Today is warm and sunny in our part of North Carolina so Chris and I put up the new tent we got for Christmas. It's huge -- 8 feet by 16 feet! It wasn't too hard to put up, but we needed both of us to get it done.
We plan to use it for the first time at Merlefest in April. We set it up in the side yard. It should be plenty big enough for us and all our gear. We went out and bought a new air mattress too -- a queen-size that is double height. That should make it easier to get out of. As you can see in the photo, the tent has good headroom.
I am looking forward to using it -- sort of. Camping is fine, and I like going to Merlefest, but in truth, I do it mostly because Chris enjoys it so much.
About Merlefest, Linda Ronstadt has been added to the lineup. She plays on Sunday afternoon.
Work has been very busy lately. We rolled out CCI, our new publishing system, in Features last month, and this week, Feb. 9, we begin producing the business and editiorial pages on CCI. I will be working mostly in Editorial for the next couple of weeks while half the editorial staff of four people gets trained. I am not worried about the system working. It works. We just have to learn more about how to use it. I realized just this week, after using CCI for several months, that I could be working in a way that would be easier. It's too arcane to explain in this space, but I felt dumb when I realized what I should have known at least eight weeks ago.
We got more bad news at work this past week. More staffing cuts are coming, and we're shrinking the paper again. The executive editor also told the Features staff that we are considering merging our staff with that of the Charlotte Observer. I expect that by the end of the year, we will more integrated on the copy and design desks, too. It's very depressing and distressing to think about more layoffs. I can't do much about my future except to keep working as hard as I always have. I just have to hope for the best for both Chris and me.
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