Iconic move

When Erik and I were in Hays last month, we had dinner at one of the local watering holes. And we ran into a former colleague of mine (names will be omitted to protect the innocent.).

We were told we were in town on the exact same day the presses were being torn out/outside.

So of course we had to go see them.

(For those of you who don't know, the Hays paper is now printed in Salina, and so they have no more need of the presses ... so the presses migrated to Salina).


We arrived to see the above sight.

Total shocker to me.


Some paper stuck to the rolls.


A closer up detail of it.


Serial number.


A detail of the press surface. It was dirty, dirty, dirty. I am not sure what the stuff was ... if it is fine bits of paper. Not sure ....


Inside, this is what we were greeted with.


Close up of one of the presses.


One of the ink holders. Ink well? I thought the wells were beneath the press, but let's call it an ink well here. :)


It looks like it took some serious work to get the presses out of their cement footings.


Sheesh!


The specific brand of the press.


The final tally of papers run. From the last press run.


I'm guessing the calendar on the left shows the last day the presses ran in Hays? And on the right, the other printing jobs usually done by the Hays Daily.


Check out these bolts. Sheesh!


It's so crazy to see the room empty. Devoid of the presses.


I suspect the photo on the right is from when everyone printed American flags post 9-11. Or what was left of the flag from the press.


Serious. Wreckage.


A video of my final walk-through of the pressroom.


Now, the presses have a new home. Closer to my own home.


Another view.


Final photo.

I've yet to see the presses in their new home, but I'll get around to it one day.

Last day at HDN

The last day at the office, the girls took me out to lunch at China Garden. Yummie! (Front: Juno, me, Kaley, Middle: Diane, Kim Back: Gayle)

Afterwards, Kaley took some photos of me and Bob .... lemme tell you about Bob.

Bob is the mascot of the Hays Daily News. He came to the HDN about 2 years ago. I pestered the publisher until I got the job of being Bob. It was nice to have kids go crazy-wild over you. Besides, now I know what it'd be like to work in Disney!

Here's me with the Bob head on (the tats are JUST a shirt!)


Then me in my Bob getup.




And Bob's booty. Plenty of kids have pulled that tail.


And my goodbye to Bob ....

#2 — Quit my full-time news job (Karen's last night in toooooown!)

.... CHECK!

June 4 was my last day at the Hays Daily News.

But the night before, we went out for margaritas!!!!


There was a diverse group of friends, co-workers and professional colleagues. I had a blast!


AND I'm celebrating by checking yet another item off of my 101 in 1001 list. I'm getting ready to check another item off that list ... but won't share until later this summer!

My buddy, Fred , took the photos of us that evening. Thanks, Fred! (Fred was also the person who told the Independence, Kan., paper to hire me, so it was serendipitious that he was helping me celebrate the last day in the news business, since he helped me to get in the door in the first place!)


I have some more Hays photos to share in the future, but I've got to get some editing done on our AWESOME 06/07/08 wedding (more to come on that, including the story of how I was showered with beer while photographing a keg stand).

Gosh, I have stories to share about the move from Hays to Salina, too, so stay tuned!

Oh, and in other Salina news, there is now Internet at Erik's house (YIPPIEEEEEEE!). Esse also went outside for the first time in Salina today. Ok, so my brother-in-law accidentally let her out once before, but this was her first sanctioned trip out of Erik's house. :-)

Layoffs

Last week, the HDN let go a full time and part time employee.

TODAY they canned THREE MORE people .... including a 17-year employee.

Glad I'm on the way out already....

Bone Marrow donation

I've been wanting to write about my bone marrow donation for a long time, but haven't had any reason to get my rear end into gear. Until this week. My co-worker, Kaley, was writing about an upcoming marrow donor drive. So ... I slowly shifted into gear and put my thoughts together for the Hays Daily News.

The column can be viewed online here.

More information regarding bone marrow donation on the National Marrow Donor Program Web site.