Heads up, everybody...

Beginning Monday, June 4th.... Good Morning Utah starts at 5:00am.  That's a half-hour earlier.  That's 30 more minutes of GMU.  A bonus for all you early bird viewers.

So... what does that mean for us?  The talking heads in front of the cameras... and the hosts of hard-working, behind-the-scene types? 

It means losing even more sleep.  It means even less of a social life.

Now... I'm not fishing for sympathy.  I am trying to figure out how starting the show 30 minutes earlier my morning routine.  I'm sure Erika and Todd (and evryone else on the crew for that matter) are as well.

I've been dragging my butt out of bed to do an early-morning shift for many years.  Since the mid ninties, as a matter of fact.  That was all during the good ol' radio days when you could do your job behind the mic in a t-shirt and shorts.  Nobody cared.. as long as you sounded good.  Nobody cared if you shaved... just bring it baby!  You simply had to be sharp mentally.

Nowadays... it's all a bit different every weekday morning.  Now, it's pouring over scripts and writing headlines, of course.  Being sharp mentally is still a factor.  Personally, I rely heavily on my good friend, caffeine. 

But that's just the beginning. 

Then there's the whole thing of "where's my tie?"... "why am I wearig brown shoes with my charcoal grey, pinstripe suit?" (thanks a lot, Erika...), "why are the bags under my eyes so puffy?"... "where's my make-up?"... and of course, "how's my pocket square?".

Yeah... I can hear all of you out there....

Oh, poor Mike Mckay!  He can't find his powder foundation!  Boo hoo... whatever will he do?  Bwhaaaa haaaa haaaa......... sniff.

I know.  I know.  But I'm still getting used to all of this tv stuff. 

I'm still getting used to the fact that I get yelled at if I slump forward and lean on the news desk because it interferes with my mic... (thanks, Carl.).  I'm still getting used to the fact that there's certain way I have to stand in front of the "Live Drive Big Map"... or else the people in the control room start pulling the hair out of their collective heads.  And perhaps the hardest thing for me to get used to is the fact that I'm not ad-libbing as much anymore.  I have a script to follow or else Erika starts punching me in my left arm.  Watch for it!  You would never guess she's such a violent woman.

Bottom line..... I'm an old dog learning new tricks.  Be patient with me.  Especially now, since we have to do it all 30 minutes earlier every Monday through Friday.

Until next time.

MM