Soooo, maybe I wasn't meant to cover sports. Had no idea just how rusty I was on the sports end until that game Friday night. The actual game itself was pretty good, considering it was a bunch of high school kids playing. As for my story, well, let's just say it sucked royally and if it wasn't for one of my wonderful co-workers who has been in the biz a long time, the story would not look like what it did. Maybe I should just stick to news/obits/featury type stuff. But I still love sports too. Ugh. Such dillemas.

Had my review at job #1 Friday. It was really quite commical. Because this is our busy season and boss #1 (out of 4) was behind on getting us in for our yearly reviews. I did feel a little sorry for her, in between doing everyday stuff, fighting with our plants and training hottie new guy, she was very far behind. She called me in around 3 p.m. (I was leaving at 4) to discuss my performance over the past year. I was satisfactory. Woo-hoo. No raises this year, very bummed about that one. We usually get a small raise of some kind during review time but not this year. Economy is too bad, need money for building improvements (Big Boss's new personal bathroom), yadda, yadda, yadda. I tuned her out after she said "no raise". The kicker was when she asked me where I saw myself in five years. After I got done laughing my fool head off at her I told her about my plan to go back to school. She was actually pretty encouraging although under the misguided idea that I would quit job #2 instead of job #1. Poor woman, she has no idea.

Looks like McDaniel College will be the recipient of my tuition money next year. I find it very funny and slightly ironic that the original school I wanted to go to the first time around will be the one I'll be begging to let me in for my second go. If I get accepted. Looking at the requirements for their certification program I don't think I'll have a problem. Why does this state have to do things the hard way? And they wonder why there is a teacher shortage in Pennsylvania. Whatever. Once I graduate and get certified I can move pretty much anywhere in the U.S., which I intend on doing. Lately I've been getting the urge to take off. Just quit both of my jobs load a good bit of my clothing, stuff, etc. into the car and just head out for parts unknown. Then reality smacks me upside the head and says what are you thinking? Can't hurt to dream though. I've also been trying to come up with a backup plan, just in case this thing with getting my certification falls through. A viable possibility has presented itself in the form of working in the travel business. No, seriously. I looooove to travel. What better way to see the world than to become a travel agent? Maybe start my own business? Definitely has potential.

On a completely different note, has anyone else been paying attention to the whole flap going on in Britain about PM Blair and the scientist guy that committed suicide? Very intriguing. I listen to an internet radio station out of London during my day and the media in the UK have just been all over Blair and the possibility that info regarding weapons of mass destruction in Iraq may have been fudged. Uh-oh. Sounds like controversy to me. Maybe Blair and Dubya can exchange notes on how to handle their respective political fire-storms. What I am enjoying is th British media's coverage. For example the following was quoted in a story on MSNBC:

“Yesterday a decent, shy civil servant who had been savagely chewed up and spat out by a malign, amoral Downing Street machine met a tormented and tragic end,” the Daily Mail wrote.

NO way could they get away with that here. Talk about a great sentence. If only I could get copy like that in my stories...