Oh, what a night!
The Milwaukee Press Club honored me with induction into the Hall of Fame, last night and I could not be prouder.  People get lots of awards in their careers, but to be selected by my peers was one of the highlights.

I thank my family, Pat and Wendy for attending.  My tennis buddies, Burnette, Essie and Doris and most of all, the very best "stories" I have produced, my sons J-B and Christopher.

I also salute the other 2011 inductees: Lance Herdegen, whom I have known since he worked at UPI; Willie Davis, whom I admire for making such a successful career change; E.C. Reynolds, with whom I never had the chance to work on stories ( but never say never!) and Mike Miller, who is the only Milwaukee TV journalist to have worked at 3 stations, and lived to tell about it.

Speaking of Mike (Murph, as he is sometimes called), he used to have the desk in front of mine in the WITI newsroom. He kept many of us laughing when we were supposed to be working and was a joy to anchor with. He brought along an old newspaper ad of the two of us to the HOF dinner, last night and boy, did we look like kids!  Mike, of course, never ages even though he is a grandfather now and about to welcome two more grandchildren. Mary Ann has been the lucky "better half" of Mike all these years and he is lucky to have such a patient and understanding BFF.

Also honored posthumously, were Packer photographer Vernon Biever and reporter and PR director Roger Jaynes.

OK, this is getting a little sappy now, but graditude and humility are qualities I am working hard to perfect.
Besides, Mike and E.C. did all the sniffling last night, so I did not have to!

Blue skies, golden leaves, purple flowers... it was Homecoming at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois!

I was anxious but a little apprehensive about seeing friends from the class of 1971 (yes, do the math...) but when I got back on campus, it was like coming home.
From the fantastic seminar on branding your business to the football game against Penn State (of course N.U. lost 24-34, but who cares?)it was a glorious weekend.

I met a lot of current students who actually listened to what the "71ders" had to say about Northwestern history and their futures... and a woman from the class of '75 who lived in the same dorm room at Hobart Hall that I had occupied in '70 & '71!

Some people don't like to attend high school or college reunions, but I love them because you get to renew friendships and find out how everyone's life has unfolded.

One of my classmates called us "elders". We threatened to throw things at him. But in the larger picture, I guess he is correct. We are the ones with grey in our hair, if we have any hair left, who look at the pictures in the yearbook and laugh.

They say high school and college are the best years of our lives.  We don't believe "them" when we are living those years, but when you can look back and compare them with all that has happened since, those other "elders" were right.

Go Wildcats!

I have his solution!!!

 

Helen Kelly, vice-president of the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions, believes Alasdair Thompson should resign. 

(Joanne does not think he should quit, just take another look at the available workforce... see below!)

The Council of Trade Unions (CTU) says the head of the Employers and Manufacturers Association (EMA) should resign, after he suggested one reason women are paid less than men is because they take "sick days" once a month.
Responding to a Green Party bill seeking to require employers to record the gender of their employees along with pay levels, EMA chief executive Alasdair Thompson today admitted there was a gender pay gap -- 12 per cent according to figures -- but said women took the most sick days.
"Why? Because once a month they have sick problems. Not all women, but some do, they have children they have to take time off to go home and take leave," he told NewstalkZB.
Therefore their productivity was lower.
"I don't like saying these things because it sounds like I'm sexist, but it's a fact of life."

Dear Mr. Thompson,


I have the perfect solution to your conumdrum... hire women over 50!!!


That monthly thing is all over, although without some hormone imbalance tend to get cranky, but hey, so do men. (ever hear of male menopause??).

Got to leave work to take care of the kids... naaahh... they are all old enough to take care of themselves (and go out and get their own job, hint, hint).

Of course, women of a certain age will take no guff from sexist- over- the- hill- bureaucrates like you, but the work will get done... on time... with high quality..

You will also be reminded to wipe your feet, wash your hands and hang up your coat when you are in the office..


Yours,


Joanne