Get to Work...Fast.

Now, on day two as the new editor of The Mancos Times, I went to the mothership office and got officially righteous- filling out forms, peeing in a cup at the local rehab center, long insurance coverage lectures from the HR department, a tour of the printing plant, directions to the vending machines, instructions on malfunctioning coffee makers, press credentials with a dreadful mug shot, etc.

But all the while, I'm thinking...

"Where is Former Editor? This is his last day. I have no stories. I have no contacts. I don't know the computer password. What am I going to do? Write another story on undetected, dangerous Mormon polygamists? Where is he??????"

In the end, before his departure, I forced Former Editor, under duress, to show me how to turn on the computer, file stories, and load photos, captions and cutlines in the system.

There's a technical side to every newspaper and publishing operation; a crucial, cyber-pipeline where stories, pictures and captions go in one end, and a fully laid-out newspaper, ready for proofing comes out the other. But you have to know the specs of your particular pipeline, including length, width, speed of travel, and who is at the other end. With luck, at the other end is a talented, smart newspaper designer who can figure out what's what with the stories, photos, etc.

You also have to know the precise codes with which you label stories, photos and captions. The codes have to match up in such a way that designer knows what goes with what. This is called a story package. The codes are called "slugs."

The pipeline is governed by a complex series of mini-deadlines, smaller steps towards the ultimate deadline, the all-important print deadline. The printing press, running 24-hours a day, has a small slot where your publication fits. You better be ready, or the Penny Saver for Farmington, New Mexico might be late. Actually, a whole domino phenomenon of lateness happens. You are not late for your press deadline. Ever.

But every publication's pipeline is different. Everyone has a different coding or labeling system - and the designers at the other end come in a wide range of talent, skill, experience and IQ points.

I have known pipelines well, as I entered the newspaper business at the other end, laying out and designing newspaper pages. The print news business is a little like a Broadway show...if the lead actor/actress/reporter is sick, or quits, an understudy is shoved onstage, which is how I became a reporter. One day in Florida, when I was minding my own business laying out newspapers, a reporter quit. I was sent to cover her stories. About 20 minutes later I became a magazine editor, but that's a tale for another day, or possibly a Psych 401 course lecture on anti-social and borderline personality disorders.

Sorry, I digress. My priorities were:
1. Find some damn thing or another to write about, and fast.
2. Figure out how the pipeline works and the competence level at the other end.
3. Do the laundry and quit running around in not-clean clothes.

I got to work on these things, but that day, another priority arose:
4. Find another place to live. Fast.

I rounded up enough quarters to do laundry at the convenient Cortez motel laundry room. That night I loaded the pay washers and fired 'em up. Thirty minutes later, into the dryer. Forty minutes later, CLEAN CLOTHES!

Or not.

All my clothes had disappeared from the dryers.

Time to move.

Next: First Issue and The Enchanted Mesa Motel