Weirdly unsettling

I was surprised how tense I was today before finally getting to the Raleigh City Council meeting.
I think it was a combination of things:
•I’ve had deadlines before, but this was the first time since moving up here that I’ve had to be somewhere at a specific time to do my job. Even pushing to get the book finished, I didn’t have to worry about when I worked, just that I got it done.
•I still feel a little unsure on the Durham/Raleigh roads. Particularly Raleigh—I’ve only driven there on business once before and got wildly lost coming home.
This time, though, I was sensible: I not only Googlemapped my route To but my route back home From. And it turns out there’s a parking garage right next to city hall, which saves me the trouble of scrounging for a place (big problem last trip).
The council itself? Man, after covering Destin it’s amazing how fast these guys move; what would have taken three or four hours in Destin was little more than 75 minutes here. That’s not meaning to criticize either side, it’s just … different.
It’s also very disorienting to try following issues that—even though I’d read the agenda and the briefing package—I’m not intimately familiar with, the way I was when working for The Log.
But I succeeded, made it home with no trouble and finished the story. Now available at Raleigh Public Record’s website (scroll down to the story about pushcart vendors).
I think I’ll be a lot less tense next time.