The Michael Swayne Story V: King of his Castle

When I arrive at work this morning, nothing had been updated for this week's paper. The front page had not been sold. The court news hadn't arrived. Nothing. At that time, the only thing I could do was organize the paper so each school would get appropriate space with their town's ads near them. Then Misty came by and helped me with the double truck ad that will be our center pages this week. After Misty left, Iris arrived. And that's when everything went crazy.

First, Brade (the replacement sales person to our last replacement sales person) didn't show up at work. Then, Iris was getting calls from the owner every five minutes. Then, Gabby was supposed to leave the camera here for us to take pictures of the funeral home for an article. And, Gabby left the paper hanging in the balance because she said that she had the front page sold. And the article from another store hadn't shown up yet. Add to that everything else just having to come together all at once. So, Iris was a bit hectic. I tried my best to smooth the situation.

I took Iris's iPhone to the funeral home to take the pictures. Yes, it was very unprofessional, but it was all we had. There were negative comments made about at the funeral home, but they wouldn't say too much about it. After all, they know me, and focused more on asking how I have been and how Dad and Grandma are, and commenting on the fact that I ride my bike everywhere.

The other article that was supposed to be in this week was pushed back to next week. Instead, we are running the funeral home article.

I became the listener for all of Iris's other problems.

When Gabby finally showed up, that brought more problems. But this time, it was on me to fix them. The ad she sold for the front page had to be built from scratch. She also brought the court news. Which was six pages of single-spaced typing that I had to do. While I was scanning pictures for the ad, Iris left. She had had enough for the day, and was going home. Gabby and I worked on the ad. When it was done, she left.

Then I went to work on typing the court news. I thought I had plenty of time to type, but then I looked at the clock and saw that it was nearly 3 pm. So I upped my speed and finished typing at 2:45.

And then...

The FTP site for the press was working fine. It was probably the only thing to go right today. I transferred the paper to pdf format, and sent it to press just in time. Then, I shut my computer off, called my brother to come and pick me up, and went home shortly after.

My PS3 still hadn't arrived today. So, 7 Days left. I went to the mailbox, and saw that my printer ink arrived. I put the ink in, and then my printer says that the black ink cartridge I had is not intended for this model of printer. So, I go on eBay and ask the seller about it. It turns out they sent me the wrong one. The item description was written wrong. So, they are sending me a replacement. And they're letting me keep the one they sent as well. I offered to send it back, but they said that it wasn't necessary.

I don't remember if I told you this, but I received a tracking number from the seller for my PS3. But for some reason, it didn't work. I wrote the seller and asked if it was the correct number. It turns out that it wasn't. I got the right number, and immediately checked on the status of the PS3. It left Oregon this afternoon, and should be here on Friday. I can wait that long.

Well, tomorrow I am delivering the 15th issue of the paper that I made. 15 weeks. I say this a lot, but I am still shocked I am here. If things keep going this way though, I may be the only one still working at the paper. Iris and Gabby both said today that they are about to quit if things don't improve. Iris and Gabby are just tired of the stress each week.

*Story time*

Out of all of the employees to have ever worked at the Messenger, there is only one who has never quit or been fired from there before. Let me rephrase that. Only one employee at the Messenger who has never been fired or quit working at the Messenger. Misty quit long ago to start her own paper. And when her paper was bought out, she started working there again. Now she has taken a step back from working and only works when needed. Iris quit a few years ago. But after Heidi quit last year, she was let back on. Gabby has quit before too. She got a job at a restaurant. Then she was earning too much and her assistance was threatening to be cut, so she started working here again. Heidi and Amy (two people I don't think I have told you about) have also quit or been fired, and let back on later. Even Larry works here again, and he quit last year.

The only person who hasn't stopped working there...is me. I have seen and been through a lot there. And I don't plan on quitting. Unless I inherit a whole lot of money. And even then, I don't think I'd quit. I have this weird dream where I own the paper one day. You never know, it could happen.

Speaking of dreams, I had a weird one last night. Throughout all of it, a Spanish-language song was playing in the background. I have never heard the song before, and I don't recall the voice singing it.

Anyway, tomorrow.

I have to wake up early in the morning, so I will end this here. I hope to see you around the forums, and until then...

Later!

Michael