Changes

The past two weeks have been a whirlwind.

As such, it’s not unusual for me to be thinking on the way home or on the way to work that I haven’t blogged. And then, in typical ADHD fashion, to start thinking about ponies or Apartheid or something equally irrelevant and to totally forget that I have neglected to put something meaningful on here.

Such is life. I am not going to beat myself up over it. See? Okay, maybe I am beating myself up a little bit, as per the picture to the right, but not too much.

Anyway, onto the good stuff… Which some of you already know about…

Last week, my boss called me into his office. Being the nervous stress-ball-esque creature that I am, getting beckoned into the boss’ inner sanctum is enough to make me a little worried. And in this economy, who wouldn’t be, right?

“Sit down.”

I don’t like it when I’m told to sit down by a superior. It makes me worry that they don’t want me passing out from the bad news.

“There’s going to be some changes in the newsroom.”

Here it comes, I remember thinking. Maybe if I beg hard enough, he’ll at least let me have a job in packaging or circulation, delivering papers. I can make some off that…

“I’m moving you to the cops beat.”

Woot! I asked for this!

“But I’m also putting you in charge of our Web development.”

Wait… what? Is there a geek word powerful enough to describe the joy I am experiencing? The flame of enthusiasm in my chest burns more furious than the flaming fires of 10,000 suns! Be still, my beating heart!

“You’ll still be writing, but two to three days a week, I want you to focus on improving the Web site and our online efforts.”

And then he was quiet. Time for me to respond.

“That sounds great.”

Be reserved! Don’t jump up and down and cry on him with obvious happiness! That’s over the line!

And so here I am. Honestly, it’s very strange to step off the health beat. There, I was in my element. I know hospitals and doctors. I’ve known that world all my life. To take over a beat about law enforcement is to step into a world mildly familiar, as it’s what I did for a year in college, but otherwise, I’m on unfamiliar ground.

That’s not to say I don’t like it already. I’ve been on that beat for months now, covering it while I covered health. The cops seem to like me, as they haven’t tased/shot/beaten me yet. The firemen likewise seem to like me as they haven’t hosed/beaten/pantsed and rolled me off the boat ramp yet.

So far so good. Web development also seems to be off to a good start. If you’d like to see some of my shameless self-promotion efforts, visit http://www.omicrime.wordpress.com. I have to blog regularly on that one, so I am hoping that helps prod me a little more into blogging on the personal level. At the very least, it will help get the gears going.

That’s all I’ve got for now. I will keep you apprised of the situation.

Oh, and Dr. Mom and Sis… Try not to worry too much about my new job description. There should be a healthy mix of in-front-of-computer-at-desk time and out-with-cops-trying-not-to-get-shot/out-with-firemen-trying-not-to-get-burned time.

What? Don’t look at me like that. If I die, you get the life insurance! Gosh!

Catching up

So we had this ice storm…

All told, 800,000 people in the state of Kentucky lost power. About 30 deaths have been connected to the storm.

I lost power for, oh, 10 hours total.

Unfortunately, it also made work a little crazy. I worked 11 straight days. And on Wednesday, near the end of my rope and so tired I was making more than the usual number of mistakes in my writing, I sat up and suddenly it was all clear. This is a clarity of unknown origin and of miraculous quality.

I didn’t take a day off last week because I wouldn’t have been able to. I need to be working. I need to be making a difference. I needed to know everything and I needed to know right now.

Yesterday, I did finally take a day off. I slept most of it. It was the only way I could be out of the loop on a normal day. To take the weekend off seems natural though I still read the news like clockwork. Something in me does still allow me to turn it off and go back to relaxing.

But this drive in me, this need to work and be a part of it all… A part of me wonders if this is what love feels like… A need to do something or be something so powerful that all else pales in comparison.

And if I am in love with my work to the point that I’m practically married to it… does that mean that any future lovely lady would be my mistress?

That’ll be difficult to explain. Better keep that one to myself.

Wait…

25

On my ninth straight day of work since the ice storm last week. More to come.