So this is it for me for the year, the show is back next week but I won’t be. 

The time has come to switch off the 2.45am alarm for a few weeks break and a few sleep ins. I look back on the year and I’m not sure how I did another year of getting up at this ungodly hour, but somehow you just do what you do don’t you?

It’s like when you’re parenting and getting up in the night breastfeeding for years on end you look back and think, how did I do all that? 

How did I manage it?

Yet you somehow do. You guys help. This is a fun audience, I appreciate all your feedback and support and your periodically crazy comments. I like working in the wee small hours though, despite the weirdness of it, it’s good to be in the newsroom before it gets manic, it’s good to work with a small but enthusiastic team of early birds.

Mike and I are both produced by people probably young enough to be our children, so they put up with a lot. Well actually, I’m a dream to work with aren’t I Laura? But Mike’s producer has his work cut out for him.

I have to pay tribute to my producer Laura actually, it’s her who puts the show together, gets the interviewees to air, chases them when they sleep through their alarms, remains calm when they don’t pick up their phone.

She works incredibly hard, bucking the trend of millennials, although she’s technically too young to even be a millennial, she’s a post millennial I think. Anyway she’s amazing and we couldn’t cobble this little show together without her, or our other Laura who helps set the show up at night. So I’m surrounded by wonderful Laura’s, which makes my job easier. 

And NZME’s a great place to work, even Winston Peters now appears a fan of the place – or of keeping journalism alive anyway.. which is a turn up for the books. The man who so loathes the media, supporting the media, you wouldn’t read about it.

So it’s no alarm for me for a few weeks and then hopefully after a lot of catch up sleep I’ll be back bright and early with you again in January and we can do all this all over again.

Thanks so much for your support, the show’s rated really well again this year and that’s all the bosses care about, so thanks for keeping me employed by switching us on and tuning in. I say everyday that I appreciate it, and I truly do. 

Your support means we can keep turning up and turning on the lights. And that’s the magic of radio, it’s always there.. wherever you are.. at home, in bed, in the car, at the gym, at work, driving your truck, radio’s always with you if you choose it. So thanks for choosing it, and for choosing us.

I look forward to being back here again with you all in a few weeks time and I wish you all a very happy and safe Xmas.