Sometimes the timing of life is less than desirable.

 Yesterday, you may recall, was my first day back from my tour of Italy. I noticed before the 5pm show that there was a weakness in my voice but I made it through the 5 & 6 o'clock news just fine.

 After the 6pm, I noticed some further weakening but was able to croak through our prime-time news updates just fine.

 During the 10pm show, the bottom fell out on my voice. It just didn't sound good at all. When my voice gets that way, I tell everyone that I sound like a talking dog. I did. It was tough stuff.

 I went home, showered and immediately went to bed. I woke up overnight and could hardly make a noise, my voice was so weak. When I woke up this morning I was back to croaking like a frog, which is essentially where I remain right now. If I try to project my voice, it cracks and sounds horrible. So while I am at work today, I am working on things behind the scenes and will not be on the desk.

 What do I think happen? If I had to guess, I would say I may have picked up a bug from the flight back from Amsterdam to Minneapolis. A lot of people on that plane were coughing and hacking and I remember thinking to myself  "hope no one has the bird flu". While I don't think it's the bird flu, it is enough to throw my voice train off the tracks. Hopefully a day of rest today and tonight will mean a return to full voice for me tomorrow. I sure hope so. It's tough when you're at work and you can't fully do the job you were hired to do. So for today, I will leave the talking to Nancy and Leslie and hope to be back in the anchoring mix tomorrow.

 The second presidential debate tonight should be interesting to watch. I'm going to see how many times John McCain will try to tie Barack Obama to former "Weather Underground" activist William Ayers and how many times Barack Obama tries to use the phrase "out of ideas, out of hope and out of time" for John McCain. This is what they are focused on? It reminds me of Nero playing his fiddle while Rome burned. Folks, there are real issues here to address: tell me your plan to help...don't spend your time flinging dirt. The more you fling, the more you will hurt yourself. People are getting tired of rhetoric.

 Quote Of The Day: "Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great." Mark Twain

 This Day In History: Poet & writer Edgar Allen Poe died at age 40 on this date, October 7th, 1849.

 Something You Should Check Out: While driving into work this afternoon, I had my IPod on shuffle and it hit on the song "Diary" by the 70's group Bread. I really stopped and listened to the lyrics and found it to be a good balance of sad and sentimental, especially once the true meaning of the song became clear. Take a listen here and read the lyrics and see how the song ends. It's a little surprise.

 Thanks for stopping by. I'm so glad so many of you make this blog a part of your day. Also, thanks for those of you who complemented the recent staple of guest bloggers who filled in for me on my Italy trip. They are a good bunch and really came through for me!