BEHIND THE SCENES AT THE DNC

It's just before 7am, and I'm freezing and quite sleepy, high above the convention floor at Denver's Pepsi Center, site of the Democratic National Convention.

I'm covering the morning/noon shift, reporting for NBC affiliates across the country - which means my work and sleep schedules are pretty much opposite the rest of the world this week. My reports start at 2am local time (Hawaii's 10pm news) and go through 1:30 pm (Portland, Oregon's midday show). We've been doing about 25 live and 30+ taped reports a day.

Here's my schedule:

Wake up at 8pm to watch the speeches, write and record my voice track. Go back to sleep for about 30 minutes (if I can), then get dressed to ride with my overnight colleagues to our workspace outside the Pepsi center, about 20 minutes from our hotel.

Security's tight. We park about 1/4 mile from the site and go through 3 security checks to get in. Our workspace is a 6,000 square foot tent - it's actually quite nice. What's amazing is to see the massive amounts of equipment that was shipped and set up here. It's like creating an entire TV station!!!

Since I'm on the early shift, we recap the night's speeches and preview what's coming up today. I'm watching news events feed in live, writing, and doing taped and live reports about 13 hours a day.

By early afternoon, we head back to the hotel and try to get a few hours of sleep before starting all over again at 8.

Grueling, but fun! Who could complain about being in the center of history!

One thing that's tough is not being "in the middle of the action." When the convention hall is filled with cheering supporters, I'm asleep or in my hotel room watching. When it's empty, I'm at work reporting on events from the day before. Still, it's exciting to be here.

Super-sleepy... with 6 hours to go. More tomorrow!