I'm Randy Turner!

What you might not know is that behind the scenes, I'm actually Randy Turner. And the Randy Turner you know, as KRBC's Chief Meteorologist and Main anchor is actually Brittany Pelletz. haha...just kidding, but I thought I'd let you know on a little "goodluck/just-for-fun-kinda thing we do" before every newscast! While our audio crew is checking our microphone levels and they ask for mine, I say something like, "this is Randy Turner, your chief meteorologist, etc" and Randy says, "I'm Brittany Pelletz and I have blonde hair, or something along those lines". No idea how the heck the tradition started, but it's just that...a tradition that has carried on and no newscast of Randy Turner and I goes without it.

Funny story, every day we record, "topicals," those are the previews you see during Judge Judy about what is coming up on First at Five...and one time, I said, "Join me, Randy Turner and Brittany Pelletz for those stories and more coming up today on First at Five." Luckily, it was recorded...but we all thought it was pretty silly. So, if by chance, you do catch that slip-up on air...there's your explanation.

As you can see, Randy Turner and I have a lot of fun working together.

Forget the Mall, There are Now Even Hagglers when you fly

While haggler might not be the best word to refer to people trying to sell you stuff...it's the first thing that comes to mind.
We all have likely experienced the Hagglers at the kiosks in the mall that try to lure you in, while you're on a shopping trip. I'll admit that often times they've got pretty cool stuff to sell...however, I don't like to be harressed to buy something. On the days when I am not a shopping mission, I'll come over on my own. But shouting at me is certainly not going to get a sale from me. While I complain about Hagglers, it's not like I expect them to disappear. It's something I know I'll have to deal with when I shop. However, what prompted me to write this blog is that haglers are even at the airport! I'm not sure if they have them on all airlines, but on AirTran they do. There have always been the stations, where if you sign up for a credit card...you earn frequent flyer miles. However, now the sales persons are hagglers! They chased some passengers down even and went above and beyond any shouting at the mall. The worse part about the airport hagglers is that when you walk down the concourse to find a restaurant you pass several haggler stands. After being cooped up in an airplane, it's not exactly what you want to deal with. Now don't get me wrong, I know that it's a job and people get paid to do it...and I respect that...but seeing how pushy they were to travelers and how frustrated people got over the sales pitch...I thought it was blogworthy. The frustrating thing about the airport is that there is really no escape. See, when you go to the mall...it's a choice. You know hagglers are going to be there. At the airport...there is no place to run and you can bet when you walk back down the concourse...you can bet you get a double whammy! You get haggled again. Any thoughts on pushy salespeople? Have you experienced the same thing at the airport?

Oh to be in High School again

Oh to be in High School again. I'm not saying that I wish I could go back in time and be in High School but taking part in Career Day in Cooper High definitely brought back some memories. (pic to right-Senior Year prom with some of my closest High School friends) : )

First, I will say that I was impressed with many of the students and the unique questions that they had. Some showed genuine interest in the news business : ) and then others were just students that wanted their papers signed for a class assignment. It happens. What was fun was that I got to be on the other side of the questioning. Instead of me conducting the interviews...the students interviewed me.

From talking to students it sounds like many of them know exactly what they want to do once they graduate and then it was neat seeing some students at different booths (including KRBC's) decide that the job that was just explained to them might be something that they're didn't know before, but now are interested in.

There were also a couple of good laughs at Career Day...One student asked if my teeth were real and if I wore my jacket to match the color of my eyes. Clearly had nothing to do with my booth and a job in Broadcast news, but I told the students that they could ask away.

It's amazing how fast life passes us by...and being on the outside looking in (for Career Day) helped me realize how you really should not rush life...but merely go with the flow and enjoy the ride. I probably wished my way out of High School a little bit, wanting so badly to go and experience college. However, I wouldn't change the past even if I could. (below-HS graduation)

Anyways, I think Career Days are really beneficial and eye-opening for students. I am glad that I could take part in it too.

Interviewee Saves Reporter from Bee Sting

Most everyone I interview is a nice and caring person...but I thought I'd just share an experience with a recent interviewee. We're doing a serious story about suicides. I ask my question and my interviewee, Kirk Hancock, who is the Executive Director of the Mental Health Association in Abilene. He is responding to my question when all of a sudden I have a bee on my neck. I didn't even know and could have possibly been stung...had he not warned me. So while I thanked Mr. Hancock then, I want to thank him again now. This is an example of how you just never know what can happen during an interview.

A Wild Story to Tell

Big Country Cougars...Talk about a wild story to tell. When I first set out to find "Cougars," I didn't really know where the story was headed. But, sure enough I ran into two women, who wanted to talk about their lovelives, and just how much younger the men they were involved with are. Both women say that "age is nothing but a number." I'm sure you've got opinions of your own and I encourage you to leave your thoughts. Do you agree that "age is nothing but a number?"

We're not Bitter But...

We're not bitter but...Stephanie and I think we should have won a prize for a pretty creative-believable costume!

Before this picture misleads you...it's from last Halloween. Stephanie Harris and I dressed up like Wayne and Garth from Wayne's World! (to work). Stephanie was still on mornings at that time, so she was already done for the day. Me, on the other hand, I was on the clock, and my News Director looked at me, laughed...and said something along the lines as, "you better hope there's no breaking news, Brittany". Luckily, I already had most of my work done before I dressed in the grunge look.

I know Megan Dobbs recently blogged about the pressures to wear "sexy" costumes, but I think you'll probably agree that "sexy" wasn't what we were going for. It was a lot of fun dressy up as the guys from Wayne's World and unexpected for most people who see Stephanie and I dressed business-like most of the time.

Unfortunately, with Halloween falling on a Saturday this year...we didn't get to dress up to work! : ( I am excited to be home tomorrow for all of the trick-or-treaters though! Have a safe, but FUN Halloween, everybody! : )

Oops! Guilty as Charged!

Guilty...guilty as charged. So tonight on the 5 o'clock news...I made a mistake. We were talking about the annual Reading Rodeo event that goes on at Bowie Elementary School (which is an awesome event...getting to read to the kiddos) and of course, I had to go and mess it up on tv and say, Rod-eo (as in Rodeo Drive in California). I must have had shopping on the brain or something. No really...I don't know why the slip-up.

Of course, here in Texas it would be rodeo. I guess I'm becoming a Texan slower than I hoped...and I'm clearly not quite there yet. I'll have it be known that I've never actually been to a rodeo so that is on my to-do list. I've only seen them on television or heard about them through friends. I'm not trying to make excuses but maybe after I go to a rodeo, I won't mess up saying the word again. ; ) So to my fellow Texans, please forgive me for my mess-up!

Here's a picture from today's Reading Rodeo (I swear I said it right in my head this time).

This was a group of kindergartners that I read to. Such a great class. We had lots of fun reading Halloween stories and then they shared all of their costumes with me! Such fun!