Like the article says, the AJ/C ran a little blurb in one of the papers:

I don't remember the exact timetable, but this was in the spring. I had left digital in January, and I was still a little bitter about the whole experience.

I called them and left a message that went something like this: "Yeah, I just left a company that was getting leaner and meaner. After 12 years I finally left a company that did nothing while my group dwindled from 18 people down to 3. <blah blah blah, bitch bitch bitch, on and on, etc etc etc...> I'd be glad to talk to you about it at length. My name is Jeff Ford and you may feel free to call me at ..." and I left them my number.

It lifted my spirits and made my day to leave that message with the newspaper. I hummed to myself for the rest of the day and then promptly forgot about it.

They called me about a month later. "You left a message on your hotline. Can we do a phone interview with you for an article?"

"Why certainly," I said. "Just let me get comfortable."

I went over to the couch, propped up my legs, and got ready for a bitch session. The reporter asked me questions about myself, my situation and the like, and then encouraged me to talk at length about my impressions.

I felt a little uneasy about mentioning digital by name, so I just told her it was a large computer company in Alpharetta and left it at that.

Despite my personal feelings about my experiences with the company, I kept the diatribe on a pretty high level. I didn't mention the antics of the last boss I had with the company, or her ineffective boss. I confined my comments to trends I was sensing and the emotions I had been feeling.

We talked for maybe ten minutes. Afterwards, the reporter thanked me and hung up. I still had no idea when the article would run. I figured my comments would be among several others in a large article. I hummed to myself for the rest of the day and then promptly forgot about it.

A couple of weeks later, someone from the AJ/C called to ask if they could use my picture in the paper. I hesitated for a moment, then said "Sure." If I said it, I should be willing to put my name to it and stand behind it. If I'm willing to put my name to it, why not my picture?

They scheduled an appointment for the following week to send out a photographer. We agreed to meet at 10am.

At 9am on the appointed day, I hopped out of bed, hit the shower and began to gussy myself up while Bud slept. At 9:45am I still hadn't taken the dog out, so I grabbed him for a quick squirt before the photographer showed up.

When we hit the street, there was a woman walking towards the house with a couple of SLRs around her neck wearing one of those vests with a bunch of pockets for film and lenses and such. It was her, and she was early! Dang!

I introduced myself and we talked as we walked across the street to the park. She scouted out a couple places in the sun because my picture was "going to be the feature shot of the piece!" Shocked, I told her I still didn't know when the article was going to run. She said it was going to run on Sunday.

Sunday? I was going to be the feature shot in a Sunday paper article? Holy shit! How did this happen?

She got me to pose with the dog in the sun, but she had to keep telling me not to look directly at her. Doh! I guess I've seen too many model photoshoots on TV. "More eyes -- give me MORE EYES! Yes, yes! That's it!"

After she left, I quietly freaked for days. I had to tell someone, so I told David, but I didn't tell anyone else.

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