There are a myriad of reasons I’m in a funk right now, but it’s not helping that it seems suddenly I can’t get a thing accomplished at work. It’s as though I’ve been cursed and suddenly no one is calling me back!
I took on a freelance story this week about a retail development under construction. It should have pretty much been a slam dunk story. All they wanted was an update on the progress – things like which anchor stores have committed to the project and is the construction on schedule? We’re not talking major investigative reporting piece here – we’re talking about a short story destined for the inside pages.
Frankly, this particular outfit doesn’t pay particularly well and I wouldn’t take on their stories if I thought they were pieces that required massive digging – at least not for their usual rates. I don’t have the time for those sorts of stories with my full time job, and based on what they pay, I’d be making less than minimum wage if the story required more than three or four interviews and a quick write up.
So, I started calling the developer, city planning, and retail consultants in the area on Monday. No answers. Tuesday, no answers. I finally get a secretary to cough up a mobile phone number I’m pretty sure she wasn’t supposed to give me and reached someone. He was on his way into a meeting and agreed to talk the following day at an appointed time. Fine. I call the next day (left a total of six messages for him on his mobile, Kansas City office number and his corporate headquarters number) but alas, he’s vanished into thin air and no one can help me.
At this point I am annoyed. This guy should be thrilled to talk to me. It’s like free advertising for him – so why is he blowing me off? The conspiracy theories set into my head. I feel frustrated. Not only am I looking like a chump to my editor, but I’m irritated that I can’t do what I know needs to be done. I know I need to hop in a cab, drive out to the construction site, and start exploring with my long white cane.
It’s a tactic I’ve used before. There’s nothing like a blind woman wandering across a construction site to get attention, and get it rapidly! But, if I do this any profits I’m making on this story will be out the window, and there’s an ice storm on. I could be waiting on cabs for this little venture forever.
I think about staking out the guy’s office. Sooner or later he’s got to show up there – but again, it would cost me too much and hey, I’ve got this full-time job and that’s the one that pays my health insurance.
My editor was very nice about it. I think it’s bugging me more than it’s bugging her. I’m annoyed that I’ve even got to take on freelance work in order to save any money at this point in my career. I’m annoyed because my blindness is getting in the way of this story – well, only sort of as my job is equally to blame. I’m annoyed that this guy is going to get away with blowing me off.
Maybe there’s nothing up and the project is fine. As my editor said, it’s a weird time of year. But I assure you when the developer wanted financial incentives from the community for the privilege of his business, he was wanting everyone to know how wonderful his plans are. So, now that a project is in full swing, we as the public have got a right to an update.
Then there’s my actual, full-time job. We have this tiny tid-bit in our news section called, “Best Advice I Ever Got.” It’s maybe the size of a 1/6th page ad. It’s tiny, maybe three or four sentences and a head shot. The trick is we try to get very well-known people in the industry – CEOs etc. I’ve now spent five hours being blown off by everyone over a silly little item. There was a large industry meeting this week and I think everyone who the entire industry would know has just spent a week out of the office and they don’t have time for me. But, I still look like a chump because this little task isn’t complete.
I am annoyed in general though. I feel trapped by my medical needs. I can no longer do the sort of journalism I had hoped one day I’d be able to do when I first went to journalism school. At the same time, this whole other world has opened up to me full of opportunities no one seems to be recognizing, but I can’t do anything about it. I can’t take my training and pursue them because, well, it’s really tough to be an entrepreneur when not having access to health insurance is truly a matter of life and death. I can’t afford to take the risks that could get me out of the position of stagnation I’m in now. It’s so frustrating to feel like you could be doing so much more than what you’re doing now – but to see no way to chase the dream.
I took on a freelance story this week about a retail development under construction. It should have pretty much been a slam dunk story. All they wanted was an update on the progress – things like which anchor stores have committed to the project and is the construction on schedule? We’re not talking major investigative reporting piece here – we’re talking about a short story destined for the inside pages.
Frankly, this particular outfit doesn’t pay particularly well and I wouldn’t take on their stories if I thought they were pieces that required massive digging – at least not for their usual rates. I don’t have the time for those sorts of stories with my full time job, and based on what they pay, I’d be making less than minimum wage if the story required more than three or four interviews and a quick write up.
So, I started calling the developer, city planning, and retail consultants in the area on Monday. No answers. Tuesday, no answers. I finally get a secretary to cough up a mobile phone number I’m pretty sure she wasn’t supposed to give me and reached someone. He was on his way into a meeting and agreed to talk the following day at an appointed time. Fine. I call the next day (left a total of six messages for him on his mobile, Kansas City office number and his corporate headquarters number) but alas, he’s vanished into thin air and no one can help me.
At this point I am annoyed. This guy should be thrilled to talk to me. It’s like free advertising for him – so why is he blowing me off? The conspiracy theories set into my head. I feel frustrated. Not only am I looking like a chump to my editor, but I’m irritated that I can’t do what I know needs to be done. I know I need to hop in a cab, drive out to the construction site, and start exploring with my long white cane.
It’s a tactic I’ve used before. There’s nothing like a blind woman wandering across a construction site to get attention, and get it rapidly! But, if I do this any profits I’m making on this story will be out the window, and there’s an ice storm on. I could be waiting on cabs for this little venture forever.
I think about staking out the guy’s office. Sooner or later he’s got to show up there – but again, it would cost me too much and hey, I’ve got this full-time job and that’s the one that pays my health insurance.
My editor was very nice about it. I think it’s bugging me more than it’s bugging her. I’m annoyed that I’ve even got to take on freelance work in order to save any money at this point in my career. I’m annoyed because my blindness is getting in the way of this story – well, only sort of as my job is equally to blame. I’m annoyed that this guy is going to get away with blowing me off.
Maybe there’s nothing up and the project is fine. As my editor said, it’s a weird time of year. But I assure you when the developer wanted financial incentives from the community for the privilege of his business, he was wanting everyone to know how wonderful his plans are. So, now that a project is in full swing, we as the public have got a right to an update.
Then there’s my actual, full-time job. We have this tiny tid-bit in our news section called, “Best Advice I Ever Got.” It’s maybe the size of a 1/6th page ad. It’s tiny, maybe three or four sentences and a head shot. The trick is we try to get very well-known people in the industry – CEOs etc. I’ve now spent five hours being blown off by everyone over a silly little item. There was a large industry meeting this week and I think everyone who the entire industry would know has just spent a week out of the office and they don’t have time for me. But, I still look like a chump because this little task isn’t complete.
I am annoyed in general though. I feel trapped by my medical needs. I can no longer do the sort of journalism I had hoped one day I’d be able to do when I first went to journalism school. At the same time, this whole other world has opened up to me full of opportunities no one seems to be recognizing, but I can’t do anything about it. I can’t take my training and pursue them because, well, it’s really tough to be an entrepreneur when not having access to health insurance is truly a matter of life and death. I can’t afford to take the risks that could get me out of the position of stagnation I’m in now. It’s so frustrating to feel like you could be doing so much more than what you’re doing now – but to see no way to chase the dream.
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