We're back at that point again... the real start of the year when everything starts to get back to normal. We've had 6 weeks of holidays and events and vacations and now it's time to get back to life as usual. It's back to work and back to school and no holidays in sight... unless you work for a bank. We have renewed vacation and sick days, but who wants to use those in the first weeks of the year?
I can't say that I'm entirely upset about this time of year. In news, things get really slow over the holiday season, but start to pick up once everyone gets back to their normal lives. Here, it's always better to stay busy. And it's frustrating when you have a good story idea, but you can't make it happen because the people you need to speak with are on holiday. Yes, I'm glad to be back to the normal day-to-day.
Showing posts with label work. Show all posts
Showing posts with label work. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Shift work
I feel all upside-down and backwards today. I'm working the nightshift, which means starting work at 2:30 in the afternoon and leaving around 11:30 tonight. I haven't done this shift in I believe over a year, so it'll be an adjustment today.
But it's been nice, too. Because I didn't have to go in early this morning, I had the opportunity to have dinner with Jarrod and my lovely cousin last night while she waited for her daughter's dance class to finish. And this morning, Jarrod and I had breakfast together before he went to work and then I cleaned up the house. It's so much easier to get things done before work, rather than after. That's always been an issue with the early morning shift. By the time I get home in the afternoon, I'm so tired that running errands and cleaning the house or going for a run sound absolutely dreadful. So I'm thankful that I was able to get some of those things out of the way today.
But now, I have to head out to work in about an hour or so, and I know it's going to be a long night. The nightshift is always interesting. It's heavy with activity the moment you walk in the door because you're having to get your nightside reporter teams assigned and out the door quickly and having to get caught up on everything going on, plus, you've got the shows coming up within 3 hours of you arriving. Then it slows down for a little while since it's after 5 and you can't make too many official calls and you're mostly dealing with spot news of the day.
The hardest part is definitely going to be the turnaround. So I'll get home around midnight tonight and I'll try to get to bed as soon as I can, but it's always hard to jump right into bed the moment you get home, no matter how late it is. Then, tomorrow, I'm just going to try to get in as early as I can, since how early I get in is directly related to how early I can leave. Also, I've taken Friday off, so it's my weekend after tomorrow. And since Jarrod is leaving for a week on Friday (I'll get into that later) tomorrow night is going to be my last chance to hang out with him before that, even though he'll probably spend most of the evening getting ready and not even home.
Well, it's getting a little late and I should probably go make some lunch before heading off to work. Hoping for a successful nightside shift.
But it's been nice, too. Because I didn't have to go in early this morning, I had the opportunity to have dinner with Jarrod and my lovely cousin last night while she waited for her daughter's dance class to finish. And this morning, Jarrod and I had breakfast together before he went to work and then I cleaned up the house. It's so much easier to get things done before work, rather than after. That's always been an issue with the early morning shift. By the time I get home in the afternoon, I'm so tired that running errands and cleaning the house or going for a run sound absolutely dreadful. So I'm thankful that I was able to get some of those things out of the way today.
But now, I have to head out to work in about an hour or so, and I know it's going to be a long night. The nightshift is always interesting. It's heavy with activity the moment you walk in the door because you're having to get your nightside reporter teams assigned and out the door quickly and having to get caught up on everything going on, plus, you've got the shows coming up within 3 hours of you arriving. Then it slows down for a little while since it's after 5 and you can't make too many official calls and you're mostly dealing with spot news of the day.
The hardest part is definitely going to be the turnaround. So I'll get home around midnight tonight and I'll try to get to bed as soon as I can, but it's always hard to jump right into bed the moment you get home, no matter how late it is. Then, tomorrow, I'm just going to try to get in as early as I can, since how early I get in is directly related to how early I can leave. Also, I've taken Friday off, so it's my weekend after tomorrow. And since Jarrod is leaving for a week on Friday (I'll get into that later) tomorrow night is going to be my last chance to hang out with him before that, even though he'll probably spend most of the evening getting ready and not even home.
Well, it's getting a little late and I should probably go make some lunch before heading off to work. Hoping for a successful nightside shift.
Thursday, July 7, 2011
This schedule is cutting into my blogging time
So I'm a week into my "normal person" schedule and still have another week yet. And I'm not gonna lie... it's been a little difficult getting used to it. As I'm sure everyone is aware, my usual 4am start time is not ideal. But now that I'm used to it, I have a bit of a hard time getting off of it.
Even though I'm starting 3 hours later than usual, by the time noon hits, I still get that automatic feeling that it's time to go home, making those final hours incredibly long. But the real difficult part is having so much less time in the afternoon. Usually I have plenty of time to run my errands, get home, watch a little TV or even take a tap, do some cleaning and have dinner on the table by the time Jarrod gets home. When I'm on this schedule, I feel that I'm so rushed for time. I had to run to the store today, and by the time I was done, I had about half an hour before Jarrod would be home. I tried to get in a quick nap (because another difficult part of switching schedules is being extra tired merely because your normal routine is mixed up) but hardly drifted off before he was home.
So needless to say, my blogging time has taken a hit! I should actually be getting ready for bed now to try and make up some sleep, but I figured I'd rather make the time for writing now. But don't get me wrong. I'd much rather have a normal schedule than the super early morning one I'm on now, but when I do finally get to do that, I am going to miss some of the freedom allowed with going into work so early. So for now, I'll try to appreciate this time that I have where I get to drive into work when the sun is actually up.
Even though I'm starting 3 hours later than usual, by the time noon hits, I still get that automatic feeling that it's time to go home, making those final hours incredibly long. But the real difficult part is having so much less time in the afternoon. Usually I have plenty of time to run my errands, get home, watch a little TV or even take a tap, do some cleaning and have dinner on the table by the time Jarrod gets home. When I'm on this schedule, I feel that I'm so rushed for time. I had to run to the store today, and by the time I was done, I had about half an hour before Jarrod would be home. I tried to get in a quick nap (because another difficult part of switching schedules is being extra tired merely because your normal routine is mixed up) but hardly drifted off before he was home.
So needless to say, my blogging time has taken a hit! I should actually be getting ready for bed now to try and make up some sleep, but I figured I'd rather make the time for writing now. But don't get me wrong. I'd much rather have a normal schedule than the super early morning one I'm on now, but when I do finally get to do that, I am going to miss some of the freedom allowed with going into work so early. So for now, I'll try to appreciate this time that I have where I get to drive into work when the sun is actually up.
Monday, January 10, 2011
I hate that I hate snow...
...but it's true. I've become a bitter, old journalist. And the thing is: I LOVE SNOW! Snow is like God's way of saying, "slow down and enjoy being right where you're are right now." I love the moment of walking out the door the morning after a snow and everything is perfectly quiet and blanketed in white. It's so pure and untouched. I love being snowed in and spending the day eating frozen pizza and cuddled up on the couch watching TV. I've always been the one hoping and praying for the snow to come, and it really gets to me that I now dread it.
Snow now means working long hours (and having to cut my Christmas weekend short), making the same phone calls over and over again for updates, sending crews here and there and back here again, tracking a billion accidents on the roads... It's not that I don't enjoy being busy, because I love breaking news. Breaking news is exciting. It's part of why I love TV news. Snow is not breaking news. Snow just means I have to be working, even if the only thing going on is that it's snowing.
Usually I only have to deal with this once a year and that makes it more exciting. I can still enjoy the only snow of the year, even if it means I have to drive into work on perilous roads when every emergency official in the state is telling us to stay off of them and spend the day inside making phone calls and updating the news. But we are now on our FOURTH snow of the season! And it's only January 10! For years we've always had our one good snow of the season, and it made that snow special. Now I hear snow and I'm thinking, "you've got to be kidding me."
It hasn't started snowing here yet, but it looks like it's coming any time now. I'm sitting at home on my couch now thinking about driving in on those icy roads in the morning. At least going in at 4am means there aren't going to be many other cars on the road, so you're less likely to have any sort of an incident. If you slide across the road, odds are you aren't going to hit anything! There's the silver lining!
I told you, I've become a bitter old journalist.
Snow now means working long hours (and having to cut my Christmas weekend short), making the same phone calls over and over again for updates, sending crews here and there and back here again, tracking a billion accidents on the roads... It's not that I don't enjoy being busy, because I love breaking news. Breaking news is exciting. It's part of why I love TV news. Snow is not breaking news. Snow just means I have to be working, even if the only thing going on is that it's snowing.
Usually I only have to deal with this once a year and that makes it more exciting. I can still enjoy the only snow of the year, even if it means I have to drive into work on perilous roads when every emergency official in the state is telling us to stay off of them and spend the day inside making phone calls and updating the news. But we are now on our FOURTH snow of the season! And it's only January 10! For years we've always had our one good snow of the season, and it made that snow special. Now I hear snow and I'm thinking, "you've got to be kidding me."
It hasn't started snowing here yet, but it looks like it's coming any time now. I'm sitting at home on my couch now thinking about driving in on those icy roads in the morning. At least going in at 4am means there aren't going to be many other cars on the road, so you're less likely to have any sort of an incident. If you slide across the road, odds are you aren't going to hit anything! There's the silver lining!
I told you, I've become a bitter old journalist.
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