Finally, a few days off. I finally completed and turned in my taxes for last year. I got a chance to change the oil in my Suburban. Funny how little things like that feel so good to complete after you've been locked out of doing them for so long.

More people are pressing me to write my book. I've had a title for my book for years. That title was borne out of an observation I made many years ago. We were all at some big news and I was noticing that I was seeing many of the same faces I'd seen at big news events around the country. I remarked "You know, we must belong to the most exclusive club in the world. Our meetings are never pre-announced for time or place, yet we all show up! How more exclusive can you get?"

So, I registered the domain name of "MostExclusiveClub.com", but I have yet to start writing my book.

When and if I write that book, it'll contain great road stories. No "Kiss and Tell". I don't do that, but stories that will lock you in none the less. There are some great road stories to tell from me and other network camera people. We've been eyewitnesses to history and there are tales to tell.

For me, I was at the Branch Davidian standoff for its entire time. I've travelled with nearly all presidential candidates for the last few elections and I've travelled with Presidents. I've met more famous people than I can remember. I've gone through a major earthquake in Mexicao City and I've gone through the eye of several hurricanes, including Hurricane Hugo. I've been to plane crashes and disasters of all kinds. Yes, there are stories to tell.

It's been quite a while since my last post.

I just finished 37 days of work without a break. It was some of the hardest work I've ever done.

It began on Aug. 18th when I was sent to Crawford, TX to cover the Cindy Sheehan protest. Everyday was a full day of standing in one hundred degree Texas heat. Every day I had to put on sun screen and wear a protective hat. It was miserable.

I stayed with Sheehan until she waved goodbye from the bus that took her out of town. By then, Katrina had done its damage to New Orleans.

From Crawford I went to the parking lot of the Astrodome in Houston. Again, it was days of standing in the Texas heat but this time the tarmac of the parking lot made it feel like it was only 120.

From Houston I went to Galveston to await Hurricane Rita. Matt Lauer was doing Today Show live shots next to my live shot position on the seawall.

During the height of the hurricane I did live-shots all night long. It was miserable trying to keep my camera and lights from being blown away and to keep them operating with all the flying water around. I think, along about 3am, that I swore I would never do another hurricane as long as I live.

Got a couple of hours of sleep later that morning in a motel room without electricity. It was hot and damp inside.

From Galveston I was sent to Beaumont. Rita had really torn up Beaumont and police stopped everyone from exiting the freeway into the downtown area. Being news media, I was allowed in. For two days we worked out of Beaumont and sleeping in a motel without electricity and running water. We got gasoline because a station owner had a gas-powered pump and he was siphoning gas out of his in-ground tank for the media and physicians and the like.

When I was finally allowed to go home my drive to Houston and then north to my home in Dallas was uneventful. Going north on I-45 I witnessed the hordes of pepple trying to return to Houston. They were on the other side of the freeway. My path north was clear. I had enough gas from that kind gas station owner in Beaumont to make it home. That gas station owner, by the way, only charged us the going price for his gas. He didn't take advantage of our plight to charge more.

What a HOOT!

I spent last Wednesday and Thursday in San Antonio, Texas. I had been sent as a cameraman for NBC News in New York to cover the announcement by Kinky Friedman that he's running for Governor. Kinky is a real character. We did a "walk-thru" of what we would be doing live the next morning on MSNBC on the Don Imus show.

We were on-site at the Menger Hotel, next to the Alamo, at 4am the next morning. I was in the Menger and the other cameraman was in front of the Alamo.

Although I was supposed to have a reserved area to do Kinky and Ran Bentson and Asleep at the Wheel, there was a crush of other news cameras around me. However, for eight fun-filled minutes I was live with Kinky and Ray. Ray and Asleep at the Wheel did "Miles and Miles of Texas" and performed to my camera just a foot or two away. Then Ray and Kinky pal'ed it up for my camera while they talked to Don Imus.

What a HOOT!

Now, I have to go back to Austin on Monday to do Kinky and Willie Nelson. I can't wait.

"Window to the Web" Radio Feature for Monday, January 3, 2005

I’m Don Smith with your Window to the Web…

It is estimated that the eventual tsunami death toll in South Asia will top two hundred thousand. Add to that the hundreds of thousands left injured and the millions left homeless. People are starving and need the essentials of life. It is a tragedy on a cosmic scale.

The world community is coming to the rescue, but it’s not just the governments of the world. The Internet community is pouring in money and supplies as well, and you can be a part of that humanitarian effort. The Internet has made us a Global Village, and our neighbors need our help.

First, try the major relief organizations such as RedCross dot ORG, CatholicRelief dot ORG, DirectRelief dot ORG, The International Medical Corps at IMCWorldwide dot ORG, MercyCorps dot ORG, and Operation USA at O-PUSA dot org.

If you want to help but your cash flow says no, you can donate electronic gear to AuctionDrop dot COM. You can drop off your donations at any UPS location and they will be shipped at no cost to you. AuctionDrop.com will sell the gear on eBay, deduct only the shipping cost, and send the remainder to aid victims of the South Asia tsnumai. Check the AuctionDrop.com site for what items are acceptable.

I’ve given you a lot to remember, so I’ve posted this information on my BLOG. Just remember DonSmith dot TV to find all the links that I’ve mentioned.

I’m Don Smith with your Window to the Web.

Window to the Web for Thursday, November 11, 2004

I’m Don Smith with your Window to the Web…

Today, a little fun. Why Computers Crash, in the style of Dr. Seuss.

If a packet hits a pocket on a socket on a port, and the bus is interrupted at a very last resort, and the access of the memory makes your floppy disk abort, then the socket packet pocket has an error to report.

If your cursor finds a menu item followed by a dash, and the double-clicking icon puts your window in the trash, and your data is corrupted cause the index doesn't hash, then your situation's hopeless and your system's gonna crash!

If the label on the cable on the table at your house, says the network is connected to the button on your mouse, but your packets want to tunnel to another protocol, that's repeatedly rejected by the printer down the hall......

And your screen is all distorted by the side effects of gauss, so your icons in the window are as wavy as a souse; then you may as well reboot and go out with a bang, 'cuz sure as I'm a poet, the sucker's gonna hang.

When the copy on your floppy's getting sloppy in the disk, and the macro code instructions is causing unnecessary risk, then you'll have to flash the memory and you'll want to RAM your ROM, and then quickly turn off the computer and be sure to tell your Mom!

I’m sorry to report that the author is unknown to me. If you would like a copy, see my Web Log at DonSmith.tv.

I’m Don Smith with your Window to the Web.

'Window to the Web' for Tuesday, November 2, 2004

I’m Don Smith with your Window to the Web…

It’s election day. Whether you’ve voted yet or not, you may be interested in this collection of political web sites. So, get a pen and paper to write these down and, if you can’t take notes, I’ll give you a website at the end so you can see them later.

To really see which way the wind is blowing, politically, try RealClearPolitics.com. At a glance and without having to click on links, you’ll see poll results from many sources, plus see the headlines of a number of op-ed pieces.

National Review magazine’s award-winning Weblog gives you the dirt from both sides of the political fence. Look for it a NationalReview.com

Then there’s PowerReporting.com for you Excel jockies. The site helps journalists and the public by providing tools to gather and weigh information. The site includes an Electoral College calcualtor. You can use that in case it’s a long night and you want to be the first to see who gets the 270 electoral votes required to elected president.

For a search engine dedicated to campaign-related audio and video clips, try CampaignSearch.com.

And many of you have already seen those funny animations about the presidential race. These animations are both pointed and funny, and they don’t play favorites. You can find them at JibJab.com.

FundRace.org is very interesting. It’s a Web site that takes what the Federal Election Commission knows bout who’s given how much to whom. Enter your address and see who your neighbors are supporting.

If you couldn’t write down these sites, just remember one site where I’ve posted this information. Go to Don Smith dot T.V. That’s Don Smith dot T.V. to see all the political sites mentioned.

I’m Don Smith with your Window to the Web.

I've done two more hurricanes since my last post.

I went back to Florida for Hurricane Frances. This time we stayed in a Hilton at the Disney Resort in Orlando. This hotel didn't lose power during Hurricane Charley because it has underground conduits to the power station. We had several days of good weather and then a little rain.

Then, it was back to Florida for Hurricane Ivan. This time to Key Largo, then on to Key West at a time when Ivan was to hit Key West square-on. The place was boarded up and much of the population had headed north. We talked about how we would hunker down as Ivan rolled over us. Well, it turned out to be another easy shoot. A couple of days of nice weather, then Ivan tracked further West and we just got a little rain.

Back home, the story of the Bush/National Guard documents had broke on CBS. I was sent to stake-out the farm of Bill Burkett, the man everybody knew to be the source of the documents. Sat on that hot and dusty dirt road for three days! His wife Nikki would make an appearance from time to time to say that Bill had no comment. Finally, Bill at least came out and did some chores so I could get some video of him and go home.

Last Saturday I drove to Anadarko, OK and shot video of Rep. Brad Carson, a Democrat, as he campaigned. That was for Meet the Press and is due to air this coming Sunday, October 3rd, 2004.

Today I was second camera on a two-camera shoot. Bob Abrahamson was the first camera and it was a Bob Dotson story to air on the Today Show in the near future. Our subject, Corrine, was a Hospice nurse. That's someone who takes care of people in their last days. She told the story of the death of her own father. She said that he, with great clarity, talked about preparing his '32 Ford Model A for the "trip". His hands would move in the air as he talked about repairing the car and seeing people who had passed on. As he prepared his car, he would also talk to her and anyone in the room in clear tones. It was a moving story.

Tomorrow I go to a party to say farewell to Larry Weidman, a longtime NBC producer and one of the greatest gentlemen of TV news. Joe Duncan, the freelancer that introduce me to working for the networks, is flying his own plane to Dallas from Houston for the party and asked that I pick him up. He said he's forty pounds lighter after successfully fighting throat cancer. It'll be good to see him.