Heavens to Betsy, it's an early blog!

3:53pm Tuesday 28th October 2008

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As I'm going on holiday from tomorrow for the rest of the week and would, of course, never deprive the blogfan(s) of an entry, the usual weekly round-up of WFG frolics has been brought forward to today.

Strangely, however, the mentality of the Wednesday afternoon lull is apparently nigh impossible to recreate on days other than Wednesday. I've managed it on a Thursday or a Friday once or twice, but somehow, on a Tuesday, when I've still got a good few hours left in the office to make sure I'm caught up before I go, it just doesn't seem to work. But I shall persevere.

Blogging on a Tuesday (now there's a name for a terrible indie-pop band if ever I heard one) also means that the general insanity level hasn't quite reached its peak yet and none of my colleagues have said anything particularly bizarre. There was the suggestion that one or more of us should don a Santa/elf/nurse (!) costume for a feature over Christmas but that's about it.

It's been quite a hectic week, all things considered. What with Pat leaving and a new full-time editor yet to be chosen, everything's a little bit off kilter and out of sorts and other phrases that mean the same thing. It'll be a tough task to fill the gap and I don't envy whoever has to do it.

The other issue has been the comparatively significant amount of "big news" coming in - shots fired in a quiet street, a man dying after being restrained by police, high speed chases, and various other things all added up to a pretty full agenda for the newsdesk over the last few days.

Mind you, this is the way I like it. I far prefer having too much to do than too little. Particularly in a job like this, where deadlines are key, there's a feeling of uselessness that comes with being between tasks. Even if there's nothing you can do, you find yourself itching for something else just to fill the time - a nib, a picture caption, even a blog, anything to keep busy. It no longer seems to be the case that when there's a lot of work on, it feels insurmountable - it's a challenge and I relish it.

It's recently occurred to me that should I ever achieve my aim of becoming a columnist for the G2 (Lucy Mangan, I want your job) I will miss news journalism. Most of the time, it's a fast-paced, exciting environment to work in and certainly very fulfilling and I'd be sorry to leave it behind.