Chapter one: It's my business like nobody's business

I came into work two hours before anyone else that day. The newsroom smelled old. On most days I don't notice the decay. I'm used to it. But this was a Friday, and I decided a coroner would pronounce the building dead at the scene.

I routinely began my morning tasks: posting police reports to the Web site, building a Google map of local gas prices, posting today's weather.

August 29, 2008. Marshfield weather: Gloomy.

Then I saw an E-mail. The Oshkosh Northwester had a job unexpectedly open that I might find interesting. They wanted to hire a multimedia reporter, an area of special interest to me. I should call ASAP.

I felt like someone stuck me with a shot of adrenaline.

About one week earlier, Gannett laid off 600 jobs and blacked out 400 more. I had been fuming 24/7 about Craig Dubow's yearly bonus that could have saved the much needed jobs and maybe removed some mold from our work space. And now I've been cherry picked for a cutting edge position at a newspaper twice the size of the News-Herald.

The notion jarred in my brain against a smile nerve, pushing the corners of my mouth toward my ear lobes.

Bring it on.