In my opinion, our new home is sophisticated, elegant, and warm - adjectives I would use to describe our program as well.  It is also state of the art, especially in its use of technology for high definition broadcasts.

    It's a big day here at WCVB: HD-Day as we are calling it because our news operations move into the high definition realm - a trail which we in Chronicle blazed nine months ago.  It is exciting new terrain as we have seen from the spectacular high definition images Chronicle has already been able to capture. 

     As I wrote back in October when Chronicle switched to HD:

"What amazes about high definition is how clear the whole picture is. It's not just the foreground images that are crisp, but it's the letters on the sign on that small shop in the background, or the leaves on that particularly vibrant tree. "

Only about 18 percent of households have high definition sets, but that number is increasing as the price comes down and more people see that high definition is, in fact, a whole new viewing experience.  It has accurately been described as the biggest revolution in television since the change from black and white to color.

    Whether you are watching in high definition or standard definition, Chronicle will continue to try to earn your viewership and your loyalty with great pictures and great story telling.  I hope you'll enjoy our new home and continue to invite us into yours!

     Chronicle has been doing similar shows, including "Dirty Jobs" long before Mike Rowe was ever discovered by the Discovery Channel.  We used to call our version "Jobs you Love to Hate" and over the years Mike Barnicle, myself and others have gone to places and been in predicaments the average person might avoid.  Granted, we get the occasional complaint: "did we really need to show that septic cleaning during the dinner hour?"  But for the most part, people seem to like the in-depth, and slightly voyeuristic look, at how people make their way in this world.

    One viewer of last night's show wanted a copy of the program because her husband helped design much of the equipment on Deer Island.  Another viewer simply thanked us for highlighting what Deer Island has meant to the cleanup of the harbor.  And another found the whole concept of watching me prep a cat for surgery outrageously funny.  Glad to know we can inform AND entertain!

    There were also e-mails from Aquarium lovers, some of whom hadn't been there for years, but thanked us for making them feel like they were there last night.  Your comments and feedback are welcome and flattering.

    In fact, if you have jobs that you think would make for an interesting story on Chronicle, you can contact us through our website:

http://www.thebostonchannel.com/newscenter5/index.html

    Oh, and if you're just craving more of my experiences as a veterinary technician, check out "Chronicle Extras:"

http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news/5841702/detail.html

    Thanks for your feedback, thanks for watching and keep those suggestions coming because we are always "On the Job."

    My interest in the field led me to a farm in the small community of Grantsville, West Virginia during the summer of 1979, the year I graduated from high school.  I worked on the farm during the day and traveled with the local vet in the late afternoons and evenings. It was a first hand look at the not-so-romantic life of a country veterinarian.  Maybe it was just me, but I didn't find anything particularly intoxicating about having my entire arm up the business end of a cow searching for remnants of her afterbirth.  Nor do I remember Heriot ever performing surgery on a skunk to remove the "scent sacks" just to port and starboard of its rectum.  Apparently in West Virginia, once they are "de-skunked," skunks make wonderful pets.  Who knew?

    Much of our time was spent driving long distances between farms to perform rather mundane tasks: vaccinating a herd of cattle, giving medicine to horses, the occasional castration.  To be sure there were highlights: delivering a breach calf after midnight on a starlit West Virginia night, getting attacked by a hen after I got too close to her chicks.  Good times.

    In the end, though, it wasn't that summer which derailed my veterinary dreams.  It was biochemistry in my sophomore year at Tufts University.  I quickly realized that as an aspiring veterinarian facing a lengthy and complex science curriculum, I made a hell of an english major! Things seem to have worked out.  I may not be a country vet, but I do live in the suburbs and have a dog....and I'm a long way from the business end of a cow!

Editor's note: You can see Anthony living out some of his veterinary passions on an upcoming edition of Chronicle, or you can watch his stint as a veterinary technician by clicking on "Chronicle Extras" on the Chronicle section of thebostonchannel.com

    The fact is Cape Cod, as WCVB meteorologist Dick Albert told me, "is perhaps the single most difficult place to predict weather in New England."  Not only is it geographically diverse, but the effects of the ocean, bays, sound and canal that surround it are almost impossible to predict in a forecast for the entire Cape.

    It is why Cape Cod business and tourism officials are no fans of the 5-day forecast.  The fact is would-be Cape visitors often begin changing plans by Tuesday or Wednesday if the forecast looks grim for the upcoming weekend.  The problem is what might be a cloudy or even rainy day in Boston could be a beautiful day on the Cape.

    At no time was that more evident than Monday.  Mind you the Cape got its share of wind and rain out of the Nor'easter. But when I arrived in Chatham around 1:00 that afternoon, it looked like a beautiful spring day.  Bright sun, clear skies, tulips in bloom.  In the greater Boston area it was still ominously cloudy, windy and raining heavily.

    Don't believe me?  Then tune in next Thursday night, April 26th when Chatham is featured in our "Spring Getaways" segment on Chronicle.  Even I wondered how we would make it work when I left my "near flood stage" basement at home and headed for Chatham on Monday.  It turns out not only was it a getaway, but it was actually spring!

    Woodruff, you may recall, is the ABC news anchor seriously wounded in Iraq when an IED exploded near the convoy in which he was riding.  Woodruff suffered a traumatic brain injury, and his survival and recovery are nothing short of miraculous. 

    The book he authored with his wife is the story of Bob's recovery, but it is also the story of the incredible effort to keep a man, a family, and a marriage intact when tragedy strikes - as the title suggests - in an instant. By most accounts, Bob should not have survived the blast. His cameraman Doug Vogt also suffered a serious but less life threatening injury.  But the injury to Bob's head and neck also threatened his voice, his speech, his memory, his motor skills and many other critical brain functions.  The odds of making it through a 36 day coma with all of that intact were astronomical.  Bob beat the odds thanks in no small measure to the love of his family and the dedication of his remarkable wife Lee.

    The book is - to use an old journalism maxim - a good story, well told.  It serves as a reminder that all of us have much to gain, and much to lose...in an instant.  It is a reminder that we have much for which to be thankful. 

(l-r) Bob Woodruff of ABC, his wife Lee, WCVB anchors Natalie Jacobson and Anthony Everett

    The staff at the Aquarium estimates her age to be somewhere around 70 and she could easily live to be well past 100.  She has become a generational phenomenon: parents who remember seeing Myrtle when they were children are now bringing their own children to the Aquarium for a visit.

    I have seen Myrtle many times over the years - from my first visit as a college student in the 80's to countless visits with my own two children in more recent years.  But I had a unique chance to get "up close and personal" with Myrtle just last week. 

    As part of our dirty/dangerous/interesting jobs series, we profiled one of the divers who enters the 200,000 gallon Giant Ocean Tank five times each day to feed the fish and clean the exhibit.  With more than 650 animals representing 120 species, the tank is a busy place.  And since fish do, after all, have bodily functions - it can be a pretty dirty place as well.

    My job was rather clean - I got the chance to feed Myrtle.  It is impressive to see a 600 pound animal gliding through the water; it is intimidating to see that same animal moving toward the piece of fish in your hand with her mouth open. Myrtle doesn't come at you fast, but she definitely comes at you with a purpose.  You don't exactly get to be 600 pounds by being bashful at feeding time.

    It was a treat and a delight to be up close to this magnificent animal.  I must admit my technique improved over time.  The first time she came at me, mouth agape, I think I kind of threw the piece of fish in the general direction of her mouth and she missed it.  But I came around quickly and literally had her eating out of my hand.  She even delighted in a quick backrub - although I'm not sure how much she can feel through her shell. 

    Needless to say, it was a treat to meet this gentle giant up close.  You can see more of her on Channel 5 in an upcoming episode of Chronicle. I would end with a cute rhyme, but while Myrtle the turtle rhymes well, there isn't much that rhymes with Chronicle!

    About the only nod to the fact that my watch is something more than a timepiece are the little nautical signal flags that serve as the number indicators.  They're a reminder that somewhere there is an ocean and a boat with my name on it.  A boat that I might get to captain when I'm not sitting at my desk or on the road somewhere. 

    But there are those who appreciate watches as something more.  Wristwatches are, for the most part, the only piece of jewelry a man wears besides his wedding ring.  And for those who embrace this distinction, there are remarkable intricacies - and price points - to their timepiece of choice.  Such men are fascinated with horology - the art and science of timepieces.  Although it seems to me if a man is only wearing a watch and a wedding ring, the last thing he should be messing with is something called horology.  But I digress.

    This distinction about the role of a man's watch escaped me until recently when we began working on a story for Chronicle about "time."  As part of that story, we visited the Paul Duggan Company, seller of fine watches in Boston.  Paul is not only extremely knowledgable but has the type of enthusiasm for his work that suddenly has you saying, "you know, maybe I do need a $5,000 watch on my wrist."  Once Paul begins to wax eloquently about the history of this Rolex or that Patek Philippe, about the role they played in watchmaking history, about the rarity of this model or that model, it all sounds very enticing.

    And that's when he slips a 1960's era Rolex Daytona on your wrist and it feels soooo right.  Or how about a contemporary Rolex Submariner, or a nice Patek Perpetual.  They all feel and look great until I inquire about the prices which range from $8,000-$36,000.  I realize quickly, I'm in one of those, "if you have to ask the price, you can't afford it" moments.

    To be sure, these are rare and fine watches.  In fact, most people collect them without ever wearing them.  They sit in glass cases or safety deposit boxes, saved for special occasions or sold a few years later, usually at a substantial profit.  Often, collectors simply "trade up" for a different, long coveted timepiece.  As for me, I'm quite happy with my little wristwatch.  It's accurate, fairly stylish and it takes a beating. 

    As for that special watch from Paul Duggan that feels so perfect on my wrist?  Well maybe someday...when the time is right.