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My weeks can be rather eclectic given all the travel I do and the subject matters I cover, but this past week certainly ranks among the most fascinating and diverse. In the span of several days I snorkeled in waters off the coast of Miami while observing coral samples get collected, chatted with rocket scientists in the Mojave Desert who want to take people into space, and spent time in a famous pool in Mission Viejo as I tried out one of the new Olympic swimsuits that cover most of the body. Yes, my week started and ended with me being all wet.

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How does a typical day unfold for your humble correspondent? Well, needless to say, it varies depending on what's making news, my availability, our internal resources, etc. A couple weeks back I used my Flip camera (see video below) to capture a rather hectic travel and filming day as I went from New York to Baltimore, then drove to Frederick, Maryland, back to Baltimore and then into Phoenix. (In the same day!)


The story we shot in Frederick was going to air this week, but now it's slated for next Thursday, April 24, as part of a mini-series on the environment. That's the one about the CRAGs or Carbon Reduction Action Groups. You'll see a little of what it takes to get the story, and how some long days turn into REALLY long days. The trip to Phoenix was to cover the Space Access conference, which is an annual gathering of the commercial space industry. In other words getting you and me into space -- safely -- without the involvement of NASA. Of course, it's prohibitively expense right now, but that'll change.

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About to head on the road for a couple of upcoming stories -- one on personal space travel (a la Richard Branson and Virgin Galactic) and another on neighborhood-based groups looking to reduce their carbon footprint through working together (a la WeightWatchers Meetings to reduce, well, weight). In the meantime, I have a troubling story airing tonight on the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric that definitely will have some people cringing and outraged at the same time. It's about the hay shortage in parts of the southeast, caused primarily by last year's drought. As a result, the price of hay has gone up dramatically (doubling, even tripling) such that small famrs simply can't cope with the rising costs. Some owners are making sacrifices in their own life to feed their horse friends, but others are abandoning horses along highways or in city parks.

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I'd never encountered British billionaire Sir Richard Branson in person, but on Wednesday I had the chance to attend a press conference where the seemingly oft-smiling magnate was present. What brought this high-flying business icon to the American Museum on Natural History on Manhattan's Upper West Side? The chance to reveal the latest design in private space travel vehicles with his colleague and aviation pioneer, Burt Rutan, via their Virgin Galactic venture.

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