Things I won't miss

For those of you outside the newspaper cult, this list is brought to you by the most persnickety group of people you'll ever meet outside defense attorneys. It is merely a taste of my daily surroundings for the past ten years.

Researching whether the capital of Mongolia is spelled Ulaanbaatar or Ulan Bator. (Webster's dictionary says one, the people of Mongolia say another, arguing ensues.)

Checking calculation of the percentage change between one column of numbers and a second column of numbers. Finding no errors, and doing it again.

Knowing that it's al-Qaida in Iraq, not al-Qaida in Mesopotamia.

Listening to debates about whether to capitalize the "a" in "al-Qaida."

Rewriting every other sentence in a New York Times story because they use an average of five commas apiece and that is JUST TOO MANY.

Summing up a 1,000-word story using five words or fewer.

Correcting the improper uses of "fewer" and "less than."

I start the reporting job, full time, on Dec. 8. Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock.