Today was goodbye day. You've had these. Usually not much actual work is involved and most of the day is spent saying goodbye, talking about future plans and making promises to keep in touch.

But I had to do actual work. Like I said before, it's sweeps. So things keep going. That, and one of the other producers went home with a bad case of a stomach virus that's going around. But there was some time for talking about past and future.

I rose at 5:10am. That hasn't happened in a long, long time. But I don't get many chances to be on TV anymore, so I made an exception for our morning news. I strapped on my backpack and walked the mile or so up to the station from downtown. It was cold and windy, but not rainy as I'd feared.

"I never totally got over that little bit of nervousness."
The interview was good. Even after three years on-air as a reporter and sometimes-anchor I never totally got over that little bit of nervousness before you go on. It was true this morning, too... but I got over it quickly. Greg our morning co-anchor was great and made it all very easy. The only problem was that the robotic camera went completely out of control a couple of times during the interview. It's like you see us sitting there talking and then the shot violently jerks around 180 degrees. Twice.

Oh, there were actually two problems. In a not-so-bright move, somebody rolled a 90-minute tape on this morning's two-hour newscast. I'll do the math for you. My interview was just after the tape ran out. So I have to get a dub from this company that keeps copies of stuff for us. They couldn't do it today, so it'll have to get shipped next week. It may or may not ever make it to the website. We'll see.

"I really know some of these people I worked with."
But about goodbye day. This one was very different from any I've had before. I've never stayed at any other station this long. Saying so-long was easier when you were leaving a bunch of kids you'd worked and partied with for a few months but never really got to know. After four years, I really know some of these people I worked with. So it was kind of a big deal to walk through the newsroom and talk to everybody the last time.

Then there's the few people in my own department. My boss brought in cookies. Mark in graphics brought donuts. Stephanie brought a cake. Mina gave me two handfulls of candy bars.

I'm still completely full of sugar and Dad wants to go eat well when he gets here. But they were great. It's a fun bunch of people who've been a pleasure to work with. I'll miss 'em.

It seems Dad's found his way to my apartment. He's on the Atkins diet, so I guess it's time for a steak.