9
17 mm
80
Apr 20, 2008, 5:04:56 PM
Canon PowerShot SD1000
1/501 second
F/4.9
17 mm
80
Apr 20, 2008, 5:04:56 PM
