Countdown to Launch

So the last few days have been really crazy here.

Crazy good though, crazy busy.

The team’s been put together and we all graduated from TXT-TV Academy (it’s true, and I have the signed diploma to prove it). As newly-minted moderators, we’ve been busy putting the soft and hardware through its paces. It’s been a tough process – there are a lot of oddball rules and regulations you need to know, almost by hand, to get a TV station off the ground. So we’ve been testing and training, trying to see what will work and what won’t. It’s been a pain, but at least we’ve had fun doing it. We also got to know our more seasoned co-workers, who spent the last few days leaving outrageous messages and curveball references for us to sort through.

I’m starting to think my boss only deals with sick twisted people. 

But, y’know, sick and twisted in a nice, older-sibling kind of way; like their obscenity is more about teaching you how to use it than really offending someone. I suddenly have the warm fuzzies.

Starting a new job has other challenges too. Typically, at home, with friends or in class, I’ve got a bona fide goofball personality. I joke around a lot, mostly to make people laugh and take the edge off meeting people for the first time. It’s weird, I like breaking the ice – quickly. But at the same time, when I’m nervous, I can be irreverent, maybe a bit distant. Trying to figure out how to present yourself in a serious/ fun/ creative environment can get tricky, and I’ve seen a lot of people wear many hats. So you sit back and relax, focus on the job and know in time those nervous first steps will start to even out. I’ve been told by enough people not to let it get to me, but what can I say – even Joe Cool has his off days right?

I made introductions to more established members of the TXT-TV team and felt a nice rush of calm come over me – off on the right foot. They tell me they were much the same on their first days with the company, but the atmosphere is just right to get things straightened out pretty quick. Was introduced to a guy named Tony Dynamo, and yeah like the name suggests, he’s a live-wire.

So what did I learn here over the last couple of days?

There’s no need to be nervous: going with the flow and being yourself is the only way to go. I guess the key is to be aware that being nervous can make you a smidge unlike yourself. Feel like I’m lighter all of sudden.

Hmmm, what else?

There are action figures everywhere, and they all seem to be in boxes, for show. Someday something epic is going to happen to all those toys, but I’m biding my time. Actually, as I write this I’m sipping brandy petting a snow-white cat – a purrfect way to be patient. Too lame?

You should’ve been there for the last couple of days of TXT-TV testing: you know how when people haven’t had a lot of sleep but have had a lot of coffee, and they start cracking silly jokes about words they find funny, and then that ends up an endless stream of terrible puns? Yeah, that’s been the last few days. I know the days coming on down the pipes will be hectic, but I can deal. We’ve crossed the threshold now, the anticipation is building to the launch…

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