“Various vagaries”

This morning’s (Thursday, October 8, 2009) dream (nightmare?) was about the various vagaries of production of this here newspaper, which despite the noisy blusterings of tub-thumping Conservatives, ain’t easy.
Anyone who reads this blog, assuming there are any at all, knows I had a stroke almost 16 years ago on October 26, 1993.
They also know I worked at this newspaper almost 10 years after that.
It was the best job I ever had, and over those years I did a number of things, and found flower in doing computer functions.
What I remember is doing obituaries (“obits”), and the “Night-Spots” column for the weekly “Steppin Out” tabloid.
I eventually ended up doing this here web-site, although earlier iterations thereof.
The last one I was doing was iteration #3, the paid web-site.
This newspaper’s current web-site is probably iteration #6 or so.
The “Night-Spots” file was a large computer file I’d update weekly by overwriting.
Doing so meant phonecalls, or accessing night-club web-sites.
It was tedious, but phonecalls were the main hairball.
My ability to do phonecalls had been compromised by my stroke, so I tended to not do them.
I always felt “Night-Spots” was poor because of my inability to do phonecalls, but I was told otherwise.
What I turned in was usually cut to fit.
I was told I was doing a fabulous job.
My dream was I had just completed my dreaded “Night-Spots” file, so I was ready to “send” it.
I had walked away from my cubical, and when I returned, my ‘pyooter was gone.
This sort of thing could happen in the production of a newspaper, although in my case it never did.
I walked around nervously trying to scarf up an unused computer — I did this occasionally when mine crashed.
But no luck.
Much worried jabbering at other work-stations, but no unused ‘pyooters.
My “Night-Spots” file would be needed for the next day’s newspaper production, but I had no way to “send” it.

• “This here newspaper” is the Canandaigua Daily-Messenger newspaper, from where I retired almost four years ago. —This blog also appears on their web-site.
• “The ‘Steppin Out’ tabloid” was a weekly tabloid magazine of local entertainment, etc., published with the newspaper.
• The “current web-site” is MPNnow; “MPN” standing for Messenger-Post newspapers. (A few years ago the Messenger bought nine weekly suburban newspapers [suburbs of Rochester] when their publisher retired; the “Post” papers.)
• “‘Pyooter” is computer.