Special

I got up this morning, got dressed (Batman t-shirt and shorts, because I'm that kind of nerd) and drove over to the paper to meet with my editor. I didn't shower, I didn't brush my teeth, etc. I didn't really care about making a good impression as much as before -- my editor knows me now, knows I can write a good story, and knows he can trust me with a story. All of this was established when I had my "interview" with him a few weeks ago, and further established when I delivered a story to him not only on time, but early. We have a good rapport anyway and seem to be on much the same wavelength when it comes to writing and working.

I had to go over there this morning to drop off my invoice for the article that ran in the paper last Thursday, an article which, once I got a spare copy of the paper and was able to read it, I found that I misspelled my interviewee's name. Oops. Oh well. I also had to fill out my W-9 form for taxes and the like, and had to bring home the direct deposit form because they require a photocopy of my social security card, and (obviously) I don't carry that with me because I'm not an idiot. So I'll have to bring those back over to the office at some point, which isn't a big deal, seeing as the paper is three miles from my house (roughly). I can't get paid until those forms are in and they have a canceled check they can stick on file, which is really okay -- I have at least one other story I'm still trying to work on for them and will probably get a few more before the semester starts.

"I've been assigned some sections to teach this fall for the university," I told my editor. "Don't know how many yet, but unless I get like three or four of them, I should be able to continue stringing for the foreseeable future. Obviously, if that changes, I'll let you know ASAP."

He was very understanding, of course -- after all, I am an independent journalist and can write or not write whenever I want with them, as long as my info is in the system for pay (part of why I had to go over there again today, as mentioned above).

There is a full-time position opening in McPherson, a town about 30 miles to the northwest of me (it's where I took my driving test and got my license). The McPherson paper is run by the former news editor of the Newton paper, a woman I worked with and knew pretty well (in a journalism sense) when I was a full reporter and webmaster before grad school. My editor forwarded my information on to her, but she hasn't contacted me yet, and may not. If she does, it's going to break my heart to tell her I can't do the full-time gig there because of my teaching schedule. Not to mention that McPherson would be a hell of a grind to drive there and back every day, but that's beside the point. If this had popped up two weeks ago, I would've jumped on it. The timing just sucks, that's all.

Some of you may be saying why aren't you jumping on it now, and telling the university that you can no longer teach for them in the fall? Because of a few simple factors, really. One, I haven't been contacted or offered the position. Two, I'd be driving more miles than I drive to campus and back, and it would be every day. Gas would be incredibly expensive and it would put a lot more miles and wear on my car. Three, if I can get three or four sections of classes to teach at the university (a big if, yes, but possible), I'd make more in sixteen weeks than I'd make in eight or nine months in a full-time reporter job. Four, if I were to take a full-time reporter job, there's a good chance that unless I was making enough to fully, truly support myself, I'd be leaving it in less than a year anyway once Daisy and I get married. Five, if I were to take a full-time reporter job I would more than likely not continue teaching again for a long time, if ever. And, finally, six -- the newspaper industry has a high turnaround rate. If this position remains open for a while, or is filled and reopened, there's a good shot I could get it after this semester anyhow, but I would still only take it if it could support me and Daisy well enough to survive on.

And, y'know, it would probably mean I'd have to move to McPherson eventually. Which, really, is a nice town, but if I'm going to move I'd like it to be somewhere more permanent and somewhere that I don't necessarily have to worry too much about job security.

The newspaper industry, especially out here, is a mess. It's basically a good job as long as you can keep it, and as long as your position isn't eliminated due to cutbacks or automation of day-to-day processes. This is why the webmaster position I had at the paper three years ago no longer exists now -- all of the website layout and advertising is now done in-house at the corporate level, not the paper level. If I'd chosen to stay there instead of go to grad school, my position would've been eliminated within a year. So, yes, it's a shaky industry. Higher education, for the most part, is not. Say what you want about academia, but when you teach you're locked in for several months at a time, get a guaranteed paycheck (even if it's not a lot), the work is consistently fulfilling, and you get a fresh batch of students every semester. Academia is a constantly-moving machine, and there will always be a need for English professors to teach composition courses.

For the moment, I made a judgment call that will secure me, possibly, a bit more money and stability for the time being. The time being. Who knows, I may not get any more classes to teach this fall, and will be stuck just with the one -- that's not exactly financially stable, but it's enough wiggle room to pay my bills and keep me looking for other work during the fall, obviously. I can deal with that for the next few months. What I wouldn't be able to deal with would be actively pursuing another position only to have it possibly fall through and leave me with nothing when I could've been teaching and making a good bit of money to pay bills and sock away some for the wedding (or for after the wedding). Make no mistake, if I get three or four classes, I will be working my ass off to teach and grade for all of them, but I'll also be getting a good bit of money over a relatively short time, and I have few expenses and monetary requirements for basic survival. So, yes. Judgment call. A gamble. A slightly worrying gamble, but I do have faith in the department to get me whatever classes they can, so that worrying is only slight. If they can't get me any more, I don't fault them, of course -- it will only further my drive to find more work for the spring, and I'll adjust my budget accordingly.

As mentioned, when I went over to the paper I did present to my editor my invoice for the story -- it did run last Thursday (it didn't appear on the website because they've been having problems with a lot of those web-oriented things). It ran on the front page at the bottom, and continued inside. As a stringer before, when I had a byline it ran my position as "For the [Paper]." Now, they've apparently changed that to "Special to the [Paper]."

So my byline said that I was special to the paper.

I found this hilarious. I don't know why. It was along the lines of "aww, someone thinks I'm special!" or something like that, or "at least the paper thinks I'm special!" I took a photo of it and uploaded it to Facebook, but won't post it here (since it has, y'know, my name and the paper's name on it). Plus, my camera is shitty.

My weekend is wide-open for relaxation; Daisy goes back to work tonight. She got home safely around midnight and went to bed, and this afternoon may be able to reserve our wedding location if the contact gets back to her. I will be cleaning, working on any other stories that my editor may find, and will probably do some laundry and run the dishwasher. I slept really roughly last night for some reason; when the morning rolled around, I didn't want to wake up and my body was all stiff and achy (probably partially because my allergies are still going nutty, and we're supposed to get storms for the next several days again). The only reason I didn't continue sleeping is because I needed to go over to the paper's offices. This means that I'll probably pass out fairly early tonight. Also, NFL preseason starts on Sunday night, to much rejoicing from me -- I'll probably do a big dinner for myself here at the house and sit on the couch to watch the first game. I can't wait. Football is finally back. I don't have anything else to take care of outside the house, really -- I won't need to go grocery shopping for a while, all of my bills are paid except for the water bill (which came yesterday) and my car has a full tank of gas. Let it rain and storm all it wants, because my yard can't be mowed again until it's dry and stays dry, and I don't have any new gas for the mower yet anyway. With Daisy at work for the next four nights, all I'll be doing is sleeping and relaxing as much as I can, especially since once I start teaching I won't get to do that as often, or as much. For once it's not 100 degrees outside, either (it's 81 right now) and it's somewhat comfortable in the house, so I can actually enjoy being upstairs and awake, and won't sweat through my clothes when I try to do housework.