So, I missed Tuesday’s Los Angeles earthquake by six days. Also missed one, not as strong, last August; apparently, August is a hot time for quakes, although TV critics who were in town in January 1994 (just before my time) still talk about the Northridge earthquake, which threw them out of their beds in Pasadena, 20 miles from the epicenter. Nobody was hurt, and no damage to the hotel, but I’ve never been sorry I missed that. And I’ve always worried a little more at the high-rise Universal Hilton, which sways even in strong wind. Yes, it’s built to sway. I know that. Still don’t love it.

I also missed the Ryan Seacrest shark attack, although I was a little disappointed to learn that it was a Mexican shark and not, say, a Malibu shark. Because if it had happened in Los Angeles waters, you know there would have been wall-to-wall coverage, helicopters, the whole thing.

Oddly, I also missed the ALLEGED incident between Sen. John Edwards and the National Enquirer in my home away from home, the Beverly Hilton, during the night of Monday, July 21. Press tour wrapped up that afternoon, but most of us stayed over for set visits the next day, when we spent hours on buses talking to each other. If there had been any buzz at all in the hotel about an ALLEGED confrontation between tabloid photographers and a former presidential candidate, in the middle of the night, I can’t believe I wouldn’t have heard it, because TV critics are huge gossips. But no.