Stress is a 10-letter word

Stress is a 10-letter word
I am writing this entry following a long absence, a nudge (ahem) from a couple friends, and two weeks on the job at the Penticton Herald.It has been a challenging gig so far. The quest of churning out a daily differs much from that of a community paper, at least in my experience. I write anywhere from two-to-five stories a day, which have been a combo of short, medium and long pieces.I spent two days on layout last week. Besides being rusty with my skills and having a handful of opportunities to do layout, my editor, S. Paul Varga is a magician with layout and a wizard with keyboard shortcuts. If I blink more than once, he is already half done laying down a page.I have also found new stories can develop and I must be prepared to shift gears quickly.The days have been long, although not as long as Auren's, but I'm still averaging 10+ hours a day.Having said this, the experience I am obtaining can only benefit me and I feel both fortunate and grateful that I made the cut and have been given the chance to showcase my abilities....On the lighter side, I watched Starsky and Hutch Friday and I laughed--boisterously and repeatedly. Those of you not familiar with the series may not see the humour to the same degree but Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson spoofing this late 70s cop drama took the edge of a busy and somewhat stressful workweek....Poor Derek Zeismann (sp)., the former Conservative candidate for the Okanagan-South riding. I guess he learned the hard way that mixing Benz's with booze can give you a political hangover which lasts longer than mixing beer and liquor. ...One final note, on staying 'Trudeau' to my nature, I decided to change my look. I don't have a pic to post - haven't figued that out yet I'm embarassed to write - but if you want to get an image of what it looks like, let's just say it was inspired by Rob Thomas.