Right, then. No grass growing under my feet. Let's do this thing.
Our position is more fortunate than that of a lot of Americans. My husband is still employed and we have a cushion to fall back on, savings and investments ensuring we won't lose the house or starve. Do I want to deplete that? Of course not and, with a few economies, we won't have to. At least not until next year's college tuition bills start rolling back in, when my daughter starts her second year of school. That's only three months away but I'm determined not to stress over that. Yet.
Speaking of, stress has a huge negative impact on body and soul: it's a big factor in raising the odds of developing disease, can trigger depression, is a big instigator of insomnia (which has its own share of issues) and even causes weight gain. Don't dismiss it; stress is a killer. It affects you biologically and psychologically. Allow for it, whether you're in dire financial straits or not.
I wish all the unemployed could be in less urgent financial need, as we are. Not everyone has been in a position to save; not everyone lives more freely than paycheck to paycheck, as we've done. And it isn't always from laziness or wasting money. I don't hesitate to qualify not in all, because there's a lot of frittering, misuse of money that could go to better use than, say, cigarettes, drugs, alcohol and luxuries no one should consider a right when money is tight. I'm not going to go political; that isn't what I'm about and it takes me off track. Just for the record, not everyone can justify extraneous expenditures. Full Stop.
I'll admit we spend an awful lot of our disposable income on non-necessities, things we can afford but don't honestly need. We have smart phones, satellite TV and cable modem. I'm writing this on a laptop computer. My kids have tablets or laptops, video games and systems, collectible car models. My daughter has more clothes than the rest of us combined. And that's nowhere near the end of the list. We own a house with more room than we need - though, we chose it because it offered the best value for the money we were willing to spend, back when houses cost a lot more. But it's no McMansion. Not even close. It's far edges of the Chicago suburbs big, as in who wants to commute that far spacious.
While it can certainly be argued our wi-fi is not a true luxury in the 21st century, there are alternatives I don't necessarily find unappealing. Though, I question the impact the internet's having on our society, culture and the family unit. Again, off-topic rant.
There are options to paying for your own wireless, options that don't involve stealing from your neighbor. The public library offers free wi-fi, as well as the computers to make use of it (but, I would caution, use hand sanitizer or wash your hands after - I've seen a lot of pretty gross things). A growing number of businesses offer free wireless access: there's Panera Bread, Barnes & Noble and I think Starbuck's, as well. Our health club (which could be argued to be a luxury but I'm inclined to say less so than, say, smart phones) even offers it, as a new perk to draw members.
You get the idea. Disposable income shouldn't be disposed of lightly and it sometimes takes things like job loss to make you stop and take a hard look at exactly how you're spending your money.
Back to the actual job search itself, the resume's in draft number, oh, fifty or so. It's gotten to the point I'm almost happy with it; I just need to polish and put it into a format I like. I tried one of those online resume template sites then found, while it will create a beautiful resume you can format in nearly endless ways, when it comes to printing, emailing or actually using the blasted thing you have to pay real cash money. I'm out of work. How much extra money do I want to spend on something I can do myself, with a bit of creativity?
I've also located the listing of available librarian positions in Northern Illinois, within the humungous RAILS library system (one of, if not the biggest library systems in the country). Let me tell you, that number is not large. In fact, you could say it's rather small. Depressingly so.
But the job listings on the RAILS site don't represent all the openings. I know, because I've done some library-to-library searching of my own, some website hopping. I found TWO positions not listed on the Mother Site. See! It's not so grim!
...As a librarian, a lover of research and just plain (over) thinking, there are so many opportunities to learn here. It sucks, don't get me wrong, but I know I'm not alone in having lost my job. Neither am I as badly off as many. On the one hand it's tough, on the other, heartening.
There's great potential here, the chance to dig in and understand the human - especially American - condition as it pertains to lifestyle, economics and both the psychology and reality behind what's really necessary in life.
But, because this isn't an element of culture and the arts, not related to books or, technically, professional advances, I'm going to move this thread off Bluestalking to the other blog I own, which has fallen into disuse. I started it to cry about being a 40-something, suburban mother of three teenagers, as a response to all the mommy bloggers who talk about potty training and preschool. NOT THAT THERE'S ANYTHING WRONG WITH THAT! I just feel my segment of the population's being ignored, taken for granted because we aren't the taut-skinned or perky-breasted. We are the greying, the sandwich generation, stuck between the sleek and the geezers. And we're mad as hell!
Not really. It just seemed to flow.
I'll link here when I post about these topics there. That way, if you're interested in how I'm progressing in ways other than reading you can pop over and check. If not, hey, FINE. YOUR CHOICE.
But, for those of you who care, you can follow me at Much of a Muchness.
As for Bluestalking, resuming normal transmission.
God bless us, everyone.
