HAhahahahaha!

This is what the press schedule looked like when I arrived in Wisconsin:

Monday

5:00 pmÂ Â Â 16 pages
6:00 pmÂ Â Â 12

Tuesday

1:00 amÂ Â Â 24 pages
2:00 amÂ Â 24
2:30 amÂ Â Â 4
3:00 amÂ Â Â 12
3:00 amÂ Â Â 12
3:30 amÂ Â Â 4
4:00 amÂ Â Â 4
5:00 amÂ Â Â 4
6:00 amÂ Â Â 4
9:30 amÂ Â Â 4
10:30 amÂ Â Â 4
11:30 amÂ Â Â 4
noonÂ Â Â Â Â Â 4
1:00 pmÂ Â Â 4
2:00 pmÂ Â Â 32
2:00 pmÂ Â Â 4
3:00 pmÂ Â Â 4
4:00 pmÂ Â Â 4
4:00 pmÂ Â Â 24
4:30 pmÂ Â Â 24
4:30 pmÂ Â Â 32
5:00 pmÂ Â Â 12
6:00 pmÂ Â Â 4
6:30 pmÂ Â Â 4
8:00 pmÂ Â Â 4
8:30 pmÂ Â Â 4
9:30 pmÂ Â Â 4
10:00 pmÂ 32

Wednesday

Â 1:00 amÂ Â 4 pages
1:00 amÂ Â Â 24
1:00 amÂ Â Â 24
2:00 amÂ Â Â 4
2:30 amÂ Â Â 4
3:30 amÂ Â Â 4
4:30 amÂ Â Â 4
6:00 amÂ Â Â 4
6:00 amÂ Â Â 32
6:30 amÂ Â Â 4
9:30 amÂ Â Â 24
10:00 amÂ Â Â 24
noonÂ Â Â 32
4:00 pmÂ Â Â 24
5:00 pmÂ Â Â 32
5:00 pmÂ Â Â 24
7:00 pm Â Â 24
10:00 pmÂ Â Â 32

There are a few issues with this schedule. For one thing, it’s very, very long. (Today I met Michelle, the woman doing the Pendleton check. She said she’d seen my schedule, and wanted to touch me to see if I was real.) The bigger issue lies with the fact that I cannot physically be on two different checks at the same time. And if you look closely at the schedule (and I don’t blame you if you don’t), you’ll notice that I am required to do exactly that. Even when the checks aren’t scheduled AT THE SAME TIME, they’re often only 30 or 60 minutes apart. Which would work only if we were able to approve the color on the first round, and not have to see any changes. Because you know what? That takes time. If a check goes smoothly, I’ll be on press for half an hour. 90% of the time, there is at least one photo that doesn’t want to land where I want it to, and a check can easily take 45 minutes while the press operators make adjustments and pull new proofs off of the press.

On the other hand… anything that says 4 pages is likely to be a cover, and my dedicated readers know that the covers have all been put on hold. The 12, 24 and 32 page folios are all shifting to use the available press time, and that means that my overlaps are falling away. I might have a 4-hour window for sleep tonight! HOWEVER, the covers will have to go on press eventually, and I will likely be here for an extra day. The down side to that is threefold: more time away from home, missing Erin’s holiday cocktail party, and not having a ride from the airport because every person who volunteered to pick me up will be at Erin’s holiday cocktail party (Meanwhile, I am grateful that THREE people volunteered to pick me up from the airport. Now THOSE are friends!).

I hope to know more about the new schedule in the morning, so I can call the Travel Coordinator back at the home office and have her change my plane ticket.

Sigh.

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