Under My Hat

Sometimes the daily news can be difficult to figure out.

Eastman Kodak has filed for bankruptcy. Analysts say the company's decline began long ago when foreign rival Fujifilm started cutting into the market long held by Kodachrome and other Kodak products.

Later, the trend toward digital photography supposedly became the nail in the coffin for Kodak. If that's true, I don't know why it happened. Why did the world's greatest film maker have trouble adapting to digital?

The first digital camera I used was a Kodak. It was a one megapixel-model and did a decent job.

I was introduced to her years ago at a newspaper conference in Harrisburg.

Friend and co-worker Pattie Mihalik said, "Donnie, I want you to meet my friend Edith." I was impressed from the start.

Edith Hughes lived in Monroeville and worked for Gateway Publishing - executive editor in charge of newspapers and magazines in western Pennsylvania. At a personal level, she was a petite, mature woman who dressed impeccably and wore fancy jewelry. Professionally, she pursued perfection.

Jokes were made about the Halloween snowstorm that was all trick and no treat.

But the storm did provide a treat of its own. It took away electronic communications and forced people to resort to conversation. Good things can result when people start communicating. If nothing else, the storm fostered togetherness.

Blackouts were widespread.

Sometimes there's a communications gap when dealing with the younger generation.

"I think I have a bad disc," I said to the store clerk. She wasn't convinced.

"How do you know the disc is the cause of your problem," she asked. "It could very well be that your DVD player is bad."

"No, no," I said. "I'm referring to the disc in my back."

I was talking about a herniated disc. She was talking about Justin Bieber - a typical conversation between Methuselah and a teenybopper.