This is the first time in a long time that I've actually been waiting for the new TV season - purely because of a few story lines. And isn't that what TV should be about? Building a story that you can look forward to?

I'm totally over all the crime and forensic shows. How many deaths can you watch? How much perversion do you really want to think about? Over it.

But getting back to stories - yup finding out what happens next to a group of people is always interesting, even when it's fictional.

But, and that's a big but, the network games are already starting. I've already heard this phrase on an ad - "an all-new episode next week". What?

Oh yeah - THANK YOU - big network people for providing me more of your product. I thought that a new season meant 13 weeks of new episodes. That has been less and less true over the past few years. Some shows don't hesitate to show repeats at any point during the season. Got a big special running against you on another network? Might as well show a repeat. Summer? Show some repeats from the past season and what the heck, throw in some older ones or - show the same ones again. who'll notice, afterall?

Yup, that's true to some extent. Pull that stuff and why should anyone bother to watch!?

There were two shows this season that I particularly watched the last episodes. They grabbed me so much the first time that I wanted to watch again and see what about them had been so appealing, moving, gripping. So I'm not opposed to reruns, in fact I like when everyone reruns the whole season so I can catch some of the shows I didn't see the first time around (because I was watching something else). I'm not liking this attitude that I should be grateful that there will be an "all-new episode" on week two of a new season!

Having run out of scary things to say about the big story (downpours of rain west and south of the Albany NY area cause massive areas of flooding and road washouts etc), all three local TV news shows did the only reasonable thing: reported the story of the Albany Yacht Club.

The docks and boats of said club rose and were detached from land by the rising level and flow of the Hudson. Some became a flotilla of dock and multiple boats. Some wandered off by themselves. All had to be rounded up and provided a temporary place to secure themselves out of the way of barges etc.

Anyway, all three stations did lengthy stories about this: how the docks broke up and free while people were on them (fairly newsworthy); about how the docks and boats floated together into the hudson (still pretty newsworthy and interesting to see); about what a crisis this is for the yacht owners - where will they dock? will their summer be over before it starts? will the boats end up in dry dock storage due to docks being destroyed? Where will they go? what will they do? (ok, not even interesting)

How much money does it cost to keep a yacht, and keep it at the Albany Yacht Club? How much money does it cost to fill up one of those suckers?

How much money does it cost to clean out a house that has been inundated with water and mud and debris?

OK. TV news has the attention span of a flea and I know that. But, I thought the local stations were doing really well covering a big regional story (good coverage before and during the actual flooding, great indication of how widespread the problems were) and then..... stupid and glamourous wins out again. Oh - you'll take me out in your yacht for a little tour of the raging hudson? Sure thing. Let me get my life jacket and film crew.

WRGB

WTEN (go to their home page for video. No direct link worked)

WNYT (probably the least offensive of the bunch)

• I'm going to scream
• I'm going to cry (even if you sound like you really are on the verge)
• I'm a writer
• I don't know anything about this
• It's not fair
• I'm VERY disappointed. Ve.ry dis.ap.point.ed.

Here's the thing:

• Sometimes the facts are the facts and there's nothing magical that's going to swoop in and make it different.
• Your lack of knowledge is just that. You don't have to know anything, but you have to be willing to learn. Or at least listen now so you understand what's going on and your choices.
• Taking responsibility for things is helpful.
• I do understand financial constraints - everybody has them. Still, there's no miracle going to happen about the costs involved either.
• If three different people in three different places didn't have the info needed to give you the correct answer... who was telling the story, again?
• Pay enough attention to notice that someone is trying to help you and at least pretend to be thankful. Especially if you're trying to get some miracle to happen.
• Be thankful even if no miracle is possible
• If it's critical to you - have a plan B. Maybe a plan C. Get past the "it doesn't work and I can't afford to fix it" and get to "what else can I do to get my work done?"
• Good communication with a semblance of humanity will trump out of control emotion and statements any day of the week.
• If the solution is the most important thing, let go of the past leading up to this moment. If you keep going back to what happened before, we're not going to get as far. Poor you. Now get over it.

...recently traded in a number of feature-laden phones for a stripped-down model. He said he didn't like using them to surf the Internet, rarely took pictures with them and couldn't stand scrolling through seemingly endless menus to get the functions to work.

"I want a phone that is tough and easy to use," said Bales, 30. "I don't want to listen to music with it. I'm not a cyber-savvy guy."

But the wireless industry needs him to be comfortable with advanced features and actively use them. As the universe of people who want a cell phone and don't already have one gets smaller, wireless carriers are counting on advanced services to generate the bulk of new revenue in coming years.

OK, so call me a crazy but how about giving people the features they want and better service? Or a more reasonable range of monthly service options? OR, stop marketing phones with lots of cool features and then disabling them (that would be you, verizon!).

I agree with this piece on CNN -- I think most people don't want to surf the net on a tiny screen. I have a much better camera that travels with me. I haven't had a single reason to consider taking video with my razr, let alone sending it to someone. Much of what the phone can do has been disabled (aka money-grubbing, switch and bait) by my provider.

For example, Verizon does not allow me to upload a data file to my phone. They think this will make me get ringtones from them. Not interested in ringtones at all. AM interested in being able to quickly move a file from one place to another on occasion. Do it with my iPod all the time.

Wireless access not being universal yet, many people want to be able to use their cell phones as modems occasionally. Phones can do this but carriers only support such things if you're a business-type customer wanting to pay hefty monthly fees. Can you figure out a way? Yes, but why not make it an easy feature?

It doesn't surprise me at all that it takes so long for companies to think about usability. Hello - most people don't even know how to transfer their address books from their computer to their phones, let alone how to use the phone features.

OK - so here's the deal. There are lots of things that could be better, but someone needs to notice and then do something about them. Sometimes that requires some more information. Sometimes you need some supporters in order to make things happen. Sometimes you just need to point out the obvious or vent a little.

That's what this site is for. Put the world on notice and see what happens. Each person can make a difference. Every little change for the better is a step in the right direction.

Got an idea to improve the world? Got information to help someone else's idea find the right path? Agree?

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