I squandered away the weekend. I hardly left the couch and waited until after sunset both days to take a shower. There were things I wanted to do, but never got motivated enough to actually do!
That left me so far behind I didn’t get to my prep for today’s sci/tech story until 2:00 AM.
I staked out my subject, learned a little bit about it and found video. That’s the typical method. The writing part, the part that seems it should be most difficult is actually very easy. I write when I get in.
This morning I was uneasy about the story so I left for work fifteen minutes early. The trip went smoothly until Hartford’s South End. A bad accident on I-91 had created havoc!
As I sat motionless a half dozen firetrucks and nearly as many ambulances sped by. I watched the clock tick away the minutes.
My plan was to be in early. Instead I was ten minutes late.
I work well under pressure. I just don’t enjoy it like I used to.
Dana, our 4:00 PM producer gave me the option to decide what to do. I could bag the story, find something simple to throw together quickly or go with the original plan.
“I’ve never missed a flight,” I said.
I’m not sure Dana understood why I said that. She definitely knew it meant we were going as scheduled even without the original amount of time. As it turned out I “made page” and the story aired as planned.
The problem is the overnight, traffic jam, tight deadline agita that was first noticeable at my 2:00 AM research session stayed with me even after the story aired!
It wasn’t until a few minutes ago when I went to gas up the car and took a deep breath of this gloriously mild spring evening that my internal tension began to finally unwind.
Do I really need four more of these this week? Does anyone? I’ve got to learn to chill.