Mondays are always considered a blue day, but here at the NSNT, Monday is also deadline day. This particular Monday has a bright, blue sky, and just enough sunshine to take the chill out of the winter air. It was six years ago today that Jackie’s son Earl was shot dead by Rapid City police. Earl battled mental illness but he was never enough of a danger to justify that kind of response. Killing folks has become the first resort for many cops instead of the last resort.
On Monday mornings the writers try to get to the office early. There will be peace and quiet so they can think better as they clack out the last second copy procrastination kept them from clacking out over the weekend.
There is a coffee pot, but coffee always tastes better if somebody else makes it, so you wait until somebody does, thank them for making it, pour yourself a cup, put some creamer in it, and then sit down ready to get back to work. A cup of coffee is a comfort, a support, and just a sip here or there makes the deadline day that much easier to work through.
Kirk is generally the first one in and he generally prepares that coffee. He brings in Daylight Donuts, specifically jelly fills, and that goes really good with the coffee. So it’s just Kirk and Jimmy for a time, and they talk about football mostly, but not as much in the off season, and not as much as when the Vikings and Broncos are letting them down, which they generally do.
Jackie has just asked Jimmy, “There’s a jelly filled donut over there, did you get one?” He says he has and she says, “There’s another one over there got your name on it.”
Jelly fills are a big deal on Monday mornings. Jimmy decides he will tackle that second jelly fill after all, just as Clara calls from Wyoming, as she does every Monday morning to talk about her column and whatever stories she is working on. However, a new phone system has been installed in the office and Clara gets transferred to Jackie’s desk instead of the editor’s desk, so Jackie has to pass the phone over to Jimmy’s desk. If the guys who installed the phones reversed the desks then Jackie should be getting Jimmy’s calls but she gets Jackie’s and Jimmy’s calls and Jimmy gets no calls. But it is Monday so this kind of stuff is acceptable.
Ernie just walked in. She asks Jimmy, “So what is there?” And Jimmy says, “Well, there’s donuts…better get yourself one.” Ernie usually doesn’t start her day with coffee as she has sworn off caffeine. So every morning she heats water for her caffeine free Chai tea that she buys at The Market, a health food store also in Tuscany Square. She smothers her morning Chai tea with sugar free creamer and goes for the custard filled Bismarck with chocolate icing.
Jackie also came back in, and Jimmy didn’t even realize she had left, and Yo says, “She came back for the donuts.”
Yo has been training hard to take over front desk duties. A nice guy named Robert has been getting her up to speed on Quick books. She seems to have settled in, but she is still running circulation so she has two desks. She called her circulation desk her man cave, but when it was pointed out it was actually her she shed, she said, “There you go.”
Kirk is the one with a man cave and Ernie goes Yo one better—she has three desks, although only two of them have phones, but they all work. Jimmy and Jackie each have one desk and the phones won’t work right. But it is Monday, so that’s acceptable.
Native Sun News gained a jack-of-all-trades with the addition of our new employee, Chris Alexander Pina. Chris has a variety of office skills so we will give him an opportunity to see what he can do best. He has been helping Ernie in Production and Jimmy is training him to write.
We were delighted to find out he is a talented actor as well. He will in a streaming television series called “Into the Wild Frontier.” He plays a War Chief in a 1770’s edition that will be coming out this fall. In addition, if you like documentaries, Chris is in a documentary on You Tube called “The Battle of Red Buttes” in which he plays a warrior.
With balmy temperatures last week, it gave everyone a chance to thaw out until the next onslaught of Winter comes through. Speaking of Winter, we are set for another storm. It is hard to prepare for paper deliveries in these situations because we cover the State of South Dakota and hand deliver half of state as well.
Jackie was able to get her War Pony fixed and it almost looks brand new again. She had to wait quite a while to for the right day to get the work done but it looks well worth it
Doksa Ake’
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