Working 9 to Death

I will never again complain about having to get up at 5 o'clock in the morning. Well, actually I will, I know I will, but I will try to do it with less vigor in the future. You see, this week the noon show (which I normally produce, hence the early hours) is pre-empted by tennis, so that means I am working a day shift. A nine hour long, very little work filled, day shift.

The show that I am currently producing is the six o'clock news. It is a great show, filled with interesting stories, and headed by great anchors (there, now they won't fire me), the problem is, it doesn't really work to my strengths. It is only thirty minutes long, with four of those minutes filled by sports, three filled by weather, and eight filled by commercials. That leaves me 15 minutes to fill. On an average day I get three reporters, each filling at least ninety seconds. That means I am responsible for just over ten minutes of content. On a normal day, on the noon, I have to fill 27. So, you can see why filling the news hole (technical term) in this show takes me nowhere near nine hours. By the time the show finally airs I have read and re-read the scripts so many times that I could recite them at an outdoor theater festival. It gets to the point that any mistakes I might have made are completely glossed over, because they have started to seem correct to me. Of course, there are plenty of people to point out said mistakes.

That's the other thing about working day side. I don't know if I have mentioned this before, but I don't really know how to interact with people -- especially with people who want to tell me what to do. On my normal shift I am at work for a good four, four and a half hours before anyone who could have anything to say about my show gets here. On day side, they are here all day long. After a couple of hours it just starts to feel like I'm being constantly poked. That coupled with the feeling of twiddling my thumbs makes me very grumpy.

Oh, and I have to wear nice clothes, to match the newsroom that gets substantially nicer after 10am. Business casual clothes. Have there ever been two worse words to describe a fashion choice than "business casual?" For the past two days I have looked longingly at my jeans as I have put on a skirt. But I will not wear make-up -- they can't make me.

I guess there are some good things about this shift. I get to sleep in, and I don't have to be in bed before 10:30pm to ensure I get some sleep. But in exchange I feel like my whole life is being spent at work. I know some people who don't mind it, but I have really started to like my quality time in the afternoon. It's nice to feel like I've put in a full day's work, but then also get to spend time with Luke, or see a friend, or read a book, or take a nap. Oh, naps. How I have missed you. We will be seeing each other soon though -- I go back to my normal shift next week.

And I bet it won't feel all that early.