The End Of A Long Week...

For the first time in a while (since the Inauguration, more or less), I had such a busy work week that I was able to actually able to say "TGIF" with a sense of legitimate relief. (That also explains why my blogging trailed off so badly in the past few days!)

Not only did I work three days at two different employers, but I was also crushed with a late deadline to get a separate freelance writing/producing project done. In the grand scheme of things, I have had much more hectic weeks in my career, but it was still pretty packed - and I was quite pleased to sleep in this morning.

It actually felt good to feel tired from working - and it's a feeling I wish I had on a more consistent basis. Fortunately, as Memorial Day approaches, so does vacation season. I have already added on a new freelance client, and I am hoping for a very busy summer.

Part of the reason for my fatigue was unexpected stress at WMAL. For the first time since returning there as a freelancer, I was assigned to anchor the afternoon news. I didn't think much at first about the assignment. I was News Director there for 13 years, and the newscasts they do today are essentially the same as the ones I used to keep watch over. BUT - it did not really dawn on me until I was in the middle of working my first day that I had not actually worked that shift in perhaps a decade.

I had no problem at all going back to WMAL after six months away to work in mornings, because I had been a morning regular. But afternoons turned out to be a different story. The newscasts had different intros and outros. I had to learn how to play commercials, which I did not have to do in mornings. The type of stories and the source of stories are different in the afternoon than the mornings. And most importantly, I had NO sense of rhythm working in the afternoon - There was not a routine in place. In the morning, I could tell whether I was ahead or behind totally by instinct. Working the afternoon, even though there is less actual work, I felt like I was running late the entire day. That proved to be quite stressful, and I bit off more than one innocent colleagues' head. By the time the shift was over, I was beat.

The second day in the afternoon proved to be much better, but still just a bit of an out-of-body experience. I get one more shot at PM drive on Monday.

But first, I'm going to enjoy the weekend - like regular people do!

Like Riding A Bicycle...

Well, there I was this morning... back in the newsroom at WMAL, doing the exact same job I was doing nine months ago (almost to the exact day) when I was let go. I was not sitting at the same desk, because I had bequeathed it to my friend and protege, Jen Richer, when I was dispatched the first time around. But all in all, it felt pretty much the same.

Most of the equipment that didn't work then still doesn't work now. The same people who had crappy attitudes then still have crappy attitudes today. (And THEY still have jobs! HA!) I can still finish the sentences of the people who still work there. All in all, it felt comfortable and familiar.

All of the routines that I had carefully developed over 25 years came back like muscle memory...

As usual, I woke up at 2:35am - Five minutes before the alarm went off, because it rarely ever woke me up. Last night was no exception, but I will confess to a night of tossing and turning... You'll have to excuse me for a fitful sleep the night before going back to my old job - this blog entry comes to you courtesy of a STRONG midday cup of Starbucks Verona blend coffee!

I was at Seven-Eleven by 3:15... WOW - they put in big new coffee urns to replace the old dirty pots since I was last there! As usual, I appropriated as many "International Delight" creamers as I could for my friend, Bill Thompson, who, as it turns out, switched to black coffee months ago after I stopped bringing him creamers! Well, Bill, we have four days to restock your desk drawers! The guy behind the counter saw me and said (in his best clipped Indian accent), "It's been a long time, sir!" When the guy at the 7-11 in the middle of the night remembers you, you know you'd been doing something for a while!

I headed down Connecticut Avenue pretty much by myself, as usual, except that a motorcycle cop whizzed past me by the speed cameras in Chevy Chase, thereby setting off the flashes... not that he'e ever going to be paying any fines.

I brought in a beautiful and tasty coffee cake from Costco, and I set it down on the counter to be shared before I went into the studio to do my 10 am newscast. By the time I got out of the news booth 10 minutes later, it was already 2/3rds consumed...

Yep. Nothing much has changed!

Not Back To The Future... Back To The Back!

By the time many of you read this, I shall be once again, on a freelance basis, be working at 630 WMAL, the place that furloughed me in a corporate restructuring nine months ago. I have had this work scheduled for a couple of months now, and as the day has drawn near, I have found my own personal anxiety level growing a bit.

From the day I was let go, I have never felt those feelings of anger and bitterness towards my former employer that so many have felt - or at least, not against the managers of WMAL. They were given an unpleasant task to perform, and so it was done. I have appreciated their support these many months as I have sought a permanent job, and I also appreciate that they have called me for fill-in work when they clearly had no obligation to do so.

I have been back to WMAL on two or three occasions since I left - each time on business that was unrelated to my former job there. The first time I returned, it felt very strange, but since then, it's felt strangely comfortable - as if I had never left, except for the fact that someone else is occuying my office. And even that didn't matter much, because I had spent most of my time in the newsroom instead of my office even when I was working at WMAL.

This time, I'm actually returning to work FOR the radio station, writing newscasts and anchoring a couple of them a day as well... and hoping I don't fall flat on my face. I don't have any real expectation that I WILL fall flat on my face, but nothing could be worse than going back there and showing my former co-workers that my furlough was actually justified!

If there's one thing I have learned from my months on the beach, it is to treasure every opportunity I get to work. It's a joy that gainfully employed people who've never lost jobs cannot possibly appreciate. I thoroughly enjoyed filling in at WBAL over the summer, as well as my ongoing freelance job at ABC News. When I am scheduled to work, my adrenaline goes a little nutty, and I find myself a little giddy at the opportunity to channel my creative muscles in a constructive and income-producing way.

It makes me thankful at a time when finding things to be thankful for is a bit of a challenge. And those positive thoughts will make it that much easier to take when my clock radio goes off at 2:30 Monday morning!

Life On The Beach Work Update!

My temporary colleagues at WBAL Radio have pointed out to me that if I am employed by them, I am, in a manner of speaking, not technically on the beach. Well, I suppose they are correct. However, if some magic little headhunter with a great job doesn't come along in the next three weeks to sweep me off my feet, I will most certainly be unemployed once again. Therefore, my current situation has all of the terror of being unemployed with the side benefit of a few extra bucks in my pocket. I don't know... until the full time gig comes along, I'm feeling awfully damn on the beach!

I am enjoying being able to exercise my brain and creative talent by writing for newscasts and even anchoring a couple of them a day, however I must say that the daily 1:30am wake up calls are not my favorite part of the job. Sometimes when I get home, it's all I can do to keep my eyes open! Therefore, don't be surprised if you see me miss a couple of weekdays... I have fallen asleep while blogging a couple of times already!

The one thing I can honestly say about my work at WBAL is that there's no downtime... But here's a little gem of a video from an office worker who has too much time on his hands and who probably SHOULD be joining me (or better, replacing me )on the beach! Enjoy!


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