Life is what happens while you're making other plans

[missroserose]

Holy crap.

I may have just talked my way into another job. Completely unintentionally. Despite the fact that I'm starting to have to trot to keep up with the two I've already got. And it's something I'd likely really enjoy doing, even if the hours could be better. Pay would likely be pretty decent, too, and it's the sort of thing that could open up a lot of opportunities down the line. Like, a lot.

Sigh. I seem to remember, not too long ago, thinking something like 'hey, look - I can work part time and work on my writing and won't that be pleasant'. But I seem to have decided that the laid-back life isn't for me. Maybe I have some of my mother's overachieving genetics after all?

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Comments

[cyranocyrano.livejournal.com]

Oh man. With being laid up, and the play, I forgot to nudzh you about writing.

And I'm still unreasonably stoked about New Thing. Woot!

[sigma7.livejournal.com]

Yes, you're an overachiever, maybe by genes, but definitely by strength of will, too. Congrats! These problems aren't too bad to have....

[roseneko.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm definitely not complaining, exactly - I know there are plenty of folks who'd love to have three jobs (or potential opportunities, anyway) that they actually like. But given that I've always considered myself something of a slacker, it's causing me to readjust my self-perceptions a bit.

[errant-variable.livejournal.com]

"oops"?

[bkleber.livejournal.com]

You sound like several friends of mine - most of the ones that run into this situation, though, are of retirement age!

My favorite of these was my middle school science team coach, Mrs. K. While I was in high school she retired, and moved out to Soccoro, NM with her husband - they live near the VLA, he's a radio astronomer - and she relaxed into retirement. Here's how that went:
--Year 1: by the end of the year, she's substitute teaching for the school they live near
--Year 2: she starts out as a substitute teacher, and also starts coaching science team there. A teacher has to go on long-term leave, and Mrs. K. takes over that teacher's classes in their entirety.
--Years 3 & 4: Mrs. K. is the principal of the school.
--Year 5: Retired again, substitute teaching and coaching science team

...and so it continues. She hasn't been capable of remaining idle for an entire school year. I hope she never does! She's one of those teachers with such infectious enthusiasm that it makes a class a good class.

A guy that works for me just retired last month, and I suspect his efforts to be unemployed are going to go the same way, except that he's an engineer instead of an educator. There's a hospital complex 3 miles form his house, which is in the lightly populated parts of DE, and he'll probably be their IT tech lead inside of a year. It might only keep him busy 3 days a week, but it'll keep his wife from having to kill him.

[roseneko.livejournal.com]

Your last line reminds me of a Japanese phenomenon I read about recently - I'm sure there's a name for it but I can't recall offhand. Apparently many Japanese couples who reach retirement age have, of late, been divorcing - mostly because they've gotten so used to barely seeing each other (what with the spend-half-your-life-working mentality Japanese businessmen have) that when the men retire, they just don't know how to deal with staying at home and drive their wives nuts.

I'm glad to hear Mrs. K is staying active, especially. I have a couple of friends who're training to be teachers, and from the stories I've heard, the system really can't afford to lose good teachers like that. Though hopefully the situation is better there than it is in Arizona - we're consistently ranked extremely low for things like test scores and teacher quality. Which might have something to do with the staff having had their wages frozen (not even a cost-of-living-increase) for the past five years, plus being expected to provide all their own supplies (including books) as well as navigate a bureaucracy that seems custom-designed to put ineffectual egomaniacs into power....sigh.

[jamesd.livejournal.com]

Congratulations! You've simply been achieving in different areas. :)

[epi-lj.livejournal.com]

Wow! Go you for being able to talk yourself into a job out of the blue, though!

[roseneko.livejournal.com]

Aw, thanks! It's not so difficult in Bisbee, especially once you already know some folks - there's that certain amount of trust that comes from being part of someone's extended social network (i.e. I've been working for Cristina for a year now, and the dude I was talking to knows Cristina, so he knows I'd be at least a decently reliable employee 'cos he hasn't heard Cristina complaining about me). But nothing's solid yet. We'll see how it goes.