I've been MIA lately and once again neglecting my blog/memoir and I want to explain what has been going on.
Six weeks ago I accepted a full time position as a driver for NAVTEQ. If you guys have ever seen the Google cars driving around town with cameras on top of it, that's what I did but for another company. It captures all the data and pictures that stores it onto computer hard drives that are in the back of the car.
When I accepted the position, I was panicing. Let me put it this way: if I didn't take the position I would've had to have moved back home to MN. To date, I went through 60% of my savings account, I wasn't even partying it was mainly because of the rent money that was killing me month to month and working part time at the NAVTEQ editing center wasn't always making ends meat. I know a lot of people in California live paycheck to paycheck but that's not how I was raised. I was having a hard time wrapping my head around that idea.
My editing boss didn't want me to leave, I didn't want to leave but I had to secure something for myself. One of my co-workers told me I'd be back in two months and in a sense he was right, which I'll get to in a second.
The training was in San Francisco and I had my own room with a super king bed, flat screen TV, big bathroom and big desk. I also had a great view of the Bay area. It was like heaven but the training was grueling. Sometimes the training schedule would be a bit behind and all the technical aspects of it seemed overwhelming at first. Sometimes the training would run an hour or two over schedule. I went out ONCE with my team to a restaurant down by the Wharf. I had fun and the car I was in even went down to the GG Bridge and Ashbury St. But by the time the training day was done, all I wanted to do was sleep. I was emotionally and mentally exhausted, so was my co-worker. We got paid to fly up there and back, so including that and the time we put in for training, we put in 55 hours.
The following week we still didn't have the proper cars for the job, so we worked with another team of the same division that drove around in an SUV and looked at Points of Interests at intersections. That was a 52 hour work week I believe. We also had to swap out cars at the last minute on a Friday in places that were far, far away from us or we didn't know our work schedule or what to do. It was very unstructured.
I was also exhausted, so tired that at the end of the day all I wanted to do was come home and sleep. It was like, there was so much OT-- which is a very nice paycheck and I loved making the dough-- but I couldn't go out and enjoy my evening, such as go to the gym The projects were all in LA (I was suppose to be based in OC like I was told and that office is 15 mins from my house), so I'd get home at 7pm at night, take a shower, eat and go to bed. Then I'd have to be up at 6am so I could sit in traffic and meet my driver (or navigator) by 8am in West Hollywood. The job was turning out to be something that wasn't a good fit for me but again, it was a full time job.
The following week we had what was called "down time." Because the True Cars STILL weren't ready, we got "paid" for 20 hrs work. So I decided to look at it as "vacation" time and I went to San Diego and hung out with my friend that was visiting for a few days. A couple days later I went to Santa Barbara with my friend Nicole. I try to get up ato SB as much as I can, I absolutely love it there. Anyone that's been there knows how gorgeous it is. So I can Nicole a tour. Later on the drive back I started telling her how I have been looking at TV jobs up in the area for awhile to see if there was an opening but nothing had popped up.
The same night I came home and there was an opening for as Assignment Editor/Web Producer at the station in SB (the other is in San Luis Obispo, which is an 1.5 hrs from SB and Santa maria which is 45 mins from SB). It was exactly what I wanted to be doing again. It was good karma, I immediately applied. The following week a couple of guys that had True Cars in Vegas came out to do a project with us. In between that the news director called me from the station I applied at and we clicked immediately. He told me to come in for an interview on a Saturday. I drove up and met him and the general manager. The station is up on a hill and has a very large patio with a breathtaking view. You can see the mntns, the whole city of SB and the ocean. I haven't seen a still view like that, only when I drove up the mntns. The staff is great, the news directpor totally has my back and it was just a good fit. That following Monday, I accepted the position. I was accepted out of 120 people-- that's insane!! That goes to show you how much the economy is suffering.
I put in a weeks notice at my driving job and had a week off the find an apt. I decided on Thousand Oaks, a city in Ventura County. It is half way between SB and LA which is where I wanted to be. I'm living in a private townhome community with a roomie. The place is clean and my room is amazing with an attached bath, a desk area and vaulted ceiling. The rent is also $100 cheaper than where I am living now! It's a very nice area, my nearby neighbors are a couple of the Jacksons and Will/Jada Smith! My editing center boss also hired me back on to work occassional weekends for some extra cash and help.
I have so many great ideas for the station and I am sooooooooo excited to start my new job! It feels good going back into TV news after a 2.5 yr hiatus. Santa Barbara is such an amazing place where they also cherish family values and are very into volunteering. I can't wait to get involved again in the community!
K.
