Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in Isaac's LiveJournal:

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Wednesday, July 16th, 2008
10:40 am	Still, not as bad as slinging pepperoni for a living The "what the hell am I doing?" parts of the job are starting to get answers. I had my first department head meeting with the station manager yesterday, followed by a marketing meeting. I normally don't drink any caffeine until lunchtime, in an effort to avoid relying on coffee before I'm functional. Yesterday, though, I nearly fell asleep in my chair. I seriously contemplated slamming my head on the table during the meeting just to stay awake. Instead, I got a big mug of coffee and tried not to space off too much. I've gotten a couple minor projects going. I've got training scheduled in Minneapolis from August 4-6, but since I'm driving up there with Forest, that means I'm going to be gone August 3 and probably 7. (Mike, this means we won't be able to play that Sunday). I have a better idea who does what, and why. Still not entirely into this gig. Part of it is the money crunch. Yes, I'm getting paid a great deal more than I was, but the problem is, I haven't seen that paycheck yet. Sure, I got paid for 4 days at the beginning of the month, but that translates to a smaller check than I normally got at the J-W. Meanwhile, I've spent, thus far, about 200 dollars on gas in almost three weeks. Forest and I still have bills to pay, and I had to buy a new wardrobe as well. My first real paycheck will be around this weekend. I say "around" because I'm not sure when it will show up. The payday, as I understand it, is on Saturday, but they'll be mailing me a check rather than letting me just walk upstairs to HR and pick it up. So the question becomes, when will it be dropped in the mail, and how long will it take to show up in my mailbox? After that, hopefully, I will get direct deposits and smooth that out. But we have to do work on the car, pay a few more big bills, and plan on the trip at the start of August. So we won't have the money to move until next month. I guess it's a good thing we didn't commit to anything yet. Anyway, not a thrill-a-minute joyride, but not awful. (Comment on this)
Tuesday, July 8th, 2008
4:32 pm	One week in, still employed Which is good. There are minor frustrations, mostly related to the commute and trying to find decent lunch places in Raytown ... the good restaurants are west in KC proper, and are too far away, especially when I'm already driving 90 minutes a day to get to work and back. When I stop commuting such a long distance, I may be more willing to expand my reach. Also, my job is still nebulous. Less so than last week, but I am either asked, or ask myself, what I'm responsible for every day. I'm finally getting people to tell me which meetings I need to be in and when, and I might be traveling to Minneapolis for training sometime soon. The people aren't bad ... tempers are a little shorter than at the J-W, I haven't made any buddies here like I did there. No one's a real asshole (that I've noticed), but I'm hardly close to anyone. I do miss Lawrence. Not only did I genuinely like most of the people I worked with, but I really enjoyed being able to walk to work, or to mosey a few blocks to find a variety of good food, or just be in a pretty area. I knew the job backward and forward and was comfortable. The challenge is good. Having to create the job is good. The pay and automatic respect that comes with a management position are good. And frankly, I'm ready to move away from Lawrence, with the caveat that I'll always want to visit there. Still, this is taking some getting used to. (Comment on this)
Wednesday, July 2nd, 2008
3:01 pm	I have much tired My brain decided it was time for Insomnia!Fun! last night. I tried to shut off lights at 12:15ish, woke back up after a short nap, finished my book, tried to play Roodoku, complained about it to Forest, and went back to bed and started reading Newsweek. At around 3 a.m. (a little more than 4 hours before wakey-wakey time), I think I kinda fell asleep. Only I kept drifting in and out, and don't know when or even if I fell into a long deep sleep. I did get up before the alarm went off and after doing some sit-ups to get the blood flowing, I felt okay on the drive out. I still feel okay, although I'm now feeling the tired under the skin. I wish I knew why it hit me so bad last night. I'm not really nervous about the job, for all that the job is still very unclear. My boss has finally gotten out of union negotiations and we'll clarify roles and expectations soon. I also finally have access to our CMS, and maybe I'll have a phone before the end of the week. Yet somehow my brain is all a-whirl. It could just be adapting to the new circumstances, but I wish I could figure out what's going on in my head. I hate not knowing why I have this particular brand of crazy right now. It's conflicting with my usual crazies. Current Mood: tired (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, July 1st, 2008
1:54 pm	I am wearing a tie Yet I have not yet lost my mind. Well, not completely. First day progress so far: Not bad. I gave myself an hour and a half for the commute and got here half an hour early. I drove around Raytown a bit, and boy did I wish I hadn't. Signed all the paperwork that says I'm not going steal this computer or sexually harass anyone. Already had a very minor clash with the IT department about why they don't want anyone to use Firefox in the building, after which I promptly downloaded Firefox. (Although I haven't used it yet. IE 7 is almost like the latter builds of Firefox 1, or early Firefox 2, so I can live with it for now.) Found out my probable supervisor is out of the office for a day or so, because of union negotiations. And now I'm trying to find a way to pass the time until corporate gives me more logins or a boss comes along to discuss what I'm going to be doing for the next few years. UPDATE: I've got about 50 minutes left, and this first day of work has been ... Pretty boring. I don't expect every day to be like this, but I've spent most of my time reading blogs about journalism and hoping someone would post to livejournal. The problem is, the boss isn't here and I don't have any logins for the tools I need to learn. But at least I'm getting paid $24/hr. to twiddle my thumbs. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Monday, June 30th, 2008
2:39 pm	My computer likes car rides So I stagger out of bed after only 6 1/2 hours of sleep, not because I had to be up that early, but because I need to be ready to crash around midnight tonight. Tomorrow I have to drive quite some distance to pretend to be an adult, on the first day of my new career of pretending to be an adult. As always, I check the clock on Forest's nightstand and I notice it's blinking. Brown-out this morning, which is odd because the last time I looked at 7 a.m., it was fine. No storms, no lightning, just the damn power in this area being interrupted. So I come into the office to power up the computer, only it doesn't power up. There's something Macs do when there's a power surge, when they slowly disperse any excess power. I unplug the computer to help speed the process, power up Forest's machine, and check email and livejournal and all that. Half an hour later, I hit my start switch. Nothing. Now I'm getting perturbed. After the last time my machine played dead for an hour or so, I've transferred every important file to an external hard drive, and most of the most important of THOSE files (my writing) is uploaded to webspace. (Note to self: Move said files from old sunflower.com webspace to new webspace soonish, because I don't know how long I'll remain a Sunflower customer. Note about note: Find out from Rob how much webspace I now have.) Anyway, I go about my routine, trying to search up useful links for the new gig and all that, and try to power up my machine at 15-minute intervals. Around noon, get lunch, debate things, call UnI Computers, one of the only places I know that work on Macs. They tell me 10-12 business days (more than two real-world weeks!) to even take a look at it. They say Best Buy might work on Macs, and if not there, I know Geeks on Wheels or Doctor Dave might do it. And Doctor Dave and I know each other a bit, so maybe he'd be willing to cut me a discount. There were some minor errands I needed to run anyway, so Forest and I bundled the machine into the back seat and we went for a drive. At Best Buy, the guy behind the counter tells me he doesn't really work on Macs, but if it's not functional he can at least verify it's a problem and I'll go look for another solution. Plug in, hit the power button ... And the computer boots up. He and I both agreed that it just wanted to feel special, and the gremlins inside wanted to go for a ride. It's not a major disaster if I lose this machine, but damn it would be annoying. I am going to get a new computer soon-ish, once I'm sure money will work out, but I'd rather do it when I want it, not because I have a large white plastic brick sitting on my desk. (Comment on this)
Wednesday, June 25th, 2008
9:18 pm	Unemployed As of 6 p.m. today, and for the next five days, I am sans work. It's the first time I've been without a job for nearly ten years. It's an odd feeling. But at least I'll be able to catch up on my sleep. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Sunday, June 22nd, 2008
11:26 pm	Home stretch Three more days at the Journal-World. That's kind of strange to say, now that it's here rather than "a few weeks to go." I've got a lot of various emotions about this, but they mostly boil down to "Well, that was quite the experience. Now what?" Dad and family came to town to visit the grandparents this weekend. My little brother Brady is 5 1/2, and while he was being a little bratty, he was also pretty affectionate this time around. I even got him to stop whining and crying for dessert and just ask if he could please share some of mine, which surprised the hell out of my stepmom. My little sisters are blonde-haired, blue-eyed, have great smiles, are rather strong-willed and like the word "No," and are magpies. They are actually kind of sly about taking stuff that's in reach, and so you have to watch them. They're adorable and I think they may destroy the world one day. We only saw them a while yesterday and today, but it was exhausting as always. I always like visiting them, but I'm sort of glad when it's time to go. Played WoW again and this time Quinn and Tony were on. So we caught up and I found a couple quests to do ... I mean, the quests weren't that exciting, still the same old things they always were ... but it was a lot more pleasant when I was able to chat while killing X quantity of species Y. Gotta get focused on wrapping up this last project at the Journal-World and doing my homework for the new gig. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, June 21st, 2008
11:30 pm	Well, I could have predicted that ... After being somewhat bored tonight, I decided to resubscribe to WoW. After all, I will soon be able to afford the account easily, and I might still have friends playing the game. And there's not a lot I can play on this computer these days. Maybe I'll get a new machine in the next couple of months. Maybe it will take longer. But until that day, it's WoW or one of our small library of PS2 games, most of which I've either played to the point of severe boredom. My last login was October 2007. Since then, there have been a few patches, a few UI changes, and apparently everyone I knew who was on the game stopped playing it so often. Or something. I logged in, wandered around a bit. Realized my UI was not the way I had left it, and somehow the Right ActionBar 2 was simply overwriting my main ActionBar, which screwed up my combat actions. Then I looked at my quest list and realized that most of them are group or dungeon quests. Then I looked at my recipes to see if maybe I wanted to do some farming to build stuff. Then I looked around the areas that are still so familiar. And I realized I didn't have much to do, or that I wanted to do. Helped kill some Horde in the Halaa PVP, stocked up on arrows, reworked my UI a little. Signed off and back on a Horde alt to see if Tony or Quinn still played that server. My friends list on that side is very short these days, with only one of Quinn's names on it. Now I'm thinking of canceling my account again after next month. Because if my triumphant return was such a resounding "Eh, whatever" experience, I'm not sure how going back to it every day will be any more entertaining. Current Mood: bored (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Thursday, June 19th, 2008
11:10 am	Tick-tock In a week, I will have my last day of work at the Journal-World. I've been here for nearly 10 years (9 years, 10 months, actually), and sitting at this desk for 7 of them. The place has recently gotten better. Things look even better for web producers down the road, because somewhere around January 2009, they're talking about putting the producers directly under the newsroom budget, where they won't be so neglected by their bosses. Still, I'm done. I will miss many of the people here, but I'm tired of the work, the company, and especially my putative bosses. My last day is Wednesday the 25th. I'm not sure if I'm going to have some kind of celebration, but I do have a list of things to get finished first: 1. Wiki pages for how Ellington works. Made a lot of progress, but I've just been handed a much-more-annoying wiki project for election stuff to finish first. Blah. 2. Verify when and how I'm going to get my unused vacation pay as well as last paycheck. 3. Make sure any personal files and information are removed from the computers. I think I'll leave my logins active, though, just in case IT never gets around to giving full permissions to current and future coworkers. 4. Exit interview the day before I leave. Decide how much I want to swear and burn my bridges. Probably not at all, but it's tempting ... 5. Clean up my pictures, books, and other personal items. 6. Practice my victory dance for when I walk out the front door for the last time. (Comment on this)
Tuesday, June 3rd, 2008
5:50 pm	So mote it be I have the job. Current Mood: ecstatic Current Music: Everybody Got Their Something (9 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, May 30th, 2008
12:20 pm	The News There are two candidates left for the position. I'm the top choice for the news director, but it's not solely her choice. I'm supposed to find out next week. So, kinda what I already knew, but still good.. (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, May 27th, 2008
3:37 pm	I keep saying this But I had another phone interview. It went well. They say I should hear this week (but they've said that in previous weeks). I'm not sure if I'm bored, anxious, or annoyed by this point. Still, it's progress of a sort. UPDATE: Literally half an hour after I posted this, I got in touch with the KC News Director and she scheduled me for a second interview (?!?) this Friday. This is either good news or just another nail in the coffin of my patience. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Wednesday, May 21st, 2008
2:40 pm	Stufflets • Still waiting to hear about possible new jobs. It's a bit discouraging that it's taking so long to hear a yay or nay, but then again, this is what job hunting is like. • If the other job doesn't happen, my current job is getting better in terms of working environment. I had a meeting with our general manager and my new online editor, and we all seem to be in agreement about what we'd like my job to become. However, none of that necessarily translates to money, so see above re: Looking for another job. • My maternal grandparents are rich, and they are in their late 80s. They have decided — well, Grandpa has decided, and Grandma goes along with this — that they would rather see their children and grandchildren enjoy some of their inheritance while they're still alive. Also, Grandpa can give X dollars as gifts tax-free, and he's taking advantage of that. This means I have a bit of money I was not expecting. Besides buying a couple books and movies, and going out to eat a couple more times than we would normally, we're trying to be careful with this windfall. We're using it to pay bills and pay back old debts, starting with money owed to friends. Our big luxury expense is that Forest gets to go back to see her family at the end of the month. I felt pretty guilty when I got the money, as I always do when family gives me money. I came to terms with it, but I hate the fact that I'm 36 and still happy when I get a check of any size from them, because it means I can go to get groceries or gas or something one more time than my normal budget would allow. This also ties into point the first re: Looking for another job. • This is not about work or anything, but school is out in Lawrence. During lunch I noted the roving packs of feral junior high girls stalking the sidewalks. I was briefly afraid for my life; I've seen a man's flesh stripped to the bone in 30 seconds by these girls. • It's time to get on the stick with regard to my writing again. I've been pretty tired at night, and if that continues, I'm going to need to change my sleep schedule or drink more caffeine or something. Current Mood: cheerful (Comment on this)
Friday, May 16th, 2008
11:02 am	Take a small step. Pause. Wait. Just got off the phone for an interview (the third so far, if you don't count my talks with the head-hunter). This, I believe, was the penultimate interview, because it was with a corporate mucky-muck who is probably younger than I am. Probably a decade younger than I am. But he was a pretty cool guy and we had a good talk. He says the final step is that the station's news director makes the choice. He says that I should hear one way or the other in the next week or so. He also only referred to the Kansas City gig in our discussion. I'm taking that as a good sign. Current Mood: hopeful (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Monday, May 12th, 2008
5:51 pm	Damn you, Fabulous Three! This is entirely your fault, Justin, Eric and Karlos. I am not certain exactly how you're at fault, but you are: You want to know the worst part? I watched that with nary a twitch of the eyelid, a sigh, or a shake of my head. Truly, I am damned. (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, May 6th, 2008
10:57 am	Bits * Iron Man rocks. I can't think of much I would want to do differently except, possibly, more big battle. Still, highly satisfied with it. * It's like Forest and I have a social schedule. Steve's birthday party on Saturday (yay for another year of Steve!), gaming on Sunday (yay for pretending to be a Clockwork Man), movie last night with Mike (yay for Iron Man), my game online tonight (yay for fantasy), dinner/hanging out with Ron, Gina and Shan on Thursday (yay for yarn), probably podcast recording on Friday (yay for WANC), Forest's birthday party on Saturday (yay for Mongolian Barbecue). No game next Sunday, but we might be worn out by then anyway. * Working on a wiki for work, recording institutional knowledge on how to do all these things. Weird feeling, in that I think this was necessary for quite some time but kept being told to wait until they had something ready to go, but also that this may be the Beginning of the End for me. * Should hear about possible jobs this week or next. Very hard not to play expectation games, but I'm working on it. * Grocery and gas prices suck. This is not news, it's just a restatement of a truth. (Comment on this)
Wednesday, April 30th, 2008
1:20 pm	Single tear on the cheek Apparently Steve and Justin are filtering me out of friends posts. I am hearing about cool childhood fears photos or rambling updates, yet I see nothing. I feel so unloved. Current Mood: amused (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, April 29th, 2008
10:14 am	Aftermath After I'd spent about half an hour talking to the station's general manager — and apparently these guys take on similar characteristics after 30+ years in the business, 'cause he was a lot like the manager in Des Moines — I was introduced to the people who do the work of putting stuff online. While we were comparing notes and reflecting on just how similar the job is to what I'm doing now, we see the station manager, the news director (who was interviewing me) and the assistant news director all gather in the news director's office and talk for a while. She has big windows in her office, so she glanced up, saw us looking at them, and they all waved at me. That's either a good sign or a bad sign. I think the interview went well. No bad vibes from anyone, everyone was pleasant, all the boss types seemed to be good people and we had good talks. I had to bite my tongue at one point when talking to the general manager, because he kept saying things that made me want to jump in, and I was trying very hard to not interrupt him. I should hear something in the next week or two. Nothing else to do except to hope. And maybe send cake. Current Mood: hopeful (5 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, April 28th, 2008
10:54 am	And away I go "It's vital that you do not suck." "Hey, man, I make no guarantees!" — Tom Hanks and Steve Zahn, That Thing You Do! In half an hour I drive away through the fabulous wonderland that is the Grandview Triangle and go interview for the job I really want. I am not yet bouncing with nerves, but I can feel them lurking in the background. This is why I brought extra deodorant. Current Mood: nervous (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, April 26th, 2008
11:19 pm	I am now determined that the next time I move, I want to hire professionals to do the lifting and toting and hauling. Helping Justin, Eric and Karlos with their crap — and there was so much of it — has reminded me of all the reasons I hate moving. My twenty push-ups and twenty sit-ups in the morning plus walking to work is not keeping me in shape. I guess it's keeping me from sliding farther out of shape than I am, but I need to figure out how to improve my conditioning. That, plus my allergies making it hard for me to breathe deeply without coughing, meant I was suffering more than usual when hauling stuff. Woke up at 6 to help with the move. We probably could have slept a bit later by just showing up for Justin's portion of the move at, what, 9 a.m. or whenever that was. But I wanted to see how I handled going to be before midnight and waking up that early because if I get the job in KC, I'll be having to do this in order to commute to work for a while. I was doing better in the morning than I thought I would, but I'm not sure how I'd adapt to this in the medium-term. If the KC job does happen, we would probably relocate to Kansas City anyway, but I know it'd be at least a few months before we could do so. I'm excited by the interview on Monday, but not yet nervous. I expect that will come on Sunday. If it were necessary, I would take the job in Des Moines, but I really want the one in KC. So I'm both determined to make a good impression and worrying about how things will work out. Now, off for some yogurt and probably an orange for dessert and maybe some BSG. (1 Comment |Comment on this)