I'm Lovin' It

No, not McDonald's. I'm lovin' my job! In fact, I can't believe how much I love it. I was on the air a few times this week and, in my opinion, I'm getting better every time. I'm still not totally happy with the way I've been doing, but they tell me I'm doing well. Because I'm still training, there's no reason to tell me I'm doing well if I'm not. So, I guess I should believe that I am, and just try to get better. Well, more comfortable would probably explain it better.

I worked the board today for almost all the afternoon newscasts. We do them every half hour from 3 to 6. I didn't think I'd catch on so fast but, I pretty much had it by the second time.

Sshhh. Don't tell anyone but, I think ... I think ... I'm going to tell them on Monday that I'm ready to do the 3 o'clock live, by myself. Amazingly enough, I didn't even get nervous when I typed that. Must mean I am ready. We'll see on Monday, I guess.

Talk About Weird Dreams!

This was more of a movie than a dream. It was so vivid ... and weird. But because I'm writing this 12 hours after I woke up, and after a busy news day, I can't remember the details as well as I did this morning.

Anyway, at one point, I was running away from people, one man in particular, who I knew were going to hurt me. I made my way to this building where my dad used to work. I felt safe there for a few minutes, and even started to relax and try to figure out where I could hide. I decided I'd go down a flight of stairs to the women's restrooom. As I was halfway down the stairs, the restroom door opened and the guy who was chasing me came out. I turned and ran the other way.

Somehow, I made my way to this place that looked safe. It was kind of an indoor garden with all kinds of plants and flowers all over the place. But when I got inside I found out it was some kind of cult headquarters. The women were all dressed in something like "I Dream of Jeannie" outfits, except not as revealing. And, women and children were not allowed to urinate. At one point, a little girl "went" on the floor and the women were trying to hide it before the men saw it and punished her. But they didn't hide it in time and the men came and dragged the girl away while yelling about punishment for breaking the rules.

I got out of there fast, and somehow found myself backstage during a performance of some kind of play. I was familiar with the play, so I helped out with stage managing.

Next thing I knew, I was in church.

That's where everything gets fuzzy. I really don't remember anymore.

Who knew?

Not me, that's for sure. I never thought I would or could miss writing news. But, I'm tellin' ya, I got a little bit of a rush today after writing my first-ever radio news story. It's only been one day. I haven't been on the air yet. I don't know how to do any of the technical stuff yet. Despite all that, I love it already.

This is probably a very strange thing to be excited about, however, I was very happy to learn that we have weekly staff meetings. It's nice to know that some people in the communications business still communicate with each other for the betterment of the company.

My first day on the air isn't supposed to be until Oct. 31, but I'm hoping it will be sooner. I'm so excited about this!

OK. I'll admit there was one thing that bothered me but that's only because of one of my (many) quirks. I may have mentioned before that I have an irrational fear of being late so I'm very compulsive about making sure I'm on time or early for everything. So, it really freaked me out when the news director, with like a minute to go before he went on the air, said he had to go to his office to get something. I was thinking "But, but, but ... What if you don't get back in time? I can't do this. Can I? Maybe I can. Is this a test to see if I'll do it on my own? I could try but I'd probably screw it up. Yikes!" Of course he got back in time. I'll just have to learn that they know what they're doing. I don't yet. I need to trust them.

Odd & Ends

I'm not a NASCAR fan, although I do know many of the drivers' names and I do have a favorite. (Kevin Harvick, because he's from Bakersfield) Last night there was a race on TNT. Following that was The Shawshank Redemption, which I have never seen from beginning to end. I was looking forward to watching it, and figured I could watch 20 minutes or so of NASCAR until the movie came on, especially since, at the time I turned it on, Harvick was leading. Wouldn't you know it? They set a track record for cautions. By the time the race ended, I was asleep so I still haven't seen all of The Shawshank Redemption.

~*~

Speaking of movies, What's Up Doc? was on tv the other night. I love that movie! I don't know how many times I've seen it but I laugh every time.

~*~

I had another weird dream last night. It had something to do with me covering some kind of big important trial. The courtroom was packed. The defendant, who was not sitting at the defense table, and his family were harassing me. During a recess, the defendant started looking through my purse (I don't even carry a purse *shrug*). I got angry and started yelling at him. A baliff pulled us away from each other but I managed to kick the defendant in the head. As soon as I did it, I knew I'd be found in contempt and kicked out of the courtroom, so I told people to call my lawyer and fix the problem.

~*~

Sometime when I was in California, one of the intersections here went from a traffic light to stop signs. I still have trouble remembering that ... but only at one of the stops. It seems every day on my way to work I sit there for a couple seconds waiting for the light to change. Duh! Luckily, no one has ever been behind me during those brain farts.

Speaking of changes and driving, on Monday there will be some big changes here and, because of the ignorant drivers, I'm scared to death. You see, one street, which has been one-way for years, will now be two-way. Another one-way street will now be going east to west instead of west to east. You'd better believe I'm going to avoid that part of town as much as possible for the next couple of weeks. Thank God my new job is on the other side of town.

~*~

Speaking of the new job, my first day on the air by myself is tentatively scheduled for Oct. 31, the day before NaNo starts. This may be the first time in five years I won't be finishing. I'll give it my best shot, though.

A plus with the new job is that I don't have to worry about spelling. I used to be a champion speller but spell checking has made me lazy. But, on the radio, no one will know if I spelled something right. I just have to pronounce correctly. The word that I think will give me the most trouble is "meteorologist." I wonder if I could get away with saying "weather guy."

I'm a Sick, Sick Woman

So, I went the convenience store this morning to get a pumpkin spice cappuccino. When I left, got in my car and started pulling out of the parking lot, I noticed that if I made my usual left turn, there would be school busses in front me. Not that I was in a hurry or anything, but I didn't want the busses in front of me, so I turned right. As I was stopped at the red light, I noticed a familiar-looking SVU driving toward the intersection. Apparently, he noticed my car, too, because he did a double-take toward me as he drove by. But, as is usually the case with me, I thought it was wishful thinking, or my imagination that he would give me a second look. I've been thinking about him more than usual lately, so I thought maybe it wasn't him after all and I just wanted it to be him. So, I did a quick drive by his office to see if it was really him. Sure enough, there was GSG unlocking his office door.

Why does that make me a sick woman? Well, one of the reasons is that, obviously, I'm still obsessed with this man and I'm driving myself nuts with it. But the main reason is that I decided to post about that before I posted about this ...
I got the job!

I filled out the paperwork yesterday and I start here Monday. I'm so excited!

How Much is Too Much?

I never really know how much television is too much. All the expert studies seem to change every couple of years ... kind of like diet stuff and which foods are good for you.

So, here are the shows I currently watch: Medium, Law & Order: SVU, Lost, CSI, ER, Desperate Housewives. Also, Jeopardy 5 days a week, if I'm home, and either reruns of Roseanne or That 70s Show, if I'm awake and still feel like watching something at 11 p.m. That's 12 hours a week of actually watching television. There are other shows I have on while I'm doing other things. Let's see ... Dick VanDyke, I Love Lucy, The Real World, The Abrams Report, Countdown, The Surreal Life. That's 5 hours, which adds up to 17 hours. Even if you add the fact that I sometimes have MSNBC or The Food Network on for background noise when I'm on the computer, that's only about 20 hours. Is that too much?

People are Strange

There's this person I went to junior high and high school with. We were pretty good friends back then but, as is often the case, we lost touch with each other. Now, I see her three or four times a month and she never, ever recognizes me. Or, if she does, she doesn't say hello to me. There are two reasons I believe she doesn't recognize me. This person also dated The Best Friend for a while. He told me that a few years ago he saw her, said hello then talked to her for a few minutes before he realized she had no idea who he was. He hasn't changed that much since high school. In fact, the first time we saw each other after 15 years we recognized each other instantly. Anyway, when this woman sees my mother, she always talks to her and ... Now, this is weird ... always says "Tell Anne I said hello." Uh, you could tell me yourself, ya know?

Yesterday, I took my Mom to Mass. This woman sat a few rows ahead of us. After Mass, I went to a convenience store to get a pumpkin spice cappuccino. The woman was there. I said hello to her. She turned her head and walked away. That wasn't surprising, of course. But just 30 minutes earlier the priest's sermon was something along the lines of "All God really asks of us is to be good people and to be nice." So, even if she didn't recognize me, wouldn't you think she'd do what the priest said and acknowledge my greeting just to be nice?

Apparently, she's one of the those people who goes through the motions of being Catholic but doesn't know anything about being Christian. And, I'm not judging her, or anyone concerning how they live their lives as a Catholic/Christian. I'm just making an observation.

Another Weird Dream

I walked into a bar with a woman I used to work with, which is strange in and of itself for a number of reason, one of them being that she doesn't drink. We sat at the bar. She ordered something. Then, while trying to decide what I wanted, I noticed the bartender was standing next to the Labatt's tap, so that's what I ordered. (The Best Friend drinks Labatt's. I drink either Mich Ultra or Amstel Light.) Three times the bartender asked what I wanted. Three times I repeated Labatt's. After the third time, he said "You want a Labatt's? Here's your Labatt's" and he spit at me, getting it all over my face and hair, then walked away. I told the woman I was with that I was going to report him to the police and have him charged with assault. She laughed and told me I couldn't do that because he just spit at me. I told her I most certainly could have him charged with assault. We argued about it for a while then, with the spit still on my face and hair, I went to the police station and reported him. Then, for some reason, I called GSG to talk about something else. We ended up scheduling a barbecue for the weekend before Memorial Day next year. After I got off the phone with him, I went back to the bar and sat next to the woman I went in with. GSG got there right after I did and sat down next to me. She said something to GSG about how stupid I was in thinking that I could ask the police to charge the bartender with assault. He agreed with me, and told me I could have him charged. Then the bartender came over and asked GSG what he wanted. He ordered a Labatt's and the bartender wouldn't serve him either. Then the bartender asked if he was with me. When GSG said yes, I was really happy until the bartender laughed and walked away. I asked the woman I went in with what the story was with the bartender. She said he was the brother of the guy who sued me. I was livid and asked her how she could be that mean, to bring me in there knowing he worked there. She just shrugged and didn't answer. Then GSG said he'd see to it that the police charge the bartender.

Nostalgia or Inflation or ... Something

Does anyone remember 45s? You know. Records? Singles? If you do remember, do you remember when they used to cost a buck or less? Well, I haven't bought a single in ages. Actually, until yesterday, I never bought a single on CD. Considering it's been about 25 years (Oh ... my ... God!) since I bought a single, I shouldn't have been surprised at the cost - $3.44. At Wal-Mart. Before tax. But, considering the full-length CDs I bought were $14-something, I guess the price is in line with what it used to be in the old days.

So, what single was it that compelled me to slap down $3.44 plus tax, you ask? OK. I'll admit it. "Inside Your Heaven," the Bo Bice version. (Nothing againt Carrie Underwood but, I like Bo's version better.) It's the first CD by an American Idol contestant I ever bought. Well, yeah. I also bought Kelly Clarkson's CD yesterday but I picked up "Inside Your Heaven" first. Bice comes before Clarkson alphabetically. That's why I picked it up first. I went in to by Kelly's CD and a Melissa Etheridge CD, which I forgot. For some reason, I bought a Rod Stewart greatest hits CD and forgot all about Melissa. Sorry 'bout that, Melissa. You and Sheryl are next, though.

Back to "Inside Your Heaven." Sometimes, when I'm in a mood, it makes me cry. Any song that makes me cry, I need to have.

The Waiting is the Hardest Part

If you can possibly avoid having a job interview on a Friday, do it. Why? Obviously, you have to wait until at least Monday to find out if you got the job. Eek!

Anyway, as my regular readers know, the Red Cross job is just temporary and ends in 3 weeks. Because I tend to procrastinate, I haven't really been looking for anything else. But, as luck would have it, "anything" came looking for me. I got an e-mail yesterday asking if I would be interested. I said "YES!!!" He asked if I could come in for an interview this morning, which I did. I'm not a good judge of these things but, I think it went fairly well. I hope it did.

I'm not going to jinx this by actually posting about what the job is. Besides, if I don't get it, anyone who reads this and knows me in person might think I'm a loser for not getting it. Anyway, I've wanted this job (or something similar) ever since I was a little kid. But, as my regular readers also know, I've always been painfully shy with major self-esteem issues. When I was about 12 years old, I made the mistake of actually telling people I wanted this job. The people who didn't laugh at me told me I'd never be able to do it.

I'll show them! I hope.