KSL Blog

Time to Go Postal

This seems to be turning into my personal blog. Really quick though, I reported live this morning from the Salt Lake City Main Post Office. Ron Hubrich was so great to meet me there early, early in the snow at the processing facility. He talked to me about how today is the busiest day for them. 1.6 million letters and over 250-thousand packages -- double their normal volume. The facility is huge, and has tons of carts and bins full of mail. They are moved around the facility on small trains that move on tracks above you. I didn't have nearly enough time to go over all of Ron's tips for last-minute mailers, so if you want, you can listen to my whole interview with him here. Download post_officeinterview.mp3

Who's finished?

So who out there is all done with their Christmas shopping? I think Grant Nielsen was finished -- and the presents were wrapped -- around Thanksgiving. I've just got one more thing to buy, but have been pretty much finished for about a week. I don't want to brave the crowds tomorrow though. I don't know if you heard the stories today, and Russ's interview with Jennifer Waters of Marketwatch during the noon news. It sounds like the malls are going to be packed this weekend.

I loved doing my closer look that ran this morning on hiding gifts. We were talking in our morning meeting the other day about where we hide gifts around the house, and whether or not there are peepers in the family, when we thought it would make a fun story. I interviewed Det. Dwayne Baird with SLPD, and Det. Rob Hall with Murray Police. They were so kind and very funny. Detective Hall says he snooped and found a present when he was 10 or 11, and that may have put him onto his career. He feels bad about it now though.

Hiding Presents

I have a fun closer look running Friday morning. It seems every family tries to hide presents from each other around the house, but peepers often prevail. So I talked to two detectives about the perfect spots to hide gifts. They say try the dishwasher or laundry room -- kids will never look in there. But it's a challenge in my house. I have a little baby, but he's not going to look. He can't even crawl yet. I'm more worried that my husband may stumble across a gift accidentally. My sister used to always get things out of me when we were young. Rebekah: "Am I getting a book?" Me: "No."  "Is it a dress?" "No." "Is it a doll?" Pause..."Maybe."

I liked my closer look this morning too. This is just a fun time of year for me. I did an Inside Look at KSL, answering frequently asked questions. Grant says everyone asks him if Amanda is really like she is on the air. Yes she is! She's amazing. People always ask if our Eye in the Sky, Andy Farnsworth, is really in the air. He is. He's in a small plane; just him and the pilot. He looks for landmarks like the malls to tell where he is and where the backups and accidents are. Chris Kaye says she has two regulars that call in with traffic tips, and they go by the names "Poodle Doodle" and "Out and About." My favorite questions though are about appearance. Grant says when he meets someone for the first time, they often laugh and say they thought he'd be fatter because he's always talking about food. Jon Dunn says people are surprised at how young he looks. He likes to say he has a face for print.

Merry Christmas v Happy Holidays

Does anyone think that some people get offended way too easily? First we have the groups saying you can't say "Merry Christmas," it has to be "Happy Holidays." Now we have the groups that are angry when you say "Happy Holidays," they want to hear "Merry Christmas." President Bush's Christmas card says "Happy Holidays," and groups are offended. But if he said "Merry Christmas" other groups would be offended. Is there a right answer?

Doug Wright was talking about this, and he mentioned a rabbi who is asking that people not water down the holidays. I think he was concerned about those in a family with both Jewish and Christian traditions. He says don't lump Hanukkuh and Christmas into just "the holidays" -- celebrate both clearly.

Another hot topic around here is the group suing over the memorial crosses for fallen UHP troopers. A group is suing because it says the crosses are a religious symbol, so they shouldn't be on public land by the highways. What do you think?