Her hands in many pies

Wrote my first story for the main paper a few days ago! So exciting!

It was a feature on this 77-year-old guy who bikes 10-17 miles a day, despite having had both his knees replaced, a hip replaced, peripheral neuropathy of one foot and some pins in his back. Was truly inspirational. Will be writing a story a week for the paper from here on out.

As you can see i'm a regular busy bee these days! :)

Trailer Talk

Two massive trailers sit in the parking lot of the place I work for. Carpenters and workmen have been readying them for almost a month now - awaiting the Big Move.

Next week everyone moves their belongings, files, desks and computers into these trailers and will continue their work - which is to bring out a daily newspaper and assorted journals and magazines; while the old massive building that housed the entire newspaper will be remodelled, repainted and generally made over.

While everyone agrees its high time the office was remodelled, everyone also knows that the process isn't going to be easy. Imagine 400-odd people dislocated from their original work spaces, working in small trailers on a parking lot, trying to still meet their deadlines and goals, in the height of summer. It will probably be INSANE! But then since so much planning has gone into this, it will probably run like clockwork for all I know, with the occasional hiccup perhaps.

Luckily for me, I will be in India, most of the while the office is getting remodelled. So I get to miss working in a trailer! Or so I hope.

But what I do have to do before I leave is pack all my files and office supplies and things in my desk in boxes with labels on them - so that they can be moved to the trailer in my absence.

Monster plant!

I won a monster plant at the office auction this week. It's a powerful plant, since it sat for years and years in the office of the Editor-in-Chief of the Southern, no less! Ha ha.

Since the newspaper is in the process of renovating and remodelling its offices, a whole bunch of "office plants" were auctioned off to employees and the proceeds given to charity.

There were several bids on the plant, but it seems mine was the winning bid - $7 - a pretty good deal for a mature plant this size.

A friend kindly helped me load the monster plant into her pickup truck this morning and helped me bring the plant home.

Unfortunately the ride home was a bit rough on the plant (no bungee cord to secure it in place, highway driving, lots of wind...) and it lost a lot of its leaves!

Now it sits outside my front door, still recovering from the shock therapy I put it through.

The plant is really pretty. But I still don't know what kind of plant it is.

Does anyone want to hazard a guess?

What I do know is its an indoor, creeper-type plant that has grown and grown into what it is today. I will probably need to repot it before taking it indoors.

Brrr.....It's Cold

Gosh it's cold out here. A windy 30 degrees Fahrenheit. [That's around -1 degrees Celsius for all those in India].

This morning I couldn't turn the key and open my car door! So out came the lock de-icer and we had to lubricate and thaw the lock mechanism, in order for me to even get into the car.

It's only around 5:30 p.m. in the evening now and already it's gotten so dark, cold and gloomy outside that a person would think it was around midnight or something.

Am I the only one who's already longing for hot, summer days so early in winter?

A co-worker in office complained to me today. She said, "You know, it's really depressing. It 's like we live in darkness these days. Drive to work in the morning around 8 a.m. - when it's still dark and by the time I get back home in the evening - it's dark again. Oh for a little bit of sunshine!"

I totally agree with her. But I guess I'm lucky in that I live pretty close to my workplace. Which means I do manage to sneak in a bit of sunshine when I drive home for lunch.

I got the H1B visa today!

I got an official email from the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) this morning.

<<The following is the latest information on your case status:
Receipt Number: xxxxxxxxxxx

Application Type: xxxx, PETITION FOR A NONIMMIGRANT WORKER

Current Status: This case has been approved. On October 3, 2006, an approval notice was mailed. If 30 days have passed and you have not received this notice, you may wish to verify or update your address.

To update your address, please speak to an Immigration Information Officer during business hours.

If you have questions or concerns about your application or the case status results listed above, or if you have not received a decision or advice from USCIS within the projected processing time frame*, please contact the National Customer Service Center.

Sincerely,
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)>>

Yipeee! With barely 2 weeks left of my OPT (Optional Practical Training) period and no sign of my work visa coming through, I was extremely worried. But now it looks like my H1B visa has been approved. Which means its legit for me to continue working in the US after my OPT period expires - since thats when my H1B visa kicks in.

Couldnt have done it without my awesome immigration attorney Andres Zamberk or my cool boss who pushed her boss - the newspaper publisher to go out of his way to get clearance from Lee Enterprises - the corporation that owns the Southern - to sponsor my work visa.

I'm apparently the first foreign national that Lee Enterprises has sponsored in terms of a work visa. I find that astounding and humbling at the same time, considering Lee owns 56 daily newspapers in 23 states!

Illinois Wine Country

Busy as I am with the Health Magazine, someone from "upper management" decided I could do with some additional assignments. I'm "Special Projects Writer" after all, in addition to my other role as the Editor of the Health Magazine.

So I got to write several informative, profile-style pieces (a nice way of saying advertorial!) on the various wineries and vineyards around Southern Illinois for a special tab accompanying the newspaper called 'Illinois Wine Country'.

Since I was so tied up with the Health Magazine, I had to fit this new assignment - writing 9 new stories - in just three days. Weekend included. It was pretty crazy. I can tell you that!

1. Click here for my piece on StarView Vineyards
2. Click here for my piece on Owl Creek Vineyard
3. Click here for my piece on Lau Nae Winery
4. Click here for my piece on Cache River Vineyard and Winery
5. Click here for my piece on Pheasant Hollow Winery
6. Click here for my piece on Alto Vineyards
7. Click here for my piece on Hogg Hollow Winery
   
8. Click here for my piece on Shawnee Winery
9. Click here for my piece on Kite Hill Vineyards

The Nearly Midnight Vent

So it's 10:56 pm at night and I'm still working. Its been a busy few days. I just wrapped up with the upcoming (August) issue of Health and sent it to the graphics guy and then got dumped with some extra work for some special sections that will be running in the newspaper.

As usual the deadlines are always yesterday. Its never a few days from now. So I'm up trying to write four 1000 word stories, with extremely varied topics that I know nothing about, in a single day...or should I say night?

The new issue of the Health magazine got out more than a week ago, but I just havent had any time to post it here. Will post when I get some time to breathe!

A public email that worked!

From: Me
To: All my co-workers at the office

My apologies for the mass mail, but is anyone looking to adopt a kitten?

He’s about two weeks old and the cutest little thing you ever saw. We found him last night in our backyard, hungry and lost. It looks like he’s hurt himself on his left paw, since he seems to be limping a bit…

I already have two cats and a dog and really can’t take this little guy in. Right now he’s sitting in a crate with food and water in my house, waiting to be adopted.

I plan to take him to the humane shelter, if no one wants him.

But if any of you are looking for a kitten or know someone who is, please get in touch with me as soon as possible. This kitten really needs a home.

This was taken a few days ago, when we heard him mewing but couldn’t get to him, since he’d run away every time we’d come near. So we just settled for leaving a bowl out for him…(I added a pic here).

Please do get in touch, if you’d like to offer him a home.

Guess what? That email really worked! Two of my co-workers, mailed me right away asking to adopt the kitten. They both live on farms with plenty of animals.

So I said yes to the person who mailed me first - a young girl who works as an editorial assistant. She said her parents live on a farm, where their cats have just had a couple of litters, about 2-3 weeks ago and those kitties are probably the same age as my little kitty. She said my kitten would have lots of playmates and she would love to take him home.

So she came over to my place, the very next day and took him away with her. I should have been so happy to see him go into a loving home. But I felt so sad. I think I was secretly hoping that no one would adopt him, so that I could keep him.

The house feels kinda empty without him. Isn't it strange how attached you can get in just two days?

I asked her what she's named him. She said she calls him Ringo. Oh well...!!

Phone calls

This is too funny.
I just got a call from a guy who read the May issue of the Health Magazine.
Strange Guy: Can you give me the phone number for Dr. Ying Li?
Me: What?? (I’m puzzled) This is the Southern Health Magazine. I think you have the wrong number.
Strange Guy: No! Aren’t you Poo uh Poorni-ma?
Me: Yes…?
Strange Guy: I read the May issue of your magazine. You wrote that Acupuncture story didn’t you?
Me: Yes…I did.
Strange Guy: You talked about Dr. Ying Li – I want to go to her with my medical condition.
And then the light turned on in my dull brain and I realized why he was calling me! So I gave him Dr. Li’s number. Looks like these stories are helping people. Hee!

Thank God for Weekends!

I never realized how sacred weekends can be, until I had to work two weekends in a row. Boy, I feel nearly burned out, if truth be told!

But I'm so glad its Friday today and so much gladder that its a Friday where I can finally put up my feet and just look forward to the weekend, where I promise to do absolutely NOTHING!

I just wrapped up with the latest issue (forthcoming in a couple of weeks) of the Southern Health Magazine and handed it all to my favorite graphics and production guy. Now its his baby and hopefully he wont call me in the weekend and say i'm over the word limit on such and such a page.

Final proofing will happen in about ten days. But I can breathe easy for the next week or so as I set out assigning new stories and writing some of my own for the next-to-next issue.

Do we work w-a-y in advance or what? But right now we're trying to get the magazine out earlier in the month, so schedules are tight as hell and everyone's feeling the pressure.

Interviews and Gardening in the Weekend

On Saturday, I had a wonderful time interviewing this amazing lady at her home in Carterville, for a story I'm writing for the magazine.

She's 92 years old and still goes to the salon every Saturday to get her hair done! "A woman's got to do what she's got to do," she chuckled to me.

Remarkably well preserved, cheerful and personable, she insisted that I tell the whole world this - "I have reached the ripe old age of 92 by living on junk food and candy!" No kidding. She was such a cutie.

A voracious reader, she apparently reads a book a day and is well informed about all the current events happening in the world around her. "I was born during World War I," she said to me. "And I see the same mistakes being repeated over and over again."

I hope I'm as bright and interesting as she was, if I live long enough to be her age, one day.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Other than office work, Nanu and I had a very productive day today. We cleaned, vacuumed, scrubbed and "beautified" our home for most of the day and even did some gardening in the evening.

We used this new gadget he bought - it’s called a Grass Hog - and is usually used to trim and edge grass and weeds.

Since we don’t own a lawn mower as yet, we used this to mow the lawn, in addition to trimming edges. It’s a powerful, well designed tool, but it sure makes a lot of noise. Also our grass looks a bit patchy, since in some places we just cut too much or too little. I guess this means we really do need a lawn mower if we are to have uniform looking grass.

On the fun side of things, we cleared out some weeds, and sprinkled lots of grass seed in all the areas that looked a bit barren and grass-less. Since Pico kept jumping in between, he got covered with generous doses of grass seed. I wonder what he'll look like if grass starts sprouting from his head and body. That would be a funny sight!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

I took this picture of Motu and died laughing when I uploaded it on my computer and saw how eerie his eyes looked.

He looks like an alien or something. And he's sitting in what used to be our onion basket. I was cleaning it out the other day and he just jumped in and made himself comfortable. So I guess that meant it became his new nook and the onions had to find a new place to live! :)


* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Aaagh! I'm so blue

Am feeling a little overwhelmed with work…was given two weeks to get three big stories written for the magazine in addition to compiling content for around nine separate columns dealing with various health issues and segments.

I’ve also been dealing with other things like freelance writers who I farmed four stories to, editorial work, figuring out why the website doesn’t work and coming up with new ideas for the magazine’s website and setting up a Health news desk, (which essentially means all health related news releases, findings, reports and stories get sent to me from various medical schools, organizations, newswires, associations, companies and setting up a system that will enable me to deal with all that information flow on a daily basis!).

I have interviews set up tomorrow – a Saturday – and think I’ll be up writing all weekend and all through next week – and I still can’t be sure if I will be able to deliver on time. Baaah!

I do enjoy the job, but right now it feels pretty intense – the whole high pressure cooker schedule. And then there’s me. I just make things harder than I need to. You need about five sources per story and it’s good to run. But I’ve never had just five sources for a story - it's almost as if I like making things harder for myself...

Right now I’ve already interviewed:
Story A: 5 sources + 6 more sources to go
Story B: 4 sources + 4 more sources to go
Story C: 6 sources + 3 more sources to go

I need help. Seriously!

Vasectomies

One of our stringers got really ill and backed out of a story commitment.

So at the -nth minute, just before the magazine goes to the printing press, I’ve had to take over the writing of the story. And guess what it’s about?

Vasectomies! For those who are really duh…I mean in the dark, that’s male sterilization you know.

I’ve had a hard time keeping a straight face as Urologists (fancy term for doctors who specialize in this field) speak to me about scrotal cuts, sperm tests and the importance of ejaculating the night before they choose to undertake the procedure.

One of the doctors even said that the technology is so advanced today that a lot of patients come to him during their lunch break, get a vasectomy done and go back to their desk jobs immediately after the procedure. So of course, me with my crazy sense of humor has to wonder how many men around me had a vasectomy done during lunch break!

Hah hah. The writing life. It never ceases to surprise me.

While one Urologist boasted about his “No Scalpel Vasectomy” another pooh-poohed it as a commercial gimmick to draw leery patients in. “How do you think we can find the vas deferens without a knife?” he said. Most patients are scared of getting cut with a knife and get drawn to the no-scalpel vasectomy. “But a cut is still a cut, whether you use a scalpel or a hemostat,” he said. The hemostat is a scissor-like apparatus and apparently cuts and dissects – the same thing a scalpel does.

Just when I think I know everything, I’m always learning something new. But then that’s the magic of the writing life. Knowledge, amusing encounters, and juicy stories. Oh what a heady mix it is!

Visa Woes

I just heard from my employer that it’s their corporate policy not to sponsor work visas also known as H1B’s for foreign nationals. Since I’m considered a foreign national in the United States, this is a horrible blow for me. To make it worse I just started working for them and had hoped my visa troubles would be over.

Legally I’m allowed to work in the US until October 2006 since I'm currently on something called OPT - which stands for Optional Practical Training. It is a temporary work visa that is valid for a year and is issued upon graduation to all students who come to the US to study.

But since my OPT ends in October, I'm worried about what will happen after. If I don’t find an employer who will sponsor my work visa, I will be forced to switch to dependent status – which essentially means, I can stay on in this country but CANNOT work for a living. That means I either choose to be a housewife in the US or choose to go back home to India and have a long distance marriage. This is tough shit. And I am very upset.

The newspaper I work for is owned by a giant conglomerate in the newspaper industry that also owns over 58 newspapers in 23 states. I find it hard to believe that a huge conglomerate like this has never hired a foreign national. It’s insane.

Nanu needs to stay on in the US in order to complete his PhD. And I strongly want to live with him and have a job at the same time. Right now this is looking very bleak:

• Either I get real lucky and find another job
• Or the Gods smile upon me and my current employer changes their mind and agrees to sponsor my visa
  
• Or I just work till October for them and then become a housewife
• Or I work till October and then move to India and find a job and wait for Nanu to finish his PhD. and come back to me.

This is so very upsetting.

Job, Food and Thoughts

I finally got to match the faces and the personalities to the bylines! The reporters, editors and photographers seem like a cool, chatty and fun group of people. Even the obituary writer didn’t seem as morose as I thought she’d be, having to deal with death announcements every single day.

So yesterday we had a photo shoot in the morning, for a new ad campaign for the Southern. The models were the employees.

Everyone (myself included) filed out of the office at 11A.M. and had to hold up placards that pointed to where we lived. Mine said 'Carbondale'. But I was amazed to see that everyone had a different town on their placards, ranging from Benton, to Murphysboro, Marion, and Herrin. Seems like the Southern is the principal media-related employer in this region and people are willing to drive the distance across towns and rivers to get to work.

Had a working lunch at this restaurant called 'Thai Taste'. It’s the only Thai restaurant here and is pretty darn good on my exacting ‘yumminess’ scale. The best part of it all is the prices of course. For about five bucks, you get to choose an exotic sounding main dish which comes with a free iced tea, soup of the day and a spring roll! These are lunch prices (dinner is more expensive, as is the case everywhere), but unbeatable in terms of the sheer bang for the buck they give you.

So I had my favorite Thai dish called 'Chicken Cashews' - being vegetarian, I had to ask the waitress to replace Chicken with Tofu - which they readily did. Funny, huh? But I like this place because I can order most items from the menu and just get the meat replaced with Tofu.

When I first came to the States, I remember being so disappointed with the food scene. I was in Bloomington, IN and discovered that 99% of the menus in 95% of the restaurants in town were meat dishes.

I'd usually be left with one or if I was lucky two items that were vegetarian. These usually included a garden burger and a garden salad. Two things that I didn’t much care for.

This meant that I had to haunt the farmer's market and the grocery stores and learn some cooking in order to eat some decent vegetarian food.

Things have changed now and Bloomington has its own vegetarian restaurant today - 'Roots'. I remember walking into 'Mississippi Flyaway' in Carbondale for lunch one day and browsing through the impressive six page menu. I couldn't find a single vegetarian item.

I asked the waitress what options I had and she said, "Practically none". So I had to finally settle for cheese toast that day at the restaurant.

Then there would be the weird questions, "Oh you're vegetarian, but that means you eat seafood right?"

"No, I don’t do sea food. That fish you're dangling near my face is still an animal you know!"

I remember being on an International flight once and having to deal with seafood in my “vegetarian meal”. I called the flight attendant.

“Excuse me, but I don’t think this is vegetarian,” I said.

“Oh that’s just Shrimp. Of course it’s vegetarian!” said the attendant.

It’s all psychological of course. In my head it’s a living, breathing animal that was slaughtered so that it could one day grace my plate. That’s something I cannot live with personally. I understand the arguments of all my meat eating friends, but hell, this is the way I am. I just can’t eat meat and that’s the way it is.

First Day at Work

The new job seems pretty cool. The people seem friendly and helpful (which is such a relief) and they seem to be thrilled to have me on board (which is great for my self esteem).

Today was mostly about being introduced to new people, settling in at my desk, browsing through past issues of the Health Magazine and talking to my boss about the work at hand.

They haven’t as yet decided on my official designation, but my boss was introducing me to everyone as the "Editor" of the Southern Health Magazine! That gave me such a kick.

I will be working in an editorial capacity, but my designation could very well be "Managing Editor" or "Editor" of the Southern Health Magazine, if I am lucky. I will know soon, once the Publisher gives the green signal.

Oh, this is so exciting!

New Job

The days of lazing around and doing my own thing have come to an end.

I start my new job at The Southern tomorrow. I will be writing for their niche publication called the Southern Health Magazine

It’s a health magazine targeted at both medical professionals and the average person who is interested in issues and topics related to health.

The past couple of months, I freelanced with the Southern Health Magazine and did some cover stories on an assignment basis. It looks like they really liked my writing, since they recently offered me a full time job, which I promptly accepted of course.

To backtrack a bit, ever since I got to Carbondale, it’s been pretty hard finding a writing job, simply because the media scene is practically non-existent out here. Since the Southern is the main newspaper that caters to the entire region of Southern Illinois, I've been banging on their doors for quite a while now, trying to get my foot in.

At first they said there were no full time job openings for a writer. Then they asked me if I could freelance for them. I said 'yes' and now it looks like my efforts paid off. Thank goodness for that, since I was nearing the end of my tether.

The plan was to give Carbondale a couple of more months in terms of finding a job and if nothing came through, move out to Chicago on my own to find a job. While it sounded appealing professionally, on a personal basis it made no sense to me.

Who wants a long distance marriage in the first place? Also I don’t see the point of being married if I am going to see Nanu once a week or less. (Of course there are tons of people out there who do it and hats off to them, really. But I know myself - and I'm not cut out for all the crap that comes with a long distance marriage/relationship).

And then there's the wonderful quality of life that’s here to enjoy in Carbondale. Where else can you live about 5 minutes away from your workplace in a nice, quiet, affordable, wooded neighborhood and come home for lunch from work every single day?