Full-time Employment, Check!

*whew*

I have been checking my cell phone for the last two weeks, checking everyday when I left work to see if I had a missed call from a number not already in my directory. I interviewed at the Maryland Environmental Service, and the more time that passed, the more I was coming to believe that I hadn't gotten the job.

But there on my phone today, a missed call and a voice mail asking me to call back. And when I did, one of my favorite phone conversations ever!

"I'm calling to offer you the position of Manager of Contract Administration."

Yippee!

I start in a few weeks. We will have to figure out what to do with the other three part-time jobs I'm currently working. I feel like this is an answer to prayers. A blessing from paying tithing.

The MES does a lot of waste-water treatment and recycling stuff all over the state, but here's an article about one of their cooler projects.

News!

Because not every post has to be about gratitude in November.

I start work next Tuesday (November 16th) at the MCIJ as a contract employee conducting the TABE and Occupational Interest Inventory exams. There will be a lot of lingo and acronyms, as with any job. But I'm not even sure what some of them mean yet, so I'm not sure I can really explain everything you might want to know.

MCIJ is the Maryland Correctional Institute - Jessup, a medium security facility. The prison itself is operated by the Division of Correction (DOC), a department in the Department of Public Safety and Correction Services (DPSCS). The school with MCIJ is operated by the Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation's (DLLR) Division of Workforce Development and Adult Learning. I will be administering the aforementioned tests to inmates to help place them in adult education classes (the primary goal there is to help them get their GED) and to help them target realistic post-incarceration career goals.

Since it is a contract position, there are not benefits. In the interim, it fits nicely with the other part-time work I am doing. We will get by. And if a job opens up as a full-time teacher, I am sure my experience will help in the application process.

One of These Things Is ...

... not like the others.

Can you see how gray/blue the left big toe is?

I stubbed it fiercely on a concrete sidewalk Monday morning. I mean it connected with the edge of the sidewalk right at the nadir of a foot swing, full and directly striking the front of the toe. It cracked the nail and discolored the nail plate. It hurt/stung for the rest of the day. I freely acknowledge that my tendency to wear sandals until there is snow on the ground is a contributing factor to this first injury. Toe boo-boos are worth the perpetuation of my summer-time frame of mind.

Then yesterday, I stubbed the same toe on a couch and it ... I guess "popped" is the right word. The force of this second stubbing separated the nail from the toe a little bit across the top of the nail. Blood everywhere. It's been leaking lymph (I think that's the right term for the translucent fluid that oozes from a wound once the blood stops) all day. I finally took a rubber band and wrapped a napkin around the toe, there's no way a bandaid is going to absorb the fluid.

Gross.

Interesting job news coming soon (I hope). If things go well, I will soon be teaching again.

In a State Prison. (!)

♪♫You Load Sixteen Tons, Whaddaya Get?♫♪♫

Thank you, Mr. Tennessee Ernie Ford.

Another year older. Yes, I know that the song's lyrics are "Another DAY older", but its contemplative tone resonates with me today.

This is the first time since I started blogging that I remember talking about something in a previous blog post. I think I said it pretty well last year. Go read that blog post!

I am glad to be living the life I have. My children are wonderful, my wife amazing. I am happy.

It has been sort of a drag being unemployed for three months. It seems like every self-observation I make needs to include an allowance for that. Things are good, even though I'm still out of work.

Christmas was great, but yeah, I'm still looking.

Having a great birthday, still applying.

Snow was fun last week, no immediate prospects.

So today, I'm grateful that my jobless status is the only big problem I'm facing. I am fortunate and blessed to be living the life I have.

Yesterday, Jenni and I took each other to see "Avatar" at the 3D Imax theater. Looked great, even though the plot was nothing new. I'm glad we saw it in a real theater.

Our great find was at the Ikea afterwards. Our favorite baby gave us a gift-card for Christmas. We've been collecting these chairs ("Urban" design, I've seen green, icy blue, white, and this color; they call it red, but it's pretty obviously orange, right?) for over two years, watching for them to show up in as is. I guess they are selling off the orange ones, because they were more than 50% off. We got three! If anyone finds any in the Ikea near them for less than $20, buy them for us? We'll get them eventually and pay you back!

Happy Holidays to everyone!

Update; In My Opinion, Finding Out Is Sometimes not Better than Being in the Dark

I got the sad letter today informing me that another candidate was selected for the job I interviewed two weeks ago.



Just letting folks know. I'll keep looking, keep hoping. Try to be cheerful and optimistic. I am grateful for good family members and friends, their encouragement is helpful, too.

When Do You Share News? Are You a Serial Sharer, or Do You Hold Off and Wait for the Whole Story?

"News". Facts. Information.

Where do you get yours? How do you share it? I feel like I constantly ask the children, when they are reporting something, to just tell me, "What did you do? What did you say? I don't want to hear your version of what someone else did, I can ask them that myself!" They know, by now, better than to under-report their own mistakes.

So many things happen. People get sick. Marriages founder. I remember going to my 15-year reunion and feeling ill from all the people who asked me about taking the bar exam.

"I'm sure you passed!"

*queasy* But what if I didn't? Part of me wished it was a secret that I had graduated from law school, so I could just wait until I knew if I had passed. How awful would it be to have everyone waiting for me to tell them good news...and I have to tell them bad news?

It's easy to understand why some people keep bad news to themselves. Why we wait, thinking to "protect" our friends and loved ones from worry. Sometimes, we are just protecting ourselves from that future embarrassment of having to follow a hopeful interim update with a sad conclusion. I don't think that's fair.

And what about news regarding other people? When you know something (or suspect something, or overhear something . . . or encounter the rumor of something, even?), who do you tell? Where does the respect for person A's privacy end, and the duty to share information begin?

If you find out your neighbor is having an affair, do you tell the spouse?

What if you found drugs in someone's gym bag?

What if you witnessed an abusive behavior by a parent, a boyfriend, a co-worker?

What if you heard about someone planning an activity that you think they'd regret tomorrow? What if you heard a friend's child planning something like that?

I'm not talking about real, legal duties to share; you have to report crimes. I'm talking about that nebulous moral zone occasioned by circumstances like those listed above. Do you have any other examples? Leave a comment with some!

For some, it might be easy to just barge in and start sharing information. I'm pretty sure that's not the best approach; we are cautioned strongly (by both scripture and etiquette manuals) against being gossips, for good reason. Unity and community are important, worthy ideals. A willingness to believe bad news about others (or the tendency to actively seek it out and share it) is destructive to trust and affection, both immediately and eternally.

It involves respect for one another, respect for privacy. If you come to know something damaging about someone else, and it wasn't that person themselves who shared the info with you, how do you handle it?

But it also entails a commitment to the truth. There is a reason hearsay isn't allowed in court. But set that aside, consider only things you know are true. Even if you come into the knowledge of a report of something, it is the fact of the report that is true, not the contents.

There are issues of curiosity, history, gossip, accuracy, all swirling in the issue. Surely nobody wants to be a rumor-monger or gossip, but hopefully, nobody really believes it's better to not know things about each other. Life and coping have their best chances to happily succeed in an environment of honesty and acceptance. Sunshine and openness.

I think we have a social, familial obligation, a duty to share information with each other, if it is information we would acquire ourselves *if* *we* *were* present. On the other hand, things that we wouldn't know about, even if we were neighbors, should be more discretionary. But I wouldn't underestimate the power of community and acceptance to be helpful even with a private struggle like that.

If someone is struggling with drug addiction, for example, or having marital problems, I think it would be a matter very much up to that person and their spouse, whether or not to share details with the family. But if someone got arrested for a drug problem, or got separated/divorced, or suffered some other public setback, then I strenuously argue that the fact of it should be shared with those people who love and care for the person. If you know, you have a duty to disclose.

What about hard feelings and prejudice? If sharing some act, comment, or behavior that is relevant, causes someone to harbor ill-feelings against the actor, shame on them. We have a duty to love, even to increase our love, especially in circumstances of trials like these. No one should feel their problems or hardships exclude them from their family, their friends, their loved ones.


Climbing back down, more to the point, when do you share something that is in process? Jenni's been gone for 8 days now. Our lovely huge dining room table broke (30 minutes before our guests were coming on Thanksgiving!), but it is almost put back together.

Should I have mentioned that the day it happened? Since it will be fixed before she gets back, should I just not mention it? Or should I wait until it is fixed and just reveal how awesome-talented I am in all things carpentastic?

(this was our on-the-fly fix)

I get asked, at least once a day (much more often if I am in a crowd), "How's the job hunt going?"

It is an act of will not to sigh dramatically before responding, "Still looking!"

Should I discuss the call-backs I get? Should I share when I am invited in for an interview?

I think so. So, to that end, I do have an interview next Tuesday, an office job with the Maryland Judiciary.

Just promise me you won't quiz me too closely on the follow-up. If I get the job, I'll let you know.

A Day in the Life of a Single, Unemployed Dad

Not "single" as in unmarried, but singular, solo. Mrs. L has gone TDY to do some painting for her family, so I'm here, coping.

That is not a plea for sympathy. Our house runs very smoothly, we've put two decades into teaching the kids how to participate in the operation, and they are fun to take care of because they really do help a lot. But it is worth noting here a scriptural fact I have mentioned often. In the story of the creation, God creates everything, names everything, and at the end of each period of creation, reviews and comments. Everything is good. Until he makes Adam. The first aspect of creation to receive a negative response, "It is not good for Man to be alone"

So we are good, but it's busy. My Dad teased me a little the week after I lost my job, suggesting that I was now, "A man of leisure." I frowned at him, telling him I wasn't sure if I was ready to joke about it yet.

But I suppose I needed the light-heartedness. It's critical to not get bogged down.

I look for work everyday. I used to do it while Jenni taught seminary, but while she's away, I'm her substitute. It takes time, at least a couple of hours, to look over all the web-sites, and then to fill out the online applications. I learned to keep a plain text, suitable for cutting-and-pasting, resume and job history open in a word processor. It gets to be a drag to have to re-type your job history a dozen times a week.

The most productive (productive-feeling; nothing I have done has produces any actual results yet...) thing I feel like I do is networking. Calling associates I knew at work, asking if they know of any openings. I've found dozens of jobs that way. But I've found several prospects via Monster and Hot Jobs, too.

Teaching seminary is exhausting and rewarding. The kids tend to be pretty subdued so early in the morning, but most of them are attentive, eager, thoughtful. They are wonderful, and I love the lightness they bring into our home.

Jennilyn has been inspirational, helping me to avoid devolving into navel-gazing mopery. When the year began, and I thought my employment was secure, we joined a health club with a year-long membership. We have been taking full advantage of that, going 4 or 5 times a week, trying to wring as much value out of the already-paid expense before it expires. I am trying out the "couch to 5K" program of running. My kids chuckle at my sore legs.

We have no TV, no netflix subscription. You would think without work taking up 10-12 hours a day, I would have a lot of free time.

But I have inserted myself into most of the home-business of getting kids to school, making dinner, cleaning. Friends and neighbors have been mindful of us, offering small one-off jobs to me, babysitting to Jennilyn. Our families have pitched in as well, hiring us to do their Fall yard work, or painting their house.

I've loved the chance to be around the kids more. Last year, I only ever got to go to one of Stewart's wrestling matches. This year, I've already tied that; he got the fastest pin at their first meet Tuesday night, an exhibition against Elkton. 59 seconds, whoo! I think the fastest over the course of the entire year last season was 20 seconds, so I am sure that record won't last. But exciting to be there and witness it.

There is more time for church work. Jenni gently reminds me that she wishes I would spend more time writing. Which I am trying to do via blogger also, another facet of our life where she is a good example, a great inspiration.

There are house projects to keep me busy (Hey Mrs L, I fixed your slow-draining sink!), but I try to limit myself to one or two a day. It is overwhelming to think of how much needs to be done, and I can't get overwhelmed. I need to stay positive and optimistic, I need to find a job. If I go from room to room, despairing at how much I don't have to spend on projects, I become tempted to just sink into a funk of denial.

There is not much I really miss about work. Certainly the sense of accomplishment in earning a living, the security of it. I miss some of my fellow employees, their light hearts and cheerful demeanors. I miss taking the train, and watching the turtles in the creek while I crossed the pedestrian bridge. I have been deliberately looking at jobs I could commute to on the train.

Even with no TV, Jennilyn and I watch a few TV shows together, but not many, really. Having been without a cable or satellite subscription for over a year and a half now has made us very choosy, very discerning. If a show is boring, or sleazy, or unentertaining, it's easy to just not watch it (especially since we have to seek shows out online or get them from the library). One strike and you are out.

It's funny how my relationship with food has changed since I lost my job. I no longer pack away single servings in the freezer; I don't take lunch anywhere. Food prep could be a simple place for self-pity, so I really try to not self-indulge. Using the extra time I have to try and eat right makes the day more pleasant.

We have appreciated the prayers and thoughts of our friends. If you have any ideas of where else I could be looking for work, let me know!

Taking Care of the Caretaker

Poor Jennilyn. She's had an earache for almost two days. Last night, she said she was going into the doctor today if it wasn't gone.

Not only did it not go, it got worse.

Diagnosis, Swimmer's Ear.

Doctor-prescribed anti-biotic ear drops and Lortabs are helping her feel more comfortable. Soup and a bagel has been comfort food today.

She does so much, it's nice to be able to take care of her once in a while.

Today I submitted myself as an applicant for another job at the nearby Army base. They hire a lot of civilians. I thought it was daunting re-drafting my resume for the first time in almost a decade, but the process was actually intuitive enough that it dissipated some of my tension. There are dozens more of these openings to sort through. Surely someone out there needs a law-talking guy of my unique skillset...