The rapid end of my time at the Press-Telegram

"Whatcha got ain't nothin new. This country's hard on people, you can't stop what's coming, it ain't all waiting on you. That's vanity."

– Uncle Ellis, No Country For Old Men

I loved that movie and never had that quote struck more true than it does right now.

On a Monday, I had a job. On a Tuesday, I had a job with rumors of changes coming. On a Thursday, I wondered if I was going to have a severance check waiting for me on a Friday.

In this business, that's how fast bad news travels.

On Friday, we heard the official news; the copy editing and design desk were going to be no more at the Press-Telegram in less than a week. Of those people, like me, only 12 or about 2/3 would have work at our sister paper, The Daily Breeze in Torrance. The rest will be given a severance, vacation cashed out and work served check.

The Press-Telegram will also be losing their publisher Dave Kuta and managing editor John Futch. I owe a lot to Futch for me still being involved in the newspaper industry. Less than a month and a half after I was fired and being told "Never work at a newspaper again" he took me in and gave me another chance. And on my worst night two weeks after I was hired, he reassured me. He gave me the confidence and, in time, that turned in to value showing I am more valuable at a newspaper than previously thought. I owe him a lot.

And as fast as the bad news traveled, my priorities changed. Yes, I had the initial shock of the thought of losing work and what I'm going to do next? But remembered the line, "There is something beyond oneself." Despite not having much saved up, I remembered it's just me; I don't have a family to support. My worries went to my friends that do immediately. Suddenly, me losing my job seemed so insignificant to the worries others are having.

I've been unemployed twice before and I'm seven weeks away from being 30. I know I'll be fine; it's nothing new for me. But I hope everything works out more for them before I would ever feel comfortable.

I care a lot about the people I work with. We've shared so much and with this quick turn around, it is cheating us of one thing people get when they put in their two weeks: time together. The thought of us being ripped apart so fast is unimaginable for me. Now this is something I've never done and so sad.

The uncertainty of everything only adds to the worry. Who is going to make it? When is the last time I see this person? How do you talk to someone if they didn't make it and you did?

The only certain things I know is: Monday is when we find out who makes it to the Daily Breeze, and, Tuesday is my last day at the Press-Telegram due to prior scheduling. If things work out, I'll be in Torrance on Thursday trying to make the best of a new situation and solving a new problem: Since all the copy editing and designing of the Press-Telegram is done at the Daily Breeze, what is the best way of making two different newspapers from one staff?

Miracles happen – usually for the other guy in my case

Twenty-five full days down, only another 35 to watch out.

…So just when I have good news it doesn't take long for bad news to find me. I've recently finished paying off five credit cards and I went to work where I got a message on my system telling of our sister newspapers in the Bay Area offering buyouts to their employees. If not enough people take the buyouts, there will be layoffs.

What really sucks is that the corporation I work for keeps turning a profit. At least I'll be debt free for the most part if they ask down here.

…I read recently on MSN that Forbes had a list of "America's Most Miserable Cities." No. 1 and No. 3 are no shock, three especially if you saw "Roger and Me." Detroit is at the top with Flint, Mich. two back. But in the middle is my hometown of Stockton. Crime, unemployment and, for those that remember my bulletin post, foreclosures are the main reason Stockton ranks high.

Now can you see why I left?

…I visited one of my sisters in Pasadena last week to see how they were doing. She has three kids and the two oldest are kind of over me. They got other things going on, especially if kids their age are over.

The youngest is two and a half and still likes seeing me. So within 10 minutes of me getting there he wanted me to read him a book, "The Gingerbread Man" to be exact. I had no problem with it. As I read I discovered he learned the one word that has no answer: Why? As I was reading the book, he asked what the bear in the story was doing? I said he's reading. He asked: Why? The bear likes to read. Why? He likes the stories. Why? He finds them entertaining. Why?

I forget what I did to make him stop, but it reminded me of the stand up of Louis C.K.

…I am wondering what I want to do next. More than a month ago, I contacted an old, well I'll just say, friend of the family who works at the Washington Post. He relocated to the East Coast about 14 years ago and I asked him what that was like. He said it was really good for him professionally. You'll be allowed to grow and will be surrounded by those who want to help you get better.

After talking to him, I was ready to apply to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution for a design position there. The deadline was in early February, and I didn't. While I was willing, it just didn't seem right.

I'll be honest; I'm about to turn 30 in less than two months and my life isn't what I thought it would be, but whose is right? If I left, I would feel like I was running away and I don't think I could live with that. So I'm waiting to see what happens.

Besides, now would not be a good time to move. I still have March to deal with.

Where did the time go?

So much happened in so little time.

...We've entered February, which is the start of my two worst months traditionally. Of all the things that have gone wrong in my life, about 90 percent of it happened in February and March. I'm not saying I'm having the best time of my life for the rest of the year, but I usually don't have that many problems.

But after five full days, so far so good. I won $40 in about 20 minutes when I was in Las Vegas for the latest UFC fight on Groundhog's Day.

I'm also being proactive on the advice of a friend and trying to make the best of it and avoid the pitfalls. We'll see how that is coming along. I just need to be wary of the next 55 days. Damn leap year.

...I've also made the decision to try and take better care of myself. I'm starting to walk - occasionally jogging. In fact, I'm also going to exploit my religion, the one I don't really practice, for the next 40 days. I'm giving up soda and red meat. I'm curious to see how much weight, if any, I'll lose.

...And as for work, the powers that be moved the sports department to news. There are three reasons why this sucks: First, they stole my Mystery Spot bumper sticker when they moved my desk, now I'm going to have to go back to Santa Cruz to get another. Second, my desk is right by the main walkway so everyone walks by me. Third, I sit next to one of the most annoying people in the office (don't even defend him some of you who know who I am talking about). Not only does he jump into every conversation being held with information that only Cliff Clavin would love, but he also has a series of nervous twitches. The only positive is that I don't work all five days with him, but one is too many. I found my Gareth Keenan or Dwight Schrute, depending on which "The Office" you like more.

...Speaking of work, I was given a challenge by the sports editor: Put a football stadium next to the Queen Mary. It ran not only in the Press-Telegram, but also the Daily Breeze and Daily News. More than a half million potential readers.

Until next time.

Las Vegas: City on the go

The third annual, "Eric Johnson's Las Vegas Birthday Bash" had its biggest turn out, 5. Yeah, I know, people had to be beaten with sticks to be held back from it. Being that most of us are reporters, high school sports reporters no less, leaving for Las Vegas in January isn't the best time.

The weather doesn't help either. While, we do not get blasted with 110+ degree heat in the summer, we walk up and down the strip at night with temperatures in the 30s and a wind chill in the upper 20s.

We pressed on despite all that.

I picked up Eric on Tuesday and we hit the road in a rented red Chevy Colbat. The deal was when we began the bash, he would pick up the room and I would handle the transportation. That year, we stayed at the Stratosphere and stayed away from the windows. Last year, Eric stepped up to the Mandalay Bay and it came with a view that left me undeserving. This year we stayed at the "Five Diamond" Venetian, and I'll tell you, that is too luxurious for someone who can't be seen with out a baseball cap.

We were joined up in Las Vegas with Diamond Leung, Chris Paul (not the basketball player) and Michael Becker. We had dinner, then went up to Freemont Street. We gambled a little there, but the real reason was to see the Freemont Street Experience. It wasn't much of one. We then drove down to New York, New York and the MGM. On the way back to the car, some of us were hassled by a various club card pusher. I can't repeat what was said to one of our party in this forum, but it was the quote of the trip.

The next day, we split up for the first part of the day. I walked around for a little bit and found my "Atlantis" in the form of a 0 only roulette wheel on a computer game. For as long as I have gambled, I've been able to come up with a low-risk, low-reward system for roulette. Every time I play, it's usually on a 0-00 table, but a computer simulation game had the 0 wheel which increased my odds.

After that, I caught up with Eric and was unable to get into our room as it was being cleaned. We went down to the sports book where I made my first horse bet ever. As a kid, I was able to see Bay Meadows racing and could remember picking out winners on names alone most of the time. Had I gotten there sooner, I would have bet on this horse called Granny Franny. We watched that race and GF finished second. However, there was an announcement when the results became official that GF was declared the winner as the horse that won was penalized. So I put $5 on a horse called Sir Whimsey and as they made the turn for home it took the lead and I won $12.50. I tried again, but lost. Then saw an "expert" pick his trifecta and bet his recommendation. Had that race been 15 seconds shorter I would have won at least $200.

Eric and I moved to roulette and I sat out and saw him destroy my game strategy as he turned $20 into $300 in about 20 minutes.

On our way back to the room, Eric wanted to take pictures of the pool area so I went with him. While there he also took pictures of the hot tubs. With my feet hurting, I decided to let them soak and let the jets message them. At first he thought I was crazy, but I don't think my feet ever felt so good. After five minutes of hearing me say, this is the best thing ever; he gave it a try and realized it was. Later on that night, I jumped in the hot tub with no abandon. Yes it was cold, in the middle 30s, but it felt so good. And why not, it was free with the room, might as well use it.

Everyone met back at the room at 3 p.m. to get ready for dinner. We all dressed up, including me with no hat. Before we went to dinner we went to the top of the Stratosphere to take pictures, which came out great.

We had dinner at an Italian restaurant in the Mirage. It was the best meat sauce rigatoni I've ever had. From there we walked to the Bellagio fountains, which was a little hard due to the cold weather. Again we took pictures.

On the final day, CP and Becker went home early, as they had to work. Diamond, Eric and I hung out for a bit longer. We went down to the Mandalay Bay to take pictures of the Lenin statue. We then went to Excalibur where, for the first time, I walked out with more money than I came in with. I won $10 at roulette, $20 at black jack and another $10 on the very complex, Casino War.

We then went to New York, New York across the street to ride the roller coaster. I was going to take video of me on it, but they confiscated my camera out side of the gate, but just before the first climb – yes I ruined it for everyone. And it was a good thing they took the camera, I just wish there was padding on the headrest. The ride is well worth the $14.

We then left Las Vegas, but on the way out, there was an accident. A bus carrying employees to a casino in Primm crashed and burned. It was horrific to drive by as you could see what was left of the guardrail, and it wasn't much. Twenty-five of the 30 passengers were hurt and fortunately, there were no fatalities. However, there was this one jerk that was honking his horn as this accident was holding him up.

I got home, after dropping everyone off, at 10 p.m. While I lost money, about $70, it was by far the best birthday bash. See everyone next year.