Re: Introduce yourself!
Hello, my name is Lauren and I am a slave to the trade! I'm 43 and single.
I work for a large newspaper company in the Appalachian foothills southeast of Pittsburgh, in a sad little rustbelt/coal town in WV, where we print 3 newspapers a day plus in-house and commercial work. Thank God for Mountain Dew becasue it's something I can do with my eys closed, which is the way I get paid, too, I think.
I'm 100% self-taught on the job which is to say it's been like self-annialation at times!! I started in pre-press accidentally; I answered a newspaper ad in 1989 for a camera operator for a place called A*L Printing in Gloucester City, NJ because I thought it sounded merry and exciting. I was trained on a beat-up old Chemco marathon camera that dated from 1939 and was instantly hooked. From there I was put on a light table stripping. (Remember the good old days?) I left printing after about 10 years but returned to the field about 5 years ago when I moved to WV. Today I work as a digital platemaker for WV's largest newspaper group, and guess what, I'm enjoying the job again (though not the pay!). We use Prinergy Evo and Preps, Trendsetter image burner, Fuji plates, and a Gluntz and whatever plate scrubber.
I absolutely regret moving on from A*L Printing--you really can't know how good you have it until it's gone, al though at the time I guess you could say life left me with no choice.
My life's read like a book for the past 8 years, including abuse culminating in homelessness. I won't go into it, but suffice to say I'm glad I'm alive. I guess.
I really enjoy PP and have learned so much just from reading the boards. Some of you guys are just nuts! This place makes me smile and makes me see thatso many others understand the love/hate thing onlu us "pre-press" understand!! Really, it must be in our blood, or maybe its just the fumes!
Edited by: plategirl on Dec 21, 2007 3:06 AM