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Aloha Tim Russert

I was saddened yesterday to learn of the passing of Tim Russert. With the sorry state of mainstream journalism today, we can ill afford to lose one as brilliant and dedicated as Tim. I can only hope that those he mentored will carry the torch for us all. What a brilliant, yet extremely cool guy. It's funny. Russert was always amazed that he, a simple (albeit genius) boy from Buffalo, was able to hold court with presidents and popes. There are plenty of people out there lucky to have held court with him, too. I would love to have spent just half an hour with him over a beer and some wings at the Anchor Bar.

Kudos to NBC for their fantastic tribute to their friend, mentor and colleague last night.

After hearing that news, plus the stories of the boy scouts killed by a tornado, yesterday morning was a real tear jerker.

I think about my dad, who loved politics, and I think about Tim Russert, who was the voice of American politics, and I feel badly that they are going to miss the tail end of the most exciting election year since 1968.

On a cheerier note, Crawford peed and pooped outside this morning. Small miracles can make me smile.

Business has been pretty slow at the winery. We still have visitors. We are noticing, however, more people coming in, tasting wine, buying a magnet and a bookmark, then leaving. So yesterday, I actually left work an hour early, saving the winery a whopping $9.30. That hasn't happened in awhile.

Today I will work on a story and clean the house. We may make a trip to town today, too. If so, I'm determined to get a smoked salmon musubi fix. I've been jonesin' for one of those for days.

A hui hou. Aloha!

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