Winter Storm '09 Packs a Punch!

I'm due for a blog update, but hopefully you'll understand since we've had a terrible one-two punch of nasty winter weather. To say the least, we've been busy.

As I write this I'm sitting in a hotel room at 2am for the second night in a row because the weather is too dangerous for me to drive home. Quite honestly, it was a miracle I even made it across town to the hotel. It took an hour of defrosting, two borrowed scrapers and de-icer, two men (thanks Derek and Mike) and me scraping just to get my car cleaned off. Then, a couple more guys from work(thanks Jeff C. and Bill) had to push my car out of my parking space in order for me to leave! And to the nice man that pushed my car again as I pulled into the hotel, thank you. Driving conditions are really that bad. So my advice, stay at home! I know it gets old to hear and when you're sitting at home thinking you've surfed every inch of the Web known to man, it's easy to become stir crazy, but take it from my small excursion tonight and just play it safe.

Several times when I've met people and when they hear I work for a television station, they think it's a glamorous job, complete with hairstylists and makeup artists....errrrr....wrong! However, it is a very demanding, important job that when done well, can look glamorous.

The past couple of days our news crew has put in countless hours to bring you our best coverage of Winter Storm '09. It takes a lot of dedicated people. Where most people get a day off work or school, we get extra work, longer hours, in dangerous conditions.

Now, I don't say this to complain. Actually, not in the least. I love my job. In my opinion, it's is a very important job as thousands of people depend on the information we gather and disseminate, especially in cases like this severe winter weather. It's a job I feel obligated to do my very best at because that's what people deserve. (I'm not just being cliche, I really do feel that way.)

And while I'm running on about eight hours of sleep since Sunday and some stale pizza, like my fellow newsies I feel an adrenaline rush to keep going. (You're positive feedback keeps us going in the cold, nasty conditions.)

To all of you who sent in pictures of all the ice, thanks! I've enjoyed looking through them. To those who participated in our live chat, thanks! You've provided valuable information for who knows how many other people reading the comments.

I'm heading in for a couple hours shut eye and then we'll start it all over again!