It's been quite a while since my last post.

I just finished 37 days of work without a break. It was some of the hardest work I've ever done.

It began on Aug. 18th when I was sent to Crawford, TX to cover the Cindy Sheehan protest. Everyday was a full day of standing in one hundred degree Texas heat. Every day I had to put on sun screen and wear a protective hat. It was miserable.

I stayed with Sheehan until she waved goodbye from the bus that took her out of town. By then, Katrina had done its damage to New Orleans.

From Crawford I went to the parking lot of the Astrodome in Houston. Again, it was days of standing in the Texas heat but this time the tarmac of the parking lot made it feel like it was only 120.

From Houston I went to Galveston to await Hurricane Rita. Matt Lauer was doing Today Show live shots next to my live shot position on the seawall.

During the height of the hurricane I did live-shots all night long. It was miserable trying to keep my camera and lights from being blown away and to keep them operating with all the flying water around. I think, along about 3am, that I swore I would never do another hurricane as long as I live.

Got a couple of hours of sleep later that morning in a motel room without electricity. It was hot and damp inside.

From Galveston I was sent to Beaumont. Rita had really torn up Beaumont and police stopped everyone from exiting the freeway into the downtown area. Being news media, I was allowed in. For two days we worked out of Beaumont and sleeping in a motel without electricity and running water. We got gasoline because a station owner had a gas-powered pump and he was siphoning gas out of his in-ground tank for the media and physicians and the like.

When I was finally allowed to go home my drive to Houston and then north to my home in Dallas was uneventful. Going north on I-45 I witnessed the hordes of pepple trying to return to Houston. They were on the other side of the freeway. My path north was clear. I had enough gas from that kind gas station owner in Beaumont to make it home. That gas station owner, by the way, only charged us the going price for his gas. He didn't take advantage of our plight to charge more.