L is for Living

     When I first got this job with the newspaper, it was a dream come true. I'd been fighting for a long time to get a foot in the door of the newspaper realm. It's amazing to finally be able to do what I was trained to do, what I went to college for, what I wanted to be. Maybe as cool as an angel playing electric guitar.

    I enjoy working with InDesign and Photoshop (I guess you could tell by the picture). I enjoy that I have a desk to myself that isn't a cubicle. I enjoy my work.

     But there's a issue... I don't get to live.

    My work is an hour from home. On average, I work from 7:15am to 5:30pm for $9 per hour. I understand page designers are lucky to make $12/hr with experience especially working for newspapers. So we afford all the bills, but we aren't able to put much aside in savings. Things pile up during the week so I spend my weekends playing catch up. I don't go to movies, see friends, or much of anything else because after 12 hours (this includes commute) ... I'm just tired.

     I suppose being a morning person is a factor. Michael (aka a night crawler) comes home and bounces around. I come home tired and generally cranky. Think badger...

...except meaner and dressier.

And frankly, I don't like myself when I'm like that. I don't know how my husband can stand me.

NOTE: There's a difference between page designer and graphic designer. On a basic level, it's which program gets used more. I use InDesign quite dominantly while the graphic designer uses Photoshop almost entirely.

EXTRA NOTE: Photoshop focuses mostly on creating images while InDesign focuses on mostly words and arrangement of images. Just so you know....