When it rains, it pours...and I'm allowed to travel

Holy crap, work travel. Three trips in three weeks. First to Virginia Tech, then last week to New Jersey and New York for flood coverage - and now this week it's off to Beaumont, Texas, for a Hurricane Rita Summit.

I guess the squeaky wheel gets sent out of the office. Nice. I didn't agree with traveling to Virginia Tech for work, but a heated discussion with the boss "clarified" it and off I went. Yes, it is important that we cover that VT shootings, but I didn't think it warranted being there in person. The boss disagreed and then lectured me on why being there in person was so much more valuable than doing phone interviews. Blah blah blah, I listened.

Once there, I did all my articles and interviews and came to the conclusion....that I could have done it all via the phone. He still didn't agree and stuck in a little "I told you so" style comment when I called into the office my first afternoon down there, despite my not having said anything worthy of a "I told you so" comment. Whatever, it's not like I wasn't going to do my job well even though I didn't agree with being down there in person. I'm not petty or passive aggressive.

So anyway, once back in the office it was clear that on-site coverage was needed of the flooding in northern New Jersey and southern New York from the big Nor'easter two weekends ago. Super Awesome Kate hooked me up with a sweet hotel deal and so off I went last Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

I went to Bound Brook - which was sort of a full circle moment for me. Back when I interned (summer of 2000) for this current job site, the first big work trip they sent me on was to Bound Brook, NJ, to cover the Hurricane Floyd recovery. And now seven years later, I was unfortunately back there again.

The trip was great and mostly reaffirmed why I enjoy the majority of my job when I'm not in the office. I met great people, wrote some great features (my strength - I'm better at features than at breaking news) and saw some amazing stuff.

I added some photos to this post for fun. The first one is of a tribute board on the VT campus. I'm usually able to shield myself pretty well while hearing and writing about disasters and horrible things. This VT shooting was no different. That doesn't mean I'm an insensitive bastard, it means that I am able to balance my own feelings while also doing my job and conveying the feelings of others.

Anyway, I was doing fine on the VT coverage until I saw a quote on that board. First off the photos and personal messages to the girl in the photo were tough, but the quote in the bottom right of the photograph really got me. It's from the book "Hope for the Flowers" about two caterpillars who are trying to find their way in life. It's a beautiful book, and seeing that quote at such a rough time really hit me hard. There's always something very real at ever disaster I cover that will make things hit home for me at some point or another. I have plenty more photos from VT but just figured I'd share that one.

Also, I was not a douchebag about taking photos - unlike the thousands of other media people on that campus. Those poor students and families - not a moment's peace without cameras and microphones being jammed in their faces. As a member of the media, I understand doing one's job, but there's also a way to do it without being a completely insensitive idiot. Every time a student by these memorials would kneel, or put their heads down, or hug someone, or cry - there would instantly be about 12-15 photographers swarmed around them clicking away. I almost took a photo of that. This poor guy sat down by one memorial, took his hat off, put his head down and just started crying. I was on one side of him about 20 feet away looking at the memorials myself. On the other side of him were 10 photographers clicking away. The photo from my perspective would've been an amazing example of too much media during a tough time, but I refrained from taking it because I didn't want to add to it.

The second photo up there is an accidental shot of me doing my job in Bound Brook, NJ. Don't worry, I wasn't driving at the time. I was touring the hardest hit neighborhoods with a local pastor and snapping some pics as he told what was going on. I like the picture because I didn't know I would be in it, and I've never thought about what I look like while doing my job.

And that's that for now. Oh, in case you wanted to know, Tuesday the Cat's vet appointment was fine. She's still fat and healthy. She growled and hissed the whole time, according to Amy. The vet (who is wonderful) again told us that tortoise shell cats are high-strung and have strong personalities. Tuesday proves that.

And in retaliation for the vet appointment, Tuesday hurled in her cat carrier on the way home. You win this round, Tuesday.

EarthLink

When I travel for work I always take a back-up emergency internet dial-up number in case I can't locate any wireless.

Today when searching for some access numbers for New Jersey (where I will be on Thursday and Friday - I know, holy crap sudden work travel!), I couldn't find any. EarthLink's internet access number search feature was failing me.

So I logged onto their LiveChat to get one from a human. Of course, as soon as I started talking to that nice foreign guy named "Harry N," the feature started working again and I located an access number.

Harry N was very nice, though, and tried offering me several free limited time offers from EarthLink. I wasn't really interested, but he was persistent. And friendly. I figure LiveChat workers must get bored, so I joked around with him a bit, as I do every time I use LiveChat.

Here's the chat log starting after we figured out the internet access number problem.

Harry N : Okay, I am glad the issue is resolved.
Harry N : Yes, you can use that number to connect to EarthLink without any issues.
Me: excellent, thanks for the help - sorry to bug you with something I figured out on my own
Harry N : You are welcome!
Harry N : Before you go, may I provide you with some valuable information?
Me: you're going to tell me to stop using dial-up, aren't you?
Me: :)
Me: it's just a back-up, i have wireless. this is a work trip, i'm just preparing in case i can't find any wireless nearby

Harry N : I would also like you to know that EarthLink is giving away CD's of Norton Internet Security to all its customers free of cost for a month as a free trial and this would also include 24 by 7 free technical support and a free CD to install the software. If you would like to try the product and see how it works I will send you a free copy of your Norton Internet Security CD and an email with the activation code so that you can install it and protect your computer.
Harry N : I will give you the first 30 days for free to check it out, with no commitment. Once you start using this, you'll definitely appreciate my suggestion. Shall I go ahead and send you the CD?
Me: no thanks, we've got an anti-virus program on our computer already. thank you for the offer, though.
Harry N : Why not try it for a month free of charge to see how it works? I am confident that you will like it so much that you will want to keep it!
Harry N : Else you can cancel the service at anytime.

Me: because my computer has enough slow and annoying software on it already
Harry N : We are here to assist you around the clock.
Me: and i'm happy with my current anti-virus software
Harry N : I have another free offer which will enhance your computer performance.
Me: i hope it's free DSL, i'd use that.
Harry N : EarthLink PC FineTune™ is a 1-click software solution that allows customers to easily optimize their PC's performance. With a simple mouse click, you can: (1) Defrag your hard drive, (2) Remove cookies and other unnecessary files, (3) Fix registry errors, and (4) Detect the early signs of hard drive failure.
Simply using your PC for normal, everyday tasks inevitably results in decreased computer performance. On top of that, when you remove spyware from your PC, non-malicious but corrupted and fragmented files are left behind.
Try EarthLink PC Fine Tune FREE for 30 days ($4.95/month thereafter).
As always, by purchasing PC FineTune from EarthLink, you can enjoy the convenience of one low, monthly bill and access to 24/7 phone and online support.
Run PC FineTune weekly as part of your ongoing PC maintenance or every time you remove spyware from your computer to keep it running as smoothly as the day you brought it home.

Me: Does this need to be installed on my computer to work?
Harry N : I will give you the first 30 days for free to check it out, with no commitment. Once you start using this, you'll definitely appreciate my suggestion. Shall I go ahead and send you the CD?
Harry N : Yes, this software has be to installed on your computer for best result. However, it will not take much space of your computer.
Me: Is this offer available if I'm not on chat?
Me: or do i have to get the offer from a chat person?
Me: Because I have to think it over first.
Harry N : You need to get this from a chat person that is the reason I have suggested, why not try it for a month free of charge to see how it works? I am confident that you will like it so much that you will want to keep it!
Me: You seem really confident, Harry.
Me: Almost too confident.

Me: When does the free month start - when I install it on my computer, or when you send out the CD?
Harry N : Yes, I am 100% confident that this will take care of your slow computer issues...
Harry N : The day you receive the CD.
Me: If it doesn't, will you have to owe me something? Like a beer or a hug?
Me: And how much does it cost once the month is done?
Harry N : You have a nice sense of humour.
Me: Thank you. That must be LiveChat code for "This woman is crazy."

Harry N : After the 30 days of trial-period, you will be charged only $4.95 per month.
Me: well, I'm going to skip that offer as well. I appreciate it, though.
Me: Have you tried it on your own computer?
Harry N : Yes, I have very well tried on my computer and that is the reason I have offered you to go for the free trial when you described the slowness of your computer.
Me: Well, I appreciate your honesty and your confidence. You're a nice guy, Harry N.
Harry N : Thank you for the appreciation. Shall I go ahead and sign up for the free trail of PC FineTuen?
Me: no thanks.
Me: I'll risk going without.

Harry N : Not a problem, please ignore the above statements.
Harry N : Thank you for using EarthLink LiveChat. Harry N : Have a great day..
Harry N : Bye!


Lovely - he signed off before I had a chance to ask him about the "please ignore the above statements" sentence he so quickly threw it in there at the last moment.

Update

-I got back from Blacksburg, Va., and Virginia Tech late Thursday night. As you might expect, it was a pretty horrible thing to cover. I spoke with some fantastic people, though, all of whom are crucial parts of the spiritual counseling being given out to the students and the community. I'm in awe of how well they're handling the situation, I'm sure I'd be a mess. I have more to say on it, but I'm done talking about it all for now.


-For those of you keeping up with the news on NPR and whether they're going to hire me - I got some good news on Friday. I had pretty much given up on them wanting me since I'd sent in my info weeks ago, but I called on Friday anyway. The hiring manager I spoke with said they were unfortunately moving very slowly on it and would hopefully get to it soon. So, there's still hope for me.


-If you're keeping up with the "Get off your lazy ass and read!" challenge I'm doing with Amber, I have now completed 13 books and am solidly in the middle of my 14th book. I've read some good ones but I'm now thinking I should stop reading so many war-related books because they're depressing me. I read the two books that inspired the movie "Full Metal Jacket" (one of my all-time favorite movies) and I've also read "Hiroshima" by Jon Hersey. Then I moved on to some classic and read "Treasure Island" by Robert Louis Stevenson. That was a good one, glad I picked it up.

Recently when I've gone to the library I've gotten stuck in the classics section where they have multiple paperback copies of what they consider "classics." And then I can't help myself from picking up four or five of those at a time...and then thinking that some high schooler out there might be cursing me for taking the last copy of something she has to read for an English class. Sorry!

Anyway, I'm right in the middle of "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" (as told to Alex Haley) right now. It's really good. Next up is "The Jungle" by Upton Sinclair. And then of course I have about 34 other books in my already owned "Read These You Lazy Bastard!" pile in my house. I can't help it if the library is so tempting.


-I had a lovely Earth Day weekend, thank you for asking. I went home early from work Friday and washed my car in the backyard since it was so nice outside, and also because I can now wash my own car in my own yard. Pretty neat. And the car certainly needed it - birds had declared war on it long ago. When I finished I made angry eyes at the sparrow family who appear to have created a home in our rain gutter up on the roof. They just scolded me. I dared them to crap on the car now and see what would happen. I scared them enough because the car remained beautifully crap-free. Until Sunday morning. Oh well, I enjoyed it while it lasted.

Saturday was a "I'm Lazy" day where I watched Amy do laundry and hang it up outside to dry - another perk of having a house. Thankfully the birds don't find it necessary to declare war on our clean laundry.

Sunday I spent most of the day at a local state park doing trail maintenance and assessment for Earth Day. It was really fun and I met some great people. Plus, the weekend was beautiful as far as weather goes, so being out in nature was even more fun.

And now it's back to work.


-Thursday night should be real fun - it's time to take our precious little terror of a cat to her yearly vet appointment. She just loves that whole process, let me tell you. She has supersonic cat hearing and is able to tell when we're within several feet of her cat carrier. Then she hides, or runs. Then, when trying to force her into the carrier, she somehow becomes 30lbs heavier and 40 feet wide - impossible to stuff into the carrier without sustaining some sort of claw injuries. Should be a blast, let me tell ya.

When we first got Tuesday we also got this book out of the library on how to care for cats. It included this chapter on getting them used to vet trips and the carrier and car rides. The author suggested leaving the cat carrier out all the time so the cat could get used to it. She also suggested feeding the cat inside the carrier.

Tuesday eats like a horse, food is her sole motivating factor in life. Much like her supersonic cat hearing, she is able to tell when you're within five feet of her food bag even if she's somewhere else in the house. We usually feed her around 5:30 or 6pm nightly, but if we're home, she'll start pestering us around 3pm.

Anyway, my point is that she loves her some food. Knowing her love of food and hatred of the cat carrier, we knew it'd be interesting to try out the plan of putting her food inside the carrier, bringing the two forces together to hash it out in her kitty brain.

So, one day a year or so ago, Amy and I filled Tuesday's dish with food and then set it inside the cat carrier. Tuesday watched the whole process and you could actually see the terror in her eyes. It was critical thinking for her - how can I avoid the evil carrier but still get my delicious food? Of course the food won, but the hatred of the carrier still had an effect. Tuesday's solution was to stretch her neck out as long as possible, almost like ET, and technically not be inside the carrier but still able to enjoy the food. It was hilarious to watch and then eventually we felt bad for her trying to reach the food. So we moved it back farther into the carrier. Boring holes into us with her expression of death, she tried to stretch farther - this time allowing one paw to ever-so-delicately touch inside the carrier. She managed to reach again, but still while stretching out to an unbelieveable length.

We eventually gave in and just pushed the food forward so she wouldn't have to injure herself to get her food. She won, but at least we got a good laugh out of it. To this day she continues to plot out exactly how she will kill us in our sleep one night.

VT

I'm currently in Blacksburg, Va., covering the Virginia Tech shooting. It's a very different type of disaster for me to cover. I covered 9/11, but this is still very different.

Lots of sad stuff, but a lot of hope as well. I've seen some of the families and that's extremely sad. But I've also seen how much support is pouring in from all over - and that's a nice sign of humanity after one person can so horribly destroy so many wonderful people.

I'd post a photo I took today, but blogger is being a jerk again and won't let me. I'll post them when I have more time to deal with it.

Tornadoes

Since I'll probably be spending much of my weekend covering severe weather, I was reminded of this Onion infographic from a while back that still makes me laugh really hard.

The Onion's Tornado Safety Tips

Enjoy!

Blah blah blah

No word yet from NPR, folks who are waiting to find out. They're probably not interested in me, and that's cool. I hope to at least chat with one of them soon to ask how I could make myself more marketable when applying to them in the future.

I also haven't applied to any other jobs since then. I put all my eggs in that one basket, which isn't that bad. I still check the job posting sites, but haven't found much I like. Thankfully I don't hate my job right now, it's just that I'm not challenged here any more.

In all reality I just wish things were like they were - back when my only real concern was whether I'd be able to schedule all my upcoming travel around my improv shows.

Part of me wants to leave journalism all together because I don't feel like I'm cut out for it, and then part of me screams, "No way - that's what you're actually good at!"

Part of me wants to take a month off to go volunteer at a disaster relief site somewhere in the US, be it flood relief in upstate NY or hurricane relief in Florida or on the Gulf Coast.

All of me isn't so sure what to do next.

I sit at my desk each day and still do my work, but it's hard to remain motivated when my editor lives and works in California and the president here stays hands off. Actually, I'm glad he remains hands off for the most part because he just bothers me.

But this is what it's become. Not like we ever really had a high-pressure newsroom here with people running around and printers going crazy and phones ringing off the hook, but at least there were people to interact with in person on an every-other-day basis (my last editor worked from home two days/week).

Sometimes I think it'd be nice to write a book. Today during my lunch-time walk I thought about a good book idea, a morph of one Amy the Super Smart Wife came up with - Volunteer For A Year. Basically the book follows me as I volunteer full-time for a new non-profit every month for a year. I can already think of several non-profits that'd be awesome for this.

Amy's original idea was to poll my boss about putting me on the Gulf Coast for a month or two to both work for a non-profit disaster response place part-time and to send DNN several stories a week part-time. I doubt he'd go for it and I worry that if I suggested it, he'd think me ready to leave and boot me out the door before I could resign when I was ready.

So, blah - hence the title of this post.

In other news, Spring better gets its ass here in Baltimore and soon. It tricked us with several days of nice warm weather and some green came out on the trees and bushes. And then it snowed last Friday and has hardly gotten out of the 40s this week.

Our Easter was really fun - we had some friends over for waffles and fruit and cookies and whatever else we could bring forth from our tiny kitchen.

In car-related news, more sadness for my Saturn. No, not rats this time. This time it succumbed to the punk ass kids that live in our neighborhood. Again, my poor little car stayed true to its nickname of "Lucky" - given to it years ago precisely because it's not lucky. For years people have backed into it from all sides and left the scene. I can't roll down the driver's side window due to one of those butt-munches. It's also been keyed by other young punks in Boston. Rats have eaten its electrical wires.

And this week young punk ass kids added a dent to its hood. One of those "I'm going to jump on your hood with my butt and leave a big butt dent in your hood" dents. This has happened to my neighbors, too, which sucks. I managed to pound most of the dent out with a mallet, but it's still warped a little and I can see the remaining dents. I called the cops to at least report it, but I know nothing will ever come of that. Such is life for my Saturn.

And it's not like all our neighbors are jerks, just the kids for the most part. Our retired next-door neighbor Ron is super nice and regularly mows our lawn for us. Our other next-door neighbor Mary Jo feeds our fat cat Tuesday when we're out of town. She even invited us to go karaoke with her and some friends the other day.

So the obvious answer is to beat up every kid in our neighborhood. Okay, not really. While a good ass-kicking might help straighten out many of the neighborhood punks, Amy strongly disagrees and reminds me that violence isn't the answer. Blah blah Christian values blah blah. Thanks, Amy. If I wanted to hear about Christianity non-stop, I would've married a pastor.

Oh, wait.

I'm kidding. Amy is correct and smart - as usual. The kids don't need an ass-kicking - they'd most likely benefit from parents who actually cared about them and watched them, as well as from a local community center that would give them something to do rather than staying out late at night vandalizing everything bolted down or too heavy to lift.

Anyway - hope all you fine folks are doing well. I hope this update doesn't make me sound angry or sad or depressed. I'm actually in good spirits the majority of the time. I'm happy making all my plants grow, and planting new flowers, and watching my big fat cat roll around and leave hair on our carpet, and planning a camping trip for Memorial Day weekend, and reading more books, and teaching an improv class, and other neato stuff.

The Weekend & More

Now that the weather's really starting to warm up a bit, I had a nice weekend. Friday night was spent being some of the first to see Will Ferrell's new movie "Blades of Glory." Very funny, and typical Will Ferrell. I enjoyed it quite a bit, and like the NY Times reviewer said, I'm also glad it didn't devolve into gay jokes. Instead, it just played on the awkward and uncomfortable really well and in a very funny way. So, props to Will Ferrell and the rest for making it willy without being insulting.

Saturday was spent being lazy at first, and then became more productive when Amy and I took a bike ride into the city to run some errands. I love being close enough to do that, and I love that despite Baltimore being a decent sized city - it's still like Small-timore because we ran into friends during the bike ride. Well, we didn't really run into them, we saw them and stopped and talked.

Anyway, Saturday night was a party with friends, and then Sunday was insanely lazy. I watched a UFC "The Ultimate Fighter" marathon and read two books. If you're in the mood to cry and feel depressed, then please read "For One More Day" by Mitch Albom. Albom specializes in books that make you cry and focus on death. Thanks, Mitch.

But really, it is a good book, and thanks Amber for sending it on to contribute to my "Get Off Your Lazy Ass and Read" campaign. I also read the book "Hope for the Flowers," which Amber also mailed to me. It's awesome and I loved it. I've now read nine books! Woo! Since my last book update, I've read "In Dubious Battle" by John Steinbeck and one called "Carrier Combat" by Frederick Mears.

The Steinbeck book was excellent, as usual. He's one of my favorite authors and this book did not disappoint. The story follows two guys who help organize a strike amongst migrant workers in California in the 50s.

The "Carrier Combat" book was written in the 50s by a Navy pilot who served in the Pacific Theater during WWII. I love books about WWII, but this one was a disappointment. Despite this guy having taken part in some of the major battles of WWII (Midway, Guadalcanal) - his narrative sucked all the interesting right out of it. I stuck it out hoping it would get better, but it just didn't. Too bad.

Not sure what's next on my book list, I'll have to dig through my pile to find something do-able during a week with such nice weather.

As an update on the job front, no word yet from NPR. I need to start looking around a little more, that was just my first step. I did get an email back from a guy who works in the NPR dept I applied to, which is informative but certainly doesn't promise me anything. I think just applying last week was a big first step is really trying to get out there and move on.

This whole process has been a big challenge for me and quite a wake-up call. When Amy and I moved back down here to Maryland for this job, I was thrilled. I'd attained my dream job and was excited to stay here for years. And I have, it's been three years at this job now. Only thing is, I figured I'd be happy here for more than three years. I wasn't ready yet to be shaken and prompted to move on to something else. I'm really not sure what else I want to do with myself. Every time I look through the various job postings, some positions will look interesting, but many of them I'm nowhere near qualified for and others are just not what I should be doing with myself.

I struggle quite a bit with a "call," you know - going somewhere that I'm supposed to be, working in a job that will make a difference and not just have me as a cog in a big bad profits machine. I'm not at all discounting that type of work or anyone who works in for-profit jobs. If you like it, do it. I'm not one to judge, work where you want. And that's what it is for me - I need to work where I want to work. Hope that makes sense.

So anyway, being pushed out of my happy job nest before I was ready has not been the easiest thing to deal with over these past four or five months.

I think I really just need to magically somehow become independently wealthy and spend my time volunteering at all the agencies I love, or I need to have a sponsor pay me a yearly salary to do that. Hell, I don't get paid much right now, so it's not like I'm asking for a truckload of money.

I'm rambling. Thanks for reading. I'm glad all 13 of you feel special to be included on the private blog of me. I suppose I should tell you a funny story from my life to make it worth it. You know, so you're not stuck reading my job ramblings every day.

When I was in Mississippi last spring for work, I stayed for one night in this volunteer housing facility run by Mennonite Disaster Service. They were nice enough to let me stay there, except that they had me in a former broom closet. That's another story for another time.

Anyway, the location was amazing, about 100 feet from the beach in Pass Christian, Miss. I woke up the next morning and got into my rental car to hit the road for the day. Then I saw that I had a message on my cell, so I sat in the driver's seat with the door open (it was beautiful weather) listening to my voicemails. While listening, I noticed that some little gnats kept flying into my face. I was trying to write down the message on my cell, which is hard to do when you're holding a phone with one hand and swatting your other hand around in the air, so I closed my car door.

About that time I realized that the gnats were indeed a biting sort of gnat, and that their bites hurt - and they hurt bad. So now I'm trying to write down a message, swat at gnats, and I'm yelling out in pain as they bite me. I didn't open the car door, because then more would have flown in. So instead I stayed in my car of gnat-biting death, sealed in with small insects of doom. There I was, swatting around me wildly, yelling "ouch" and other interspersed swear words. I knew I was going to have to drive away soon and I didn't want the car to remain full of the little biting bastards, so I was trying to kill them all before leaving. Plus, I had a call to make and I didn't want them biting me while I was trying to conduct a phone interview.

The swatting and jerking around got angrier and wilder. I would yell out in pain, then swear, then yell out in victory as I'd smash them on my steering wheel or dashboard.

Soon I remembered that my car was not a hidden room with me and my hijinks invisible to all around me. I was in a glass case of gnat-death, visible to everyone. I looked up and saw several volunteers and MDS people staring at me. From their viewpoint, I must have looked like an epilectic woman with tourette's, swinging around wildly in my car, laughing, occasionally swearing, yelling out in pain and slamming my hands around the interior of the car and on myself. Thankfully the windows were up and they couldn't hear the swearing, but I still looked like a crazy woman.

We met eyes. I smiled awkwardly and waved. They returned the favor.

Then I put the car in reverse and promptly left the parking lot. I drove with the windows down for a ways to rid myself of the gnats, which worked a little bit. I stayed elsewhere that next evening.

Happy Monday, folks.