I just finished my second shift at work since leaving the newspaper in January. I went back for the first time last Tuesday after Eva – who through a bunch of circumstances over the past 10 months is pretty much the boss on the news floor now – explained to me that one of the full-time copy-editors just up and left one day. It sounded like an emergency.

Eva, mind you, is sick of this shit and recently handed in her resignation for the 3rd time this year, and after hearing that the response to it this time was, "Eva's stressed again, give her a few days off", she explained to them it was real this time and gave them her end date. The paper's management are still idiots.

But unlike my life over the past 10 months, a lot has changed at the Post. They actually found competent copy editors, who if they had found a year ago, I wouldn't have quit. Back then, I had one part-timer trying out who had to say to me, "I'm not stupid". If you have to tell me you're not stupid . . . you obviously haven't convinced me otherwise.

I'm being mean, I don't think she was necessarily stupid, she was just British. Just kidding. And I don't think I necessarily treated her like I thought she was stupid, but rushing to get out a newspaper every night, I wasn't in a position to give her a chance nor to communicate that I acknowledged she was not stupid. She was a stop-gap measure who did just enough work for me not to walk out myself.

She was eventually fired after I left.

The other person was clueless about time and deadlines, and he wasn't the brightest bulb in the chandelier. A nice enough bloke in Taiwan with his China doll, the usual stereotype, which is why he was there in the first place, but in the end he got fired, too.

He was also British, mind you, and they are pains in the ass for other reasons. The Post follows AP style and I always imagine these Brits seeing a British spelled word underlined in red by spell check and going, "that's not misspelled!" and ignoring it.

Actually, one of the current copy editors who is very good and professional and impressed me greatly when I worked with him last week is from Scotland, but his only fault is that I don't think he even knows what words are spelled differently between English and American. He had to ask about 'apologize', and I saw that 'defence' went to print this past week. Small fault, really. Definitely excusable. Unless he persists. 

However, I still don't want to go back to work. Still no reason to. Still have to get through my parents' visit in December, then attempt #2, and failing at that, then we'll see where I am.

I actually didn't even want to go in today. I contacted Eva yesterday ostensibly to confirm today (also to let her know I remembered so she wouldn't have to worry about that since she was off today), hoping she'd tell me they'd found a new hire and I didn't have to come in if I didn't want to. No such luck, and she got me to agree to at least one other shift later in the week.

Getting from day-to-day is hard. Moments are hard. Work is actually easy. The day ahead of a work shift is dread.