Okay, here's the longer version, for those of you who have been asking "where the fuck have YOU been,
grundoon?"
Whull, let's see, where to start.
Last spring, oh, long about march, my office got a letter, (in Friday's mail) that there would be layoffs, "no sooner than May 30th". O swell. I got, shall we say, a wee bit stressed, since not only am I the sole breadwinner of the household, but my house was partially provided by my job, and would instantly become unaffordable (or expensable, as my nephew would say) if I were to be laid off.
Once they got around to it (and that's a whole story in itself) the trust managed to lay off about 45 of us, one of which was me. Not good. Poor economy, expensive house, challenging housemate, all added up the one now much more severly stressed-out
grundy. Among other questions that arose, one important one was how many afternoons can I spend in bed, after jobhunting all morning, without being concerned about
depression? Several, I hope.
I starting looking in Seattle (nearer to the imp's dad and family) Portland (lotsa great noders, and also one of my best friends) and San Fran, Davis, Sacramento, and all points in between, including such cool places as Ashland, Oregon, and skipping over the shitholes, like, say, Fresno.
(Shoulda taken the Clemson, job, jetfro, but then, I'd have to live in, well...Clemson. )
FINALLY after about mebbe six weeks of searching, which I know sounds like a short time but seemed bloody long at the time, I got several offers. At the same time. One where I liked the job and people better, one where I liked the location a lot better.
Oakland vs.
Davis, not too hard a choice unless you're fond of urban mayhem.
Sooo, I stayed in the city. Commuted to Oakland. Drive the imp to kindergarten (SF does not have a useful bus system, at least not of the school bus type.) Get on a bus. Go to downtown. Get on Bart. In the morning the whole trip didn't take longer than an hour and a half, unless there was problems with Bart. And no, driving would not have been faster. Besides, the people watching on SF buses is a riot.....
Then I got the day-late and dollar short phone call, for an interview in Sacramento. Which I did, empolyment types telling us that we should ALWAYS interview, even if we don't want the job, since it's good practice. Kind of along the same lines as it's great to bang your head against the wall, etc.
As I drove to Sac, running the damn air conditioner so I wouldn't sweat in the
monkey suit, I kept thinking, WHY am I doing this? I already HAVE a job. Why am I DOING this?
BUT. I liked the office, I liked the interviewer, I liked the idea of being out of the city, I liked the salary.....So. I quit the job in Oakland. I moved. To Davis. At the beginning of December. I started at the new place January 5. (Can you say a month's vacation? Wheee!!!) I negotiated for extra time off, so I can go to Ontario next summer, not for a week or ten days, but for a MONTH. Idafu, if you still want to have your writing workshop, now's the time.
So that's the long version. If want to message me, start within E2 - I don't have much time for junk mail, but I will respond eventually. If you messaged me in the last 4 months? Try again, I deleted all my messages. All 1500 or so - now I have 5.
LESBIANS, MONKEYS, SOY.
That is all.