Tuesday, August 02, 2005
Optimism
That's right, folks, it's a splash of optimism. Sure it may seem like I could be bipolar for a complete attitude turnaround in two days but one little misunderstanding righted definitely led me toward feeling a lot better about a lot of things.
So a week ago I would have told you my editor was a coot because it seemed like he was sending me on a wild goose chase after the veterinarians of this fair state, or their board, either way it seemed like a really insignificant story to work on. At the time I believed he said a state supreme court ruling this month declared that Veterinarians under investigation by the state veterinary licensing board would have five days' notice before inspectors could inspect their facility.
Now, as I said before, I'm really anxious about what my editors think of me. I don't feel like they think much of me at all, particularly since I've never beeen called upon when they need a story immediately. I'm not particularly jealous of my fellow interns, I'm happy for them that they've been getting clips. But half of my time lately has been spent looking at school cafeteria health inspection records with unimpressive violations on them. Nothing to make you cringe, the closets around those schools are pretty clean of skeletons. There's nothing, in the words of Brant Houston, that would make you gasp if I told you about it.
To get back to my story. So my editor gave me a copy of the supreme court's decision on the matter last week. I tried to read it but honestly it seemed like it was loaded down with directionless conversation over whether the terms "inspection - or regularly comparing a doctor's office to the board's standards" and "investigation - where a veterinarian has a recorded and signed complaint against them and is being investigated for that problem" were interchangeable. This made no sense because from everything i've read or heard lately they aren't in the least comparable, even to common sense, at least my sense of it.
So apparently all this while my editor was telling me the supreme court ordered that someone with a complaint filed against them was now going to get notification of their pending investigation-related inspection five days before anyone could show up at their door. That means someone who could hypothetically be giving morphine to Fido has five days to clear all the evidence out of his office before the board comes knocking on his door. Now that's a story! The way I see it, my editors are willing to trust me with that story.
Because I misunderstood my editor I also have a completely different set of data on inspections of veterinarians' offices in Ohio at large. And, by comparison, Pennsylvania, Michigan, West Virginia, Kentucky and Indiana. I called them to get comparisons. I'm going to call them all again now that I have this piece of information. I'm also drilling the Ohio board for records of inspections of local veterinarians. This is fun, particularly since Fido's health is at stake.
I also finally told an editor that I was worried about failing at this internship. He told me he's told every student (he's also a professor at the University of Toledo) it's a learning experience and I would get out alive. I've heard this before, naturally, but I told someone and it feels better. I also learned a frightening fact, this editor's a nice guy and all, a bit rough on the edges, but he said today that not only had he been a professor for 25 years, but he was at the Blade even before that. This is frightening. Someone should do some radiographic Carbon 14 testing on his seat cushion to give us a guess at just how long he's been at the newspaper. He also pounds at his keyboard. I can only imagine the cemeteries of computer keyboards buried somewhere.
Anyway, It looks good. I've got a ways to go, but I'll also get a clip from this veterinarians story. Peace.
P.S.: I make no apologies for the awkwardness of my "i's" some are up, some are down, some are right, some are wrong, there they stand. Also, everyone should keep themselves abreast of the activities of the Ferret lobby (see below).
So a week ago I would have told you my editor was a coot because it seemed like he was sending me on a wild goose chase after the veterinarians of this fair state, or their board, either way it seemed like a really insignificant story to work on. At the time I believed he said a state supreme court ruling this month declared that Veterinarians under investigation by the state veterinary licensing board would have five days' notice before inspectors could inspect their facility.
Now, as I said before, I'm really anxious about what my editors think of me. I don't feel like they think much of me at all, particularly since I've never beeen called upon when they need a story immediately. I'm not particularly jealous of my fellow interns, I'm happy for them that they've been getting clips. But half of my time lately has been spent looking at school cafeteria health inspection records with unimpressive violations on them. Nothing to make you cringe, the closets around those schools are pretty clean of skeletons. There's nothing, in the words of Brant Houston, that would make you gasp if I told you about it.
To get back to my story. So my editor gave me a copy of the supreme court's decision on the matter last week. I tried to read it but honestly it seemed like it was loaded down with directionless conversation over whether the terms "inspection - or regularly comparing a doctor's office to the board's standards" and "investigation - where a veterinarian has a recorded and signed complaint against them and is being investigated for that problem" were interchangeable. This made no sense because from everything i've read or heard lately they aren't in the least comparable, even to common sense, at least my sense of it.
So apparently all this while my editor was telling me the supreme court ordered that someone with a complaint filed against them was now going to get notification of their pending investigation-related inspection five days before anyone could show up at their door. That means someone who could hypothetically be giving morphine to Fido has five days to clear all the evidence out of his office before the board comes knocking on his door. Now that's a story! The way I see it, my editors are willing to trust me with that story.
Because I misunderstood my editor I also have a completely different set of data on inspections of veterinarians' offices in Ohio at large. And, by comparison, Pennsylvania, Michigan, West Virginia, Kentucky and Indiana. I called them to get comparisons. I'm going to call them all again now that I have this piece of information. I'm also drilling the Ohio board for records of inspections of local veterinarians. This is fun, particularly since Fido's health is at stake.
I also finally told an editor that I was worried about failing at this internship. He told me he's told every student (he's also a professor at the University of Toledo) it's a learning experience and I would get out alive. I've heard this before, naturally, but I told someone and it feels better. I also learned a frightening fact, this editor's a nice guy and all, a bit rough on the edges, but he said today that not only had he been a professor for 25 years, but he was at the Blade even before that. This is frightening. Someone should do some radiographic Carbon 14 testing on his seat cushion to give us a guess at just how long he's been at the newspaper. He also pounds at his keyboard. I can only imagine the cemeteries of computer keyboards buried somewhere.
Anyway, It looks good. I've got a ways to go, but I'll also get a clip from this veterinarians story. Peace.
P.S.: I make no apologies for the awkwardness of my "i's" some are up, some are down, some are right, some are wrong, there they stand. Also, everyone should keep themselves abreast of the activities of the Ferret lobby (see below).
# posted by Solon : 9:37 PM
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