Update on the Juggling

I can’t believe it’s been four weeks since I last posted on the blog.  Think of a juggler, keeping multiple balls (or fruits or even eggs) in the air, letting some drop and adding others, but never stopping the flow.  Here’s an update on what’s in the air and what has splattered.

• Rejections:  I’ve received several rejection letters, all nicely worded but totally impersonal.  I much prefer email communication for rejections.  When an organization sends a letter, it’s usually so long in coming that 1.) you already know you weren’t called for an interview and 2.) you’re annoyed that they didn’t have the courtesy to communicate in a timely manner.
• Ironic interview: One of the interviews I had last month was for a position that would have included supervising the career center where I had my re-employment meetings.  How wonderful that would have been – to end my unemployment by finding jobs for the unemployed.  I was pleased to be interviewed, but my background was perhaps too out of the box for a government bureaucrat.
• End of the end of story: Remember the chapters in this saga?  In the very end the administrator finally did call and leave a voice message (on Thursday of that week, not Monday), telling me that the reason they didn’t contact me sooner was that they were hoping to find another position for me.  They were waiting to see if another person was leaving, in which case they might have offered me her job.  (She didn’t leave.)  I made an appointment to talk with the administrator, and although it took another eleven days to connect, we did have a nice conversation, including a review of the process.  All would have been simpler if she had just been open about the situation.
• Applying for more jobs:  I have been applying for more jobs as they come up.  It’s been hard to rev up the enthusiasm you need for each one, especially after the ups and downs of being a finalist for similar jobs recently.   I even missed a deadline for one application.  (My sub-conscious mind made it clear to me that it was not a good fit.) Two applications that I did get in are now up in the air, waiting for search committees to meet and review.  Either I’ll get the phone call for an interview, or in a month or two I’ll get the blandly polite rejection letter.
• A promotion in spite of no contract:  The check (for April) is in the mail, or so they say.  I’m working about 10 hours per week for my Canadian company, and although I have yet to sign a contract or agreement (the first one they sent was inappropriate, and the revised one never completed), I received a promotion.  Because of my experience, I moved to reviewing other people’s work and am developing an evaluation and feedback structure for the company.  That moved me from $18/hour to $20/hour.  It’s so odd to be an hourly worker after being salaried all my life.  My perception of what is a good hourly rate is fuzzy right now, after my various part-time efforts this year.
• Two days a week:  As an add-on to my consulting, I am working two days each week with students.  It’s directly related to the program I’m developing, and it feels good to be in a hands-on situation.  The pay is non-profit agency low ($15/hour), but the satisfaction is high.
• Consulting:  My consulting on program development is the most satisfying of my professional activities.  I would love for it to turn into something more, but there is a certain reality that depends on grants and other funding.  My future here is uncertain.
• Routine auditor meetings:  My position as town auditor has settled into a monthly routine of meetings and a few hours’ work.   I am content to keep that civic responsibility going for years.  (Remember, I’m an elected official!)
• Background noise:  The on-going situation that I can’t talk about here provides a low level of background stress in my life.  It’s something that I learn to live with, but it stirs up tension every so often, depending on various timelines.  It’s a lesson in patience and inner calm.
• Gardening:   See Spruce Knob Garden for more about that part of my life.
• Neglecting the blog:  Because of all the above, I am not writing much.  I need to set better priorities.  Part of the potential for this year (or years?) is time to develop neglected interests and skills.   (I’ve also neglected to clean out the basement, another project I had hoped to attack, but that is less distressing to me!)
• Escaping into detective novels:  And so, I regularly escape into fiction.  Recently I have read murder mysteries solved by a Chinese female detective (in modern day China), by a woman in the mid-west who bakes cakes for a living, by an English woman who is living in a book with fictional characters, and by a French-Canadian policeman.  I tend to pick up a book during my volunteer library stint on Fridays and gobble it down before the end of the weekend.