This morning I got up at what I consider an un-godly hour (6am) to call a researcher in Wales for my last article for J800, before going to class. Business hours in the UK run from the very early hours of the morning here until around noon, which left before class as the best time to do the interview.
I wanted to just use Skype to call his landline, but when he found out I was using Skype, he suggested that we video chat. It is a good thing that I decided to get ready for class and got dressed before I contacted the researcher, otherwise he would have seen my pajamas. I do 90% of my interviews by phone, and probably the other 10% by email. I haven’t interviewed someone face to face in over a year. So compounded by the fact that it was really early, I was caught off guard with the fact that he could see me, and that I was talking about some really complex genetics – I am fairly certain I sounded like a babbling moron.
I think I got a few good quotes though, so at least it was worth it, though the more I write them, the more I dislike feature-length issues pieces. They are unruly to say the least, but I hope I am becoming better at wrangling information.