Steven Allen Adams – Conversations with Myself

Today is the end of my first week covering the West Virginia 2010 Legislative Session for West Virginia Watchdog and it has been a great experience with a few minor issues.

I showed up at the Capital Complex Monday morning. I had filled out the application for press credentials on Jan. 8 before I left for my Washington D.C. conference. Honestly credentials aren’t needed; they only get you on the House of Delegates and State Senate floors, but I wanted to make sure I was kosher.

In order to get credentials you have to be approved by a member of the Capital Press Corps. I was told flat out by an Associated Press reporter who I had thought was friendly that they do not usually let bloggers have credentials.

This “blogger” theme will become evident in this post and will be addressed towards the end.

So I filled out the application and left town. I came back Friday, Jan. 15, and still hadn’t heard anything. I show up Monday and asked an awesome guy in the Office of Reference & Information what the status of my application was. The app is sent to the press room, a press corps members signs off, then sends the app back to be filed. They didn’t have the original, so they had me fill out another.

When completed, the information officer walks over with me to the press room, where he sees my app sitting on top of a filing cabinet untouched in the Charleston Gazette wing. I was told who was responsible, but in the interests of being more mature than this old man I will not divulge the name.

So we go back to the West Virginia Public Broadcasting office, which quizzed me a bit on my intentions, but after showing them my U.S. Capitol credentials they signed off pretty quickly.

So far everyone except the gentleman in question have been nice, or at least polite, to me. I’m known as the blogger who writes his own reports. I’ve tried to explain that I’m part of a news network and I’ve done everything but give out my resume to prove I’m a working journalist, but even the people who like my writing call me a blogger. I could be mad and offended, but since blogging is what rescued me in 2006 from a life of hosting and made me a print and broadcast journalist, I can’t really be too hurt by being called a blogger.

Speaking of blogging I finally made it to a 304 Blogger Tweet-Up. The Charleston-area bloggers have been trying to get me to come down for their monthly fellowship meetings, but I don’t drive, so no dice. They all know me from my Holywriter days back in 04-08. It was a good group of people and I hope to become good friends.

Thank goodness for wi-fi in the press room and Taylor Books, where I am now. I was going to rely on my AT&T air card until I realized I used way more than the 5 gig limit. I was trying to figure out why it wasn’t working, only to discover that it was because I had used a crap load of data and had a $800 bill.

*spit take* WTF!?!

After explaining that I had no clue the card wouldn’t satisfy my needs, they cut the $800 down to $80, but the situation told me I needed a internet service provider.

…not The Situation. But if The Situation told me to switch, I would.

I went with Verizon and should have it set up by Wednesday. Until then I’m living off coffee shop wi-fi. Luckily I just got my taxes done and I’m expecting a nice fat refund; the most I have ever gotten.

The big goal is getting the apartment furnished. Dad will be bringing some of my remaining things in a few weeks.

I am fat, ugh! I now have to take the above-the-head-looking-down shots that I always made fun of other for doing. Karma I guess.

I am also now playing foursquare. I am lame.

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