. . . Week # 11 . . .

One week shy of 3 months of unemployment...

This week finds me back home. Dad is MUCH better, though still in the hospital. We expect him home in mid- to late-September. Also, I finished up my acting class last night. Even though I had missed 2 classes, I really wanted to participate and get the chance to be critiqued by someone IN the industry. It was a lot of fun! Now I'm trying to get some headshots scheduled so I can actually audition for roles...who knows? I figure even if I only get 1 or 2 roles over the next few months or year, it'd be an experience I haven't had before. Also, I'm STILL trying to get my voice over demo done, because I think I'd be really really good at that.

But. I'm also still trying to get a "real" job in my career field...and still no interviews. Very discouraging. There was a job I would have been super great at - but unfortunately it's only for internal candidates. I did still contact the hiring manager with my resume - just in case they turn to an external candidate....it'd be a GREAT job.

So....I continue to hunt the job boards each day, doing follow-ups and sending out new resumes whenever I can. Wish me luck, ok?

New venue for weeks 9 and 10...

Week # 9 finds me in Michigan - my dad underwent some emergency surgery last Thursday night. Seven + hours of surgery. He had an abdominal arotic aneurysm that was huge and bleeding. He's doing better, but hasn't been brought out of sedation yet (today's Tuesday). I flew up on Friday morning to be here and help my mum. So far, dad is holding his own. There's been no blatant complications (i.e. he could have had a stroke, a heart attack, been paralysed, or had kidney failure, etc.) but he's still not breathing on his own, and he still has the spinal drain in....so we wait.

Good thing I'm unemployed, basically.

I'm still filing for unemployment, and doing a job search - one just never knows. But for now, I'm up in Michigan, missing my hubby and my puppy. And will be here way into week # 10 too.

We start into week EIGHT

I have been part of the workforce - with one significant break due to relocation/lack of employment - for 26 years. I have worked as a groom at a stable, an employee of Fotomat, a picture framer, retail management, an optical associate, a fast food cashier, a bank teller, and - for most of my career - as a writer/editor.

But the point is, I've almost always had a job. The one time I didn't was much more MY choice, after I'd moved from Arizona to Maine (LONG story there). I'd been working on a master's degree in AZ while my hubby was up in Maine working, but when the semester ended I moved up to be with him. I had thought to finish out my masters in Maine, but circumstances changed that direction. Instead, I started looking for a job in July shortly after I got there. We lived in Bangor - a population of 33,000 and not a lot of anything in publishing. I managed to find a 3/4-time job in September, but that didn't work out, and I was back to searching again in October. In November I started a part-time job at the Public Broadcasting Network (really super people and kinda fun job) that I kept till the following May - but then we moved to Maryland. Within a few weeks I got a job back into publishing and have been fully employed up till 8 weeks ago.

What's the point of all this? I dunno. I can't stop reeling from STILL being unemployed. I feel much better - in many ways - when I have an office to go to, a project (or 10!) to work on, co-workers to talk to, and a commute to do twice a day. It's too easy for me to just sit on the couch with the TV on, surfing the internet for jobs and NOT playing with the dog. I know part of it is due to being down about not working, but I also know that I am inherently lazy, in need of structure.

"So go out and do something every day" you say? Yeah, that's so much easier said than done, especially when it's hot and sticky out or storming. "But you'd be commuting through all that if you had a job" you say? Yes, but that is very worth it. That is part of what makes having a job "fun" to me.

And I really really want to have fun. I really want a job.