I'm working in the
Brooklyn College Excelsior newspaper office for my second job and holding my job in
The Library Cafe in Brooklyn College. I don't know if I earn anything at all in the former, but I can put some kind of bread on the table for the latter.
Actually, I started working in the newspaper office since two years ago in Fall. I wrote about the Broadway on Broadway concert with Ute Lemper from Chicago: The Musical. I wrote how she would've shut me down like a cheap PC after I wrapped my left arm over Ute's shoulders.
But that was then. Now, I am a senior editor and a system administrator for the Excelsior. I am the person who surveys how bad the computers are (old, Star League-era Macintosh computers) in the office. I'll be working with them and to upgrade them to something decent, even if I can't afford to upgrade the CPUs in any of them.
I want to buy some kick-ass equipment for the computers, but I have to eventually face the Central Depository. That's the department in the campus that handles money for organizations. Their main purpose is to deny organizations much-needed cash for supplies or programs. The Excelsior is one of those organizations, even worse because the previous business managers racked up an $8,000 debt to the printing press company and the phone company! That means I am going to have to be very conservative in terms of computer shopping.
Looking at the terrible situation in the Central Depository, I am so... foolhardy to think I can buy stuff like copies of AppleWorks or the latest PhotoShop stuff for the office.
Looking at the office itself, I am foohardy to think the office can be cleaned. The place has old papers all over the overly expensive and large scanner. I can find potato chips inside their struggling-to-work laser printer. Every time I tell someone to make sure they don't eat and leave a mess on the desks, they never listen! I want the place to look professional, beautiful, and the kind of place that I can prouldly invite Broadway actresses to for an interview. In fact, I am thinking of interviewing one of the dancers from the dance revue Swing!
The newspaper crew is not the dream team either. I know they're college kids, but that doesn't excuse them for being slobs or assholes. The editor-in-chief is a very motivated woman, but she doesn't know enough to do everything in the paper, and nobody is able to help her with the layout, editing, etc. work. The current business manager is a friend of the previous debt-makers, so I am keeping an eye on him. He has a good history of leaving a mess in the microwave, and this week, he took off with a reporter's disposable camera and my film processing service tag that I haven't yet paid for. For the film to process, I have pictures of Ruthie Henshall I should keep as a personal thing and should be kept safe ASAP.
Finally, I am buying some computer upgrade stuff as mentioned before. I think I can get the computer stuff approved for purchase, but I am buying RAM from a computer I know is good (not to mention affordable). The Central Depository might not find it a good thing to pay for purchases from companies I worked with for good service. In fact, I might pay for the RAM with my own money. I have barely enough to keep my account from being ripped with monthly charges.
Is this the only solution for me to keep the office working? Do I have to give myself to the office, only to find the workers unappreciative of me and continue on eating their junk food on the computers?
Will I die with no help, or the proper respects?