Dear Sam,
If you have already decided that you are attending the race track "work thing" on the one weeknight you were going to be home next week, then just tell me about it. When you call pretend to ask permission it only pisses me off.
Love,
Constance Number Five
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Staying Put
Well it turns out that all this delay in the interview was probably (in part) because they knew the restructuring was going to affect them up north as well. Sam got the word this morning that there won't be an interview - they are no longer planning to fill the vacancy he'd applied for.
So now we wait for the "official" announcement of the restructuring, probably tomorrow, and then we see whether Sam still has a job here.
At least I know we aren't moving just yet.
So now we wait for the "official" announcement of the restructuring, probably tomorrow, and then we see whether Sam still has a job here.
At least I know we aren't moving just yet.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Not Unfounded
Tomorrow Sam is supposed to have his phone interview for the potential new job - he is still waiting for details confirming this. I swear if I didn't know he worked for a decent company I'd be wondering about them...
Today, in a management meeting, Sam got a version of the news we'd been dreading. His administrator is not eliminating his position, but the entire local affiliate is being absorbed by the larger affiliate south of here, as a cost cutting measure. Basically they are restructuring to eliminate some administrative costs and it is now nearly certain that Sam's position will be eliminated. He is hopeful that he will be given a different job in his current company.
If not, we are totally screwed. I have a professional degree that is all but useless in our area right now. Even if I could find full-time employment in my field, I would be lucky to make half of Sam's current salary. We don't have a lot of debt beyond what I consider normal, our mortgage, one car payment, and a small amount on an equity line, so that's something. We have money in retirement funds, IRAs, and stocks, but nothing that is made to be accessed right now, or would be much help right now. We have very, very little in the way of traditional savings.
Sam says not to worry, but he isn't really the type to tell me to worry, so I don't find that very comforting. I just pray that he will, in fact, still have a job a week from now. If he isn't given a different position it looks like he'll continue to get his salary for about two months. Which is better than not at all, but sure doesn't seem like enough time to find a job in this economy.
I'm trying very hard not to be consumed by fear about this - for me it is made worse by the fact that this is not going public just yet and I cannot talk about it with ANYONE, not friends, not our parents, no one. I'm not sure I've ever been so grateful for this little pink haven, because I really need a place to let this out a bit.
Today, in a management meeting, Sam got a version of the news we'd been dreading. His administrator is not eliminating his position, but the entire local affiliate is being absorbed by the larger affiliate south of here, as a cost cutting measure. Basically they are restructuring to eliminate some administrative costs and it is now nearly certain that Sam's position will be eliminated. He is hopeful that he will be given a different job in his current company.
If not, we are totally screwed. I have a professional degree that is all but useless in our area right now. Even if I could find full-time employment in my field, I would be lucky to make half of Sam's current salary. We don't have a lot of debt beyond what I consider normal, our mortgage, one car payment, and a small amount on an equity line, so that's something. We have money in retirement funds, IRAs, and stocks, but nothing that is made to be accessed right now, or would be much help right now. We have very, very little in the way of traditional savings.
Sam says not to worry, but he isn't really the type to tell me to worry, so I don't find that very comforting. I just pray that he will, in fact, still have a job a week from now. If he isn't given a different position it looks like he'll continue to get his salary for about two months. Which is better than not at all, but sure doesn't seem like enough time to find a job in this economy.
I'm trying very hard not to be consumed by fear about this - for me it is made worse by the fact that this is not going public just yet and I cannot talk about it with ANYONE, not friends, not our parents, no one. I'm not sure I've ever been so grateful for this little pink haven, because I really need a place to let this out a bit.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Seriously?
The weather has interfered with Sam's interview again! He was supposed to head north today and they are getting slammed with more ice/snow so they have finally decided just to do this interview over the phone on Tuesday, instead of in person tomorrow.
The lack of an in person interview may put him at a disadvantage, but we're a bit of the mind that things will work out they way they should, and if he is really meant to have this job things will work out, despite not getting there this week.
So I hope, I HOPE, we will have an outcome on this particular job/moving situation in the next week. Then I can stop holding my breath.
Until the next out of town position is posted.
The lack of an in person interview may put him at a disadvantage, but we're a bit of the mind that things will work out they way they should, and if he is really meant to have this job things will work out, despite not getting there this week.
So I hope, I HOPE, we will have an outcome on this particular job/moving situation in the next week. Then I can stop holding my breath.
Until the next out of town position is posted.
Thursday, January 1, 2009
And Again With the Changes!
Now Sam's interview isn't January 5th - it's January 12th. Which is good, he'll be around to help unpack after we return from our holiday travels, but it means yet another week of dragging all of this along.
We've also had some random issues with winter driving - nothing bad has happened this trip, but we had a scary black ice skid on the highway coming home last winter. And that, combined with a couple of other scary but harmless incidents has made Sam really, really nervous about driving on snowy/icy roads.
Not that driving on icy roads is a picnic for anyone, but in many parts of the country it is a fact of life.
I don't mean to be a bitch, but if Sam gets this job we'll be moving significantly north of where we currently live and there will be many, many more snowy/ice roads that need driving on. I think this needs to be a serious consideration IF he is offered the job. He has had anxiety issues in the past (serious ones, before we met) and manages stress/worry very well most of the time. But I can see how this driving thing unravels him and I worry about it - not that I wouldn't support him if his struggle with anxiety resurfaced, on the contrary, I think I would help him do whatever needed doing in order to cope, but I have some concerns about totally upended our lives and how he'll really deal with that. And drive in the northern winter.
We've also had some random issues with winter driving - nothing bad has happened this trip, but we had a scary black ice skid on the highway coming home last winter. And that, combined with a couple of other scary but harmless incidents has made Sam really, really nervous about driving on snowy/icy roads.
Not that driving on icy roads is a picnic for anyone, but in many parts of the country it is a fact of life.
I don't mean to be a bitch, but if Sam gets this job we'll be moving significantly north of where we currently live and there will be many, many more snowy/ice roads that need driving on. I think this needs to be a serious consideration IF he is offered the job. He has had anxiety issues in the past (serious ones, before we met) and manages stress/worry very well most of the time. But I can see how this driving thing unravels him and I worry about it - not that I wouldn't support him if his struggle with anxiety resurfaced, on the contrary, I think I would help him do whatever needed doing in order to cope, but I have some concerns about totally upended our lives and how he'll really deal with that. And drive in the northern winter.
Monday, December 22, 2008
On the Road
So Sam's job interview was moved from last Friday to tomorrow. He's on the road, driving north, as we speak.
*****
Okay, I started typing, got called away from the computer, and, after a couple of phone calls, Sam is turning around and driving home. The weather up north is so bad they aren't sure he can make it there and they expect up to eight more inches of snow tomorrow so he might not get home if he did make it today.
New interview scheduled for January 5.
This happened with the last major interview as well - not weather difficulties, but various reasons for rescheduling and pushing things back. Every time I think well at least we'll know something soon, things get postponed. We thought we'd know by the 1st of the year whether we were moving or not, now the interview won't even have happened yet. SIGH.
BUT I'm glad he's headed home now because getting all the rest of the cooking and baking finished before Christmas Eve is daunting enough, but even more so if I'm the only parent here while trying to accomplish those tasks. I'm happy to have backup tonight and tomorrow, even if it does mean more waiting.
*****
Okay, I started typing, got called away from the computer, and, after a couple of phone calls, Sam is turning around and driving home. The weather up north is so bad they aren't sure he can make it there and they expect up to eight more inches of snow tomorrow so he might not get home if he did make it today.
New interview scheduled for January 5.
This happened with the last major interview as well - not weather difficulties, but various reasons for rescheduling and pushing things back. Every time I think well at least we'll know something soon, things get postponed. We thought we'd know by the 1st of the year whether we were moving or not, now the interview won't even have happened yet. SIGH.
BUT I'm glad he's headed home now because getting all the rest of the cooking and baking finished before Christmas Eve is daunting enough, but even more so if I'm the only parent here while trying to accomplish those tasks. I'm happy to have backup tonight and tomorrow, even if it does mean more waiting.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Feeling Sickish Again
Here we go again.
Sam has a job interview a few hours north of here on Friday.
He likes his current job. He is good at his current job. Unfortunately, in his "industry" there just aren't many jobs like his current one. He worries (and in this economy who the fuck doesn't) that some higher-up will eventually decide to cut his position. Now he has been with the same company for many years and would unlikely be altogether without a job if his current position were eliminated, but he may be forced into a demotion to stay with the company. Obviously one proactive solution to this little dilemma is to apply when promotions become open, even in other markets. In fact, because of the geographic make up of his company it is more likely that he'd get promoted in an area outside the one where we now live.
I'm used to Sam applying for jobs in other markets. A lot of the time it doesn't really go anywhere, either because they assume he's too young to be qualified (he is young for the type job he's applying for, but he is qualified) or they really just want to hire from within their own regions. But there have been three jobs within this calendar year where they've wanted to bring him in for an in-person interview, which doesn't happen until pretty far along in the process. The first of these happened this spring, right around the time I ended up in the hospital on bed rest - he eventually declined that interview (duh). Then it happened this summer and he was one of three finalists for a job a few hours south of here. This time the company is comping his miles and providing a hotel room so that he can drive up Thursday night for a Friday interview.
They intend to hire someone before the end of the year, which is good and bad. This go round will be settled within about two weeks. So he'll either not get the job and we can relax and I can stop feeling like I might throw up at any minute. Or he'll get the job and then probably move up there, live in temporary housing, and come here on weekends, until Mary finishes out the school year and we take care of a few areas in the house before putting it on the market. (Oh holy hell, who wants to be selling a house right now?) So I wouldn't have to move in a month, but I'd also become a mostly single parent for the foreseeable future.
On some level I know that it could be very good for us to start over somewhere new. But we would be leaving a pretty incredible support system - Sam's family is here, and very good friends, and after everything we went through this spring I can't imagine how difficult this would be on Mary. I know people do stuff like this all the time, but that doesn't mean I want to be one of them.
The worst part, for me, is knowing that if this job doesn't work out the relief I'll feel will be tempered with anxiety, wondering when we are going to go through this again.
Sam has a job interview a few hours north of here on Friday.
He likes his current job. He is good at his current job. Unfortunately, in his "industry" there just aren't many jobs like his current one. He worries (and in this economy who the fuck doesn't) that some higher-up will eventually decide to cut his position. Now he has been with the same company for many years and would unlikely be altogether without a job if his current position were eliminated, but he may be forced into a demotion to stay with the company. Obviously one proactive solution to this little dilemma is to apply when promotions become open, even in other markets. In fact, because of the geographic make up of his company it is more likely that he'd get promoted in an area outside the one where we now live.
I'm used to Sam applying for jobs in other markets. A lot of the time it doesn't really go anywhere, either because they assume he's too young to be qualified (he is young for the type job he's applying for, but he is qualified) or they really just want to hire from within their own regions. But there have been three jobs within this calendar year where they've wanted to bring him in for an in-person interview, which doesn't happen until pretty far along in the process. The first of these happened this spring, right around the time I ended up in the hospital on bed rest - he eventually declined that interview (duh). Then it happened this summer and he was one of three finalists for a job a few hours south of here. This time the company is comping his miles and providing a hotel room so that he can drive up Thursday night for a Friday interview.
They intend to hire someone before the end of the year, which is good and bad. This go round will be settled within about two weeks. So he'll either not get the job and we can relax and I can stop feeling like I might throw up at any minute. Or he'll get the job and then probably move up there, live in temporary housing, and come here on weekends, until Mary finishes out the school year and we take care of a few areas in the house before putting it on the market. (Oh holy hell, who wants to be selling a house right now?) So I wouldn't have to move in a month, but I'd also become a mostly single parent for the foreseeable future.
On some level I know that it could be very good for us to start over somewhere new. But we would be leaving a pretty incredible support system - Sam's family is here, and very good friends, and after everything we went through this spring I can't imagine how difficult this would be on Mary. I know people do stuff like this all the time, but that doesn't mean I want to be one of them.
The worst part, for me, is knowing that if this job doesn't work out the relief I'll feel will be tempered with anxiety, wondering when we are going to go through this again.
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