Sunday started out like any other Sunday. We get up at 7:30, go to church, a help with a video shoot afterwards, go to a picnic, The Wife takes a nap but I decide not to, I need to get up a little earlier than normal so I stay up and watch The Simpsons Season 5 DVD set. We head out for a little dinner, get some groceries and head home to watch a movie. That's when The Wife remembered that Sunday was the start of the Perseid Meteor shower. Ever since Wilson informed me of this annual event I have tried to see it and every year for the last eight I have not been able to. Last year was the closest I've been to seeing it, The Wife got a call around midnight from Wilson telling us it was happening, we get up go through the drive through at Taco Bell and try and find a spot to see the light show in the night sky. The problem was that Columbus has a lot of lights and we could not get away from them to see anything. On top of that there was a full moon and that was making things worse. We think we may have seen one, but we think our eyes were playing tricks.
After a relaxing evening of just sitting outside and relaxing we get ready. We started to wonder if we were ever going to see a "shooting star." As we were giving up one raced across the night sky, we both gasp and I hear "did you see it?" We finally saw our first meteor of the night. Wilson told us from 10 till midnight they will be sparse but will be prettier. The good time to see a lot is around 3 or 4.
We finally saw a total of 4 and it's nearly midnight and we decide to head to bed. We would set the alarm for 3am so we can try and see the night sky lit up from the shower. My thinking was three good hours with a half hour of gazing and then get 3 more hours of sleep.
Just minutes after I get to sleep, the annoying ring of my work cell phone goes off. The morning editor has called in sick and since I'm expendable I get the call and I need to be at work... 10 minutes ago. Yet again I will not see the glory of the meteor shower. I am happy I got to see one really beautiful shot across the sky, but I consider that not enough.
I get into work and at our shop the morning show is like a sweet shop of editors. for two hours of news, a webcast and cut ins during the Today show, I either cut or attached over 170 pieces. 150 of that is for the show so I was averaging 42 pieces of video per half hour. The producer thought she was funny by telling they kept it light since I came in with no sleep. Why would any show need that much video? Considering every ten minutes you have a minute or more of weather and then all the banter you get on a morning show. I will admit about 1/3 of all the video was opens and graphics, this is the only station I know of where the editors attach that stuff. It bogs you down and forces the content to suffer.
I barrel my way through and get the hows done at 6:15 saving me 45 minutes of somewhat calm. Then the producers as me to do something they normally do, attach video for the cut ins. I am not staggering around. I've been up 23 hours with about 10 minutes of sleep. I am the kind of person that has to have sleep. I can't function a day without it. I blindly attach everything. Then the web people start coming into my bay. They added a noon webcast and I was suppose to edit it (that's why I was going in earlier than normal), but now no one is there to do it. I was told my the chief it was not my responsibility since I came in early, but that doesn't stop the web people, they add a bunch of stuff from the morning and who extreme fluff stories. I start editing everything for the web I blinked and the next thing I know it's now 10 minutes till I leave. I passed out for 15 minutes. I attach the last four pieces of video and leave. I was expecting a call wondering why I left, but as of right now I am in the clear. I was told to leave at 8 and I was not staying unless a manager told me to stay.
I kid you not that Sunday was a great evening, The Wife and I have not had that relaxing of an evening... well... probably ever. Then work had to crush my soul as it usually does. I've slept a couple of hours, but I'm still struggling. I hope this does not happen again tonight.
This was kind of a rough week and Friday was the epitome of that. I was dealing with incompetence and people who's news judgement were, well, not very clear nor good and it was driving me crazy. Oh did I also mention I had to deal with President Bush and I did not find that information out till 3:30 and his "drive by" was at 4:30. I'm not going into the annoyance of the day, all I will say is I got everything done that needed to be done. Was it pretty? No, but it got done.
