"That Hasn't Happened For the Longest Time"

Yesterday I wrote a story about the Maryland Senate passing a ban on texting while driving. That story can be viewed at the following link.

http://www.dcexaminer.com/local/Maryland-Senate-votes-to-ban-text-messaging-while-driving-41405357.html

I was happy to get this story assignment because it was pretty interesting. I liked doing the research and all, but I had major problems trying to get a hold of people to do interviews with. I was trying to talk to areas that already have a ban on texting while driving, so I contacted the police departments in both DC and LA (my editor wanted me to compare it to CA's law). But neither of them were very helpful at all. Too many hoops to jump through.

And then I was trying to contact some of the senators who sponsored this bill, but they were next to impossible to contact, too. They were all in committee meetings all day, and I finally had one call me back around 6 p.m. Fortunately, I was able to add his quotes to the story even though I had already sent it in.

But I was proud of that story. Despite the fact that pretty much no one was helping me very much, I still got it done. It felt good.

Went home. As I walked out of Union Station, a homeless man was singing "The Longest Time" by Billy Joel, which totally made my day, and I sang it basically the entire rest of the way home. Then as I passed by Armand's, a group of middle schoolers came out of the pizza place and one of their chaperones said, "Everybody! Look!!!" and pointed toward Union Station. "It's the SUN!!!"

I have no idea where these people were from. Alaska maybe? But they all clapped and cheered for the sun. So funny.

I got looped into a March Madness pool at work - I kept telling the guy next to me that I genuinely don't understand the whole thing and I probably shouldn't do it. It went like this:

Scott: "Hey, want to be a part of our March Madness pool?"
Me: "Um, to be honest, I super don't understand the whole thing so I don't think that would really make sense."
S: "Oh, come on, it will be fun! It's not a big deal. And it's really easy."
Me: "Yeah, I don't think it's a great idea. I seriously don't get it."
S: "All you have to do is....*tries to explain it to me*"
Me: *Stares blankly*
S: "I'll just send you an invite. It will be fun."

So I'm in. Coco was trying to help me last night. I've been trying to do my research and learn about the teams and everything, but I just do not have time for that. So I googled "March Madness for Dummies" and found some very helpful blogs that give all kinds of tips. We'll see how it goes.

I spent a chunk of time working on my brackets. Then John brought us St. Patrick's Day cupcakes with lime-flavored frosting and green Jelly Bellies on top. Then I talked to my parents. And that was it.

Today I overslept (which is never a good idea on early deadline day) and got into the office around 10:20 a.m. I had a story assignment already that I had been given yesterday, and I had hoped to get some work done on it yesterday afternoon, but since I had such issues with the texting story, I didn't get a chance to do any work on it. And my deadline was like, no later than 1 p.m. today. So, needless to say, I was a little stressed out when I got to work.

Fortunately, getting a hold of the people I needed to talk to today was MUCH easier than yesterday, and I immediately got a hold of two people who were very helpful and basically made my whole story a breeze. I had it written and filed by noon - that's 400 words in an hour and a half! Woot!

I was pretty proud. So I got lunch at Corner Bakery and have just been hanging out, doing little pieces of work and reading. I'm making french bread pizza for progressive dinner tonight. It's actually kind of nice that Wednesdays are early deadline days, because it means I can get home early and help with progressive dinner stuff. Yay!

And then we have a Skype date with Erin and Juel tonight. That's pretty much it. I'll post the link to my census story I wrote today as soon as it goes up!