Untiltled

I The Back Story

From around 2001 to 2008 I worked at a television station in my hometown

we were the second to last place in the markets

I was 27 when I got the job

I had the time of my life

I met people/family that I will carry with me til the day I die

it was a small town, you know that whole thing

it was one of those towns where the question wasn't if we're gonna drink but rather where

and the where was usually at my folks house in the "den"

anyway my job was to edit and playback the tapes during the newscast

I was good at it

I did that for about 4 years

well, a few months ago my sister Kate told me, "Tuna you know they still talk about you at the station."

she goes on to tell me that in the three years that I've been gone my old position has turned to shit


the new editors that came in got progressively worse and worse

they were sloppy and couldn't edit on their own

Kate had to start scheduling two ediors to do the job that I did solo

on top of that the new editors had attitude

they did as little as they could and complain about everything else

the most recent editor was the worse

he epitomised all that I've just mentioned

it was told to me that the directors would contantly remind the editors that they were not me

"Vince did this, Vince did that, Vince would have had that, this would've never happen with Vince."

I bet they hated me

also because of all of this the newscasts have gone downhill

it's the town's joke

Kate told me that in a meeting it was said that I was the best they ever had

II Moving and Umeployment

So I left my hometown and moved to Austin

most of the highlights are here on this site

I got a job at the local tv station

but it wasn't as an editor

it was in master control

basically, it's  monitor duty for 8 to 10 hours

mentally and physically I was limited and confined in this position

plus I'd already done about three years of this job and I hated it

but it was the only full time position

and I needed a full time job

in time I would go on to quit the job (some of the major screw ups are here on this site as well)

since then I would go on to be unemployed for four months

I always knew that as a last resort I could always try to get my old job back

but to me that would crush my spirit

but then I've had worse done to me

I tried and tried but I could not get hired anywhere

I talked to my folks and heard what I already knew

I needed to come home

and with my lease ending August 31st

time was running out

III Communication

In a conversation with Paulie, I told him to tell my old boss,John that if the station upgraded to non-linear editors that I would come back

he tells John

and the next day he told me, "John was ecstatic! He said, you tell Vince I have 6 non-linears and in the process of upgrading."

meanwhile the current editor was putting them through hell

John tells Kate, "Fire him Kate."

Kate tells John the morning editor just quit

she can't fire him

she needs him

she has no one else

John tells her, "Call Vince."

Kate ,who knows my situation but doesn't know that John knows, asks "Vincent? What you know about Vincent?"

John tells her I need work and to call me back in

meanwhile I'm going down to visit on Saturday

the tape editor quits on them that Friday

they have one editor and five newscasts to put on

Kate drops the question to me that weekend

"Tuna I need you, my editor quit. I'll give you a job this week. Say yes."

I say yes

IV Austin

I had feeling I wasn't coming back to Austin after this visit

so I said my goodbyes to my family

I did my last gig with my sister which was babysitting my nephew during the summer

I stay the night at my sis's house because she lives about 40 minutes from me

so I've been basically living there part time this summer

so at dinner she got emotional because it was all coming to an end

the summer that is and she knew that I was done with watching my nephew

and she wouldn't see me that much

my nephew even started to cry because he had gotten attached to me

that same week my brother and Erick came over like they always do

I told them I put in my notice to leave the apartment

we proceed to drink and sing and smoke

later that night Erick has too much to drink

he starts to vomit

he's on all fours vomiting on my floor

while my brother and I are cleaning it all up I look up at him and say
"I think Kate's gonna offer me a job. (pause) I'm gonna take it."

I might have picked a bad time to mention that

the next day he calls me because it just now sunk in

the call was very sweet

he said it won't be the same for him

he said it will be a huge void here

I also got Sharpie ready for the possibility of me leaving

just recently Sharpie locked his keys in his car and called me to help him out

he told me, "You know Tuna, you really are the only one I can count on."

he's also expressed his feeling on not wanting me to leave

although it will be temporary it sucks for me and all of them

we were all in the middle of a good run

it was going all so well

V The Return

I fill out the application on Monday and they bring me in to work on Tuesday

all week it was the same

everyone came up to me and they shook my hand or hugged me and told me how great it is to see me back

John said we're one step closer to getting an A team again

people were telling me the station is lucky to have me back

moral was already better in the building on day two of my return

things that were outlawed when I left were allowed again because I was the only editor good enough to pull it off

I had a young guy refresh me on how to do the job and what had all changed

when I sat down and took over he went back to John and Kate and said, "He's good."

muscle memory was in full effect

It all came flowing back to me like a program

I was doing things without even thinking about it

I taught that young guy something he didn't even know

that the audio control for channels one and two are inverted on vtr one

I rememberd that vtr one has a tendency to advance a few frames on itself and you have to constantly shuttle it backwards while waiting to play it

I was doing that automatically

I remembered how to route diffent sources to different edit bays and decks to work on different things simultaniously

I remebered that Don's time on the tape is the total vo and sot times together and that's why the editors keep getting his times wrong

since I was back they wanted to try a new system where we do the pre-produced fox show immediately after the six

so now, not only are they back to one editor

but  I have to get three shows ready at the same time instead of the usual two that I used to do

John told me  he was leaving on my first day back and went back to check on me, he didn't know if I was shadowing someone or if I was being supervised

he walked back there and saw me doing it solo and thought it was 2006 again

then he told me he thought to himself, "I'm going home, tapes are good"

Kate came back to watch me and just stood with a smile on her face

then the reporter Steve walked in my bay and asked Kate if she could hand me his tape

while ejecting one deck and loading another tape into it and playing another deck, I reached over and handed Steve his tape

Steve said, "He's got this."

there was an emegency with one of the directors and a sub had to stand in at the last minute

he was freaking out because he wasn't really prepared

he told me one comfort was he didn't have to worry about tapes

VI The Future

All of that is good and fine

but I'm just here to raise some funds to move back to Austin

I'll give them a year because they're gonna try and give me back my MOn-Fri shift

a year goes by like nothing

although it is a little depressing being back home

I think some good will come of this

John told me it's good that I'll be here when we upgrade to non-linear editors because he trusts me

I'll be here when they rip these decks out of the edit bay

It makes for an even better resume because every station edits this way

so it's like I'm being paid to train with them

and plus I'm surrounded by so much love

I'm not looking to recreate the days of old

whatever happens happens

I'm sure there'll be some stories as usual

but nothing like back in the day

everything I do though will be to get back to Austin

I hope I still have a place with my peeps when I get back

I'm gonna be making the notches on the wall marking the days off

I did four days in jail once

I can handle 365

make that 358 now