The Aerie
Man, do I need a job. Specifically, I need an information security contract position. Hopefully something will come along soon.
Meanwhile, I've had to work all week. What? Oh, right, well, I am fortunate in that I DO have a paying contract at the moment, although it does not pay enough upon which to survive. I am teaching Information Security for a company that has previously sent me to London and Stockholm. To what fabulous city did they send me this week?
Minneapolis! Oh boy!
Yes, this week I was teaching at the Carlson Center on the University of Minnesota campus. And I'll get paid for it. But the pay I get, added to our family reserves, will only get me out to about mid-September, so hopefully sometime in the next seven weeks I will get work.
What else is new? The last Harry Potter book is finally out, if you haven't heard. Nice rock, by the way. My family has already read it. At some point I will update my Book 7 guesses page to reflect where I was right and where I was wrong.
Today is the first anniversary of our departure for Germany. Man, is this year different. Last year was exciting and nervous making because we were traveling for five weeks. This year is exciting and nervous-making because we'll be broke in five weeks.
The twins both finished their classroom training, and so now we have two kids with driver's permits in their pockets. So far they haven't actually tried driving. Maybe this weekend. I'm certainly not pushing it!
My mood has been pretty glum recently, thus the infrequent posting, due to the stress of facing financial insolvency, and the frustration of not being able to find a suitable position. Intellectually I realize that this is unnecessary. I'll get a job, we'll work out the finances, etc. Despite the fact that American businesses are shipping my kind of technology jobs to Bangalore as fast as they can, I know that I'll find something.
But emotions don't listen to reason, so I get anxious. Fortunately I had this training this week, because until yesterday I heard absolutely nothing all week long. Now, yesterday I got several calls, but for a while there I was high and dry. Had I not been teaching, I'm sure I would instead have been fretting.
So I know it's silly to be anxious, but it's also not controllable. Hopefully next week I'll be busy enough that I won't be fretting and getting depressed. Certainly I've got enough homework to do as well as enough household chores I'm sure I can keep busy.
Finally, we're coming up on Birthday Week - my twins were born one week before my birthday - so we have to figure out how to buy them presents. We had some ideas but that was when we had money. Always, it comes back to the money.
So I need a job. Hopefully a contract will come along soon! Until then, I'll be here, twisting in the wind, fretting, and trying to remember to breathe...