What a total reversal...

Yesterday I said (facetiously) I was quitting journalism.

Today, I received my first-ever journalism award. The American Society of Business Publication Editors saw it fit to award my previous magazine (at my current workplace) first place in the Midwest Region for our special annual issue--our State of the Industry report from last year. Prior to my current magazine, that was the hardest I busted my ass, and it feels good to be rewarded. Granted, I get only a plaque (a sweet-looking one though), but still, the recognition is awesome. I have to share the award with my fellow staffers, of course, but still, I played a very integral role, and let me tell you, it feels great to be acknowledged. Of course, we won the Gold award, but I guess we didn't have enough points to move on to the national competition. But, hey, we're doing some sweet things on my current magazine that may very well translate to success, so I guess I'm taking "baby steps," as it were. We shall see...

So, no quitting of journalism for me.

That is all.

Man, I'm quitting journalism and going into appliance repair.

Today, the Sears In-Home Repair guy came to fix our now-doubling-as-a-heater refrigerator/freezer. The problem? The electrical relay to the compressor unit had overheated and shorted out. It was burned pretty badly. Good thing it didn't start a fire.

Anyway, after tinkering around for less than a half hour back there and getting it going, I'm charged $212 total. Here's the breakdown: $45 for the relay, $168 for the labor. Jesus Frigidaire Christ! I don't think my dad makes that much in labor, and auto repair labor is a ripoff as well.

But, at least the fridge is fixed now. We need to wait until tomorrow to let it cool down inside, and we had to basically throw out the contents of both freezer and fridge, but at least it wasn't fully stocked or something like that. So we're out that food, but it wasn't the end of the world. And it didn't cost enough to warrant getting a new fridge for a place that we'll be selling in a couple of years.

Otherwise, that's about it. I fell way behind at work because of this ridiculousness (I had to stay home all day because they gave me a "window"--read, picture window--of 8am-5pm), since I wasn't prepared for this to happen (I called them last night and they said they had an opening today) and all my actual work was actually at work. So, late nights ahead, not surprisingly.

For now though, good night...

Well, it took 29 years and countless hundreds of baseball games, but I finally walked away from a ballpark with a home-run ball.

Maybe this video link will work, maybe it won't (if not, you can find the Jason Michaels home run replay through MLB.com's game highlights, if you're feeling like hunting)...it's the MLB replay of the Jason Michaels home run from last night's game. If you look closely, you can see my arms (grey sleeves of my jacket) jump up to try and catch it, then you can see me dive to my knees on the floor to scoop it up, right before the shot cuts away. There's a dude that flies in from the right of the screen (my left on the video), who almost got it from me. But, thankfully, I was able to scoop it up with both hands before he swooped in. It was so cool...but, I was pissed, because in all the hoopla, I forgot the most important thing: To yell at all the assholes that I wasn't throwing it back, because this is not Wrigley Field. I was disappointed about that. But I'm happy to have "caught" a home run ball.

Oh, and our freezer broke Friday night, and now the refrigerator portion is dying too. Dammit.

Now, back to your regularly scheduled programming...work, work and more work.