I have three things to cover and four things to write. One thing to take photos of and one set of photos to put in. After my car comes back from service Thursday, I'm gone. I'm hoping it won't cost too much but it's making a weird noise every now and then from either the left muffler or left rear wheel. I'm thinking something got messed up from the stopping on and subsequently sliding backwards on a giant sheet of ice into a ditch thing.

Regardless, Thursday afternoon marks my first true vacation since January 2008. I had days off for my fraternity convention in the summer of and I was home for about a week when Grandma died in March 2008 but this is my first abso-fucking-lutely nothing to do for several days in a row vacation since that glorious week where did nothing but sleep and update this Web log. I'm already on vacation. I feel so frickin' relaxed already. We had a staff meeting today and we're set for when I'm not there. I needn't worry. That, of course, means the building's going to burn down whilst I'm gone.

That said, I'm going to make this a true vacation. I'm grabbing a fresh notebook and a couple of pens I don't mind losing. I'm putting up a vacation message on my e-mail. Facebook and Twitter will be untouched. I'm not even going to go on the Internet. If you want me, you'll have to call or text and I'm considering turning off my phone except for when we're in transit or in a position where we may be separated.

That's right: I'm going off the grid. I feel it will make this the best vacation possible.

The last time I was that close to being truly off the grid was my trip to Florida. There was no computer access and I just had my cell phone. I didn't text back then. I called maybe four people tops and one was my upcoming job and the other was my mom to see if I had an apartment.

I can't wait to relax. My life will be 1000 miles away from Friday night till some point on Wednesday. I will leave Virginia on Thursday and not return to Virginia till the following Thursday. I am nearly bouncing with excitement. I'm getting away.

I think the sad thing is that I'm more excited about being refreshed and ready to get back to work on Thursday afternoon. I have things to tend to when I get back and, honestly, I'm ready to be fresh for them. I mean, I may be a little lagged from the trip Thursday and Friday but, after the subsequent weekend, golden.

I'm so happy Thursday is coming. On Thursday, two years, 28 days. Nearly 760 days. Over 300 entries ago. Just think of all the things that have happened and I haven't had a moment to stop the world.

This is going to be awesome.

So I was going to a Super Bowl party against my better judgment. I wanted to stay home because of the weather, needing to get to work early and not really wanting to drive later when everything is very frozen.

As usual, I was a dumb ass and went a bit off the beaten path.

I got to a stop sign right at where I needed to turn to get back on the main road and get to where I was going. The stop sign was on a hill. The hill was covered in packed ice. I considered just coasting through the stop sign so I wouldn't lose traction but a car came through the intersection. I stopped. My car immediately started rolling backwards. I tried to get it to go forward but I had no traction. I wound up partially in a ditch.

There was some guy outside at his aunt's house and tried to see if he could help. Later, a pickup came by and tried to pull me out to no avail. A second truck came by and tried to pull the both of us. Nothing worked. My car did not move.

They gave up and told me to call my insurance company. I got put on hold and they said it could take up to an hour. I sat in my car and thought about it for a second. I popped the car in reverse and floored it. I got out of the ditch. I slammed it into drive and I was gone. My 2009 Nissan Altima did what two pickups couldn't do for me.

Hells yes, Nicole Cobb. You are now my favorite car.

I gave up and went back home. I'm ready to get on the road to Louisiana.

Back to the game.

I was up for 21 hours. I was at work for 14 of those (I got paid for 13 because I don't get paid lunch and I actually took an hour this time). I was awake/at work for so long that, later in the night, Jonathan mentioned something that happened at lunch and, in my head, it was like two days ago.

I think Thursday was the start of a trend. It's called “Can we make Elliott go crazy before he takes his first vacation in two years.” People are trying. Although I've calmed down, I still think I may lose my shit before next Thursday. Like seriously. Like I may actually flip out on someone and I know exactly who because he is a part of the me being at work for 14 hours problem.

I rolled into work at 11 because I was so tired exasperated. I'm glad we got sent home at 3 because of the snow.

Don't get me wrong: I absolutely love my job. I love it more than I loved my old job before I started getting homesick over the summer of 2006 and then there was a staff change that made working there a living hell. I think I love and appreciate my job more because I leave the city at night. I went to a grocery store down there earlier this week and ran into three people who recognized me. It was funny that it happened since Jonathan was with me and I said, before we came in, that part of the reason I enjoyed not living there is that, in Richmond, I can go to the grocery store and not run into people I know. I'm not 24/7 managing editor of the newspaper when I go home 20.5 miles away.

I don't go home till my job is done, though. Living this far away doesn't alter how much time I spend in the Wonder City. There are days that I get to Richmond with enough time to go to sleep and I am OK with that because, on nights like tonight, I can choose to forgo some hours and drink in the city and not have to worry about heading back down Route 10 till morning. You can read the previous sentence two ways.

But I digress.

There is nothing else I'd rather do right now although an unsolicited call to work somewhere in Richmond for at least $14 an hour would be taken in a heartbeat. But being at work and awake for so long today so close to my vacation is trying me.

I'm not even going to go into the story of the pink pig. Just know that I wrote a note in all caps that said “LOSE THE PIG.”

I hoped for a smooth-sailing last week. Truly hoped. But I started losing it around 5:15. I was planning on covering something at 5:30 but I forgot how far away something was. Actually, it isn't that far away and it should have taken me 25 minutes tops. I forgot how horribly people drive in the Tri-Cities. When I lived there and had to commute to work in Petersburg, I was always angry when I drove. You would think you wouldn't have road rage when the highest speed limit encountered anywhere was 45 mph and most of the streets were 25. No, no. You're lucky if the average Tri-Cities driver gets up to 25. Some of the roads have artificially low speed limits as well.

My voyage of 13 miles took 35 minutes. My normal commute to work doesn't take 35 minutes. On an average day, it takes me 25 minutes. I was nearly half an hour late to the event so I didn't go in. My rule is not to go to something I'm covering if I'm over 10 minutes late. I'd rather be a no-show than look horribly unprofessional. They weren't expecting me anyway. I was still angry that it took me far longer than it should have for me to get there. IT TOOK ME 15 MINUTES JUST TO GET OUT OF HOPEWELL. THAT PORTION OF THE TRIP IS LESS THAN EIGHT MILES.

So I was grumbling about that and how I didn't want to cover that and my following assignment because I'm the fucking managing editor but I don't trust one of my writers enough to have him cover things, hence a part of the reason that his ass is grass. I turned around when I saw how late I was and rode past my first apartment. From there, I decided to go back to the office by way of my old place in Hopewell. After that, my last assignment seriously made me laugh and I was in a good mood. I planned on getting a pound of steamed shrimp for dinner and calling it a day.

The Farm Fresh in Shockoe Bottom closes at 10. No shrimp for me. The snow apparently shut down the transport of chicken and steak.

I went to Kroger-by-the-Fan. They closed at 11. Everyone in Richmond was there. I barely found a parking space. I was very hungry and tired at this point. They too were essentially out of chicken and steak and the seafood department was long gone. Other than barbecue sandwiches, bacon and the ham I'll eventually buy and cook, I pretty much don't eat pork. I just don't. There's no specific reason. I mean, if I go my entire life without another piece of pig, I wouldn't miss it.

In short, pork chops were out of the question.

I stood in line for far too long for a frozen dinner. It was not what I wanted since I was expecting surf and/or turf.

Finally eating kinda calmed me down but I need weekend. Oh, I needed weekend. But all hell is breaking loose outside. Luckily, the snow changed to rain (for now) but I've had enough of this. I've really had enough of this. Especially since the furnace isn't fully fixed yet.

I'm ready to go to Louisiana. It's like 50 degrees there but that's warmer than here. Especially come tomorrow night when it's forecast to be nine. Nine. It's supposed to be 18 in New York City tomorrow night. Why the fuck is it going to be Nine Degrees Fahrenheit in Richmond, Virginia?

This will be the second ruined weekend.

I just need to get out of here. I need a break. I need a break.

I don't even know if this makes sense. I don't care.

So I came home and the power was still off at 3 a.m. When I woke up at about 6 a.m., it was back on and the house was still cold. When I got to work again, I heard that the power went off again momentarily. It came back on later and apparently has been on ever since. The last I checked, the house was at 64. We're close to 68, closer than we've been since Friday.

I came home around 3 p.m. to sleep for a bit. Before I did, I let Loaf out and decided to play with him in the backyard for a bit. It was fun. I think he needs to get out more. He obviously wanted to stay out for a bit longer so I let him. When I went to let him back in, the doorknob came off.

Like came off. I stuck it back together and got the door open. For some stupid reason, I decided to shut it so I could tighten the screws. The other side of the knob shot off and landed on the deck. I couldn't reopen the door.

After not knowing what to do for a bit, I went next door to get into the backyard, opened the door and screwed it back together.

This is getting ridiculous.

To quote Shaunelle, “Bad weekend. Very bad weekend.”

Oh, and one of my employees just fucking walked out of our staff meeting. Twice. I know it wasn't a formal meeting but fuck. I was too tired to fucking care at the moment. He's about to be shown the fucking door and I don't care who knows anymore. He brought it upon himself.

So the repairmen came around noon. Our landlord is good enough to send someone out in a foot of snow to give us heat. That is fucking amazing. I mean, I have not had anyone take care of business that quickly in any place I've ever lived.

Anyway, they found out what the problem. We have an auxiliary heater and it wasn't installed correctly. when it got very cold plush the snow, the system shorted out. It was one of those things that was going to go undetected until it was very cold and there was a lot of snow involved. You read right: our furnace was basically set up to fail at the worst possible moment.

They fixed what they could and said they would be back when the snow melted to have it all set up correctly. They couldn't do it today because the rest of the HVAC unit is on the roof. They would have to clear a foot of snow off the roof to get to it and repair it. I don't blame them for not wanting to do that.

For a few hours, I got to witness the glory that was the house going up from 53 degrees to 63 degrees. In the interim, I shoveled all the fluffy, fluffy snow off my car and carved myself a path so I could go to work later.

Little did I know, going to work later was sooner than I thought.

A few hours ago, as I was in the middle of working on my articles and pictures for Tuesday's paper, the power went out. That mean no more heat and no more working on articles. Oh, and my cell phone battery was about to die because I try to charge it when I go to bed.

I paced around, hoping it would come back on soon because, the long it was off, the earlier I would have to get to work to finish my articles instead of doing everything from home and rolling in at 9 a.m.

My phone is my alarm clock so I had to charge my phone. I went out to my car. After sitting there for a few minutes, I knew what I had to do.

I'm writing this from my desk at work. I need to edit a few photos and then my work here is done until I need to proof pages. I only need to look at front and jump as well as sports. I kinda wish everyone else came in now so it can just be done. I should be done with photos in about an hour then I have four to kill. I might just go back home but it seems a bit pointless. But there is NOTHING for me to do here for four hours once I'm done. I would take a nap here but it's not really conducive to sleeping here.

Dominion said the power should be back on around 2 a.m. I guess I could nap or something then take a shower and head back here. Either way, I'm cutting out of here early after the paper goes to press.

I understand why some adults hate snow. I didn't have fun this time. I didn't go out. I didn't take pictures. I've just been cold and I've wanted to get my work done. I didn't even clean my room like I wanted or put my laundry away because I spent Saturday more or less shivering in bed and today had its priorities that I had set for today. I was supposed to be set for Monday no later than 11 p.m.

The snow is supposed to melt some but we have a chance of more on Tuesday and this coming weekend. I am so ready to go to Louisiana and get a break from winter. You have no idea.

Let me get back to work. These photos aren't going to edit themselves.

There is at least nine inches of snow on the ground [I haven't gone out yet and will after I contribute to the decline of print journalism and read all the news I want over the Internet for free (that is a rant for some other time and today is definitely not the day for me to go out and buy five newspapers but, if there were an online subscription structure)]. I only went outside twice yesterday for a grand total of two minutes and I have no desire to go outside today.

Last night, it got down to about 13 and it's not supposed to break freezing today. The only snow melting/subliming is through it being clear and sunny out today. I'm going to dig out my car and follow through with cleaning my bedroom before I get down to writing articles, which I am always inspired to do after reading a good novel. It helped that this one involved journalism. I need a jolt like that every now and then.

Oh, how did I forget this part.
THE FURNACE FUCKING DIED YESTERDAY. IN THE SNOW. BELOW FREEZING OUTSIDE. IT HAS DROPPED 10 DEGREES IN THE HOUSE AND WILL PROBABLY BE IN THE 40S TONIGHT IF NOTHING IS FIXED. ONE OF MY TROPICAL PLANTS IS DYING ALREADY.

Downstairs has always been slightly drafty because ... well ... it's downstairs. There are two doors leading to the outside. You can't really do anything about that unless you install storm doors or have a vestibule at both doors. Around noon or so, I realized it was colder than normal but didn't really think anything of it. Then I noticed that it was definitely getting colder. Matt tinkered with the furnace a little and it looked like it was working because it went up a degree. Wrong.

We woke up to it being 53 in the house. I know some people have their houses set colder but our temperature is still going down. I can feel it getting colder as we speak. I'm ready to start doing things so I can start warming up a bit. The only problem is that the biggest thing I need to do — go outside and see if I can get my car to Broad Street so I can attempt going to work tomorrow — involves going outside where it's colder.

Someone is supposed to come in about an hour. I hope it can be fixed today. If not, I have to get off this hill and into the Fan to crash in a drafty living room of some ancient house. Or set the house next door on fire. My plant Phyllis is rapidly dropping leaves and will probably kick the bucket if it gets colder. Cecil may be old enough to withstand it for another day or so. Humans can begin dying of hypothermia at this point but I don't think I'm going to snuff it because of the inside temperature just yet. Going to sleep in this house when it's 12 outside and Lord knows what in here a different story though.

Please fix the heater today. It's the Day After Tomorrow. Save us, Dennis Quaid.

It was officially 65 degrees today. Tomorrow, the James River's tidal portion (the Richmond Locks at the end of the rapids between the Mayo Bridge and Rockett's Landing) will go from about four feet to 20 feet. Roads near the river start flooding at 12 feet because they are literally at 12 feet above sea level there. The rapids will be close to 20 feet as well. Nothing major happens there till it hits 22 feet. The pictures I took this day were when the river was at 12 and 9. By Friday, we could have a good chance of snow for over 24 hours and Saturday night has a forecast low of 19.

Isn't this kinda what happened in “The Day After Tomorrow”?

The beauty of taking hundreds of photos of an event is that I can run some in the paper and have nearly the same photograph to use for my own devices later. Yes, technically, everything I do on the clock belongs to the paper but I'm my own boss and I know I'm not profiting from this so I give myself permission to share with people who don't get my newspaper how much better my photography is getting. Another version of the second one was lead art on the front page and, to be honest, that entire issue was the sexiest thing I have ever seen published, not including the slightly flawed new version of my fraternity's administrative guide that I painstakingly revised and reformatted.

This is Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell's inauguration.

This is going to be legendary.

On either the night of the 11^th or early in the morning on the 12^th, I am going to Raleigh, N.C., by way of Powhatan County. Then there will be a quick nap. Then I will drive on Interstate 85 until it stops. Then I will keep going until I get to Baton Rouge. Then Joseph, Craig and I will rage with Falyn and Isaac from at least Saturday night until Tuesday night with the culmination being New Orleans for the main event on Tuesday. My car can go close to 600 miles on a full tank if it's all highway. We should be able to pull off just four tanks of gas.

At some point Wednesday, we're getting ourselves together and heading back to Virginia. My goal is to be at work on Thursday so I don't have to take another vacation day because I'm going to need it in July when I go to Atlantic City for my fraternity's 100^th anniversary.

Basically, these are my two major trips of the year. And I can't wait, especially for next month.

First of all, I can't wait to see Falyn. She has been living in not Virginia for a while so it's often a rarity to see her. I know, I see Mandy less often but we're relatively more in contact and Kansas is ... Kansas.

Secondly, it's New Orleans. A lot of my friends have said that I must visit it at least once. Some of that was even after Katrina. We're going to be mostly off the beaten path. Falyn has learned the sights and sounds of the real city and that's what I want to see (and eat)

Thirdly, MARDI GRAS. I am coming for the most epic day in the city's year is just the icing on the cake. I have a feeling that it is something I'm only going to want to do once and I am OK with that. I'm just glad that I'm young enough to appreciate the ludicrousness that is going to come with it. It's getting close to that time that considering doing something like this will be the thing that's ludicrous. I mean, I'm going to drive a third of the way across the country with the goal of working for two days immediately after. I'm going to the country's party central for five nights. I might not be able to top this adventure unless I go to like Europe soon or something. I can't wait to experience it.

I guess the question is how well am I going to document this. Well, for starters, if I do, I need a slim point and shoot but I don't feel like buying yet another because I'd probably not use it again. I'm all about that 10D now and I'm beyond taking incriminating photos. When I leave this job, I'll probably buy an SLR and, again, since I have stopped taking incriminating party photos and cell phone cameras are almost good enough, eff a point and shoot.

I'll at least do some text documentation, of course. Maybe I make some strategic cuts if needed like I did with the trip to Atlantic City. Beyond that, I'll think about how this is getting documented. For now, it's time to gear up for this shizz. Three weeks!

There was a time that I had three pillows. Technically, there were two since two of them were in one pillowcase. I've slept with two pillows for as far as I can remember. At some point, I started sleeping on my stomach so I use them to either prop my head up or in some sort of combination for superb comfiness.

As of late, I've been taking a pillow and a blanket with me places because I'm getting to the point where just crashing on a couch won't do. Like I'm probably a year or two away from getting hotel rooms when I visit people and there isn't a bed for me. At least we can start the era of hotel parties.

Anyway, so, when we went to New York/Jersey a few weeks ago (I lost track because I promptly caught a cold there and today is the first day I've truly felt 100 percent so I need to get some stuff done tomorrow that I could have today if not for planning on going to bed early and writing two entries; but I digress), I either left my pillow in Newark or Pete accidentally took it with him when we got back to his place in Norfolk. It was disappointing because it was THE pillow.

The two pillows I shoved into one pillowcase were my two from back to perhaps high school. At least freshman year in college. Obviously, I had them a very long time and they got very flat and one of them got very, very lumpy. Very. Back in 2007, I finally got around to getting a new pillow because I figured I needed to do something about those horrible excuses I slept with at night. When you fold one of your pillows to make it nice enough to sleep on, it's time for a new fucking pillow.

Fred and I were in what SAM WALTON hath made for some reason or another and I touched my dreams. I grabbed a random pillow and it was the most beautiful non-boob thing I had ever held in my hands. It was mine. It was glorious. I took it to Newark instead of my second pillow consisting of my old two and I lost it.

Yesterday, I went to Target to buy blank CDs because I like CDs over my iPod. Why? Because I can just turn my car off instead of fumbling to turn the iPod off and/or disconnect the auxiliary cord and make sure no one can see the iPod. Oh, and it's a lot easier to switch to a song I want to hear than having another electronic device to fumble with while I'm going 70 where I ought not be. I can change a CD in my car blindfolded ... although that would defeat the whole trying to keep my eyes on the road bit. A quick glance verifies which CD it is. But I digress again.

So I'm in Target to get CDs and I remembered that I needed a friggin' pillow. I forgot for several days until I got into bed, which often led to swearing. I also like to consolidate my Target trips but I don't write anything down anymore so I'll go quite a while without things because I don't want to go there for just one thing. It's part of the reason why it took me MONTHS to get aluminum foil.

I headed over to what used to be the seasonal section and there was a bin of down pillows. TWO FOR I DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH PILLOWS ARE SUPPOSED TO COST BUT TWO FOR SOME NUMBER MUST BE A BARGAIN, RIGHT?.

Oh God, why have I not bought pillows more often? They feel amazing.

They also brought up a problem.

I now needed a pillowcase.

I mean, I have pillowcases with my current comforter set but I'd had to dig them out of a box since the Pillow of My Dreams was meant for a queen-sized bed so I had to buy it a pillowcase when I got it. Somehow, buying a pillowcase turned into: I should get two and continue using my two shitty pillows as one when I got on trips to I'm an adult ... you know, my pillowcases should match my frickin' sheets ... but when's the last time anyone's seen your bed and when has anyone EVER commented on the matching or not matching of the cases ... hey, for a couple bucks more I can get this sheet set that's on sale!

Internets, I spent $50 in Target yesterday. I was just going to buy CDs and maybe ONE pillow. I could have gotten a lot of vodka for $50. It's a good thing that I'm finally getting my life in order to the point that I can blow $50 in Target. That's still ridiculous.

But these are some ridiculously comfortable pillows.

And this is what my life has become. I go to work and then I go home, play with my roommate's dog and buy pillows. And you wonder why I hardly ever write about my life nowadays. I'm a boring adult who tries not to talk about how much booze he drinks on the weekends that he still parties. I'm frickin' boring now unless you get to party with me or go on road trips with me ... speaking of which, I need to go back to planning my trip to Mardi Gras. Oh, did I not tell you I was going to Mardi Gras? In New Fucking Orleans? Whoops. Well, that's a story for another time.

So, on Saturday, I took some of my greatest newspaper photos. I would show you if Jonathan posted pictures to the site this week (you have no idea how unnecessarily complicated putting photos on our site is). To get them, I had to stand up for about four hours.

I got downtown at about 8:45 for the inauguration because they were letting the media in at 9 a.m. and wrote the notice like everyone in the entire state was going to be there. I had no problem getting into the garage and could have taken THE first space but I would have felt like an ass if I saw some 8,000 year old reporter complaining about having to come from the fifth level or something.

I was like the fourth person in the line at the gate and I started live tweeting the event. No, I didn't really talk about the event. I talked about the ridiculousness of being there three hours before it started because I amuse myself on Twitter the same way I amuse myself here. Only in 140 characters.

Anyway, they had the dogs come sniff our bags then they wanded us then they accidentally directed a group of people with another tier of credentials into the complex in front of us without searching them then had to bring them back out and forgot who had already be searched and then that was how I got the nuclear handgun in and seized control of the state.

The press box was perched over the stairs leading to the actual capitol stairs where the event was to take place. It was tiny. It was somewhat unstable. It was standing room. Oh, and did I mention it was tiny?

Some of the news outlets reserved spaces. either they were that special or someone forgot to tell most of us that we could reserve spaces. Eventually, it didn't matter and we were all on top of each other. I'm glad I stole the 10D from our publisher. I would have been laughed out of the box if I had that frickin' point and shoot. The downside is that the long lens was broken at some point so I had to use what came with the camera. I didn't have any real closeups but I got a really good wide angle of the ceremony and one close up of McDonnell shaking hands and kissing babies after the ceremony. I almost didn't get that photo because I nearly fell down.

No, I didn't trip over anything again or ride another bike. Since we were so wedged in and there were no chairs, I could pretty much do nothing but stand. I wasn't going to move from my spot because I was 1) kinda blocking CBN (they should have gotten there on time) and 2) was trying to make damn certain no one blocked my view. So I all but stood in place from 9 a.m. until about 1 p.m. When it was all said and done, I tried to step from my spot on the riser and almost tumbled the rest of the way down. My body apparently forgot that we could move. it was fun. At least I had enough foresight to wear not dress shoes. Even if I didn't it would have been well worth it. Everything came together in today's issue. All the pictures were clear. The writing was spot on. It had local links on world and state news. it went into the folder for next year's Virginia Press Association contest.

This newspaper is really becoming something. It really makes me happy. It's just that it's sinking in that it's my newsroom and I'm actually taking control. I especially love the ability to have something to show for working all week.

I knew I made the correct career choice a while ago but I was just in the wrong place with the wrong people. It's just amazing right now. It's amazing that my biggest problem most weeks is not getting enough sleep because I did something stupid. I know I've said it so many times but hells yes, 2010. You are rocking so far.

I needed this. You've seen some of the entries from the past five-and-a-half years. I'm glad it's only Jan. 19; I have an amazing shot to get a couple awesome things done and I hope I do. If I learned anything up to this point in my life, it's that I may be lazy but if something's going to get done, it's going to get done. That said, I'm fucking going to bed early so I can get shit done.

I have a new toy. Luckily, I don't get speeches often. I might run one of my entries through this or something. But not right now. I really need to get to work.

I picked up my media credentials for tomorrow's gubernatorial inauguration about three hours ago. I've been wearing the pass ever since. I think, other than sleeping and showering, I'm going to wear it till the end of the day tomorrow when I'm possibly in Norfolk (I think the only way I'm heading back that way is if someone buys me beer).

Laminated! Special gubernatorial lanyard! Low res logo!

Although I have met Tim Kaine and interviewed a couple celebrities, I'm excited about this. I'm excited because it's a transition of power and I get to be there with a good spot to stand and take a horrible photo because I don't have a long lens. But, besides that, I'm going to be there. That's what I live for in this industry: to be able to say I was there, I saw it with my own two eyes and I did so because it was my job. I'm going to miss that when I finally get out of this. If I decide to get out of this.

As my plan for the newsroom begins to come together and, other than a little snag that happened yesterday that finally pushed me into the red zone, seems to be coming together nicely, I am wondering what is next, where I am going next and what I am doing next. March 13 will mark four years of me living in central Virginia. It's a little scary when I look at it this way. I can't believe it.

But I'm starting to digress.

I have pretty much decided that I would be satisfied with living in Richmond for the rest of my life but I'm willing to move to another urban area. I know I'm done with being a reporter and my super secret plan for my position at my current paper is to start doing more pages and get the staff to do more so I'm completely the managing editor and not a reporter-photog-editor hybrid. What?

I guess, after I feel my work here is done, I can try my had at being an editor somewhere larger. I keep saying I'm going into media relations after this but I don't know if I want to leave what some people are calling a sinking ship. I don't feel like going into the argument for or against journalism being dead right now.

I just don't know. I don't even know how long I'm going to stay in the Tri-Cities. I thought I was about to run away from there and never look back a little over a year ago. This week, I was greeted like one of the family at the city council meeting. I'm apparently joining the Rotary. I look at my newsroom with pride.

I guess it's because I'm just getting started. It's kinda weird. I've been here since March 13, 2006 and I'm just getting started. I was told before I graduated that I needed to stay put somewhere for five years and then, after that, I could pretty much go anywhere I wanted. Next year is year five in the Tri-Cities. Five years as managing editor is 2014, eight years after I found out that Petersburg is not 10 miles south of Richmond. I'll be 31. This Web log will be 10 years old then. It seems so far away but it's not.

If I learned just one thing in the past year, it's that short-term goals are shit without a long-range plan. I got to figure things out. I got to find a literary agent. I have a heart to win over. I have a kick-ass new beginning of a 2010.

In less than 24 hours, Bob McDonnell will be my governor and I will see that moment happen. The theme of his inauguration is “A Commonwealth of Opportunity.”

I believe he is absolutely correct.

I just had to change my password here. I have a stable of passwords I use around the Internet and I sometimes forget which ones go where because I rotate them, put some in and take some out. I have one exception where I periodically change the login and not the password, which adds to even more confusion. I'm totally winning at this. I envision being locked out of everything one day when I'm 40 when I have a massive brain fart. I have an Ultimate Password cooked up of over 20 characters that I am 100 percent certain I will not forget but throwing that into the mix is just too much. I think it's the password for my online banking account, hence my inability to log into it. That and my secret question isn't one that I picked.

But I digress.

I can talk about some of the things I talked around earlier.

I'm expanding the staff.

I WORK IN PRINT JOURNALISM AND I AM HIRING AN ADDITIONAL PERSON.

He'll chiefly be sports and there will be a little delay before he starts. Because that's how we roll around here. Like the three months it took for my first day and the I can't even remember before Jonathan officially started.

Other than that, my copy editor is leaving once she gets a job (her husband got transferred for his job) and, once that happens, we have some additional things to do related with that but I can't explain what all is going on there yet. But at least I can brag about expanding my staff finally. I know it's just one position but HAHAHAHA, BITCHES! The plan for 2010 is slowly coming together.

P.S.: I just got a phone call that reminded me that I am definitely making the right decision about something related to all this. I mean, I know I am but that was a conversation I should not have fucking had to have.