Pete Nickeas

is a wonderful city.

The bars stay open past midnight. The food options are diverse. You can have a few drinks and not worry about getting picked up for a public intox. Hell, they encourage it — the downtown district has a free shuttle that stops almost every block. The view of the mountains is wonderful, and Coors Field is clean and classy.

All the things we want in a city, basically.

But since I got a job in Chicago, that will probably be our last time there. For the foreseeable future anyway.

Details to come.

Perhaps I’m becoming complacent. I haven’t written in my journal in months. I know I’m busier now than when i was on college (no surprise there) but I still don’t really have motivation to write.

Things are pretty standard here.

Well, here’s something I’ve learned over the past couple months. I lack patience. I just want to be out of debt now. The thought of having to wait until I’m 35 or 55 to pay off student loans bothers me greatly and the fact I have to contribute 25 or 30 percent of our gross income to student loans is a joke.

It sucks. It’s like, who cares if you throw an extra 25 or 50 bucks at the loan every month? Doesn’t matter. You’re still only shaving off like a year. Out of 20. And when you’re doing it for 24 years, what’s 25?

It’s just a no-win situation. Whatever.

Until then, I’m going to start jacking fools on their way from the ATM.

Just joking.

If nothing else, not having enough money has taught us a lot. I feel like I’m ahead of the game anyway because I’ve never really had a ton of money and have been paying for some of the “necessities” since like 5th or 6th grade. I feel more responsible, more self sufficient, and more in a position to build a future based on my experiences and I’m grateful for all of that.

BUT DAMN I’D BE GRATEFUL FOR SOME MORE MONEY TOO!

Here’s the thing. I was half stupid and half broke in college, so a chunk of my credit card debt is 40’s and handles of whiskey. The other chunk is rent, tires, books, moving costs, etc.

One of the things I’m most proud of personally is not having incurred any debt since living in Wyoming. Erin and I have been out like 4 times since being here (more than three months now), and our recreation consists of at-home-drinking. Which, I’m good with. In my personal life I’m very fiscally conservative.

I just gotta get rid of some of this interest bearing debt. It’s a joke. It’s amazing what percentage of my monthly expenditures are from credit cards.

Work is going well, though. This last week was a grinder but I loved it. I didn’t feel like, at the end of the week, that I worked as much as I did. It flew. I was out of the office a lot, met a ton of people, etc. Plus, what I’m working on is material of consequence. I’m not pissing in the wind.

Here’s a random string of sentences:
Erin just started working full time. I’m debating the idea of getting another job. If work stays this busy I won’t have to, so I’m hoping that it does. My two brothers aren’t gonna make it out for Thanksgiving, I don’t think. That saddens me. I’m going back to Chicago for Christmas and my brothers will be there. Big ass party on the 26th. Everybody’s invited, as always. I’m glad winter is around the corner. I’m sick of people warning me about the Wyoming winter. GET ON WITH IT MOTHAFUCKA! I’m ready.

I think that this is the last nice weekend we’re going to have this year.

They’re calling for snow in the “lower” elevations of this county (I think that’s us) sometime next week and while it’s supposed to be gorgeous tomorrow afternoon and Sunday afternoon, it’s still getting into the low-30s overnight.

I’m still really excited for Thanksgiving since my two little brothers are flying in from North Carolina, where they’re stationed (2nd Marine Division). Mike just had laser surgery on his eye, so he’s chilling for the next couple weeks I guess. It will be nice to see some familiar places.

I finished “Great Expectations” today, which was mildly disappointing (ironic?) and I began “Team of Rivals,” which, 25 pages in, is amazing. That book will probably take in the 40-50 hour range to read, and as it cools off I’ll have more and more time.

I forced myself to run today, and I didn’t want to really. But, as there’s only a handful of good weather days left, I thought it prudent to take advantage of the weather. I’m going to run tomorrow morning and probably Sunday morning and then I’ll have to start doing different stuff once winter gets here. I haven’t ran in the winter before.

Our finances are kinda tight right now. This concerns me. I want to go out and buy a few candles, maybe some type of something to make this place feel more like home but we’re strapped for cash right now. I think a second job is in the very near future, because our combined incomes just aren’t cutting it.

Stay tuned.

I gotta say, the transition to Wyoming has been far smoother than I anticipated.

Not as much in my personal life as it has been at work, which, has been a smooth transition … but it’s been difficult at times. We can’t just, on a whim, walk around the city. I mean we could, but the city is only a few blocks wide by a few blocks tall and stuff shuts down at like 5. So what’s the point?

But work, I mean, I feel like I’ve been there a long time and it’s been a month. I just kinda got there and started working.

Anyway, I have this problem where I’m always forward looking. SOUNDS GREAT RIGHT? It’s not. Because I have a hard time being happy in the present. At work, I bet the bosses love it because I’m always pushing myself but it’s not great for me because I feel like a bitch when I mess up or when I’m running in place.

Progress is the name of the game! Not just in work, but in everything. Not having a ‘next semester’ to look forward to is weird. I’m learning to pace myself.

Anyway, that being said, I’m looking forward to the next few months. I’ve got a lot of stuff I’m looking into at work, I’m beginning to settle at home, and our finances are improving just because both Erin and I are making some money right now.

I still am having a little trouble settling though. I miss some of the big-city amenities. It’s just going to take time is all.

ALSO! If you buy a couch and it reeks or is hideous then get a drop cloth to throw over it. We got two big ass drop cloths for a total of 50 bucks and they’re super solid. They’re durable, have a cool industrial smell to them, and don’t tear easily. What more could you ask for?

It still cracks. It’s weird. I guess it won’t go away completely just yet.

BUT! I have been running about 6 days each week it seems. We skipped last Saturday, then skipped Thursday this week, and the idea is to go every day unless we have other random ass stuff going on.

I know I’ve been slipping on the updates I said I was going to write. This week has actually been astonishingly busy - I’ve got a back log of things to do at work and this week it’s been … go to work, come home, run, clean a little, watch some TV, knock out.

I am settling into a routine though and that makes me happy. More stuff is getting put away, it’s gradually becoming cleaner, and that means in a couple weeks here it will basically feel like home.

Helllll yeaaaa

I think that, because I’ve never had a real office job before earlier this year, I’m probably a bit too excited about having my own half cubicle.

Before this, I worked as a reporter in Springfield, IL, cut grass and did a bunch of other grounds-related-things at Illini Country Club, worked for Pace Setter Tree Service, did stringer work for a chain of weeklies in the south suburbs of Chicago, worked at a flower shop, owned a landscaping company, worked at a couple convenience stores, and worked at a baseball card shop.

See the workspace? I’m already making it my own. That’s a Dwight K. Schrute bobble-head over there, to the right of my fan.

And yes, that’s Outlook. Not a fan, personally, but what can you do.

Worked on a few stories today, and it was a lot faster-paced than I figured my third day to be. Good times though. OH! ALSO! I did my first blog post. The interface is kinda chunky - probably the only thing ever that doesn’t work in Firefox but works in Internet Explorer - but here it is.

As you can imagine, being three days into the new job, it’s a bit thin.

Check back Monday night for a post about how this job is different from the last one. I gotta get a flick of something hanging in the bathroom. Some of the differences between the jobs? Bathroom signage, the sum of personalities, importance of the internet, and compensation.

This weekend? Got some family stuff in the hopper I’ve been thinking about writing. Definitely a few photos from last weekends wild ass party.

We got goofy, and that’s the only way to say it.

More to come!

And man I’m geeked.

First! Apologies for the lack of video and photos. More tomorrow. There will also be a blog post about this weekend …. oh man. Damn, distracted. Back to work.

I gotta say - aside from the fact that I’m using a computer with a 6 gig hard drive and some of the technical issues that were a bit difficult to navigate - getting paid to do what I love is an amazing feeling.

I didn’t write today - I think that hope kinda died when I got there and couldn’t get into my computer til about 10 and had to do a couple hours of employee training.

The other reporters on the city desk seem to have a deep understanding of their beats and it gives me a lot to live up to. Plus, they seem very open to new ideas and I don’t have to worry about turf wars or too much of that political nonsense.

Speaking of political nonsense - Illinois AG Lisa Madigan not running for governor OR Senate? CRAZY!

I guess that means everyone wanting to be her Lt. Gov. are shit-outta-luck and all those hacks afraid to run against her for Gov. or Sen. will have their choice of a race with a relatively weak field. Gov. Patrick Quinn is getting bloodied up something fierce by the legislature, so everyone’s piling on him. (More on this later … getting distracted).

Anyway, I’ve got stories in the hopper for tomorrow, took care of a lot of the back-end stuff (contact sheets, desk organization, etc) (that’s what she said) so I’m going to rock out tomorrow.

HELL YEA

And I gotta say, I’m kinda nervous.

It’s my first day at the Casper Star-Tribune. I still have to check to see whether there’s a dash there.

Edit: GAH! There is a dash! But only sometimes!

Continuing … not nervous because I’m worried about my ability to do the job … it’s not that.

But I mean, I’m more nervous with this start than I was in the beginning of covering the Illinois legislature. With that, I was just kinda thrown in and told to call around for quotes. There was no breaking in period.

But with this! Time to stew about and think of scenarios and situations and … I know I’ll do fine. Just gotta get those first day jitters out of the way.

About the job:
I’ll be covering Casper city council meetings, local politics, and more importantly - POLICY.

Yeaaaaa buddy!

Newsroom people seem pretty cool so far. Erin and I crashed with three of them when we came out here to look for a spot to live.

One of the editors has an assignment waiting for me tomorrow - that’s good. I’m glad I’m writing on the first day. Once I get that out of the way and start getting a better feel for what the editors look for, work will be easier.

I’ve spent most of the day looking at clips from the last city reporter and other city-related articles, as well as putting together a contact sheet. I’ve got about 120 people listed, categorized in different fields and sortable for easy finding. I’ve got about 60 more business cards to enter into the spreadsheet and I’ll be good. I’ve also got about a dozen things that I think could be viable story ideas.

Because it’s all about story ideas. And communication. And building relationships.

Anyway, I’ll let you know how it went. See ya!

So, we’re getting settled.

The photo to the left is the view from the stoop outside our apartment. It’s a nice view. The sky seems bigger out here. There are a lot of antelope.

Not having Internet sucked. I had good ideas for blogs each and every day during the trip which was only two days, but I had more than two good ideas.

And I’ve had blog ideas since, but, something made me not write them down.

So … moving in sucked at the time, but we’re 90% settled. The desks we have don’t fit in the “office” so there’s one in the living room and we’re gonna get a smaller one in a week or so, for the office. Erin and I rocked out - got the whole truck and her car unloaded in less than three hours. Unpacking was going good, and we slowed down a bit, and slowed down a bit more. Now, we’re basically waiting on a couple pieces of furniture from back home and then we can unpack books, DVD’s, CD’s, etc.

I’m geeked to start work. For real, super excited. Nervous as shit because I think it’s going to take me a couple weeks to get into the swing of things and learn who’s who. When I started in Springfield, I had a few classes during the semester leading up to the legislative session to read and learn. With this new job … I have a list of all the last city reporter’s articles to read, and a handy-dandy pamphlet I picked up at the courthouse when we were getting Erin’s plates.

So, what I’m going to try and do is, be as authoritative about my beat as the sources I was reading to prepare for coverage in Illinois. And it is going to be fun.

Onto other random points …

I have to pay a $94 “Welcome to Casper, you asshole” tax for going 11 over in 30 MPH zone (that was a 40 MPH zone a few feet before the cop turned his lights on). That kinda sucks.

We’re paying an arm and a leg in rent, but that’s because a lot of the places we looked at were holes. Erin’s considering going back to Borders, which, I’m hoping isn’t necessary (and I’m sure she is too). That first check is going to be super-necessary to get our bills paid and get some of that moving-out-here-credit-card-debt paid down.

Again, I’ll be in transit for the next few days. But after that, daily blogs. I’ll also try to post from wherever I’m at but I’m not sure it’s going to work out.

I bid you farewell!