Every Day a New Adventure

So, I went up in a balloon on Friday. On Saturday I went to a street fair and a soccer game, both to take pictures. I went to a "night glow" Saturday evening, and watched hot air balloons fill a stadium and glow. My pictures made the front page of the Monday paper and filled a two-page spread as well.

Yesterday I went to the Central Washington State Fair, and again, just went to take pictures. I got a number of decent shots. Each remaining day of the fair, I'll have one picture on the front page of the paper.

The weekend before last I covered a car show and rode along in a 1953 Chevy Bel Air Convertible on the most perfect weather day we've had all summer. I took some pictures there, too. Note: any picture on that site published after August 15th with "lg" in the file name is one of mine.

This morning I interviewed a veteran of WWII and Korea for two articles about Honor Flights. I was scheduled to interview a well-known Seattle ex-politician, but he canceled his trip over here. I have to do three more interviews this week alone, two of which I have utterly no idea who I'm going to talk to yet.

Since I started at the paper, I've interviewed a Hospice director, a kindergartener, a new business owner, an elementary school principal, a manager at Les Schwab and two dairymen at their dairies. I've written PR briefs, serious articles, and even got a headline with the word "poop" in it published (much to the delight of someone involved in that story). My opinion column may start up soon. I've had three working weekends, and have one more before December, plus this weekend I'm working for my old boss in Seattle AND taking pictures for my paper while I'm out there. I've got at least two more photo pages coming up in the next three months, possibly more if people keep helping me out like they've been! A huge thanks here to Carolyn Ibis, who saved my bacon with a great story and photos just when I needed them.

I was thanked today by one of the people I interviewed recently, and thanked profusely by another person who I interviewed on my second day on the job for the article I wrote. I've been given a handful of free meals and some giant blackberries. I've learned how to photograph sports, although I'm still crappy at it. My writing is steadily improving by having an editor marking my pages in red on a daily basis.

I freakin' LOVE my job. I never ever thought I'd write that. But I do. I love my job. I hope I can keep it until I can't function anymore.