Getting Set For The Parade

I’ll be ABC NewsOne’s ‘liveshot boy’ at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York. My first hit is between 4:30 and 5:00 AM on World News Now. After that I’ll be doing a series of custom live shots for ABC affiliates across the country.

I’m really looking forward to it and anticipate a good, though cold, time.

Here’s how I had planned it. Eat dinner. Go home. Go to bed. Wake up at 12:30 AM for my 1:15 AM departure.

That plan failed!

It’s tough to hit the sack at 8:00 when you didn’t get out of bed until after 11:00 AM. I did ‘force myself’ to nap by 8:30 or so, but was up at 11:11.

Hey, a little sleep is better than none at all.

I’ve already been in touch with the ‘mothership&#185’ and read a ‘scratch’ track over the phone. This will allow the editor to put together a story which I will introduce in the morning.

Once I get to Manhattan, I’ll read the same words again, with better audio quality than you can get over my cellphone. That’s the audio that will go home.

ABC originally offered to put me up in a hotel. I thought it would be better if they sent a car… and they are sending one.

I could BS about how having a car pick me up isn’t a little decadent, but who would believe that? Truthfully, it will really come in handy on the way home when I will undoubtedly be bleary eyed.

Sometime later, I’ll write why driving your own car is almost always better than going by limo. Meanwhile, it’s off to the shower to get ready. By the time I’m ready to go, I’ll have more layers on than a wedding cake – it’s going to be cold and wet out there.

&#185 – That term for ABC’s headquarters came to me from Antonio Mora, who I worked with on GMA/Sunday and who is now anchoring in Chicago. One of the brightest, nicest people ever. I am so jealous.

2 thoughts on “Getting Set For The Parade”

  1. Congratulations on the assignment! We’ll be watching the parade from sunny Southern California, cheering for the freezing dude on the roof!

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