after having an early deadline for christmas, i left for home on tuesday. i went to lincoln a little early to start/finish what limited christmas shopping i could do. i liked lincoln, and if it wasn't an hour and 15 minutes to get there, i might go more often. everything's so far away. i'm already not looking forward to new year's eve tonight as i know i'm going to have to drive 40 minutes back from whatever bar i go to.
anyway, got to the lincoln airport (smaller than portland, if you believe it.. only four gates) far too early (you really only need to leave yourself about 20 minutes for check-in, security and boarding. seriously. that small.) and wouldn't you know it, chicago is a mess and my flight's delayed until 5, no 7, no 8 o'clock (original eta 2:45.) so i sat at the bar for a while, but unfortunately only had a few beers. $7 a pop is a little too rich for my blood. i did have a nice chat with a kid who's kind of in the same situation as me, though. he's from upstate new york and moved to nebraska for his first job, too (as a broadcast journalist, no less.) he's at a station in kearney (pronounced car-knee), which is about as far away as lincoln in the other direction. i'm really in the middle of nowhere. strangely enough, it turns out that this kid's sister lives in saco and teaches in biddeford. crazy.
we finally boarded the plane after 8, sat on the runway for almost an hour due to a ground-halt, and flew the hour and ten minutes, or so, to chicago, which was, still, a mess. now, if we had been able to pull right up to the gate after touchdown, i'd have made my connection flight. instead, chaos breeds further chaos and it took 30 minutes to pull up to the gate. un-friggin-believable. i sprinted to my gate (home alone style) and could see the plane out the window sitting there. buuuuuttt, since they "closed the gate" already, i couldn't board. merry christmas! that was the last flight to boston of the night, meaning.. i get to sleep in the airport! o'hare always gives the best gifts. this has happened once before, in charlotte, and the way that experience went, i was absolutly dreading the thought of reliving it. especially when i only had a few days at home to begin with.
was slightly delayed leaving in the morning, but who really cares after being in an airplane or airport for 20 hours. traffic in boston was a mess, and when all was said and done, i finally got to saco around 4 on christmas eve. awful. quick turnaround to my aunt robyn's for festivities. threw on the santa costume for a brief appearance (keep a lookout on facebook for 'pregaming santa' once erik posts the photo), ate so much food, yankee-swapped and slept in my bed, a nice change from a cold air mattress.
christmas was great. got a futon for my living room (which arrived this morning! finally something to sit on!), a dvd player (finally something to watch! although, upon getting the dvd player back here and trying to plug it in, i realized that the bulky, boxy, 19-inch, circa 1997 tv that i brought down doesn't have audio/video hookups. seriously? it was officially just for show. this prompted me to drive to hastings and purchase a new tv on the spot.)
it was great to see friends and family while i was back, although it was extremely difficult to see everyone for the amount of time i wanted to in the short time that i had. i assume this will start to become more and more common, unfortunately. although sunny, sexy sutton is always open for visitors (and now that i have a couch/new tv/cable and internet early next week, i'll be far more entertaining.)
gleese got me 'downtown owl' by chuck klosterman for christmas, which i'm reading right now and should finish tonight. it's about small town north dakota and it's extremely entertaining to read considering my current location. i've also watched 'wall-e' again since being down here and have been crusing through 'flight of the conchords' season one. covered a few boys/girls high school basketball games since i've been back. not much work otherwise.
i think that's about it. happy new year, everyone. oh-nine, feelin' fine. ...or something.
wish me luck on my 40 minute drunk drive from the bar home tonight. (just kidding mom/dad/grandma/anyone who thinks i'm serious... it's only like 35 minutes..)
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Sunday, December 21, 2008
kevin's my new bowling name
last night i had to make a trip to clay center (15-20 minute drive) to snap a couple of pictures for a story this week. the manager of the golf course there is trying to get people together to play wii golf and/or bowling during the winter months to a) get people to the facility and b) have some fun. kind of a cool idea, unfortunately there were only two people other than her in attendance last night. she said if enough people end up coming out, she'd like to start a league and keep track of handicaps and stats. being at the course made me excited to try out the new courses around here come spring.
in honor of them humoring me and playing a few games of wii bowling so i could get a couple pictures to accompany the story, i decided to check out sutton's bowling alley, clay bowl. it's a really small place, with a little bar and six lanes. saturday night is open bowl and i figured that with only six lanes and nothing else to do in town that it might be crowded and i'd have no chance to get on, but it was really not the case. there were some older guys and gals there playing poker and some others bowling. i sat at the bar and had a michelob amber bach and talked with the owners, kelly and dave. they had their niece and nephew helping them, high-school age danielle and trey, respectively. i decided to bowl a game, and trey joined me. he's got the spin down, whereas i'm just straight on, but we bowled about the same. at first i was struggling, so i decided i needed a change of ball. i found a lighter one (yeah, i'm weak..) that fit my fingers perfectly and had the name "kevin" on it. and after i started using kevin, i found my form. so i've got my new ball and, perhaps my new bowling alias.
after bowling two games, i sat at the bar for another beer with a few guys who got knocked out of the poker game. one guy, kenny, had some great stories. one involved his girlfriend falling off of the tree stand while hunting and breaking her back and the surgeries and complications following (she's fine, now..). another was him falling while working on a house and breaking his femur and his hip in the freezing cold about 3 miles from the hospital and not getting to the hospital until 3 hours later, due to incompetent emergency personnel. i seriously hope nothing bad happens so i don't have to potentially deal with that.. (mom, don't worry.)
a good night, though. and kelly told me the bowling was on the house because i was new. so cool of them. they took my number in case they need a sub during league play or for card games. so i've found somewhere else to hang out.
in honor of them humoring me and playing a few games of wii bowling so i could get a couple pictures to accompany the story, i decided to check out sutton's bowling alley, clay bowl. it's a really small place, with a little bar and six lanes. saturday night is open bowl and i figured that with only six lanes and nothing else to do in town that it might be crowded and i'd have no chance to get on, but it was really not the case. there were some older guys and gals there playing poker and some others bowling. i sat at the bar and had a michelob amber bach and talked with the owners, kelly and dave. they had their niece and nephew helping them, high-school age danielle and trey, respectively. i decided to bowl a game, and trey joined me. he's got the spin down, whereas i'm just straight on, but we bowled about the same. at first i was struggling, so i decided i needed a change of ball. i found a lighter one (yeah, i'm weak..) that fit my fingers perfectly and had the name "kevin" on it. and after i started using kevin, i found my form. so i've got my new ball and, perhaps my new bowling alias.
after bowling two games, i sat at the bar for another beer with a few guys who got knocked out of the poker game. one guy, kenny, had some great stories. one involved his girlfriend falling off of the tree stand while hunting and breaking her back and the surgeries and complications following (she's fine, now..). another was him falling while working on a house and breaking his femur and his hip in the freezing cold about 3 miles from the hospital and not getting to the hospital until 3 hours later, due to incompetent emergency personnel. i seriously hope nothing bad happens so i don't have to potentially deal with that.. (mom, don't worry.)
a good night, though. and kelly told me the bowling was on the house because i was new. so cool of them. they took my number in case they need a sub during league play or for card games. so i've found somewhere else to hang out.
what gives, church?
so i told myself, "kris, go to church tomorrow." there are seven of them in town, everyone here goes, so pick one and go. i picked the salem united methodist church, which has a service at 11:00. no excuse, when it's that late. i woke up this morning, put on some nice clothes and a friendly smile, and drove to church a little before 11.
there were a lot of cars lining the street, unfortunately none of them were there for the church i picked. the walkways to the door weren't shoveled and there appeared to be no sign of life. i, very confusedly, walked around examining the place. the sign did say "sunday service 11:00." i tried the doors.. locked. seriously?! i mean, c'mon.. i'm trying here.
and by this time, obviously, it's too late to pick another service, so, cold and dejected, i returned to the office. maybe next sunday i'll have better luck somewhere else. but, seriously.. what gives?
there were a lot of cars lining the street, unfortunately none of them were there for the church i picked. the walkways to the door weren't shoveled and there appeared to be no sign of life. i, very confusedly, walked around examining the place. the sign did say "sunday service 11:00." i tried the doors.. locked. seriously?! i mean, c'mon.. i'm trying here.
and by this time, obviously, it's too late to pick another service, so, cold and dejected, i returned to the office. maybe next sunday i'll have better luck somewhere else. but, seriously.. what gives?
Friday, December 19, 2008
on my first really fun night
"let's go big red!"
i'm officially a nebraska girls volleyball fan. last night they played #1 penn state in a final 4 game. penn state hadn't dropped a single set all year, and nebraska took them to five sets and nearly beat them. if you really care, here's the game recap.
but yeah. people love it here, and it was almost like watching playoff baseball. i got into it.
that was my reason for going to the bar last night. the night before i also had off, but was so tired, i crashed hard around 9. so i told myself i'd go out last night for the game. it was nice to be able to watch a couple hours of tv. but it really wasn't hard to talk to people. matt and frank talked with me at the bar for a bit. matt had a neck brace on. apparently they had a make-shift slip-and-slide this summer and he neither slipped, nor slid, and his neck paid the price. frank was exactly the type of nebraskan i wanted to meet. he talked unbearably slow with a serious southern accent and was dressed how a farmer dresses in the winter. then i was introduced to angie, chris and shark. angie looked younger than she must have been. i would have said mid-30s, but she has a 14-year-old daughter and a 9-year-old son. later in the night we had a nice chat. chris is angie's fiance. again, he looked to me younger than he probably was, but he was really easy to talk with, and we had fun watching the volleyball game. he also talked to me about coyote hunting, which sounds like something i absolutely have to tag along for. they're going saturday morning. i got their numbers, and if i don't have any work to do, i'm seriously considering going along for the experience.
it was just really good to finally get out of my house and be around company, no matter how foreign it is. i'm friendly enough, but sometimes it's hard when i'm by myself, so to know that i can have a really good time just going to the bar to watch a game is encouraging. because it really was the first time since i've been here that i really enjoyed myself outside of work. though, my headache this morning doesn't have to keep happening. i can live without that. but i guess that's the price you pay for the tequila shots someone else paid for.
i'm officially a nebraska girls volleyball fan. last night they played #1 penn state in a final 4 game. penn state hadn't dropped a single set all year, and nebraska took them to five sets and nearly beat them. if you really care, here's the game recap.
but yeah. people love it here, and it was almost like watching playoff baseball. i got into it.
that was my reason for going to the bar last night. the night before i also had off, but was so tired, i crashed hard around 9. so i told myself i'd go out last night for the game. it was nice to be able to watch a couple hours of tv. but it really wasn't hard to talk to people. matt and frank talked with me at the bar for a bit. matt had a neck brace on. apparently they had a make-shift slip-and-slide this summer and he neither slipped, nor slid, and his neck paid the price. frank was exactly the type of nebraskan i wanted to meet. he talked unbearably slow with a serious southern accent and was dressed how a farmer dresses in the winter. then i was introduced to angie, chris and shark. angie looked younger than she must have been. i would have said mid-30s, but she has a 14-year-old daughter and a 9-year-old son. later in the night we had a nice chat. chris is angie's fiance. again, he looked to me younger than he probably was, but he was really easy to talk with, and we had fun watching the volleyball game. he also talked to me about coyote hunting, which sounds like something i absolutely have to tag along for. they're going saturday morning. i got their numbers, and if i don't have any work to do, i'm seriously considering going along for the experience.
it was just really good to finally get out of my house and be around company, no matter how foreign it is. i'm friendly enough, but sometimes it's hard when i'm by myself, so to know that i can have a really good time just going to the bar to watch a game is encouraging. because it really was the first time since i've been here that i really enjoyed myself outside of work. though, my headache this morning doesn't have to keep happening. i can live without that. but i guess that's the price you pay for the tequila shots someone else paid for.
Thursday, December 18, 2008
random observations
-> my newspaper's office is a tornado shelter. how cool is that?
-> slow internet, although better than no internet, is frustrating.
-> phones that allow you to hear the person you're talking to, but they can't hear you, are useless.
-> sierra mist cranberry splash is only 85 cents and is fantastic.
-> carolyn, a colleague, always brings me a peice of blue taffy when she comes back from the bank because she knows it's my favorite.
-> if you are really nice to grumpy people, they usually meet you at pleasant.
-> since i've started this blog, claiming that i work a lot, i haven't had do do a lot of working.
-> slow internet, although better than no internet, is frustrating.
-> phones that allow you to hear the person you're talking to, but they can't hear you, are useless.
-> sierra mist cranberry splash is only 85 cents and is fantastic.
-> carolyn, a colleague, always brings me a peice of blue taffy when she comes back from the bank because she knows it's my favorite.
-> if you are really nice to grumpy people, they usually meet you at pleasant.
-> since i've started this blog, claiming that i work a lot, i haven't had do do a lot of working.
on writing the same story six times over
how many times have you seen santa this year? cuz i saw him six times in one week. and unless you're a kid who really wants, let's say a metal detector or something (sorry mom and dad, i never did give it a whole lot of use. it was cool though.. i just get bored easily) seeing him once is enough.
the majority of my assignments thus far have been covering various town's christmas celebrations, all of which involve gathering at the community center, all of which involve a visit from santa.. all of which are the same story. and honestly, they could be summed up in a single sentence. and it's my job to find a way to a) make them interesting, b) somehow make them seem different than the others, and c) make it a decent length to take up space. you would not believe how exhausting the process is.
here's your typical "santa comes to town" story:
families bring their kids for the annual town christmas event. there's usually some sort of snacks. the adults drink beer (it's not difficult to see why.. i actually had one person who was in charge of organizing one of these events, go figure the most half-assed of them all, who made getting any kind of quotes or information like pulling teeth from a t-rex who you just called "small arms," tell me, as he tossed away a beer can, that he'd be able to give me much better information after a few more beers. if the event wasn't so lame, i may have waited it out.) and santa visits. that's really about all. take pictures and write a story. go. that's my job. if this paper updated its website, i'd link you to my work, but take my word for it, every one of the articles could be templated, substituting merely the town and date in each one.
but at least it's allowed me to meet a few people. the old ladies seem to love these events and go to the ones in neighboring towns, too. a few know me by name. they're probably my best friends. hah.
the majority of my assignments thus far have been covering various town's christmas celebrations, all of which involve gathering at the community center, all of which involve a visit from santa.. all of which are the same story. and honestly, they could be summed up in a single sentence. and it's my job to find a way to a) make them interesting, b) somehow make them seem different than the others, and c) make it a decent length to take up space. you would not believe how exhausting the process is.
here's your typical "santa comes to town" story:
families bring their kids for the annual town christmas event. there's usually some sort of snacks. the adults drink beer (it's not difficult to see why.. i actually had one person who was in charge of organizing one of these events, go figure the most half-assed of them all, who made getting any kind of quotes or information like pulling teeth from a t-rex who you just called "small arms," tell me, as he tossed away a beer can, that he'd be able to give me much better information after a few more beers. if the event wasn't so lame, i may have waited it out.) and santa visits. that's really about all. take pictures and write a story. go. that's my job. if this paper updated its website, i'd link you to my work, but take my word for it, every one of the articles could be templated, substituting merely the town and date in each one.
but at least it's allowed me to meet a few people. the old ladies seem to love these events and go to the ones in neighboring towns, too. a few know me by name. they're probably my best friends. hah.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
my first night on the job
i arrived in gorgeous sutton (pronounced 'sudden' if you're from here), nebraska a little after 5:00 local time, 6 eastern. i had been on the road by myself (well, except for sharita, our gps, who would talk to me every 200 miles or so. but more on her later..) for about 13 hours, since leaving cleveland at four in the morning. needless to say, i was glad to park tammy at my destination, even if it was tiny town, usa (or so i thought. turns out sutton is fairly big for these parts. awesome!..) and tammy was extremely happy to take a nap and have a roof over her head. she was great on the trip. but i think she's still mad at me for not taking her for a bath since i've been here. she's still wearing the dirt and salt from the drive.
after moving most of my things in, i went to the convenience store in my front yard. so convenient. i bought some eggs, shredded cheddar cheese, tobasco sause (scrambled egg heaven), orange juice and a tombstone pizza. oh and a six pack of beer. during which time my boss, darren, called me and we agreed that i would meet him at the office the next morning (sunday) after church.
(now we get to the first day on the job)
hi, darren, i'm kris. nice to finally meet you.
kris, this is my wife cassie.
nice to meet you cassie.
wanna get right to work?
i guess so? what's up?
fairfield and clay center are having santa come today. here's a camera. go cover it.
that's essentially how it went. i will use another post to describe these 'santa comes to town' events, as they are entirely deserving of their own post. anyway, mission accomplished. i put in a good word with santa in the process. as lloyd christmas said, 'it feels good to mingle with these country folk, eh harr'?'
back to sutton. hey, is there anything open on sunday? nope. great, thanks, anything else for me? another santa event in trumbull at 5, want it? sure, i guess i have nothing else to do.
(here's where sharita comes back into play.) i have no idea where trumbull is. the first two were pretty easy to find. i use my gps for this one. city: trumbull. state: nebraska. address: skip. street: umm.. i'll pick a random street, that'll get me to twon and i'll find it easy enough. the town's only so small. twenty minutes in to what should be a 35 minute drive, i realize i am not going in the right direction at all. SHARITA! i try entering in a new street. just get me there, i don't care how long it takes, just get me there. after zooming out 3 times on the gps screen, i see that sharita is taking me about ten miles in one direction, turning me onto the interstate for about ten miles, then taking back in the direction i came. what the hell.. let's roll with it. i'm with you shareet.
the exit i take dumps me off on a dirt road. it's been nightfall for a little while now. the only lights in sight are my headlights and distant lights on barns, so far away they might as well be stars. before i realize it, i'm in the middle of miles and miles and miles of fields with absolutly no clue where i am or where i'm going. there's dirt roads with letters and dirt roads with numbers. it means nothing to me. less than 24 hours in the state and i'm in the middle of a horror movie. so i call my boss. darren, i'm so lost right now. he tells me to take road b south. i find road e, road d, road c, ahh road b. oh, awesome, you mean road b only goes north? where the hell am i?! well, it's road s b, so maybe that's what he meant. take south b.
not what he meant. oh you mean that i have to drive a quarter mile past the first road b to get to the road b that goes south? oh, of course. i hate you nebraska. eventually i arrive at trumbull and do what i need to do. however, while i'm there i go to take something out of my pocket and my back up memory card for the camera falls out. in the two seconds i look at my hand to see what happened, the card has vanished. literally nowhere to be seen. five or six people around me begin helping me look, but it's nowhere.
i call it a night. i make sure to get correct directions back to sutton. i probably pound a few beers and pass out on my air mattress. welcome to nebraska.
after moving most of my things in, i went to the convenience store in my front yard. so convenient. i bought some eggs, shredded cheddar cheese, tobasco sause (scrambled egg heaven), orange juice and a tombstone pizza. oh and a six pack of beer. during which time my boss, darren, called me and we agreed that i would meet him at the office the next morning (sunday) after church.
(now we get to the first day on the job)
hi, darren, i'm kris. nice to finally meet you.
kris, this is my wife cassie.
nice to meet you cassie.
wanna get right to work?
i guess so? what's up?
fairfield and clay center are having santa come today. here's a camera. go cover it.
that's essentially how it went. i will use another post to describe these 'santa comes to town' events, as they are entirely deserving of their own post. anyway, mission accomplished. i put in a good word with santa in the process. as lloyd christmas said, 'it feels good to mingle with these country folk, eh harr'?'
back to sutton. hey, is there anything open on sunday? nope. great, thanks, anything else for me? another santa event in trumbull at 5, want it? sure, i guess i have nothing else to do.
(here's where sharita comes back into play.) i have no idea where trumbull is. the first two were pretty easy to find. i use my gps for this one. city: trumbull. state: nebraska. address: skip. street: umm.. i'll pick a random street, that'll get me to twon and i'll find it easy enough. the town's only so small. twenty minutes in to what should be a 35 minute drive, i realize i am not going in the right direction at all. SHARITA! i try entering in a new street. just get me there, i don't care how long it takes, just get me there. after zooming out 3 times on the gps screen, i see that sharita is taking me about ten miles in one direction, turning me onto the interstate for about ten miles, then taking back in the direction i came. what the hell.. let's roll with it. i'm with you shareet.
the exit i take dumps me off on a dirt road. it's been nightfall for a little while now. the only lights in sight are my headlights and distant lights on barns, so far away they might as well be stars. before i realize it, i'm in the middle of miles and miles and miles of fields with absolutly no clue where i am or where i'm going. there's dirt roads with letters and dirt roads with numbers. it means nothing to me. less than 24 hours in the state and i'm in the middle of a horror movie. so i call my boss. darren, i'm so lost right now. he tells me to take road b south. i find road e, road d, road c, ahh road b. oh, awesome, you mean road b only goes north? where the hell am i?! well, it's road s b, so maybe that's what he meant. take south b.
not what he meant. oh you mean that i have to drive a quarter mile past the first road b to get to the road b that goes south? oh, of course. i hate you nebraska. eventually i arrive at trumbull and do what i need to do. however, while i'm there i go to take something out of my pocket and my back up memory card for the camera falls out. in the two seconds i look at my hand to see what happened, the card has vanished. literally nowhere to be seen. five or six people around me begin helping me look, but it's nowhere.
i call it a night. i make sure to get correct directions back to sutton. i probably pound a few beers and pass out on my air mattress. welcome to nebraska.
purpose
to those who care
if you are interested in what a 22-year-old mainer, working his first reporting job for a small, weekly newspaper in rural nebraska, who averages ten hour work days with no days off and has no friends or family around does on a daily basis.. read this.
some posts may be added regarding previous events, but otherwise i will try to keep this regular and up to date.
because you really wouldn't believe the things i see/do/experience here.
if you are interested in what a 22-year-old mainer, working his first reporting job for a small, weekly newspaper in rural nebraska, who averages ten hour work days with no days off and has no friends or family around does on a daily basis.. read this.
some posts may be added regarding previous events, but otherwise i will try to keep this regular and up to date.
because you really wouldn't believe the things i see/do/experience here.
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