The day after my last post, the 16th, I got laid off again! Seems the project is going so smoothly they do not need my help after all and can do it with internal resources. So, I'm looking for work again! I already have an interview for this Thursday at least, so hopefully this won't last too long. The economy is definitely picking up and I am seeing more stuff on the job boards.
MLM and I had a long talk the other night about my so-called career and she pointed out that it is very much time to change areas of work again, and the only way to do that is to get a masters degree focusing on the new career path as I mentioned before. Anyway, seems medical informatics is one, HR IT is another, heck we even looked at cooking schools in the area and restaurant management. There are lots of things like that hereabouts. But I just don't know. I am going to research this in detail and not go off half-cocked out of desperation. Most of the programs I've checked have an online component so I wouldn't have to lose work time to attend class, nor commute to some campus miles away in the evening -- this is certainly and advantage. We'll just have to see what seems the best choice. Gotta get another job first, though.
We went to see MLM's orthopaedic surgeon at his new digs (he left Northwestern for a bump up to assistant director and a shorter commute), and he feels the time is right to proceed. MLM has one more dental visit and so he scheduled her first shoulder operation on Dec. 2nd! Finally! We are on the move now to pain relief and more mobility. Pray for us both.
I am putting a pantload of stuff on eBay this week -- need the money and the room. I spoke briefly about the trains last time and I have come to a decision: I am leaving O scale and returning to HO. So, I am putting all my O up for sale. I am holding on to the Polar Express for now; it was a Christmas gift from MLM after all, and it looks great around the Christmas tree. But all the other little bits and pieces are going. One thing I'm thinking about is starting an information and retail website focusing on model trains. It's something I know about and am interested in and Google has all kinds of programs to support me in doing it. That's another option for the future that might even make a little extra money. I would really like to put my reasoning for giving up O down on a blog rant, but don't have time for that now. Will do so later for sure.
That's all for now.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Downward Spiral
So this is pretty depressing. I entered the world of Information Technology in 1985 when I was hired to manage and be a lead designer for a computer-aided design office filling a contract with IBM in Tucson. Since then I have learned much about computers on my own, got a few certifications, took a bachelor’s degree in 2005, worked many different places with much responsibility, and have taken some master’s level classes as well. Now, I have not been certified by Microsoft as a network engineer, but you would think that all that time and experience would be worth something, career-wise. However, I just realized that the contract job I’m working now is paying me the same hourly wage I received for that job back in 1985! No wonder my life’s been a crap-storm for the last 10 years or so; my peak earnings came in 2003 and have dropped precipitously since. I am still searching for that "challenging position with room for advancement."
What to do? Well, I am working on my application to Northwestern for their masters program in Medical Informatics; I am also looking at a masters program in Organization Behavior (my undergrad degree) at another college out here in the burbs. The medical degree seems promising in that it uses my IT skills in a medical environment – that business is still pretty stable. Either that or I’ll start some lame website selling waterless cookware or something like that and then market it by spamming the planet. I would look for a second, part-time job (if there were any) but that would just take more time away from care-giving MLM and the job I have now keeps me away for 12 hours a day with the commute and all, and this is a real hardship on her (and me) already!
Anyway, it’s pretty sad to realize at my age that you have no career.
What to do? Well, I am working on my application to Northwestern for their masters program in Medical Informatics; I am also looking at a masters program in Organization Behavior (my undergrad degree) at another college out here in the burbs. The medical degree seems promising in that it uses my IT skills in a medical environment – that business is still pretty stable. Either that or I’ll start some lame website selling waterless cookware or something like that and then market it by spamming the planet. I would look for a second, part-time job (if there were any) but that would just take more time away from care-giving MLM and the job I have now keeps me away for 12 hours a day with the commute and all, and this is a real hardship on her (and me) already!
Anyway, it’s pretty sad to realize at my age that you have no career.
Monday, October 05, 2009
Back In the Saddle Again redut
Ah, I’m working again at last! Only off for three months this time! Three months? Ackk!!
And I only have a three month contract – how ironic! The job is through Robert Half Technology with a giant law firm in Chicago, so I get to ride the train every day. This is great on several levels: I’ve been wanting to get an assignment through Robert Half as they are a premier tech consulting firm and can probably keep me working steady; and I will finally have experience at a law firm which will give me more opportunities to apply for work. This is because almost all law firm employment ads stipulate up front that only applicants with previous law firm experience need apply. I think this is because they have special software to support, or they have ‘special’ users to support; although, I must say that everyone I’ve met here so far has been extremely friendly and cooperative. It’s a very nice work environment – so happy to be working again! And here’s a cool thing: this is the law firm where Barak and Michelle Obama met! Neat, huh?!
I am definitely taking the opportunity to complete my MCSE certification while working here – I missed several jobs this time out only because I didn’t have it – not that the jobs required it; it was just a way to eliminate candidates. These days employers can be very picky! I have online training available to me through Robert Half, plus I still have access to similar resources through Manpower from last year. These both require connectivity to use, however, so I am also looking for cheap (read: free) programs I can load up and use on the train. My goal is to get the cert before this contract ends. I have been working on SQL through Manpower recently. Anyway, the job is good, and I’m glad to have it!
So updating…. Let’s see. Oh, Chicago lost the bid for the Olympics. We were very disappointed with that. You could feel the city gearing up for the big push to 2016; there was energy in the air. Now, I know you could read polls in the press that the populace was somewhat ambivalent about supporting it, but I don’t know who they talked to for those polls ‘cause everyone I heard from was all for it! The possibilities were vast – the plan was well thought out and very creative; it would have left positive constructions behind and the most overwhelming structures were to be temporary; plus the whole place would have been cleaned up and modernized (not that it’s not a very clean city now – if they’d just separate the storm drain system from the sanitary system so the air would smell a bit better generally). Mostly it would have made Chicago international. It’s got a bad rep right now (politics as usual for the last 150 years haven’t helped that, of course – but they’re actually working on that and the future looks much better).
On the other hand, I can understand the thinking that gave it to Rio: never had an Olympics in SA (and I think this is the first serious contender to come from that continent), and if any city needed the shot in the arm an Olympics has the possibility of providing, it’s Rio! Their rep is probably work than Chicago’s world-wide, what with 2 million of it’s citizens living in poverty, the drugs, the crime, the slums etc. etc. – but the beaches are still nice I hear. Anyway, that’s gotta get cleaned up before 2016 so now they have a very public imperative to do what they must do. I’m rooting for them! I always want a great Olympics no matter where the venue.
Next topic: MLM has had quite a bit of dental work the last few months. Lots of fillings, a crown and a couple of extractions. It’s like her low resistance to infection has settled in her teeth like it attacked her shoulders. For as long as I’ve known her she has been absolutely rabid about oral hygiene – always flossing and brushing several times a day (she was just completing her training as a certified dental assistant when we met, then worked as one for several years so her skills in that arena are top-drawer). So, after taking such good care for all those years it’s really sad to have them fail her like this – particularly the extractions. I feel awful for her – she has a wondrous smile, you know. It was her smile that captured my heart before I even knew her. The body is all one interrelated system, of course, so we need the get the dental work done so she can have her shoulder surgery so she can get back to exercising so her overall health can improve and they can work on her elbows and her knees and her spine. Whew! THEN we can return to Disney World to celebrate our next anniversary. We were there in 2005 to celebrate our 30th; that was the last trip MLM was able to make before she was totally bed-ridden. I pray every day we might go there again someday soon…
I also pray I can get a permanent job (whatever that is) so we can move back downtown so MLM can be near her doctors. At least with the loss of the Olympic bid we can expect apartment rents to not skyrocket over the next few years. Moving to the burbs was the stupidest thing I’ve ever done. ‘Course, I was working for Sara Lee at the time – planned to work there until retirement – so moving near the job just made sense. (It’s still much cheaper to live here – it always made economic sense; it just never made sanity/lifestyle sense!) Six months later, I’m laid off and life has been a shit-storm ever since. Now, I would have been laid off anyway, so if we’d still been in Chicago we definitely would have lost that apartment and who knows where we would have gone from there. Our Bishop says in times like that we need to turn to family for help, but except for some money from time to time, my side of the family has studiously avoided offers of shelter, and if I bring it up the subject gets changed. At least my in-laws have stated from the very beginning that we can move in with them if we need to, and that is much appreciated! For now we are stuck in the apartment we’re in because my credit rating is so poor I cannot qualify for housing in any area we would want to live in (safety), and I’m still working toward getting all the required fees to our attorney so we can file for bankruptcy. So, once I get a permanent or long-term position, it will be at least three years for my credit to clean up enough to move to another apartment. At least when we signed our renewal this year we got $80 a month reduction by committing to a 14 month lease instead of a year. Every little bit helps.
Wow! Super-sized post, eh? Well, it’s been a while, and I have a lot I need to get out of my head, plus I don’t think anybody reads this anymore anyway so it doesn’t much matter, does it?
What else is going on ? Well, I finally got all the Christmas and train stuff out of the living room and into storage. I have a lot of loose papers and cartons of clothing to deal with, but then the living room is done. I am also driving around with a home hospital-type bed in the van that a friend from church is loaning us for MLM to use after her surgery. I am waiting for help from the brethren to get it out of my van, up the stairs, and set up in the living room. How Christmas rolls this year will depend on how long this contract runs. Right now it’s supposed to end on Dec. 11th, but if they can’t make the schedule – and they’re currently behind – then it may get extended. Also, I’m not really working that much on the project. I got the day shift for follow-up rather than the second shift doing the migrations. This means I support the user community all day for 40 hours a week; the guys that got the migration shift are only doing 20-30 hours a week! So I lucked out there (actually, the client placed me here because they wanted a professional, competent tech who could work well with the attorneys). And of course, I continue to look for better paying and/or permanent work on the job boards every day. Anyway, I am hoping to do some nice new decorations for the holidays this year. Time will tell.
The Polar Express is in the warehouse for now, along with a few accessories, the extra track, and the Dept 56 buildings. I have to look at this dispassionately and determine what I want to do with trains as opposed to what I can do with them. Maybe I will leave this discussion for another post. Or I may start a new blog focused only on trains. That might be best.
So, here I go, keeping the faith and putting one foot in front of the other all day long…
And I only have a three month contract – how ironic! The job is through Robert Half Technology with a giant law firm in Chicago, so I get to ride the train every day. This is great on several levels: I’ve been wanting to get an assignment through Robert Half as they are a premier tech consulting firm and can probably keep me working steady; and I will finally have experience at a law firm which will give me more opportunities to apply for work. This is because almost all law firm employment ads stipulate up front that only applicants with previous law firm experience need apply. I think this is because they have special software to support, or they have ‘special’ users to support; although, I must say that everyone I’ve met here so far has been extremely friendly and cooperative. It’s a very nice work environment – so happy to be working again! And here’s a cool thing: this is the law firm where Barak and Michelle Obama met! Neat, huh?!
I am definitely taking the opportunity to complete my MCSE certification while working here – I missed several jobs this time out only because I didn’t have it – not that the jobs required it; it was just a way to eliminate candidates. These days employers can be very picky! I have online training available to me through Robert Half, plus I still have access to similar resources through Manpower from last year. These both require connectivity to use, however, so I am also looking for cheap (read: free) programs I can load up and use on the train. My goal is to get the cert before this contract ends. I have been working on SQL through Manpower recently. Anyway, the job is good, and I’m glad to have it!
So updating…. Let’s see. Oh, Chicago lost the bid for the Olympics. We were very disappointed with that. You could feel the city gearing up for the big push to 2016; there was energy in the air. Now, I know you could read polls in the press that the populace was somewhat ambivalent about supporting it, but I don’t know who they talked to for those polls ‘cause everyone I heard from was all for it! The possibilities were vast – the plan was well thought out and very creative; it would have left positive constructions behind and the most overwhelming structures were to be temporary; plus the whole place would have been cleaned up and modernized (not that it’s not a very clean city now – if they’d just separate the storm drain system from the sanitary system so the air would smell a bit better generally). Mostly it would have made Chicago international. It’s got a bad rep right now (politics as usual for the last 150 years haven’t helped that, of course – but they’re actually working on that and the future looks much better).
On the other hand, I can understand the thinking that gave it to Rio: never had an Olympics in SA (and I think this is the first serious contender to come from that continent), and if any city needed the shot in the arm an Olympics has the possibility of providing, it’s Rio! Their rep is probably work than Chicago’s world-wide, what with 2 million of it’s citizens living in poverty, the drugs, the crime, the slums etc. etc. – but the beaches are still nice I hear. Anyway, that’s gotta get cleaned up before 2016 so now they have a very public imperative to do what they must do. I’m rooting for them! I always want a great Olympics no matter where the venue.
Next topic: MLM has had quite a bit of dental work the last few months. Lots of fillings, a crown and a couple of extractions. It’s like her low resistance to infection has settled in her teeth like it attacked her shoulders. For as long as I’ve known her she has been absolutely rabid about oral hygiene – always flossing and brushing several times a day (she was just completing her training as a certified dental assistant when we met, then worked as one for several years so her skills in that arena are top-drawer). So, after taking such good care for all those years it’s really sad to have them fail her like this – particularly the extractions. I feel awful for her – she has a wondrous smile, you know. It was her smile that captured my heart before I even knew her. The body is all one interrelated system, of course, so we need the get the dental work done so she can have her shoulder surgery so she can get back to exercising so her overall health can improve and they can work on her elbows and her knees and her spine. Whew! THEN we can return to Disney World to celebrate our next anniversary. We were there in 2005 to celebrate our 30th; that was the last trip MLM was able to make before she was totally bed-ridden. I pray every day we might go there again someday soon…
I also pray I can get a permanent job (whatever that is) so we can move back downtown so MLM can be near her doctors. At least with the loss of the Olympic bid we can expect apartment rents to not skyrocket over the next few years. Moving to the burbs was the stupidest thing I’ve ever done. ‘Course, I was working for Sara Lee at the time – planned to work there until retirement – so moving near the job just made sense. (It’s still much cheaper to live here – it always made economic sense; it just never made sanity/lifestyle sense!) Six months later, I’m laid off and life has been a shit-storm ever since. Now, I would have been laid off anyway, so if we’d still been in Chicago we definitely would have lost that apartment and who knows where we would have gone from there. Our Bishop says in times like that we need to turn to family for help, but except for some money from time to time, my side of the family has studiously avoided offers of shelter, and if I bring it up the subject gets changed. At least my in-laws have stated from the very beginning that we can move in with them if we need to, and that is much appreciated! For now we are stuck in the apartment we’re in because my credit rating is so poor I cannot qualify for housing in any area we would want to live in (safety), and I’m still working toward getting all the required fees to our attorney so we can file for bankruptcy. So, once I get a permanent or long-term position, it will be at least three years for my credit to clean up enough to move to another apartment. At least when we signed our renewal this year we got $80 a month reduction by committing to a 14 month lease instead of a year. Every little bit helps.
Wow! Super-sized post, eh? Well, it’s been a while, and I have a lot I need to get out of my head, plus I don’t think anybody reads this anymore anyway so it doesn’t much matter, does it?
What else is going on ? Well, I finally got all the Christmas and train stuff out of the living room and into storage. I have a lot of loose papers and cartons of clothing to deal with, but then the living room is done. I am also driving around with a home hospital-type bed in the van that a friend from church is loaning us for MLM to use after her surgery. I am waiting for help from the brethren to get it out of my van, up the stairs, and set up in the living room. How Christmas rolls this year will depend on how long this contract runs. Right now it’s supposed to end on Dec. 11th, but if they can’t make the schedule – and they’re currently behind – then it may get extended. Also, I’m not really working that much on the project. I got the day shift for follow-up rather than the second shift doing the migrations. This means I support the user community all day for 40 hours a week; the guys that got the migration shift are only doing 20-30 hours a week! So I lucked out there (actually, the client placed me here because they wanted a professional, competent tech who could work well with the attorneys). And of course, I continue to look for better paying and/or permanent work on the job boards every day. Anyway, I am hoping to do some nice new decorations for the holidays this year. Time will tell.
The Polar Express is in the warehouse for now, along with a few accessories, the extra track, and the Dept 56 buildings. I have to look at this dispassionately and determine what I want to do with trains as opposed to what I can do with them. Maybe I will leave this discussion for another post. Or I may start a new blog focused only on trains. That might be best.
So, here I go, keeping the faith and putting one foot in front of the other all day long…
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