Howdy. It's been a while. Quite a while, in fact.
I'm still unemployed, but there's a good reason for that.
If you remember me, follow me over the jump for an extremely abbreviated update. If you don't recall the Accidental Rodent? A quick search for "Unemployment Diaries" will give you some background.
In January of 2009, I was laid off from my job of 5 years, working in a telephone fundraising center that raised money for Democratic parties and candidates.
It was the third in a major series of shocks in a short period of time -- and precipitated a full-blown midlife crisis. In the space of 6 weeks I turned 40, lost my Dad, and lost my job. I've come to terms with two of the three, but I still wish Dad was here. For a few months I wrote regular diaries about how I was dealing, about ways to fix the country, etc etc.
So here's what's happened in the two years since I was last in the hallsof the Great Orange Satan.
I went back to school. I'm a few weeks from being halfway thorugh a Bachelor of Science in Community Psychology -- the therapist/counselor track -- with a minor in either Philosophy or Religious Studies or both. I managed to hold a 4.0 the first year. 3.69 last semester, not sure about this semester. A lot depends on my final in Statistics.
About a year ago, I finally came out of the closet as bisexual. It had to be done, for a lot of reasons. I intend, when I get my Master's degree, to be a therapist specializing in providing mental health services to the LGBT community, and to teach at a community college level, and do LGBT advocacy especially in the area of bisexual erasure. Hopefully by 2015 there will be decent jobs to be had in those fields. If not, I'm screwed, blued, and tattooed -- but then again, if I had not gone back to school, and the jobs are not available, I'd be just as screwed and not have an education.
I'm still hanging onto the house. The interest rate doesn't adjust for a few more months. I'll find out then if I will be able to stay in my home. If not, well, I've paid a high rent for 5 years in exchange for 0 visits from the landlord.
As far as being unemployed? Although a lot of people seem to be capable of it, I have found that I can't go to school full-time after a 23-year absence, have a family life, and work. So I worked a bit this fall (telephone fundraising for lefty causes, NOT the place that laid me off but their prime local competitor) and will be returning to that job over the summer, between semesters. Nothing to build a career on.
But that's OK. I don't need to build a career there. I just need to hold it together until I can finish my education and get, dare I say it, a real job.