A sudden, unnoticeable shift in employment

I officially became a full-time employee of Barnes & Noble today, meaning ... well, not a whole lot. In 60 days, I'll qualify for a pretty nice set of benefits. But in 60 days, I'd like to have a better-paying job that also has a nice set of benefits. Still, I shouldn't belittle what I've got. I'm sure there are a lot of folks out there who wish they had fun, easy jobs that offer health insurance, even if they don't pay a fortune.

So I'm happy.

There's been a bit of movement on the job front. After some hefty soul-searching, I turned down an interview with Rotary International for a Web editor position. It paid up to $52,000...gulp...but we just have very little interest in living in Chicago right now. We're happier than we've been in a long time, and I'm sure some equally cool jobs will come along. Plus, $50,000 in Evanston is probably about like $30,000 here in Birmingham, and getting a house would be a lot easier here.

I've applied for five or so jobs recently...writer for CNN.com, writer for Cartoon Network's Web site, project manager for a local publishing house, etc. I'm working on applications for a few other local editing jobs, and I have some freelance ideas I'd like to get moving on. And there's still the possibility of good-paying consulting work in the near future, although I'm not banking on it.

OK, I'll end this bit of miscellaneous job ramblings with a shameless endorsement: SportClips. It's a haircut place with the gimmick of letting you watch sports while you get your cut. That's not a big draw to me...in fact, I almost left the parking lot when I saw all the TVs.

But...I got a good cut, along with a free shampoo, scalp massage, shoulder rub and one of those hot towels on the face. Seriously, I didn't think anything that felt that good was legal in Alabama. So, if you have one in your area, don't let the jumbotron and batting-cage atmosphere scare you off.

Merry Christmas from Cafe Asteria

It'll be a few days before I have time to post again, so I just wanted to throw out a quick note of thanks to all of our wonderful friends and family who have been so supportive during these months of chaos and uncertainty. Without you all, especially my wonderful wonderful unparalleled sister and her equally stupendous husband, this move to Alabama likely would not have been the great experience it has been.

Wishing you all the best,

Griner

10 steps to not angering your barista

I might not have been working the cafe for very long now, but I've quickly accumulated a list of ways to avoid infuriating the guy or gal who has full access to the drink you just paid $6 for. So excuse the inherent bitterness of such a project and enjoy these simple tips.

1. Don't hover over the barista. This is my personal pet peeve, when people order their drinks and then come stand next to the counter, watching me make it. It's disconcerting, especially when there are several drinks in front of theirs. They keep saying, "Is that my grande skinny decaf mocha? Oh.... Don't forget it's decaf! Is that it? You didn't forget it, did you?" There's one exception: I actually kinda like it when parents let their kids watch me make their hot chocolates. The kids think I'm a super hero, especially when I put on the whipped cream. But everyone else needs to step off and wait for the shout-out.

2. Try not to order your drink "extra hot." Of the 700 ways people like to order their drinks, this is the most frustrating. First, it implies I don't know how to make a drink. Second, and most obnoxiously, it makes us blast an entire steam pitcher up past 170 degrees (the last tasty temperature of milk) just because you want to scald your few remaining tastebuds. One steam pitcher can make four drinks, so an extra-hot order forces me to shuffle the drink order (pushing that one to last, by the way, so I can spike the temp later) if I don't want to be lazy and make all the drinks extra hot. Most baristas would just be lazy and give torched milk to everybody. PS: I say "try not to order" that way because you might frequent a coffee shop where they just don't make drinks hot enough. If that's the case, go for it. But it's best just to specify a temperature if you're worried: 170 for drinks with whipped cream, 160 for those without.

3. If you used to work at a Starbucks, don't mention it. It doesn't do any good for anyone involved.

4. Look at your drink when you pick it up. Did you order a tall? Then why did you grab a venti? I'm amazed every day how many people pick up the wrong drink, sip from it, dump a bunch of Splenda in it, etc. Of course, I've done it, too. But still, just pay attention. I will admit, though, this is the best reason for me to re-make a drink. The customer never gets mad when I say, "Some guy grabbed your drink, put a fistfull of Equal in it, wandered around the store for five minutes, then returned it. I'll make you a new one."

5. Bus your own table. Clean up your own sugar spill. Wipe up your creamer explosion. And, if you happen to be at a Barnes and Noble/Borders/etc., don't leave your books and magazines on the table when you take off. I know, the kind of people who read this aren't the kind of people who do these things, but I'm just trying to do my part to help.

6. Don't use the adjective "Regular" to describe anything. It starts a flurry of questions. Do you mean medium? Non-decaf? Just once, I want someone to order an "irregular coffee."

7. Never underestimate the people behind the counter. The cafe crew is probably the most educated I've ever worked with, and they know a lot about a lot of things. The customers who get treated the best are the ones who respect the crew and ask the right questions. ("What's a low-carb coffee drink?" "How do you make a macchiato?" etc.)

8. The whipped cream is low-fat. Just take our word on it. You'd have to eat a few cups of it to get some serious fat content. No one believes this.

9. Tip. Even if there's no jar. Especially if there's no jar.

10. Don't ever cite the drink-making prowess of Olive Garden.

Drifting from "us" to "them"

I've been grappling with a theory lately, but I haven't quite gotten it nailed down. So I figure this is the best place to try and make sense of it.

It's not that revolutionary, but I've realized lately that I feel more connected with the real world now that I'm not doing journalism. Working at a cafe, I meet a ton of diverse people every day, and I work with folks who come from just about every kind of background.

In journalism, I feel like we get isolated with other journalists -- who are generally great, interesting people, but they often come from the same mold. They're inquisitive, cynical, and saddled by a modern tradition of feigning emotion or conservative morality. What I mean is, journalists never talk about sources or stories the same way they write about them. We tear-jerkingly portray the tough plight of some unlucky bastard, but at home, we talk about how the person shouldn't have been so stupid or gullible to get into the fix.

Journalists (and politicians....especially politicians) are probably most guilty of pretending to care about things that no real person cares about.

At work, we talk about the importance of Constitutional process, or the corruption-sweeping powers of independent audits, or the fiscal forecast of the municipal budget. But in their personal lives, I'm sure that journalists and politicians are like everyone else .... we care about the fact that there aren't any good movies out right now, and traffic is a one-way drive to sucksville, and the fact that yeah you should be jogging more except that jogging is boring and it's really cold and ooo a new episode of Project Runway is on tonight.

As I said before, none of this is revolutionary. We all know that journalists and politicians have cast themselves apart from the rest of U.S. society. But the new thing for me is living on the other side and seeing just how drastically little everyone cares about the stuff that used to fill my day. I love the broad cross-section of Birmingham I've gotten to meet by selling coffee. I love that I don't just meet customers when they're complaining or trying to rat out their city councilman/neighbor/power company/illegal immigrant gardener. I love that I don't have to worry that conversations are going to drift instantly political as people try to figure out which side of the fence I'm really on. (Although it still happens, of course, but that's a gripe for another entry.)

So what this has led me to wonder is, what will I do with this lesson if I return to journalism? How can I stay more grounded in a field that seems to revel in elevating itself above the masses and then wonders why no one respects it?

I suppose that's the part I need to figure out.

I could've if I'd wanted to. Yeah.

It's been a while since I was in a college computer lab, but that didn't stop me from enjoying this tongue-in-cheek advice column on picking up women amid the nerdiest of nerdies.

Two of the best pieces of advice:

DON'T post to a blog
I cannot stress this enough: do not let a girl see you posting to any kind of blog. You will never, ever get laid. Seriously. Take it from me.

... and this suggestion on getting out of an awkward situation ...

GIRL: Are you looking at porn?
YOU: No.
GIRL: I can see porn right there on your screen.
YOU: Then YOU'RE looking at porn.
GIRL: What the hell are you talking about?
(pause)YOU: I'll give you this free iTunes song if you have sex with me.

Zombie history has waited for the XBox360

A few months back, I mentioned that there was a zombie game in development, but I couldn't remember the title. I stumbled across a preview the other day, and I figured I'd pass on these screenshots to any fellow zombie fanatics.

It's called "Dead Rising," and the unique aspect is that you're not fighting a handful of zombies at a time; you're taking on the whole "Dawn of the Dead"-esque army.

And, like any true butt kicker, the hero is a journalist.

Oooh, pretty

I've been tackling a few funky projects lately, and one of the more rewarding ones is nearly complete.

Before I left California, I asked my friend Brian to help redesign another friend's business Web site. Brian slammed out a design and e-mailed it to me, but I hadn't really had time to look at it in the months since. The other day, I buckled down and started using the template to rebuild the site.

The site is www.mediaforesight.org, home of Media Foresight Associates. This is the consulting business of which I am officially an associate, although I haven't been able to offer many services since the big move. Rich Somerville, the president, has been a close friend since my college days, when he hired a shaggy-haired Griner to be a research associate at New Directions for News (now defunct).

Rich then moved out to California, where he hired me to be his city editor while he was editor of The Union. Rich was a great boss, and I was excited to see his consulting business take off at the beginning of this year. When I left The Union, he hired me on as a consulting associate with the firm, and we hope to make it more than a ceremonial position in the coming months.

Anyway...on to the pretty stuff.

Here are some before-and-after links so you can see what I was able to do with Brian's design:

1. Before: Front page
2. After: Front page
3. Before: Who We Are
4. After: Who We Are
5. Before: Articles and White Papers
6. After: Articles and White Papers
7. Before: What People Say About Us
8. After: What People Say About Us

I hope you guys like the new design. I think it better reflects Rich's level of professionalism and skill, and it's a really flexible, crisp look that will work well for quite a while. What do you think?

Rich and I are also getting a blog going for him to keep folks posted on trends and news in the journalism industry. I'll obviously drop a link to it when it's ready to go. Oh, and it'll probably replace the Newstradamus feature on the front page, so don't be surprised if that doesn't look like it benefitted from the redesign.

What, no leeches?

Well, it appears I have a full-blown infection in my lungs, which has me out of commission on doctor's orders for a few days. For most people, being told not to work Saturday or Sunday would feel like a waste, but I was scheduled to work both, so...yay.

(As for the graphic, I just like thinking that any major illness would have cost me the ultimate price on the Oregon Trail.)

Last night, I got laid out by the most intense sinus pain of my life. It lasted about 12 hours, and I went to the doc this morning. After a shot in each butt cheek, a five-minute breathing treatment with some sort of inhalant medicine, two advil and two prescriptions, I was out the door! I guess it actually was worth signing up for COBRA insurance.

In a more upbeat piece of news, Karen and I were happy to find a surprise in our mailbox the other day: the title to her car! We took some of the money from selling mine and used it to pay hers off, which means we have $0 in debt!!! (We recently paid off the credit card, which had lingered at $2,000 or more for a while.)

I plan to buy my next car with cash, once one of us has reliable employment. Karen has a job interview with the local university next week, so we're both obviously excited about that. It's administrative work, which pays well but not might be a dream job. But discounted schooling would sure open up some doors to more fun jobs.

Our zero-debt approach was inspired by a finance radio show guy named Dave Ramsey. His Web site's pretty cheesed out with his promotional stuff, but I like his basic ideas. I heard him on the radio when we were moving to Alabama, and it instantly resonated with me. I picked up his book "The Total Money Makeover," which I would definitely recommend. He gives easy-to-understand, practical advice on saving money long-term.

His basic steps are:
1. Do everything you can to save $1,000 in cash as quickly as possible. (We, thankfully had quite a bit more than that saved when we decided to move.)
2. Start a "debt snowball," where you list your debts from smallest to largest (not counting house). Pay as much as you physically can each month to the smallest debt until it is gone. Meanwhile, keep paying minimum payments on everything else. When one is killed, move on to the next-smallest debt. Do this until you're out of debt. This usually takes years, but since Karen and I were a bit ahead of the game with savings, we were able to pull this off in about two months. We had the money, we just hadn't been smart about using it to pay off debt.
3. Increase your emergency reserve to $10,000, in case you decide to do something stupid like quit your jobs and move cross-country. We're still a bit short of this one, but it's a good goal. With few bills to pay these days, we're saving pretty much everything we don't spend on food or Christmas shopping.
4. Pay off your mortgage as fast as possible.
5. Set up and invest in college savings plans for your kids.
6. Invest in a diverse, mutual fund-based portfolio and max out your retirement savings.
7. Continue to expand your wealth, and focus on philanthropy.

I just think it's interesting that this guy made a New York Times best-seller out of a book that calls for a 14-year (on average), amazingly intense commitment. While we probably won't be as strong with these goals as we should be, they have helped us focus our priorities at a time of economic uncertainty.

OK, back to following doctor's orders: "Your job is to take it easy for two days." After two shots in the ass, that's a welcome prescription.

Killin time

I'm homebound today with a wicked cold, but it could definitely be worse. I could be Jonas, who spent a good chunk of Saturday morning throwing up blood (and proving once and for all that he was the dog that ate the bottle of pain pills), or I could be these poor bastards.

Jonas is fine now, in case you're concerned. The vet is pretty sure he'll avoid long-term liver damage. That bowl of bourbon we give him to help sleep every night probably won't help in the long run, though.

So as I try to find a way to kill time today, I figure I'd share some good Internet pastimes:

• The Perry Bible Fellowship - This PG-13 comic appears in some alternative newspapers (including, impressively, Birmingham's). Not all are that hilarious, but every once in a while there's a big winner. Scroll down to Lord Gloom and Schlorbians Again for two of my favorites.
• The Secret Satan video - In case you didn't see it when it was posted on fark.com. Gets the holidays started right. It's long, but be patient. There's a nice little breakdown scene near the end.
• The hockey name generator - Were I to pick up the stick professionally (um, you know what I mean) then apparently I would be called "Bob McGrinerchuck" (if Canadian) or Denis La Grinereau (if French-Canadian). What about you?

What would Olive Garden do?

Woke up this morning to the dual panic of my sister realizing that A) her flight to London today apparently was never really booked and B) one of our dogs ate a big bottle of pain pills. After some fun last-second ticket shopping and vomit-inducing, everything seems to be OK.

However, it's still up in the air which dog actually at the pills, which were Rimadyl chewables for my sister's oldest dog's back pain. Because high doses can be toxic for the liver and gastro system, both Loki (the oldest dog) and Jonas (my mutt) have to take Zantac pills for two weeks. Odds are good that Jonas was the one who ate them, since he's the biggest shithead, but we have to be safe. Only one dog, the puppy Picasso, was ruled out because we induced vomiting and found only his breakfast. Sorry, buddy. The other two dogs apparently have a strong stomach for hydrogen peroxide.

Anyway, moving on...

I previously mentioned that I was the second oldest worker at the cafe, after a fella named Rick. I've worked with him a few times and went out for drinks with him last night after closing, and sure enough, he's a pretty interesting guy.

Rick's primary job is in hiring at UAB, which is cool, since that's where both Karen and I are considering working. But he works at Barnes and Noble as a side job, and he loves it. He seems to share my love of getting to meet so many different people in a day, even if the interaction is limited (which can, of course, be a blessing).

I've decided to start keeping track of the random comments I hear sometimes when I go out to clean the lobby. You pick up unpredictable little tidbits of life, like groups of religious teens talking about peer pressure, or the awkward attempts at conversation on a first date. As I get some good ones, I'll post them on the blog.

The only other interesting day-to-day thing to track is the strange requests people make. I'm used to the "half-caf skinny caramel machiato no whip affogato style" kind of stuff, but then there are the things that just confuse me.

I stopped in today just to buy a cup of coffee (hard to beat the 50% employee discount), and a woman was lecturing one of our best baristas about how she wanted him to steam the milk and espresso together. (Normally, you drop the milk on top of the espresso.) Now, this isn't incredibly rare or strange, but her logic sure was. It consisted of two points:

1. "When you don't steam them together, you burn the milk."
2. "That's how Olive Garden does it for me."

Just when you're trying to get your head around the burning milk aspect, your brain comes to a screeching halt. "Did she just say Olive Garden?"

In case you care or can't figure this out yourself, putting espresso in cold milk and steaming it will not magically change the scalding point of milk (which is about 180F). But apparently at the Olive Garden, the espresso acts as some kind of safety valve, and when the milk starts to get too hot...I don't know, maybe the whole thing changes color or starts to smell like pistachios.

Yeah, I can take all manner of rudeness and ignorance, but amazingly flawed logic (coupled with a that's-not-how-they-do-it-at-Olive-Garden attitude) is just the best.

Olive Garden. Christ.

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.

Day 1 (Truckee, Calif.)

I'm stopped at a coffee shop in downtown Truckee. OK, OK, I haven't made it that far. But we got a late start this morning, and I went ahead of Karen so she could handle some last-minute errands and catch up with me on the interstate. Right now, I'm just waiting for her to pull up with the dog. The cats are exploring the rental truck cab.

Probably because of the frantic nature of our exit, I wasn't exactly saddled by sorrow in leaving. It's not that I dislike Nevada City in any way; it's just that I'm so excited about starting the next chapter of my life. Karen is amazingly excited, too, which makes it that much better.

A funny thing about starting a massive moving project on Oct. 31....it's easy to forget that it's halloween. So I keep wondering why there are so many people at coffee shops with pink hair, or why the bank manager was wearing a black leather jacket and matching chaps. Ending Day 1 in Nevada should be an interesting experience on Halloween, too.

Oh, one other bit of cool news. I put my old, clunky, 15-pound laptop on eBay, where apparently these things are still popular. I ended up getting $220.50 for it! That's half a tank of gas in the rental truck! Woohoo!