Well, I've accomplished 29 years of life on this planet. I had a relaxing birthday. Got my hair chopped off, went to a media BBQ (even on my day off!), and Amy treated me to Logan's Roadhouse. Not a bad day at all. In the middle of all that, I just relaxed.

I got $$$, gift cards, a Jeff Gordon car, a J.G. framed photo collage, a DVD, clothes, and a grill. Not bad. My thanks to everyone who gave me those. I will make my round of personal thanks with cards.

Back to work tomorrow. After a hot streak of ideas and spot news, I'm drained. I've nothing great until Thursday night. We'll see what pops up. To be honest, I don't care. I'm just enjoying my night.

We have a new male reporter on staff! I am very happy that I'm no longer the only one. Here's just a couple of quick observations on him (saw him on-air for the first time Friday). I've yet to meet him, but I'm looking forward to it.

-He's got a very good presence and voice
-He's from the University of Tennessee

Those are my only two comments on him. The first one is a good thing. The second comment is something entirely opposite. Hey… I'm a Bama graduate.

Welcome to the lineup, A.! Hope to meet you soon. I'll try to keep the Philip Fulmer/Great Pumpkin comparisons down. Granted, he can easily fire back at our win/loss record against Tennessee over the last 10 years.

On my way to see Attorney General Troy King! Then… I turn the big 2-9 tomorrow! I actually have my birthday off, too!

I get a tip today there's been a murder at an Auburn gas station. This rarely happens there, so I take off. I get there, and two of our competing stations have just pulled up. One of the other photogs (whom I used to work with) asked me if I had something else to cover because we always beat the crap out of them for top stories. I told him if they'd ever come over here more often that might not be the case (Honestly, I like these other guys as people, but keep the cameras out of East Alabama. This is our area. We're the only station with a bureau and reporters here).

Anyhow… we all get the same video and interviews basically. What happened after the fact is what puts a plus in my win column. I quickly write up a version for the Associated Press just for the heck of it. I rarely submit anything for them to put on the wire, but I thought “what the heck.” Even though all these other stations and newspapers were there, guess who got the AP credit on the wire? BOOYAH! It reads, “APCREDIT: Brock Parker, WTVM-TV, Columbus, Georgia.”

Score! I shall throw the soap box in the trash.

“Beam me up, Scotty.”

I ate dinner with James Doohan back in September, 1996. I never will forget how funny he was. I sat across the table from him at the 30th anniversary Star Trek convention in Huntsville, AL. I was amazed at some of the stories he told while we ate. They were mostly about the pranks they used to pull on each other on the set back in the '60s. I was even more amazed when he brought young lady after young lady to sit on his lap at the table.

Today, we morn the loss of another original cast member. Doohan, 85, passed away from pneumonia and Alzheimer's this morning.

Beam him up.

Wow… This week started out in a great way, but went quickly down the tubes. However, there is good news to end this horrible Tuesday night.

Amy and I went to the Drum Corps International show in Oxford, Alabama, last night. I used to march with SouthWind in 1991 and 1992, so I naturally love the sport. It was Amy’s first show, and she seemed to really enjoy it. I saw three people I marched with, and we had a great time remembering the old days. Worth every minute of the long trip. SouthWind was even there, but they sported some odd shako styles (a shako is a hat for bands/corps).

Anyhow, today started off really well. Liz and I went around the county and worked on our series piece. We were on the way to get our last interview this afternoon when Amy called me. She was on her way to the store when she ran into a guy. Her car is pretty messed up in the front, but thankfully she is okay. She’s a little sore, but she’s okay. No real injuries to her or the guy. Please pray for us about this. There are other things to pray about with this, but we’re not ready to talk about them yet. Just pray Amy is completely okay.

That’s all for tonight. I’ve just put her to bed, and I’m getting pretty tired to. It’s been a long day.