So, It's Official
Mar. 27th, 2004 12:12 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
woodwardiocom-I've been living in my beautiful apartment here in Medford for a year and a half now. I've been unemployed -- 'scuse, underemployed -- for just over a year. My writing, my eBay entrepreneurism, and acquiring a housemate have taken the edge off, but I officially can no longer afford to live here. Sometime in April, I'm moving in with my folks.
-The upside: This will dramatically reduce my expenses. My parents are great people who I get along with well. They have what almost amounts to a separate apartment which is quite nice; we'll share the kitchen, but I'll be able to have my privacy. It's not that far away; south Milton, about a half-hour from where I live now. I'll still come to OPN and miscellaneous parties. My housemate has found someone to replace me, so I'm not screwing anybody over.
-The downside, of course, is that I'm 34 years old, unemployed, and about to move into my parents' basement. Part of my brain feels that this denotes my complete failure as an adult. I'm expecting someone to tell me that I have to go back to school on Monday. If I've seemed preoccupied lately, well, ta-da, now you know why.
-The really odd thing is that I'm not that depressed by all this. I'm unemployed because there are hundreds of unemployed web engineers in the area, not because I don't have skills. I'm not a failure as an adult: I'm a published author, I have a busy and delightful social life, I have an SO I adore, I'm working on a book that I think will be a big success. I haven't been sitting on my ass this past year, I've been diligently jobhunting while pursuing a bunch of other ways of making money. Admittedly, my finanical situation is bad because I suck at money management, but it's recoverable. Moving several hundred shelf-feet of books is a pain in the buttocks, but a part of me is looking forward to the intellectual challenge of fitting my hoard into a smaller space.
-And, I honestly believe that this is just another chapter in my life. I'll move in, I'll get a job, I'll pay off my debts, and a year or two down the road I'll move out again. This isn't the end of anything, it's just a regrouping.
-The hard details are: I'm going to move sometime before April 26th. Part of my move will almost certainly involve a U-Haul and the kindness of my friends. (Though I'm probably going to have professionals move the furniture.) My cell and email stay the same, I won't be getting a new home phone number, and my new address will be available on request. I'll post photos of the new space at some point so you don't feel too sorry for me.
-Further bulletins as events warrant.
(Oh, and I may be getting a job really frickin' soon. An HR guy called me up today to check my quals, and I should get a call from the hiring manager next week. Contract position in Newton. If I get it, I'm still moving, but with a song in my heart.)
-The upside: This will dramatically reduce my expenses. My parents are great people who I get along with well. They have what almost amounts to a separate apartment which is quite nice; we'll share the kitchen, but I'll be able to have my privacy. It's not that far away; south Milton, about a half-hour from where I live now. I'll still come to OPN and miscellaneous parties. My housemate has found someone to replace me, so I'm not screwing anybody over.
-The downside, of course, is that I'm 34 years old, unemployed, and about to move into my parents' basement. Part of my brain feels that this denotes my complete failure as an adult. I'm expecting someone to tell me that I have to go back to school on Monday. If I've seemed preoccupied lately, well, ta-da, now you know why.
-The really odd thing is that I'm not that depressed by all this. I'm unemployed because there are hundreds of unemployed web engineers in the area, not because I don't have skills. I'm not a failure as an adult: I'm a published author, I have a busy and delightful social life, I have an SO I adore, I'm working on a book that I think will be a big success. I haven't been sitting on my ass this past year, I've been diligently jobhunting while pursuing a bunch of other ways of making money. Admittedly, my finanical situation is bad because I suck at money management, but it's recoverable. Moving several hundred shelf-feet of books is a pain in the buttocks, but a part of me is looking forward to the intellectual challenge of fitting my hoard into a smaller space.
-And, I honestly believe that this is just another chapter in my life. I'll move in, I'll get a job, I'll pay off my debts, and a year or two down the road I'll move out again. This isn't the end of anything, it's just a regrouping.
-The hard details are: I'm going to move sometime before April 26th. Part of my move will almost certainly involve a U-Haul and the kindness of my friends. (Though I'm probably going to have professionals move the furniture.) My cell and email stay the same, I won't be getting a new home phone number, and my new address will be available on request. I'll post photos of the new space at some point so you don't feel too sorry for me.
-Further bulletins as events warrant.
(Oh, and I may be getting a job really frickin' soon. An HR guy called me up today to check my quals, and I should get a call from the hiring manager next week. Contract position in Newton. If I get it, I'm still moving, but with a song in my heart.)
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no subject
Date: 2004-03-26 10:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-03-27 06:29 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-03-27 08:06 am (UTC)(and, judging from all the stories I have heard over the years, they will do a *much* better job than the professionals...)
no subject
Date: 2004-03-27 09:55 am (UTC)I've come to the conclusion that we should all start writing letters of justification for each other. I keep getting asked 'So why have you been unemployed for...' (look at resume) 'Two years?' (dubious tone to voice).
Anyone interviewing me who asks that doesn't know shit about what's been going on around the field.
Best of luck with the opportunity! it *has* been picking up a little, much to my surprise (usually I don't see any evidence of a 'recovery' personally, I have to take the business magazines' word for it....)
Advice for living at home
Date: 2004-03-29 08:38 am (UTC)However, the kitchen can become a drag quickly. Keep in mind that these two haven't had roommates per se since around 1964 or so, so they aren't familiar with food etiquette. For example, if you don't want them eating food you buy, you must literally write your name all over the packaging with a Sharpie. I once had to eat my pasta with ketchup because M&D ate the last of my pasta sauce (a brand they had never purchased before) mere minutes before me. As my linguine boiled, their empty pasta bowls mocked me with drops of my sauce crusted on them. SO every time I returned from food shopping, I cursed under my breath at the ridiculousness of it while I wrote NKW on everything: soup cans, Ritz crackers, pasta sauce, pasta, peanut butter. It was silly but necessary.
Nathaniel the brother...