It's a quarter to midnight...where are you?
Most normal people are probably in bed, if it s a work or school night. But, my schedule is not normal.
That's the way it is in the TV news business. Some of us have to be at work in the 3:30 in the morning. Some of our producers come in at 10pm and work overnight until 7am on the Sunrise Show.
My shift is 3:00 pm to midnight. Sometimes later.I love that about news. I think that may be why I've been doing it for nearly 30 years. It's always moving, changing, exciting. But I ve become quite a night owl.
I am at work when a lot of people are home sound asleep.
That's when the NikeFuel band, I wear on my wrist, talks to me.
Go, Laural, Go.
It doesn't really say, Get up from sitting at the computer. You still have 15 minutes to earn more NikeFuel points. But, I know that's what it would say...if it were Siri. That's how close we have become in the first ten days together as constant companions.
I've taken on this partnership as part of the inaugural Nike Fuel Executive Challenge. I'm on one of eight seven-member teams training for the Wild Canyon Games.
Part of the competition includes logging fuel points.Each team's cumulative points are shared weekly.
Sitting at the computer, You are using ZERO, my fuelband secretly tells me. I find myself getting up from my computer, picking up a pen and the research papers I've printed out for the current affairs show Straight Talk that I host at KGW, and studying them as I walk. Use more Fuel. I walk down the long hallway and up the stairs to the second floor I rarely visit during daylight hours.
As I walk, I read Congressman Blumenauer's position on federal marijuana policy (I am moderating a City Club forum on the topic soon).
I round a corner and see someone from the Creative Services department who is also keeping late hours, and we exchange waves.
Down another hall, I bump into one of the people who helps take care of our building, working in the wee hours to make it clean and tidy for the rest of us, and we visit briefly. I walk on, swinging my arms and reading.
And then the clock strikes midnight. The fuelband meter goes to zero. A new day starts. My daily goal is met. I am ready with some tough questions for the Portland City Club in a few days, and I am reminded of why I signed up for the Challenge in the first place.
I don't spend a lot of time on the second floor of the KGW building. But the Challenge has given me a reason to venture beyond my floor, to go to new places, even in my own building. And, in the process, I ve met some new people...people who make our TV station work 24x7...people who work in other departments...and people who help take care of our building while the rest of us sleep.
This is what I hoped the Challenge would be...a chance to meet new physical challenges, yes, but also to meet new people...go to new places...and go beyond my normal routine. It's a quarter to midnight, my fuelband is talking again.
Go,Laural,Go. Time to stretch myself.
