Will Work For Money

It didn’t help that he had 1/2 the letters covered up with his fat fingers, we couldn’t read his sign. No smile for him.

It sucks to be out of work. It sucks worse to have to LOOK for work. Let me back up. I ‘work’ every day. I do the dishes, laundry, make the bed, split and stack firewood, retrieve the mail, cook…. I love doing all these things (really). Sadly, food, taxes and health insurance require cash payments. Boo. So, a-job-hunting I have gone.

Friday I went to a Job Fair in a nearby town. I put on a skirt and even wore make-up (gaasp!). The job fair was a bust. I told a friend it was ‘icky’. Pretty sad when you’re the best dressed person there and the only one toting a stack of resumes. The Army, McDonald’s and 7 different temp agencies were present. There were several mining companies, but my experience in excavating and drilling aren’t hirable. I didn’t lose hope, it was a good exercise to get out (I hadn’t driven in 2 months!).

Today marks the 11th anniversary of my hire date with my previous employer, EBSCO. I remember how nervous I was when I started that job. I sat in a cubicle, amongst a sea of cubicles. I processed magazine subscriptions for 3 scholarly journals. My only human contact (aside from the gossipy ladies I met at lunch) was when I had to call a client if their credit card information was incorrect. But hey, it was a job. They paid me. It later grew into a fun receptionist position in a real life Peyton Place :-D. I soon became the office manager with 8 hours to fill, doing all sorts of interesting tasks! Ah, if I still lived in Birmingham, I could easily find a job. Many jobs.

Oh, you hate your job? Why didn’t you say so? There’s a support group for that. It’s called everybody, and they meet at the bar.  

Drew Carey

One friend told me she hopes I find my dream job to go with my dream life. Hmm, what IS my dream job? I use to think I’d love being a mailman. That was back when they walked to each house. I went to college to become a teacher. I bailed after the first student teaching semester (brats galore). I decided to use the skills learned in teaching on my future children. I still love kids, pets and retrieving mail. There are no kids under 15 in this neighborhood (the 15 yr old did need help with Algebra, Lance was called in for that job). Pets don’t need to be watched or walked here. I’ve not seen a leash since we’ve lived here. Now, if only I could find someone to pay me to bring them their mail, I’d then be able to buy an extra sack of potatoes!

I come from a very well-to-do middle class family. My brothers are doctors, accountants, actors, HR directors and hard-working beverage company employees. My sister makes more money in one year than I did in 5. No worries. I’ve got the frugal living down to an art form! My ‘nest’ is empty, our house and vehicles are paid for and my wants are few. Don’t cry for me Alabama 😉

Job prospects are rather bleak. I did get a jury duty summons (1st ever, in my 51 years). I thought, ‘oh, cool, that may be fun’. They’d pay for the days worked. Yeah, right. They pay $10 a day. It’s 42 miles to the courthouse. Ten dollars isn’t even going to pay for the gas to get to and from ‘work’.

No worries, yet. My resume’ is spiffed up, my letters of recommendation are requested and I really don’t want a job until after my son’s visit in April. All in good time.