Thoughts amid the tornados

Life continues to move forward at a sometime-rapid, sometime-plodding pace as I continue my effort to figure out what I'm going to do with myself in the New Year of 2006.

Today was one of the first in a while where Karen and I have gotten to sleep in (about half an hour, but I'll take it) and hang out with each other all day. I work my first 6-close shift tonight, which should be interesting but not too crazy. Tornados have been sweeping across central Alabama all afternoon, and I'm guessing that'll keep people at home on a Monday night.


It's been interesting finding out who else ends up working at a cafe at Christmastime. Most are recent or upcoming college grads just filling their time and pocketbooks with the extra work. All but one or two have a college degree or will soon. Demographically, I've heard I'm the second oldest (not counting the cafe manager). Tonight, I'm scheduled to work with the oldest, a fella who used to be a fifth-grade teacher. Some of his former students have stopped by since I've been there, and that left me curious about his story. Did he get tired of it, or is this just a semi-retirement thing?

Not too many people seem surprised that a 28-year-old would be working a near-minimum-wage job with a college degree and management experience. People seem to end up at Barnes and Noble either because they want to be there or they just want a transitional filler in their lives. I'm obviously the latter.

In other news of transitional filler, I got a nice e-mail the other day from the journalism head at the University of Alabama, Birmingham. On a hunch, I had sent him my resume with some comments about my willingness to help teach any newswriting classes. I didn't really expect to hear back, but he wrote back quickly and said he was impressed with my background. He said he might have an opening in December or January, as the new semester nears.

What motivated me to send the note, other than the general need of employment, was my sincere desire to try out academia and see if there's anything rewarding there for me. I enjoyed the teaching aspect of being a city editor, but that was really just something you squeezed into the small gaps between the daily workload. Karen's applying for some full-time jobs at UAB, and if she got one, it might be a good chance for one or both of us to pursue a master's. The only thing standing in the way is the fact that neither of us knows what kind of degree we would want.

Is there ever a point in your life where you stop wondering what you'll be when you grow up?

The game of Life

Remember that board game Life? I loved that as a kid. But what always confused me about it was the fact that you spun the Wheel of Fate and randomly landed on your career track, which determined your income and lifestyle for the rest of your days.

I bought the other randomness of the game ... the number of kids, the house fires, even that square that makes you buy a helicopter ... but your career is the one area of your life where you actually do have control over your destiny, right?

This whole get-up-and-leave-California thing has left me doubting that. Suddenly, after a decade of devoting my life to journalism, I'm working at a cafe in Barnes and Noble. And the really weird thing is that I love it. I'm appreciated, I'm having fun, and I really like going in to work each day. I get to meet a lot of people, and I get the added perks of working in a gigantic book store.

Assuming no other good job offers emerge, I'll likely talk to the book store people about their opportunities for me after the holidays. They've been practically orgasmic about having me around, but that doesn't mean they're going to throw a living wage at me.

As for journalism, I've had some strong and largely negative emotions lately. In a word, I just feel bitter. But I also recognize this isn't a logical way to feel. With most of my friends happily employed in the journalism world, it seems silly to say that there's no place for me. But it has seemed like each experience of mine highlights the hypocrisy of journalism: Newspapers want to capture young audiences with fresh, exciting ideas. But they only want to hire managers who've been around forever and cling to stale, outdated philosophies that belong in the dustbin of history.

Just once I'd like to be turned down for a job because they went with someone more youthful and excited.

Any thoughts? Any words of inspiration from those of you still in the biz? I'm still looking at journalistic job opportunities, but it's more out of necessity than true longing.

Good thing I like making coffee

Well, I heard back from Athens, and it wasn't good news.

I have to say, I'm not as crushed as I might have been a few months back. Yes, it makes our future even more uncertain, but we've had a great time in Birmingham these past two weeks, and we are seriously talking about staying.

There are a few job openings of interest here. Birmingham is home to the Southern Progress magazine empire, and Karen's thinking about getting a job with Blue Cross (where my sister works) to help with the benefits while we look for dream jobs.

Thankfully, the cafe gig is going well, and it will at least help cover the cost of our Christmas shopping. I have to say, at least I've reached my goal of having a job where I'm excited to go into work again.

My calling

"Fill the light base to the first line of the plastic cup, fill it with ice, drop it into the blender, then add the three shots of caramel and blend it on the 2 setting," I called to another barista while steaming a grande decaf soy white chocolate mocha.

"No seriously, how long have you worked here?" one of the other trainees asked.

"Um, what time is it?"

For years, I've said, half jokingly, that the best job I ever had was when I worked at a coffee shop after college. The pay was crap, and you had to stand all day, but I was good at it. And it was just fun.

I've always wondered how much of that was just me remembering that time without thinking about the obnoxious bits. But after my first day behind the counter at Barnes and Noble's cafe today, I'd have to say I was right. This really is a great job. Now if it only paid three times as much...

It didn't take me long to pick the barista gig back up. B&N has a super streamlined approach to making Starbucks stuff, so it only took me an hour or so to get caught up on the basics. The cafe (like the rest of the store) is stocking up on pre-holiday workers, so I worked with two other trainees and a manager today. Everyone was great, and I feel it's worth noting, everyone had a college degree.

So it's nice to know that if I am going to have a part-time retail job during the holiday rush, it will at least be somewhere that I enjoy. I work the cafe again tomorrow, then train in the bookstore the next day. But because of my barista experience, I'm guessing they're going to keep me in the cafe. That's fine with me. A lot of the employee training is focused on stopping/preventing shoplifting, so at least that's one thing I don't have to worry about when I'm brewing coffee.

Oh, fine, I'll get a job.

At 8 a.m. tomorrow, I will tap on the glass of the Barnes and Noble down the road and start my new career in retail by shadowing the manager as she opens the in-store Starbucks.

Yes, after a five-year hiatus plagued by journalism, I'm back in the coffee shop smock, brewin java.

I dropped off a few applications today and heard back from Barnes and Noble about half an hour later. (On a side note, if you're looking for part-time work, now's the time.) The guy practically hired me before asking how to pronounce my name. I'll start at $7 an hour, which is less than a third my old wage, but still better than their starting wage of $6.25. They gave me some credit for "related experience."

Oh, somewhere my pride is stinging a bit from dropping from news management to retail grunt, but:

1. I actually look forward to working without being a manager. There's something zen about simply taking orders and clocking out.
2. This obviously is temporary. The Athens paper said today they expect to make a decision in the next two days. I can't say I'm overconfident I'll get it, but it would be nice. I'm also supposed to be receiving a packet to do a critique of the Poughkeepsie, N.Y., paper. If they like it, they'll fly me out to interview for assistant city editor.
3. It's not so bad to say you work at B&N. That's one of those places that seems to hire hipsters and down-on-their-luck intelligentsia. Plus, I get a 30% discount and can borrow any book to read at home for free.
4. There's one thing that's a lot more shameful than taking on a retail job: Not doing a damn thing and waiting for a magic pot of money to land in your lap.

So anyway, I'm pretty stoked. If nothing else, I get some more coffee shop experience for my eventual business endeavor. And I can apparently catch up on some reading.

What, me work?

Two small bits of job news. Bowing to the pressure of my readers, I dropped off an application at the coffee shop this afternoon. I asked about openings, and the kid behind the counter said, "If you worked here, you'd be a manager." He hadn't even looked at the application I handed him. I guess not a lot of 28-year-olds apply to be baristas.

In a potentially bigger update, I got a call from the Poughkeepsie, N.Y., newspaper about an assistant city editor position. It's a bit far north for me, and probably not too affordable, but you never know. In case you want a bit more information about the town and paper, read this. The editor had already left when I tried calling back, so I'll get ahold of him tomorrow. If nothing else, it's always good to have people interested for leverage, right?

More soon as job stuff develops. Soon I'll tell you about my exciting new plan to escape debt forever.

A new home, with lots of booze and video games!

With obvious apologies for the delay in posting, I should note that yes, we did make it to Birmingham. In fact, things went on with nary a hitch until I backed the empty moving truck down the driveway. Because of the angle of the street, it wedged the hitch of the truck into the asphalt, and the truck wouldn't go forward or back. With the help of a random neighbor and his two hydraulic jacks, we eventually got the situation under control.

My days have been quick, fun and random since Saturday. In case you don't remember, I'm staying with my sister and her husband, and they've been great about encouraging us to relax this first week and not worry about being productive. But we've still tried to offer some help around the house in return for the free rent.

The animals are getting along famously, with one exception. Loki, my sister's Brittany spaniel, loves the cats a bit too much, and he's willing to chase them around the house to prove it. We've set up a gate at one wing of the house, giving the cats free rein in the guest bedroom, computer room and bathroom. They adventure out into the main house once in a while, at their own peril.

Jonas, our dog, loves having two other dogs to play with all day. In fact, he sometimes asks to go behind the cat gate just so he can rest...without the other dogs making fun of him, I guess.

Of course, we're squeezing in lots of video games to make the most of our free time. Mostly we've been playing Civilization IV, which lived up to the hype and has been a pretty great game.

I'll check in more soon, but for now I'd like you folks to weigh in on this: With no definite idea of when I'll hear back on the Athens job, should get a part-time job (coffee shop, most likely) to help bring in a bit of income? I think it's a smart move, but my sister thinks it would be rude to take on a job and quit right away if I hear back on Athens.

Your thoughts?

Days 4 & 5

(Dateline Columbia, Mo.)

Don't have much time to write....we're getting ready to hit the road Friday morning. This is it! The last day, unless we run out of steam around Nashville or Huntsville, Ala.

Yesterday, we made it through the worst part. Kansas. It was about 12 hours of driving with nothing to look at. Not a great time. But it's behind us, and we were able to stay the night with my good friend Liz, who I actually made this same trip with back in the 1990s when we were in college.

OK, gotta run. I'll post some final thoughts tomorrow, I hope.

Days 2 & 3

(Dateline: Denver, CO)

Well, I would say we've made it through the vast stretches of nowhere that make up so much of the United States, but there's still Kansas...

So far, the trip is going amazingly well. Days 1 and 2 went exactly as planned, with us ending in Ely, Nev., on the first night and Grand Junction, Colo., the second. Today is our easy day, with only a few hours of driving this morning to get to Denver, then plenty of socializing for us and our dog as we stay with a friend of Karen's.

A strange side effect of the journey: The animals are bonding. I mean, don't get me wrong, they still seem to get pissed at each other all the time, but the dog and both cats climb onto the bed at night and peacefully coexist. My best guess is that this is because we are now their sole remaining piece of "home." But it might just be because they're cold and tired.

Griner luck seems to be working for us. Tonight and tomorrow, heavy snows are expected to hit the Sierra, which we just skated through two days ago. Denver is expected to see a little snow tomorrow, but most will go north and west of us. After Colorado, it should be smooth sailing.

We've revised the schedule a little bit. We're hoping to make it to Columbia, Mo., tomorrow night. That would put us into our final destination on Friday night. It's a lot of driving in two days, but it sure would be nice to get all this done in five days, instead of six. Plus, since Columbia is my college town, I should be able to snag some free lodging.

Well, back to drinking beer and having fun.