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It's official...starting in May, I will be a Producer for the Biography Channel. I'm so excited and thankful for this opportunity! God is so good!
I have to wait a few weeks for someone to be hired in my current position and then I have to train them for a week. So, I'm looking at the first week of May to move over to the post-production department. My new job sounds more glamorous than it really is (as most things in life are). I will have a lot of paperwork to do. I will be in the editing studio once or twice a week for 8 hours at a time adding Biography Channel elements to programs, making sure they meet FCC standards, and have no audio or video errors. Most of my editing sessions will be during the day (8:30-4:30) but about once a month I'll have to do a night edit (5pm-1am). No, you won't see my name on the credits at the end of the show. That'll happen with my next job! When I'm in an editing session, A&E Networks buys my lunch. Nice perk! Plus, I have a little bit of flexibility in my hours.
Doug, my new boss, said that they decided to give me the job because they liked my initiative. I've never thought of myself as having initiative and for me to approach him in the first place is not something I usually do. So, it's really paid off for me to put myself out on a limb this time. Doug also mentioned that early in his career, people took a chance on him and gave him opportunities and he wanted to pay me the same consideration.
Ironically, an hour after I was offered the position, I received a phone call from ABC asking me to come in for an interview to work on "All My Children". I told them they were an hour late!

Opening Day Report

Yankees Opening Day was scheduled for Monday, March 31. I had been watching the forecast for about a week leading up to the game. It kept saying it would rain on Monday but all the meteorologists "guaranteed" that it would not rain out the Yankees game. What do they know? (Sorry, Carlos) Well, Monday came and it was drizzly all day, like a heavy fog. We got to the stadium and they announced that the game would be delayed an hour. So, we hung around eating hot dogs and talking to other fans. An hour passed and another announcement that they were "evaluating their options." What options do you have? You either play the game or you don't. Fan were getting restless, chanting "Let them play!" and yelling at Joe Girardi that if Torre were here, they'd be playing. (If you're not a baseball fan, those names probably hold no meaning for you. If you know baseball, you laughed just now.) Well, they decided to postpone the game until Tuesday at 7:05 because the weather forecast called for deteriorating conditions. Fans groaned and clapped at the same time. And everyone headed out. The weather never deteriorated...
So, now Tuesday, April 1st is Opening Day. Good thing I bought a hat that says "Final Opening Day in Yankee Stadium--March 31, 2008" Guess it's a collector's item now! We missed the train we had intended to take so we decided to drive to the stadium. I live only about 20 minutes by car and 30-40 minutes by train from Yankee Stadium. The train is just easier to take because parking is a headache and there's construction all around the stadium. So, we drove in, found a parking spot (barely), and got to the stadium. Then we stood in line for 20 minutes and missed the first pitch. :( I was very disappointed but there's nothing I could do about it. The line was just so slow and they had only 4 people checking in a crowd of people. Poor planning on the Yankees part. I got to my seat in time to see the Yankees come up for their first at-bats. It was a great game. The atmosphere felt like a play off game. And the Yankees won!
Time to head home. We hopped in the car and were just about to get on the Major Deegan Expressway when a box truck made a wide right turn...right into us! Awww, man! We look up and there's a bunch of police cars heading our direction. "Oh good," I thought, "they saw the accident and are coming to help us." I yell at some people on the street to stop the guy who hit us. Thankfully no one seemed to be hurt. But the cops were yelling at us to move. We explain that we were just hit. They tell us there's a "more important" scene and point to the on ramp. There are about 8 police cars on the on ramp. We ask if they could spare one police officer for us. The cop yells at me that someone is dying! So, I get on my cell phone and call 9-1-1. I explain what happened and that I know there's a more imporant accident but we just need one officer to take a report. No, nobody's hurt but we're sort of blocking the intersection and now it's pouring and it's not safe to be out here. The dispatcher tells me that someone is on the way. After 45 minutes of waiting in the pouring rain and exchanging information with the other driver, still no police officer to help us! Many cops passed us to go to the other accident scene--none stopped to ask if we were OK. In all the time we were there, only one woman stopped to ask if I was OK and if she could call a cab for me. How nice! I told her that I was waiting for the police...for more than a half hour. She rolled her eyes and said "It figures. Don't count on anyone to show up." Well, we gave up waiting. Got all the info we could get from the other guy and left.
I'm very dissatisfied with the Bronx Police Department. I realize the other accident scene was more dire than ours. However, I am not convinced that every cop in the Bronx needed to be there. At one point, there were probably 20 or more emergency vehicles on that scene. Thankfully, nobody was seriously hurt. My back was hurting before the accident and now it's hurting worse. Other than that, I feel fine. If the truck had hit us a second earlier, it would have hit the front door of the car and probably would have really injured us. Basically, the whole experience of Opening Day that I've been so excited about and anticipating for awhile now, has been overshadowed by disappointments. The more I think about it, the more I'm reminded of Matthew 6:19-20. "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal." While these verses allude to material treasures, I think it can apply to experiences too. Our experiences here on earth can be destroyed, or at the very least disappointing, becuase of other influences.

Here's a link to the news story about the other accident(http://www.wcbs880.com/pages/1928695.php?contentType=4&contentId=1817308)
I'll post some pictures from the game days soon.

**I know you're probably wondering...no, I haven't heard about the Producer position. I asked Doug if he had anything he wanted to talk about with me today. He simply said, "No, not today..." I'll keep you posted.**

It's Been Awhile

Believe it or not, I have been working for A&E Television Networks for 7 months now! Since reaching the 6 month mark there, I've been feeling rather unchallenged in my job. I've also been considering what my next career step should be since my current position will only last until November at best. Last Friday I decided to talk with the Managing Producer (Doug) to get some career advice. He didn't really steer me in any direction in particular but it turned into something like an interview. He asked me to send him my resume if I'd be interested in a Producer position. Of course I'm interested! So, first thing Monday morning I sent Doug my resume, knowing there aren't any open Producer positions. Yesterday Doug stopped by my desk and asked me to meet with him Friday at 3. I didn't realize it would be an actual interview! I met with him for an hour today. He told me that there is a position open and told me all about the job. I'd be a Producer for the Biography Channel formatting various programs before they go to air. I think I'd be really good at this. I'd learn another aspect of post-production and once again feel challenged in my work. It would also mean a pay increase! Even without the pay increase, I really want this. I can really see God's hand working in my life. There was no job available last week when I went to talk to Doug and I went and talked to him anyway. And now I'm waiting to hear if I will be a Producer!
When my lease was up in January, there was no way I could afford to stay in my apartment. Somehow, which I still don't understand, I was able to get into an affordable housing program, get my rent lowered by $600/month, AND stay in my current place. Usually people in the housing program have to live in a studio apartment. But they allowed me to stay in my apartment because it would be too much of a hassle to move. Praise God!
If you know me very well, you know how much I love the Yankees. It's been a dream since moving here to get season tickets for the Yankees. I figured I have to do it this year since it's the final season in Yankee Stadium. I put a deposit down in November for a package of 15 games. I realized it was kind of a gamble because there's no guarantee I'll get tickets since I've never had a season ticket package before. Once all the current ticket holders renew their licenses, then they choose new people to purchase ticket plans. Somehow I have seniority. I got a call in February that I could choose my seats because I bought a lot of Yankees tickets in 2005. That's impossible because I didn't live in NY in 2005 so there'd be no reason for me to have bought any tickets then! Well, there's no mistake about it. I am the proud owner of Section 27, row J, seats 1 and 2 for every Sunday home game. Unbelievable! Opening Day is March 31...10 more days! I can't wait!
Thank you for your continued love, prayer, and support. I would love to hear from those of you I've drifted away from. Keep me posted on your life. I will let you know when I hear about the Producer job.

So Close....Yet So Far Away

Have you ever felt so close to something you wanted, and yet so far away from it?
That's how I feel with this new job. It would be a dream come true to work for the Yankees Entertainment and Sports Network (YES Network). I knew that the YES Network was located in the same building as A&E. However, I thought that it was all post-production related departments. A&E has post-production and traffic located where I work so I figured the YES Network would follow suit. Well, I found out that their studio is located on the third floor, the floor above where I work. The YES studio is literally directly above my desk! I was both excited and disheartened to learn this. Excited because this means that I have the opportunity to run into just about anyone related to the Yankees! I can only imagine all the possibilities. Disheartened because it feels as though my dream career is sitting right there in front of me (or rather, right above my head) and I don't know how to grab it.

At Last!

After 4 interviews at A&E, they have finally offered me a job! Yea! Beginning August 20th, I will be a Freelance Library Assistant. I will be working in the tape library, keeping it organized and filling requests from other departments and outside interests. This freelance position is a lot different than the freelance position at News 12. I won't be on call; I'll work 40 hours/week. The position is a 6 month to 1 year contract. During that time I may be offered a permanent position if one becomes available.
In addition to this job, I have also started in-home private tutoring. Right now I only have 1 student who I teach twice a week. Once school starts I may be tutoring her cousins as well. I really enjoying working with kids one on one, so I'm hoping to continue to get more referrals. It's fun, easy work!
I will keep you updated on my job at A&E and anything else exciting that happens.

Furniture

Here is a picture of my living room furniture.

Sounds Tempting...

Some interesting things have been happening...and all of a sudden! I added an additional freelance job. It's affiliated with News 12 Connecticut but it's located in Westchester County where I live. So, I'm a freelance Associate Producer at News 12 Connecticut and now I'm training at News 12 Westchester in the same position. The day before I started training in Westchester, my boss in Connecticut called to see if I could work. I told him I couldn't because I'm training in Westchester. He said that Westchester steals all his people. So, I trained one day with Westchester (I'll tell you how that was in a bit) and when I got home, I had an email from my boss in Connecticut offering me a full time job! Wow! I'm not going to take the job but it speaks volumes to me that I'm being offered the job of morning producer rather than offering the job to an already current employee. A current, full-time Associate Producer should realistically be in line for a full-time Producer position. There are 3 of those people. It's very tempting to take the job for only one reason...money $$. I'd be making a lot of money but I'd be completely unhappy. The hours are awful...1:30-9:30 am M-F. If you've been reading my blogs, you know that the news industry is not for me; it wouldn't make sense to take a full time job working in news. But most of all, I wouldn't have any time to continue to pursue my other career goals--voice-over and hosting. Which brings me to what happened on Monday (3/19). I went into Manhattan for the day. I hadn't been there in awhile so I thought I'd make a day of it. The weather has been crazy, especially last Friday. There was a surprise Nor'Easter and I was stuck in Norwalk, CT. A piece of my car broke because it had frozen to the snow. I had to have 3 snow plow men dig my car out of the snow and push it out of snow banks. Once I got on the road, I couldn't go very far because the roads weren't plowed. Since there was snow then sleet then freezing rain, they didn't plow the roads because they would be too slick. So, I ended up having to stay in Norwalk overnight. Anyhow, Monday was finally a nice, sunny day. The snow was beginning to melt and I figured Manhattan would be pretty quiet because the cold would keep the tourists away. I hadn't intended to go to Times Square but a certain pastor (I'm not naming names) wanted a picture of the Naked Cowboy. So, that's where I headed. I didn't see the Naked Cowboy but for some reason, there were police cars everywhere! I heard people saying it was counter-terrorism training (likely) others said it was a funeral procession (also likely). I saw a guy and girl with a professional camera and microphone, so I stopped them for 2 reasons. 1) Maybe they knew what was going on with the police cars. 2) Camera+ mic=tv, which is my career field. Hmmm... They didn't know what all the police cars were doing there either. Then, they said, "Hey! Do you want to be on TV?" YES! They told me they are with Music Choice, an on-demand satellite channel. So, I got to play vj ("video dj" for all those non-MTV generations). I introduced a video (which I've never seen) and told why I like it. It was fun and they told me I sound like an announcer. They didn't even know that's what I want to do! So, I talked to the camera guy, who is a Production Coordinator for Music Choice. I told him that I am a freelance Associate Producer and that I want to work in Manhattan. He said there may be some freelance jobs available and gave me his card. Networking! So, if you have a MusicChoice channel, watch for me introducing Avril Lavigne. About the training in Westchester...I'm not sure how I feel about it. Maybe when I've had a decent night's sleep, I'll be able to process everything better. I've been working at 3am. It's a lot different than News 12 Connecticut. I think Connecticut seems more professional, more structured. The people in Westchester, though I'm sure they mean well, talk to me like I'm a moron! I want to tell them that I'm not as dumb as I look. I'm not a morning person by any means, so my moodiness and foggy head are probably contributing to my sensitivity toward the other producers.
An update: I have my furniture finally! It's great! I will be sure to take some pictures and post them on here in the next few days. My apartment is so much more comfortable and inviting with furniture!