My Army Times

I’m anchoring next weeks show so I had to do studio work today. While in the studio, waiting for everything to get set up, the new Public Affairs sergeant was checking out how we do things. I couldn’t help but notice he mentioned every gripe I had when I first arrived at Fort Campbell.

1) The virtual set really stinks

and

2) The talking head, which is the format of our show, is extremely boring

I told him to make it [changes he’s uttering under his breath] happen and he said he had his work cut out for him. You know, if we really are going to a 30 minute daily show, the way we do things now is going to have to change. Luckily, the new sergeant seems to agree.

FYI: I’ve been working to get everything switched over to the new host. All the stories must be re-encoded and that is taking time. But slowly I’m knocking it out. I should have some new stories up by the end of the weekend. I apologize for it taking me so long but hey… I’m a busy guy.

We had a meeting at work today. The Commanding General has decided he wants a 30 minute show every day. In fact their talking about hiring civilians to help us.

Here’s the kicker. There is a very good possibility I’ll be one of the main anchors…

AAAAAUUUUGGGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!

It’s going to be a lot of work because I’ll still be responsible for producing stories every day… which means I’ll be off the hook for the BS responsibilities… and only responsible for reporting.

What a dream come true!

Anyhow… this is months down the road but still.

There’s also talk of expanding our broadcast channel to the outer communities, not just the post.

I can’t explain how huge this news is for me. I’m truly excited.

I found out this morning that I am the new driver for our sections Humvee. I guess that falls under “other duties as assigned”. What does this mean for me? Every Monday I get to go to the motor pool and PMCS the vehicle (check the oil, transmission fluids, look for deficiencies, etc., etc.).

It’s a good thing I’m a journalist and not a mechanic.

Next week I’m gonna snap a picture of me in front of the Humvee. I think that would be cool.

I went to the commissary to price every thing Angel Food gives. I was surprised to see people only save $6.60. I’m sure the Wal-Mart total will be more… but still. It’s not the 40 or 50 dollar savings the Angel Food workers told me about.

I could go to the Piggly Wiggly but everyone knows their prices are inflated.

Now I’m torn. I wanted to be extremely fair in my price comparison because, while I want to cover religious type stories, I don’t want to embellish them untruthfully. Honestly some of the items Angel Food gives are pretty generic.

I’m gonna call the director tonight and see if she the price comparison she did that showed a savings of 40 or 50 bucks. If so, I’ll look at that information.

I need to think about how to handle this.

And that’s the very latest from Fort Campbell Kentucky. Reporting for My Army Times… I’m Specialist James Kever.

Saturday, I shot a story about a program where you pay $25.00 and walk away with a box full of food worth about $50.00. It’s actually a ministry run by a bunch of churches. Normally we don’t cover religious or political stories but I sold it as a program that WILL help hard up soldiers and their families.

It’s no secret that there are ton’s of hard up soldiers with big families living on food stamps. This program could definitely help them out.

When I met the woman who started the program in this area, we got to chatting, and I told her the story of how I stumbled on journalism. It’s a longwinded story about how I was a junior in college still trying to decide on a major. After failing chemistry during my attempt at medicine, then discrete structures during my computer science phase I was really stressed. The student loans were really starting to add up.

When ever I don’t know what in the world to do… I know what to do. I pray.

And so, I poured my heart out to God. I remember telling him, “God, I need a career, something I can get a degree in, something that I can do, and something that I will love. Oh, and one more thing, I wouldn’t mind if it were a little bit high-profile.”

I prayed this having no idea journalism is where I’d end up.

Anyhow, after a whole bunch of freak coincidences… I became gung-ho on this idea of being a reporter and eventually an anchor.

And then I remembered that prayer. I thought God wouldn’t listen to that high-profile part because… everyone wants a high-profile job. But isn’t it funny that that’s where God chose to reveal himself? Nobody knew I prayed that prayer… only Him.

And look, it’s a job I love, a job I was able to get a degree in, a job that I can do well… and it’s plenty high profile.

So that’s the condensed version of the story. Me and my big mouth. She asked me several times to share my testimony. Reluctantly, I agreed.

And so, next Sunday I gotta get up in front of a whole congregation and tell it to them. Believe it or not, I’m not the best public speaker. I’m really going to need some practice.

But the truth is, the story is the truth. If I just tell it like it happened, I don’t think I can go wrong.

Not only did God give my everything I asked for, but he gave me more. I can’t describe how fulfilling it is to be able to bring stories like Angel Food to people who will really benefit from it. I feel like I’m doing God’s work. Nothing can describe that. And it’s a testimony to the fact that God has a plan for each of us. Every single one of us.

I wrote and edited the Dolly Parton story yesterday. On a scale of 1 to 10 with 1 being bad and 10 being great I’d give it a 5. It’s not my best work… but I’ll still post it because of the sheer star power of Dolly.

I wrote the lead and was immediately told by my boss that it was a no-go. It read something like…

She worked 9 to 5 at a the best little whore house in Texas, but busy as Dolly Parton is she still met with Fort Campbell News for an exclusive interview….

I put up a fight and we agreed to run it by one of the civilian bosses who happened to be out for the day.

I started editing the story and next thing ya know the big big civilian boss came in to the booth and handed me a piece of paper. (This is the guy who runs the office… not the civilian we were gonna run the risky lead by.) “Has this been approved yet?” he asks as I read the lead I left accidentally in the printer. “Uuuuh… no, not yet” I replied. “You know some people might find this offensive… you need to change it to, ‘She worked 9 to 5 and has been to the best little whore house in Texas…’ “I think I can do that.” I said as I tried to conceal my shock! That he was letting me mention the word whore at all in the show really surprised me.

He previewed my story and picked it apart. He Accused me of video masturbation because I said in the story, “She met exclusively with Fort Campbell News…” I didn’t know there even existed such a term. He said sayings like that sensationalize and they may make me, the writer, feel better… but the viewers couldn’t care less.

I’ll post the story shortly. I’m still trying to iron out the new web host. Uugh.

I only worked half a day today. I shot a story about the med hold program… this wondrous place soldiers go when their injured. From there it’s determined if they stay or are medically retired.

I haven’t written a thing as of yet… and Thursday’s deadline is slowly approaching.

I’m having trouble maintaining my motivation.

I’ve always had problems leaving work at work… and leaving home at home. When things are awry at one place they tend to go nuts at the other.

I probably just need a weekend.

I’m waiting for my domain to be re-pointed to the new server. Once that is completed I can work on the new stories section.

Not too much interesting stuff to report. I’ve got two new stories to post but I’m holding off till this web host stuff gets worked out.

I guess you can say I’ve come of age as a journalist. Dolly Parton made an appearance at Fort Campbell and none other than yours truly had an exclusive interview with her.

You can bet I’ll post that story once it’s done.

My impressions of her? She’s big as a minute and charismatic as hell. She talks just like she does in the movies and nice as can be. I could tell that she’s a bit of a super star… which is probably annoying for both her and her fans. But what can she do?

I gotta say I was very anxious about mic’ing her. Normally I ask people to run the mic up their shirt and clip it on the collar. But I knew from the ghet’-go this would be a challenge… for two odvious reasons.

As I approached and handed her the mic I knew I was right to be concerned. She fumbled with it for a second and decided due to her inch and a half nails I had better do the honors.

So there I was… mic in hand… gazing at the brunt of decades old jokes… trying to figure out what in the world to do.

She piped up, “Don’t be shy!” and so reluctantly I went there. I clipped it on her rhinestone collar… breaking the rule of allowing the mic cord to hang in plain sight. I compensated by getting in real close with the camera so you couldn’t even see the mic.

The interview went well.

It must be overwhelming to live a life of fame like that. There were people lined up around the back of the store! I couldn’t believe it. She also wore this rhinestone dress (which I noticed was on the cover of one of her albums). It was pretty goddy.

How does someone so famous make friends?

Part of me wants to be that famous one day. The other part wants to be real. I wonder if you can be famous and real at the same time.

I could tell she was doing the super star thing. You know that’s not really who she is. Do you think she lounges around her house in a rhinestone dress? I don’t.

I told her that I graduated college last year and this was the biggest interview I’ve done so far. She told me I did great then left the room and told her publicist I was a pro.

I really am grateful for the opportunity. I only wish I could have had more time. To ask her about her new album. If it was inspired by the event of September 11th. How that event has shaped her work… or if it’s shaped her work at all. (The album is of patriotic songs and such.)

By the way… the September 11th man on the street story I did last week turned out amazing. It gives me chills. I really can’t wait to post it.

I may have some problems posting stories though for the next week or two because I’m switching web site hosts. To make a long story short readyhosting.com (my current host) will not change the server.timout function to more than 5 minutes preventing me from uploading stories through the web.

Okay for those of you who I’ve already lost in the techno-babble… my site could go down at any time until I get a new host… which wont happen until Monday or Tuesday.

All that being said… make it a point to see the 9/11 story. There’s not much stuff I do that really gets my goat like that story. Look for it soon.

Each Sunday evening I briefly go through this period of anxiety when I realize another week of work patiently awaits me.

I feel the complete opposite feeling Wednesday nights when I realize Thursday is upon me and the weekend is nearly here. It’s a pattern I’m noticing and I thought I’d mention.

I wonder if I’ll feel the same way when I’m at a civilian station.

I’m busy trying to set up a new way to post stories using blogger. Unfortunately their upload component usually used to upload photo’s will not work on the huge story files. Currently I’m researching the ASP upload component my host offers.

I’m working on a potentially great story. I’ll know more when I finish it tomorrow. I interviewed a bunch of soldiers about where they were September 11th three years ago. I’ve always liked man-on-the-street type stories.