Ten Years As A Ghostbuster

Come the end of the month, it’ll be ten years I’ve worked at the RWMC.

I’m not sure why that feels like an accomplishment. It’s probably because it’s a nice, round number that looks good when you type it.

All that doesn’t matter. I’m just glad I’ve got a job that I like and that pays the bills.

I have to admit part of why I like it is that it’s the public sector. Well, a public/private hybrid. Nevertheless . . .

Not that this job hasn’t expected results. To the contrary – it’s expected a lot of results. But different kind of results than what was required of me in ten years of journalism. Churning out those results, I do NOT miss.

(Also, I’m amazed at how much Ghostbusters sums up my working life.)

So, what have I accomplished in the past ten years?

1.      We moved from Sugar City to Ammon. Don’t know what that proves, but as we’re still able to make a mortgage payment, that’s got to count for something.

2.      I earned a masters degree in English with an emphasis in technical writing, and did not have to go into debt to do it.

3.      Michelle earned that same degree, and we did not have to go into debt to do it. And she got better grades than I did.

4.      We both now teach part-time at BYU-Idaho, which has helped fill in the cracks in our growing budgetary needs. Last year, I earned $18,000 teaching, which is about the same amount I earned the first year as a journalist.

5.      We’ve got three kids who are semi-normal.

6.      I’m actually writing and editing novels, rather than just talking about doing so.

Overall, I’m seeing some improvement in the last ten years. I don’t know how much of this would have occurred had I remained in journalism, but I think I have an inkling:

There have been times, working in this industry, that I’ve felt out of my league. But I also found ways I could contribute and help these intelligent folks get the job done.

Life, as they say, is good. Here’s to another ten years.