I guess it's inevitable. We're all gonna get sick. I just didn't think it would happen to me right as I'm heading into vacation. I had been doing everything right, like washing my hands--a lot, using hand sanitizer, and excercising regularly. And for the entire season of Winter, I watched every person at work take sick days.
Now I possess a sinus infection, and I'm about to wage war on it with amoxicillin, fluticasone and musinex.
Sunday morning I will be confined to three planes, sharing the cabin air with dozens of strangers. I hope to have won my battle by then. I would hate to spread this misery.
Friday, March 25, 2011
Thursday, March 24, 2011
An Injustice
It was a day in which people who didn't want to be on TV were on, and people who DID want to be on weren't. Couple that with a lack of communication, and you have a frustrating day.
I was to do a story with a reporter on electronic devices that can help parents of teenagers have a little control over how their inexperienced drivers travel. We started at the local state-run driver's license office, where we immediately found a mother and her daughter just arriving to get a driver's test. Mom reluctantly agreed to talk with us on camera, though the whole time we were in there, and she was not "on camera," I could hear her saying very softly to her kid how she really didn't want to do this. To which her daughter replied, "You're the one who agreed to do it." After our interview, mom insisted that we find someone else who would sound better, but we tried to assure her that she did just fine, and that it only felt worse than in reality.
While mom was being interviewed, her daughter and a surly DMV guy exited the building. I had to make a move if I wanted the video of the girl driving. I left the camera recording, and gestured to the reporter to keep going. I caught up with the two just as they were about to pull out of the parking lot. I asked the tester if he would mind if I stuck a mini cameral on the dash to get some footage. In more words than this, he said yes. He would mind.
We gathered our requisite "official" sound from AAA, then headed back to put it all together. Not once during the course of this newsgathering process did I ever hear where I was to be able to get some good video to help tell the story. Several hours earlier, an email was sent to several people which included a link to a web site that would have good video I could use in the story. No one told me about it. It didn't make it into the story. Another story which I was happy with the fact that the public doesn't know they were looking at my work. Only the reporter's name is associated with the story. I still was left feeling cheated out of the ability to put my best work out there. I love what I do, and I want everything I do to be the best it can be, but I can't when there are days like this.
No sooner did we get back to the station, I got a call from the desk telling me to drive 40 minutes south to check on a "bad" car wreck. There was plenty of time for me to do that, and I made it back by 8pm.
The "bad" car wreck involved three cars, snarled traffic for an hour, but no one had serious injuries. I took a couple of stills and sent them back for the web guys, called in the info, and shot video and two interviews. NONE of it made air or the website. What a waste of time, money, and effort.
I was to do a story with a reporter on electronic devices that can help parents of teenagers have a little control over how their inexperienced drivers travel. We started at the local state-run driver's license office, where we immediately found a mother and her daughter just arriving to get a driver's test. Mom reluctantly agreed to talk with us on camera, though the whole time we were in there, and she was not "on camera," I could hear her saying very softly to her kid how she really didn't want to do this. To which her daughter replied, "You're the one who agreed to do it." After our interview, mom insisted that we find someone else who would sound better, but we tried to assure her that she did just fine, and that it only felt worse than in reality.
While mom was being interviewed, her daughter and a surly DMV guy exited the building. I had to make a move if I wanted the video of the girl driving. I left the camera recording, and gestured to the reporter to keep going. I caught up with the two just as they were about to pull out of the parking lot. I asked the tester if he would mind if I stuck a mini cameral on the dash to get some footage. In more words than this, he said yes. He would mind.
We gathered our requisite "official" sound from AAA, then headed back to put it all together. Not once during the course of this newsgathering process did I ever hear where I was to be able to get some good video to help tell the story. Several hours earlier, an email was sent to several people which included a link to a web site that would have good video I could use in the story. No one told me about it. It didn't make it into the story. Another story which I was happy with the fact that the public doesn't know they were looking at my work. Only the reporter's name is associated with the story. I still was left feeling cheated out of the ability to put my best work out there. I love what I do, and I want everything I do to be the best it can be, but I can't when there are days like this.
No sooner did we get back to the station, I got a call from the desk telling me to drive 40 minutes south to check on a "bad" car wreck. There was plenty of time for me to do that, and I made it back by 8pm.
The "bad" car wreck involved three cars, snarled traffic for an hour, but no one had serious injuries. I took a couple of stills and sent them back for the web guys, called in the info, and shot video and two interviews. NONE of it made air or the website. What a waste of time, money, and effort.
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