the navel times and observer

I took the job. I had a conversation this morning with my editor about leaving the Globe for the Lebanon Daily Record and she informed me that the last two error or so published in the newspaper were someone forgiven because she knew I was looking at other job opportunities. Thus the case at hand. I have two recorded reprimands, two strikes, against me which means if I get a third error published in the newspaper my ass is in the Dumpster.

My editor told me they'd rather not fire me and wasn't trying to get rid of me, which I believe, but then that same day told a friend of mine and a Globe intern that should she want to take a job full time mine was available. I felt that was more than a little uncalled for, to more or less begin divying up my posessions while not only is my corpse not yet cold, but still live and in the building!

In any case, yes. I took the job. I will be a Daily Record reporter and sometime editor beginning April 11. I'm not terribly excited about the job, but I'm looking forward to not having a job where I continually need to worry about coming in one day to find the editors giving me flowers and telling me they hate to let me go.

Thus I am a lame duck reporter. The motivation to really try to dig in and expand coverage of my beat? Gone. I mean the returns are slim to none. I'm still going to go to work every day (that is, unless I can pull off a couple vacation, personal or sick days before I go. Honestly I'd rather not try to stress the relationship I have with my editors). But in any case I wouldn't take one off until after the election on the 4th. I can't wait to cover the election.

This election, ladies and gentlemen, could determine if a former Jasper mayor, a write-in candidate for an alderman seat, could possibly get that seat despite being a write-in candidate. This, my friends, means he might possibly sit on a city council at the same table as the current mayor this guy slugged at the beginning of the month. It would be great to see how a guy does in the election when he has a court date just a week later for an assault charge against the mayor the town he's trying to represent.

It should be a good night. And I won't miss it. I might try to swing a day off afterward. I mean my editor said she needs her reporters Friday, but then I'd be leaving that same day so where's the motivation to hang around as long as it's not gonna hurt me in a future reference? Ciao.