2009 can go away! May 2010 be an awesome year for everyone!

In a way befitting of this roller-coaster of a year, this last week has seen its highs and lows. As predicted, Jen is once again unemployed.. That became official last Wednesday, the twenty-third. And while it is discouraging news, it wasn’t entirely unexpected. That day was followed by a fun-filled Christmas Eve with some friends, a nice dinner and an excellent movie. Christmas Day found us traveling to my sister’s house in the North County. We had a tasty home-cooked dinner, exchanged gifts and hung around. Jen spent some time holding my sister’s new baby. I played Nintendo Wii Bowling for the first time. That shit is fun and highly addictive. I’m looking forward to trying out some other Wii games in the future. Then, on Saturday, Jen received not one but three pieces of mail from the California EDD. None of them contained good news. But, do they ever? I came to the conclusion over the weekend that, I make enough money that we won’t go homeless and/or hungry. If there’s no money beyond that, then anyone else expecting money from us can just get in line or go away. (Sadly, I doubt any of them would choose the latter option.) Yesterday, we gave away our old TV. That opened up the log jam in such a way that we could begin the Big Room Move of 2009/2010. We should finish with that over the weekend, and I’m excited about it. Having our studio and living spaces in separate rooms should make for a more harmonious, productive and fun environment around here.
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I’m syndicating this podcast from Nathan Lott’s Rental Reviews site. Go here to leave comments.

Dear Part-Time Job,

It’s not you, it’s me.

Things started off so well. I was finally over my previous employment relationship, to the point where I didn’t miss it, or have the slightest interest in ever going back there. I was looking for someplace new. Someplace that could give me a couple of hours a week. You placed that ad on Craigslist, hoping to find a part-time employee, and the timing seemed perfect.

The whole interview process was delightfully short and simple, (especially compared to what I went through with my previous job). All it took was one phone call, a few quick emails, and a quick look at my resume for you to decide you wanted to talk to me. You only needed one person to approve of me, (and not a large group, like my last Job did). We talked a little bit about what we wanted, and, just like that, I became your new employee. It was so easy!

You are a really nice job, in many ways, Part-Time Job. I must admit, I starting thinking about our potential future together, as Job and Employee. Could this become a Full-Time situation someday? Did I want it to? I was considering it. None of my previous Jobs were as nice to me as you were, and I really liked that about you.

Right from the beginning, you wanted to spend much more time with me than the couple of hours I was looking for. I must admit, I was flattered, at first. It was nice to be an employee that was wanted by a Job, for a change, instead of a non-employee sending resume after resume to Jobs that never responded.

This was where the problems started with us, Part-Time Job. You were just so needy! You wanted me there almost daily, to fill every empty hour in your schedule. There were times when I left you for the night, and you wanted me to return to you less than twelve hours later. I thought we both wanted this to be a Part-Time employment relationship! Instead, I was starting to feel as confined and restricted as I did when I had a Full-Time Job. I realize that most employees in this economy would love to have all those hours with you. I guess I just wasn’t ready.

Everyone has things they like to do when they aren’t at The Job. I was no exception. One night a week, I had something I did with friends. It was just for fun. Honestly, I wasn’t working at another Job! I thought you would understand that, Part-Time Job, but no, you certainly didn’t. You insisted that you and I had to be together that one particular night, week after week. When I finally decided I needed to say something about it, well, we both know that didn’t go very well.

What finally made me decide that you were not the job for me after all, Dear Part-Time Job, was the sheer amount of rules you had. Everything had to be done so quickly, with no mistakes. Just when I thought I’d learned how you like things to be, you would change them. You kept adding more and more details to everything, and I became overwhelmed and extremely frustrated. You were such a nice Job, though, that I really wanted things to work out between us. I gave it my best try, but, by the end, it was clear to both of us that I wasn’t the employee you needed me to be.

I’m sure the perfect employee for you is out there, somewhere, Part-Time Job, and that the two of you will meet, someday. Someone who can be as detail oriented as you need. Someone who wants all the hours you can give them. I just am not that person, and I believe that if you think about it, you will realize that things could never have worked out between us.

Maybe you should consider putting your ad back up on Craigslist now.