The way the office smelled every morning: newspapers and fresh brewed coffee. How can a workday be bad if it starts out smelling like a Sunday morning? (workday suck often triumphed over the pleasant aroma)

My plucky family of coworkers.

Proximity to shopping. There are no stores in lunchtime-walking-distance to TNP.

The patch of grass in the parking lot where I used to pitch my beach chair and read in the warm weather.

Admin privileges on my PC. Every day there is an Adobe update I can’t install. Drives me crazy.

The pride of working for the local newspaper. Love it or hate it, everyone knew of the Courier-Post. And we did good things. I believe if we weren’t owned by Gannett we’d have done even better things. But I used to see the trucks go by and smile because I was a part of that. It used to be really good.

…and that’s about it.

This week’s theme is WINTER. Boo! Hiss!

1. Where have you been that could best be described as a winter wonderland?
We had a crap-ton of snow here last year, so… New Jersey!

2. In what way might you describe this as the winter of your discontent?

While the yoots blog away about the quarter-life crisis I’m careening toward the middle of my life and most certainly the middle of my working life. When I took my job in 1999, I wanted to innovate, to design, to cultivate and grow the company’s website. But as the years passed, all of the design decisions were taken over by the corporate office. Leaving us here with heaps of data entry, no design input and really precious little infrastructure input. And no marketing money to fight off the competition. While I don’t agree with those decisions I understand why they were made.

So I’m thinking: is this where I want to work the rest of my days? Do I toss away my desire to “make a difference” so I can stick with my 4 weeks vacation & 3 personal days per year? Don’t forget my unpaid furlough week to be taken in March.

Now, take a look at stories about the newspaper industry (or read between the lines of the furlough comment above) and you’ll understand that this decision on whether or not to continue here may not even end up being my decision to make! I could be out on the cold streets pounding the pavement with a flash drive full of nothing. Then won’t I be sorry?

Speaking of which, a large chunk of what I do now will be taken over by the corporate office in March. (nervous laugh)

Aren’t I a buzz-kill?

3. What was the last wintergreen-flavored thing you tasted?

Wint-O-green Lifesavers. Eat’em in front of the bathroom mirror with the lights out and they spark!

4. Is there anyone in your life who could be nicknamed Old Man Winter?

WM is quite fond of cold, snow, and the absence of sunlight.

5. Now that the holidays have passed, is there anything good about the winter that remains?

NOTHING! BRING ON THE SUMMER! I hate this crap! I HATE WINTER!

According to Wikipedia, Bloom’s Taxonomy is a classification of learning objectives within education. Ah…a teaching term. I’m the daughter of a teacher and the girlfriend of a teacher so it makes sense that the term is buried in my brain. Oh hey, here’s a list of verbs. Wonder what this has to do with these questions though…

1. What did you do this week? (knowledge)

This week I worked hard, mostly scheduling ads and trying to make sense of how our classifieds are displayed online (very poorly, imo). I attended an exercise class. I ate like absolute crap.

2. Why did things turn out the way they did this week? (comprehension)

I ate like crap because I worked hard and I quit biting my nails (again again again). Working hard stresses me out. Apparently I need to chew on things so if I can’t chew on my nails, I’m chewing on crackers and chips. Our classifieds are displayed poorly because I neglected the system for so long (it’s never been a priority) that categories have been added and deleted and the site hasn’t kept up. And it’s really dark.

3. How will this week’s events affect next week’s, both positively and negatively? (application)

Negatively: The scale, baby. Since the wedding I’ve been eating all the delights I missed out on this summer.
Postively: It might not be next week, but I’d love to see a better-designed classifieds section before year’s end. Like most of my projects, I can only work on this 10-20 minutes at a time.

4. What were this week’s pivotal moments where things might have happened differently and changed everything? (analysis? synthesis? Buh???)

Yesterday I decided to let a delivery truck have the right of way in our parking lot. He had the stop sign but chose to ignore it until he was halfway through the intersection. Since “Delivery Truck vs. Saturn” would end poorly for me, I decided to be smart and stop. That could have changed the week. Plus, I keep forgetting to buy the winning lottery ticket that’ll let me give a 2 week notice at work.

5. How was your week? (evaluation)

I’d say I completed the workweek with about an 90% proficiency. Then again, I’m writing this at 7:30am. We’ll what today brings.

***
Moment of cattiness: The Philadelphia Inquirer & Daily News have been re-re-auctioned to their creditors. There are 3 people there whom I’d love to see pouring me a latte at Starbucks if they get laid off. Wait, scratch that…that’s mean. I wouldn’t wish their incompetence on the good people of Starbucks.

Moment of clarity: People who didn’t vote for President Obama (hi!) aren’t all Tea Party members. We clear? Sheesh. I think you’re a hoot, Vice President Biden but you’re wrong. (Click that link for the best Biden “I’m sowwwwy” face ever.)

Here is a problem with newspapers…

Literally, TMI.

At the ‘Bucks, I had to pull over a second little round table to accommodate the newspaper overflow. Else I’d have half the paper on my lap and the other half half-dangling off of the table. Or an alternative would be to have WM move to another table so I could use the entire round table and his empty chair, but then I’d be deprived of his company, which simply won’t do.

Newspapers today are smaller than ever — have you ever seen a newspaper from the ’70s? They could be tents! Yet they’re still large and unwieldy in a world that’s rapidly closing in on one’s personal space.

E-readers like the iKotex iPad and the Nook* are solutions to the paper’s large footprint.

But I still like purchasing a newspaper, so that’s out for now. And what about the inevitable newspaper ooze where the sections slide out from inside as you try to pick out what you want? A smaller newspaper (thickness, not footprint) would be pretty nifty, too.

I’d LOVE to only buy the sections I read (Section A, the South Jersey section, Arts/Entertainment, Currents, Jobs & coupon inserts) and not have to deal with Sports, Cars, Homes, Parade magazine and the dinky little special sections.

That’s the model I use when reading news online, after all. I don’t have to click through high school sports stories to get to the advice column. I go right there. In my personal online news world, where I am the executive editor, I don’t ever have to read about car shows or the Eagles (pro team or aging band) or school budget news from a town I don’t live in.

But then it’d be a nightmare to sell to and lay out each section. Auto dealers are a large part of a newspaper’s ad base, and I think making their section optional wouldn’t fly. But then again, you’d guarantee that anyone who BOUGHT the Car section would be interested in their product.

And it’d be a nightmare to distribute.

Ay yi yi. I guess I’ll stick with annexing tables.

*I want a Nook so badly, but I want my e-reader to truly be a reader of all media, not just book pages. I want magazines too, but I won’t pay to read them in black and white. So I’m trying to wait until readers are affordable and come in color. I also want to make sure that I’m not going to run into a situation where Martha Stewart Living is only on the Kindle and Real Simple is only on the Sony and Beadwork is only on the Nook.

I begin work at 9am. Most of the rest of the non-news folks start at 8:30am. I’m not even sure why I’m a 9:00 start, but I cherish the extra sleep. Take a look at the map below, which compares where I had to park at 9am 4 years ago, versus today.

Depressing, isn’t it?

In late October we were informed that Gannett would be culling 10% of payroll (or positions, still not completely sure yet) the first week of December. With three weeks behind us and two weeks ahead of us, morale is quickly fading. Do you blame us?

And I’m getting paranoid. I’m reading into things I shouldn’t. Like…

Two major projects that I have a part in. One has to be done now now now! And the other has to be done by December 1. And even though I can tell you that December 1 is the first day of the month on Gannett’s fiscal calendar, I can’t help but think it’s because I’ll be gone by the end of the week.

Or the big department move to a much quieter corner of the room. (Yes, I am still coding in the middle of a noisy sales floor with phones constantly ringing and sales reps yelling over my head.) It was going to be a month ago. Then the project was suddenly stopped in favor of another project. My stuff has been in boxes since before Halloween. When will our move be complete? I’m told mid-December.

And objectively, it’s November. In November, projects are likely to be done in December. The impending layoffs are finally starting to get to me.

Everyone tells me that I’ll be fine because I’m online and online’s the future. But I have to disagree. Salespeople will always be cherished most of all because they bring in money. My position is support staff, I produce things, I don’t sell them or bill them. What I do can be done by someone right out of college for far less money than what I’m making now. The creative stuff can be easily outsourced, too.

I don’t think anyone is safe this time around. Either way, I just want it to be over.

Longtime readers will remember that once upon a time, I had his job, and he worked for me. Then I gave up that job so I could be techy again. Now it’s open again. And in my hot little hands, I have a self-nomination form.

And so the debate begins. Do I go for the management job? I’m going to be frank and it’s going to sound pompous. I KNOW that job. I can DO that job. Well…except maybe the sales part, since they’re looking for a sales manager. And I’ve never been good at that. Then again, I’m not terrifically sure that I want to train a new manager on the reports, the tech, etc. Might be easier just to do it myself.

So I prayed on it (yes, I do that) and I did some research. I’m telling you, people. Keep a blog. Even if you keep it private. Even if it’s in one of those old-fangled paper journals. Do it. Because I went back and read between the lines of my 2005 and 2006 work-related entries and remembered just how much I HATED that job.

In conclusion, I’m going to give up the opportunity to regain the “fame”, “fortune”, parking spot, master key, and seat at The Big Weekly Meeting. Because I like my job JUST the way it is right now.

In other news, tomorrow I’m heading to the Boston area for BlogHer. I’m a bit apprehensive about the meeting because I won’t know anyone there and what I want the absolute LEAST is to sit by myself the whole time and have no one talk to me. I am still just as insecure as I was when I was 12. When nobody talked to me. Le sigh.

Other than the social paralysis, I’m stoked to be in a meeting with a bunch of bloggy chicks. I want to be a better writer. I want to polish this little website of mine until it shines like a sapphire. And in the grand tradition of networking…I created business cards!

Other than the font, which I will use until I die since I spent $30 for it back in 2003*, you’ll notice it looks nothing like my site! Huzzah for design continuity!

Le sigh.

BUT…I ordered them on Monday from nextdayflyers.com. I paid $40 for them – mostly shipping. It would be about the same had I picked a crummy black and white stock design from Office Max and waited a week to get them done.

I will try my best to blog from BlogHer on Saturday. If I can get a seat near an outlet, I’m golden. Otherwise the lappy battery won’t last more than 2 hours. There should be plenty of outlets. I hope. Wish me luck!

(if you’re going to Blogher Boston, please talk to me. or email me at the address on the business card image. thank you.)

* When I die, if I end up with a headstone, I’m going to request THAT font be used to engrave my name on it. Years later I can’t believe I spent $30 on a font for personal use. That’s what happens when you marry a pharmacist, people. You spend money on crazy shit.

So yeah…there’s a lot of negative talk out there about the newspaper industry. And yeah…everytime I get an email from the CEO I cringe because it’s usually bad news. But I believe…I really believe…that the pendulum will start to swing back in the other direction, we’ll all find our way in this crazy info-saturated world, and the industry will right itself again.

Gannett offers voluntary buyouts to select N.J. employees

Gannett’s New Jersey newspapers offer buyouts

They’re offering buyouts to employees 55 and over who have been with the company for 15 or more years. Obviously, I’m not eligible, but it’s scary and sad nonetheless because now I keep thinking, “What happens if they don’t get enough buyouts?”

Eight years ago, I thought working for a newspaper was the most secure job ever.

I LIKE what I do. I LOVE working for the local paper that I delivered as a kid. And I’m happy as HELL that I work on the online side of things because I feel slightly safer.

So anyway…to my eligible coworkers – take the buyouts! Please!