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Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Insanely Busy

I was waiting to explain properly what is going on around here until I knew what's going on. I still don't know what's going on. Not long-term anyway, but I decided it was time to reveal a little about events so far.

I did post about going to Auckland for my uncle's funeral. What I didn't mention in that post was that I knew that when I came back my husband would know whether he had a job or not. As it turned out, he didn't. This of course will shortly cause a radical change in our financial situation, since he was the one with the highly paid specialised IT job and I was the one working part time for average wages (after being out of the work force for many years raising children).

On the following Friday I went to work intending to tell my boss that I would need to look for a second part-time job, or a full-time job, and to ask if he would be my referee. He wasn't there. After I'd been working for a while, the phone went. It was my boss wanting to know if I wanted to work additional hours. Since I've been there seven years and I've never been asked that before, it would have to be one of the stranger coincidences in my life.

Originally I thought it was going to be a permanent part-time job. However it looks as if it will be temporary. There is a full-time person leaving, she has been training me for the last couple of days, and the position is being advertised. So I will have to train the new full-time person. I could apply for it, but I won't. It seems to me as if there is really too much work for one person full-time. With luck they will realise this, and keep me on for a while at least after the new person starts.

In the meantime I'm moving between the two jobs (for different companies - my boss is involved with quite a few) and stacking up as many hours as I can to build up some reserve funds. So my life runs along the lines of "hang out the laundry, go to work, cook dinner, do dishes, iron the laundry and go to bed". Fortunately the adult kids here take turns with the cooking and dishes which means I can fit in a few extras - like my poetry group meeting last night, or taking a walk between work and dinner. But my internet time is severely restricted.

And learning to be super-efficient doesn't seem to be quite the right frame of mind for writing poetry.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

oh Catherine. I hope everything works out well for you. My man and I have just both lost our jobs (we both work in IT). Since we don't have any children, we thought we'd sell up and travel for a while. Maybe get some work in Europe for a bit.

I hope your next chapters are even better than ones you have had in your life so far!

Carli N. Wendell said...

I'm totally broke right now so I can understand. hopefully it'll get better. Good luck.

kenju said...

I know from experience what you are going through. I wish you the best, Catherine, and I hope your husband finds employment soon.

Michele sent me.

Deb R said...

That really is a bit eerie (in a good way) about your boss calling to ask if you wanted extra hours right then. I hope you find exactly what you need, exactly when you need it to deal with this situation.

rashbre said...

Good luck with the extra hours, but do try to find some personal time in amongst all the bustle.

Anonymous said...

Oh no! This is not good news. I wish you luck and I hope you and your husband move through this quickly and that everything works out well.

carmilevy said...

I've been right where you and your husband are, and I'm impressed by your ability to focus on the good and not get caught up with undue worry.

Sometimes, I wish life would be more predictable. I wish employers would automatically recognize the value we bring to the table. But life isn't that straightforward.

Still, I believe that good folks are eventually rewarded. Your time will come. Soon.