Dreams Really Do Come True?: Week One

This was my first week working in my field of dreams (sort of). I didn't build it, but it did come. Here's a brief overview:

Monday

• I'm suppose to be working as a floater for composition, news room, and advertising, but no one seems sure what to do with me. I felt frustrated and irked that I didn't have much to do. I just kept asking for things to do. Give me a list and I'll get it done. 

Tuesday

• They put me in comp so I can learn their page design set-up. Still frustrated, but it's mostly because 1) still not having much to do, 2) the 'instruction folder" I was handed was completely wrong so I didn't have anything to study, & 3) no matter how helpful Trainer was, she would only give me bits and pieces out of fear of overwhelming me. I pester advertising for ads to make while Trainer is in class.

Wednesday

• Trainer has class most of the day. She comes in between classes to teach me some more. In her absence, I just dive into composition. Fiddling and playing with InDesign, just trying to better understand things. It was an okay day.

Thursday

• I show up to work early (morning person) and started working on comp. When Trainer arrived, she decided that she'd watch for a bit to answer my questions. I do most of the composition myself, except the TV guide. I learn this next week.

Friday

• I show up early and basically get left alone to do comp. Trainer starts working in the news room (she wants to be a reporter). I don't have a lot of questions left for Trainer. I get pretty far ahead. By that I mean I finished comp for the weekend paper, ad layout for Tuesday's paper, and template design for our 2 sister papers done before leaving.

This is the brief version. I could ramble about the thrill of working puzzles all day, the social aspects that make me like the news room more than advertising, or the perks like random free shrimp but this is an overview of the work aspect.

Here's to next week!

~misfoijd

My Goofy Goal

Now that my dream of joining the journalism world is starting to happen, I'm going to have to start on my next dream. I've always wanted a chunk of land for my own. Originally, I wanted a hundred acres and put my house dead center of it, but that quickly shrank to a more realistic 3-10 acres. Just enough for my master plan.

*MASTER PLAN*


1. Buildings - I want a garage, a decent house, and a barn.

• Garage - We have a house with a 2-car garage now, but anyone that has seen our home knows it's not a garage - it's our living room. I like being able to fix my vehicles when they break. It's frustrating to have to do it on a sloped driveway or having to go to my dad's place.

• House - I don't need a huge house, but I do need one that has 2 bathrooms and a large kitchen. Two bathrooms because I get sick a lot and sharing a bathroom when you're sick sucks. A larger kitchen would be fantastic. My current kitchen is the size of the smallest walk-in closet I've seen. I love cooking when I have the space for it. I HATE it when I don't.

• Barn - There's a lot of reasons for this. I'm hoping to have some chickens; maybe a horse and cow later. Mostly I want it for our current animals. I'm hoping to modify a part of future barn so we can keep the cats in the barn instead of the house (chicken wire) and provide a safe place to the dogs to go when we leave them in the yard. 

2. Land - Garden, tree fence, & paintball course.

• Garden - I'm hoping to have a decent garden taking up most of the front yard; maybe with a coy pond.

• Tree Fence - Plant crab apple trees along the sides for the property to make animal/human proof fence. This is optional.

• Paintball Course - On the back acre, I'm wanting to have a paintball course for Husband. Maybe some cars, maybe a shed here or there, so he and his friends can play back there.

Now to take over the world!... I mean save up.

~misfoijd

Light That Tunnel, BABY!!

Sorry I haven't posted in a bit. But here's why: deep depression followed by flood of opportunities.

Yesterday was my last day driving a bus. After trying for over 2 years to get in the newspaper world, someone is finally letting me in. I'll be working for Paper in a week. Mostly page design and some light reporting, but I'LL TAKE THAT!!

It's sucks being told that you should give up on your goal. Told that "it's been 2 years your degree is worthless." It hurt. It hurt thinking that no matter how hard I try, I'll never go beyond bus driving.

Frankly, bus driving (and a friend dropping my name frequently) is probably the only reason I got this job. They were looking for an Education Editor, saw that I was a bus driver, and therefore I can handle schools. I'LL TAKE THAT!

Yesterday was a lava lamp of mixed emotions.A slurry of crying and laughing evilly that 'I'm free!' Here's why:

•  I loved that bus. It was fun to drive it. It was nice being able to look down on mini vans (minivans are evil). 
• I will not miss the middle schoolers. Some were absolute sweethearts, but they were smothered by the dummkopfs that think I work for them. Dummkopfs
• I will miss the parents of my elementary kids. Many of them meet the bus and WANT to know if there was trouble so they can nip them in the butt. I wish them the best.
• I will miss my coworkers. They kept telling how proud they were of me and how they hope I'd do well. They asked for me to fax them articles or visit when I could. They took such good care of me. 
• I will not miss Preach. Preach is the nickname of a coworker that I had conflict with. He liked to make comments about how I was a poor wife, how I should be in the kitchen, and how I should be bent over his knee. After months of this, I called him a bastard and he told me I can't take a joke. >_< Will not miss him.

I will miss driving the bus, but I needed to move on.