If one goes by the Woody Allen adage that 90 percent of success is showing up, then we better knock 'em dead with the other 10 percent.
Right now, CNN Producer Katherine Wojtecki is driving as we head from Malibu to San Diego, literally going from fire to fire. Yesterday, we left our homes in the Midwest. We got up at 3 a.m. to catch a flight to LA, then did live shots in Malibu for CNN and local affiliates of the network. The fires are a huge international story, and it seems everyone wants a live shot.
Twenty-four hours after we began, with smoke-filled eyes and Katherine fighting a cold and coughing from smoke, we crashed at a nearby hotel. But first we did the math -- we'll allow three hours to travel 135 miles to the next location, we told ourselves. It'll be enough.
Stupid us. We just didn't figure that the normally clogged freeways of Southern California would get overhwelmed by the fires. Seems like everyone's trying to escape something.
Sure, we told our managers about the possible delay, and we got the old "just keep going and be safe," but in this business, if there's one thing I hate, it's being late. Wish us luck.
-- By Keith Oppenheim, CNN Correspondent
