Where have I been?

Yeah, yeah, I know...I haven't written in a looooooong time. But there's a good reason for that! Basically, work is kicking my ass.

No, seriously, it's almost like National Lampoon's Newsroom right now. I lost a photographer, a reporter and my assistant editor to buyouts. The photo department took care of the photographer position pretty easily -- transferred one from another office. But then a family emergency came up and she's been on leave for 3 weeks and will be out until the beginning of June. Meanwhile, the other remaining photographer went on vacation, and then also had a family emergency pop up, so for the past few weeks we've been photographer-less. Finally, we have one back this week.

Now, for the reporter position. I will make a loooooong story short, since I also don't want to divulge any details that should probably stay between me and the company, but the hiring process for that position got so convoluted, I didn't get a freelancer on board until last week. Finally, I have Saturdays covered. He's a whiz kid, so I feel good about that choice.

Part of the reason I've been so swamped is because I no longer had an assistant editor. Finally, this week -- almost two months since the buyouts -- I have a city editor. But he's split between me and another paper, so this week he's at the other paper. Basically, every other week I'm on my own. At least he can cover nights for me at the other office.

While all this has been going on, the company also decided to create a new beat and hired one of my reporters for it. He's my ace reporter, so I'm sad to lose him. After a long search (well, what I assume was one...it took long enough), the company delivered me a replacement, who is shadowing my out-going reporter this week. And today, she (the replacement) told me she accepted another job. So yeah, I'm out a reporter again in a couple weeks. On the biggest beat in the newsroom. Sigh.

Now hang on, it doesn't stop there! This week we rolled out our new computer system, and it's been a complete fustercluck (which, coincidentally, is also the name of the chicken restaurant I want to open -- Fustercluck's). I'm what they call a "Power User," which is basically a fancy term for "tech bitch." I spend all day running around the newsroom trying to figure out why someone's login doesn't work, why someone can't find something, etc. In between answering my phone and also trying to figure out my own computer's quirks. Today I even spent 20 minutes fiddling with a reporter's keyboard because he couldn't type any capital letters...only to find out that because his desk was such a mess, a folder had been resting on the Scroll Lock key for several hours. The file was removed, and tada, the Shift key was functional once again. Seriously, this is what I get paid for. Did I mention that I also get to assign and edit stories??

Today my whole system locked up on me and then wouldn't accept any of my logins. Yesterday I mysteriously lost the ability to unlock files, despite the fact that my account has authorization. The photographer who just returned apparently hadn't been apprised of the new way to file photos and did it the old way yesterday, which created such havoc on so many levels that I'm still speechless as to the hoops I had to jump through just to get those photos to the designers by deadline. No one who is supposed to know anything actually knows it when I ask a question, which has been so very helpful. Oh, and don't even get me started on the editor at my sister paper, who is in the middle of a meltdown every time he calls me. Yesterday he didn't know how to toggle between windows. Today he claimed his e-mail didn't work. Seriously, my neck is so tense right now I can barely turn my head!

So, that's why I haven't written in a while. I literally have almost zero time at work now, which is the reason for this late posting -- I'm writing this on the couch! In my PJs. Which I wish I could wear forever.

We're going camping this weekend, so hopefully some time outdoors will help slough off some of the office-inflicted gloom!