Looks Like We Made It

For those of you keeping score at home, we landed in NC last week. Many things still to be done, but everything has gone surprisingly well so far. The cats arrived here safe from the plane, while we had a fun five-day cross-country adventure.

Officially start working this week. We have a few days of training, and then school starts on the 27th. Still plenty to do between now and then, but it will all come together. Has been quite a journey for me over the last few months, but it looks like I am home now.

Love's so strange
Playin' hide and seek with hearts,
And always hurtin'
And we're the fools
Standin' close enough to touch
Those burnin' memories

"Looks Like We Made It" was performed by Barry Manilow

Money-Go-Round

When I was a kid, one of my favorite things to do was to accompany my folks on a visit to the bank. I remember being fascinated by the drive-thru window where you placed your withdrawal slip in a hermetically-sealed plastic cylinder that was then dropped into a machine and sucked through a series of pneumatic tubes until it magically re-appeared a few minutes later filled with cash.

Since I am of the age where I actually remember life before the ATM, I certainly appreciate the convenience of easy access to your funds, and the flexibility and immediacy of online banking. As a matter of fact, this great convenience allowed some miscreant to steal my wife's PIN and access my account two years ago, eventually absconding with over $5000 of our hard-earned bread.

In any case, though our move is progressing smoothly, one of the most befuddling aspects of this process is getting our financial house in order, so to speak. My wife and I opened separate accounts after all the previous trouble we had, figuring that they would only get half of our money the next time one of us was robbed.

However, now that it is time to move all our funds to our new account in North Carolina, I don't even need to tell you how difficult it has been to shuffle funds between four different checking accounts (including the new one) and three different savings accounts, not to mention our credit cards, 401K accounts etc.

In the next week or so, I need to arrange to pay for our moving expenses (~$3500, and we are doing it ourself), car shipping fees, kennel and cargo charges for our cats (who will be joining us once we arrive), carpet cleaners, and auto mechanics, not to mention the hotels and other expenses we will incur on our 2500 mile cross-country trip next week.

It will all come together I am sure, but trying to keep balances from nine different accounts in my head has given me a slight migraine, to say the least. At least for once in our life we actually have money in all those places. The story would be much different if we were still trying to figure out how to pay for all this stuff.

Watch your money-go-round; watch your money-go-round
They got it wrapped up tight, they got it safe and sound
Watch your money-go-round; watch your money-go-round
As you fall from grace and hit the ground

"Money-Go-Round" was written by Paul Weller

Free Time

Happy July, y'all. The last couple weeks have been very busy for us, but things are progressing rather nicely. Actually, at this point I would say that most of the important decisions have been made, and it looks like I can look forward to a relaxing month before we hit the road.

In the last few days, I managed to book the moving company, sort out my 401K rollover, set up our new bank account in North Carolina, sell our extra stuff at a yard sale, and pay off my wife's car for good measure. Sure is nice not to have a job, since I don't know how I would have gotten all of that out of the way otherwise!

Since school is pretty much over with around here, I doubt I will be bringing in much cash next month. I actually even contemplated applying for a job parking cars for a month, which was one of my favorite jobs in college, but I've got enough money coming in from substitute teaching to last me 'til we move.

Besides, my wife and I are heading off to a wedding in Boston in the middle of next month, and I don't think my new employer would appreciate me taking a week off of work after only one week on the job, when I would plan on quitting a couple weeks after that anyway.

So it looks like I've got some free time this month, and I am wondering what I will do with it. There is still plenty to pack up of course, and I'm sure lots of last-minute details to iron out. Have gotten used to the busy pace of the last couple months though, and wonder if I am up for the task of catching up on my soaps for the next couple weeks.

I won't ever get used to this
A blank spot
temptations do resist.
The other shoe will drop
just an aftershock
Nice hat; you look like a referee
Nice watch; but why are you timing me?
Its spring has come unwound
I was not out of bounds
This is not out--
I drew that line
when I was handed free time.

"Free Time" was written by Michael Penn

This Is Easy

Got back from my trip safe and sound last Saturday. Wondering why it was taking me so long to update my blog? It is because I have absolutely nothing to complain about these days!

Within five minutes of sitting down for my first interview, I knew I had the job. The principal and assistant principal at my new school could not have been friendlier, or more welcoming. After at least a dozen interviews in Los Angeles over the past couple of years, I can't explain to you in words how it feels to find a school who is willing to hire me to stand in front of their kids.

I was beginning to feel like it was never going to happen. And the last couple interviews I had before my trip just made me feel like any chance I had at landing a teaching job had already come and gone. By this point, I was second and third guessing myself during these interviews to the degree where I had no idea what I was actually saying anymore.

But everything changed when I got to North Carolina. I love the town I ended up in, and even ended up find a house for my wife and I to live in on the same day I landed my job!

Here's a picture of our new place, with the Dodge Caliber I ended up renting in NC (they were fresh out of Nitros):



Looks like we will be moving out at the end of next month. Many things to do from now until then, and I haven't really even had a chance to start since my phone has been ringing with subbing requests every morning since I got back. I don't really mind though, because we are gonna need to pack away as much cash as possible from now until the time we go.

Still haven't got my mind around the fact yet that I quit my job last month, and landed a job this month doing exactly what I wanted to be doing in the place I wanted to be doing it at. Guessing that the 5th graders in my class will be wondering what the hell I am smiling about all the time!

Oh yeah--before I close, I have to give a shot out to my long-suffering wife, who also quit her job this week and is willing to embark on this crazy adventure with me this summer. I love you more than freshly baked peanut butter cookies.

Yes I see we're moving on
Over unfamiliar ground
Wait a minute look around
This is easy

Yes I see were moving on
Maybe trouble's all we'll find
But compared to what's behind
This is easy

And there were nights when we knew
The sunshine would never ever reappear
It's not a good time all the time
Baby let's grab hold while its here

Baby baby do I need
To explain or can you tell
That I'm feeling oh so well
This is easy

And I know there's not one thing
That could ever drag us down
Wait a minute look around
This is easy

Remember this when the dreams you treasure
Are scattered like bowling pins
It's not a good time all the time
Nobody always wins

This is easy oh so easy
If were crazy. well, we don't care
This is easy oh so easy
It's like falling falling
Falling through empty air

"This Is Easy" was written by Marshall Crenshaw

Goin' To Carolina In My Nitro

A couple days ago, it didn't look like I was goin' anywhere. I was faxing, e-mailing, and regular-mailing (sorry, but I really hate the term snail mail. I think snails are cool, and I know for a fact they would never be caught dead anywhere near the post office) my resume to every ding-dang school on the North Carolina map, from Kill Devil Hills to Burger Town.

My whole North Carolina adventure started well over a year ago, when I noticed an ad for a North Carolina teacher's job fair in the Saginaw, MI newspaper, of all places. Apparently, the state of North Carolina does not pump out enough qualified teachers every year to meet the demand, so they have to go looking far and wide to fill all of the available positions.

Since my wife and I have always fantasized about leaving California since, oh, about five minutes after she arrived, I figured I would look into teaching there. As it turns out, North Carolina will accept a California teaching credential, just as long as you pass two tests required by the state for teaching at the elementary level (I found this out the hard way last year, when I was almost offered a job until they realized that the tests I took for my credential in California would not qualify me to teach in NC, even though they basically cover the same material).

In any case, I got the testing out of the way last year, and figured at some point I would book a trip to North Carolina, with the hopes of finding out if Snappy Lunch in Mount Airy, NC really makes the best damn pork chop sandwich you've ever tasted.

But as of last Wednesday, I was seriously doubting whether I would be going out there at all. It was one thing to be taking this trip when I was still employed and had three weeks of vacation time coming to me. But now, like everything else in my life, this trip has taken on a whole new level of importance.

For starters, I actually need the job now! It was easy to fantasize about teaching when I didn't really need to count on that fantasy putting bread on my table. But now that this IS a reality in my life, I want to make sure I have the best shot possible of making it happen, since my other option would be to go right back to another job like the one I had before, assuming of course that I could even FIND another job like the one I had before.

In addition, my precarious financial situation makes this trip a calculated risk, since I am devoting precious, non-renewable economic resources to finding out if I can actually teach in a state that I have never visited, let alone ever lived in. Which is why I spent the better part of an hour last night comparing gas mileage figures on rental cars, to squeeze the most out of every dollar I still have.

In any event, everything has fallen into place over the last couple days, and I have lined up three different interviews in two different cities before the job fair next Friday, where I will then meet with numerous potential employers from the Northwestern area of North Carolina.

I am really looking forward to next week, and have a very good feeling about the whole thing. I am hoping to come back with at least one job offer, or at the very least, to meet some people who will give me some serious consideration for a teaching position next fall. If nothing else, I know I will enjoy cruising around on the Blue Ridge parkway in my Dodge Nitro, which is one bad-looking little trucklet.

(And yes, the gearheads out there might be wondering why I rented a mid-size SUV if I was concerned about gas mileage. For one thing, the new Nitro is the lowest-priced rental currently offered by Thrifty in North Carolina, for some reason. But I guess my main inspiration was to avoid the prospect of showing up to my interviews in a Kia Rio, which in my mind would be like showing up to my interview wearing one of those big, floppy red and white striped "Cat-in-the-Hat" hats, Ug boots, and a t-shirt that reads "I'm With Stupid," with the arrow pointing straight at my face).

Karen she's a silver sun
You best walk her way and watch it shinin'
Watch her watch the mornin' come
A silver tear appearing now
I'm cryin' ain't I
Gone to Carolina in my mind

"Carolina In My Mind" was performed by James Taylor

Working Man

Dear Diary: Sorry I haven't written in a while. Spent the last couple weeks working as a substitute teaching in various LA schools. Subbing pays pretty well out here, thought it definitely has its good points and bad points.

I've been looking for a full time teaching job for the better part of what I hate to admit is going on two years now. Have had (quite) a few interviews, but for whatever reason (my wife has some theories of her own), I haven't landed anything permanent yet.

Taking a gamble next week by flying out to North Carolina to look for teaching jobs out there. Apparently, they actually have some, as opposed to Los Angeles, where they have their pick of about two dozen instructors for every position that opens up.

Starting to question whether it will be worth it to spend the extra money to look for work out there, but I had already bought the plane tickets before I quit my job, and think I would like living in a place where houses there now cost the same as they did in Southern California back in 1964.

Have also been thinking this week about the things I won't miss at my former job. Like the Christmas party where everyone gets really drunk and acts like idiots, and where my boss gets up every year to deliver an inspirational three-word speech.

Also, I certainly won't miss going through the excruciating process of filling out the the self-assessment portion of my yearly performance review, which for the last three years was strictly a cut-and-paste affair, since nothing much ever changed at my job from year to year except for my supervisors.

Finally, I won't miss sitting through twenty hours of bullshit CYA "safety training," which for some reason included four hours of forklift training videos for a job site that didn't even have a forklift. So that it won't be a total loss, I guess I should at least inform my readers that you should never give anybody a ride on the forks of your imaginary forklift, even if they ask you nicely...

I get up at seven, yeah
And I go to work at nine
I got no time for livin'
Yes, I'm workin' all the time

It seems to me
I could live my life
A lot better than I think I am
I guess that's why they call me
They call me the workin' man

"Working Man" was performed by Rush

All Gone Away

When I arrived home this afternoon, there was a package waiting by the door. I was expecting this, and kind of dreading it at the same time. It was my last check I would ever receive from my former employer.

It was a nice chunk of change, and should last the better part of a couple months. It included holiday pay, unused sick days, and some money put into a stock purchase plan for stock that would never end up being purchased.

This job was my first experience with direct deposit, which almost removes the relationship between your work and compensation. Instead, it just seemed like I showed up for work whenever I was scheduled, and in exchange, there was always money that magically appeared in my account whenever the bills were due.

Like many other things, you just take this relationship for granted, so it is strange to think that when I check my account on June 15th, the punch bowl will no longer keep refilling itself. Of course, I also no longer have to go to a job that was crushing my soul, so I guess I can live with that (for now).

The wind blows whispers down the street,
Having free reign with the town so bleak
Like everything else it's - all gone away.
The Town Hall clock gives forth its chime,
But no-one's there to ask the time -
Like everything else they've - all gone away

"All Gone Away" was performed by The Style Council

Tossin' & Turnin'

Last week, my wife started having trouble sleeping. Although she said there wasn't anything particular on her mind, I guessed that it had something to do with the fact that three thousand dollars of our monthly take-home pay just vanished into thin air.

Meanwhile, I slept like the proverbial skeleton in the boneyard. I felt great! I had nothing on my mind at all, and was just thankful to be rid of a job that had kept me in a constant state of depression for the better part of a decade.

Of course, I knew this feeling couldn't last. Which is why last night, while my wife was busy sawing logs in the master bedroom, I was in the guest bedroom contorting my body into 74 different positions, convinced that I would instantly fall asleep just as soon as I found the right one.

Anyway, I'm guessing I got about two hours of sleep at the most. Since I am nothing if not productive, I did however search for jobs on Craigslist, roll a couple games of pinball on my PSP, and catch a show about animal cops on TV at about four AM.

Maybe I should think about the Army, as I already did more before seven AM than I am gonna do for the rest of the day.

The clock downstairs was strikin' four
Couldn't get you off my mind
I heard the milkman at the door
'cause I was tossin' and turnin'
Turnin' and tossin'
a-tossin' and turnin' all night

"Tossin & Turnin'" was covered by Peter Criss

The Seeker

When you work at one place for a significant portion of your life, you inevitably start to wonder if you are even capable of doing anything else. You begin to think of your life in the context of your job, and at some point, you become so "institutionalized" that you forget about whole parts of your personality that are left behind every morning when you head off to work.

When I was sent home early last Tuesday, I immediately started scanning the posts on Craigslist, and found dozens of listings that looked promising. I sent out about a half-dozen resumes, and have already scheduled interviews with two of the places that responded back to my inquiry.

Thankfully, I am on my wife's health insurance now, which gives me the freedom to consider a wide variety of options ranging from part-time work to full-time positions. I'm pretty sure that a resourceful person could make a career out of answering the ads on Craigslist, and who is to say that working six interesting part-time jobs adds up to any less of a career than looking at the same three walls of your cubicle day after day.

Right now, I have the luxury of a couple months of back pay and unused vacation days that will keep the wolf away from my door while I am deciding what to do next. As many of you know, my wife and I decided to get serious about saving money this year, so we have a bit of money put away as well.

I am really enjoying this part of my life so far, and don't have any regrets about the decision I made. I always knew I was more than the person that my job thought I was, and now I am looking forward to finding out just who that person really is, and what he is capable of accomplishing when given half a chance to do so.

I've looked under chairs
I've looked under tables
I've tried to find the key
To fifty million fables

They call me The Seeker
I've been searching low and high
I won't get to get what I'm after
Till the day I die

"The Seeker" was written by Pete Townshend

Move On

In my mind, I think I quit my job years ago. Sure, I showed up every day, and tried to complete my tasks in a professional and competent manner. But no matter how hard I tried, every now and again I would screw something up simply because I had been over that job for years.

On the day that I quit, my boss sent me a scathing e-mail (if an e-mail can in fact scathe), criticizing my latest blunder, and going so far as to blame it on a lack of enthusiasm for my job.

I didn't bother to respond, because there really wasn't much to say. She was right.

My job for the most part certainly wasn't any fun. Each day, I could count on a lot of mindless menial labor mixed in with mind-numbing boredom when the jobs finally stopped rolling in. There were certain parts of my job that I enjoyed, but ultimately not much to jump up and down about when all was said and done.

That is why I think that making this transition has been a relatively painless experience for me. I was so ready to be gone from that place for so long now, that it almost seems like I was never there. Today, just to make sure there was no going back, I threw away pretty much every document related to my former place of employment, and tossed another bag of uniforms in the convenient bin on the corner that collects and distributes clothing and shoes to the homeless.

Kind of gives me a slight thrill to think of some dude ambling down skid row proudly wearing my former company logo on his chest. Now if I can only figure out what a "roller in the ocean" is, I think I will be fully prepared to take my first tentative steps into the next chapter of my so-called life.

Like a roller in the ocean, life is motion
Move on
Like a wind that's always blowing, life is flowing
Move on
Like the sunrise in the morning, life is dawning
Move on
How I treasure every minute
Being part of it, being in it
With the urge to move on

"Move On" was written and performed by ABBA

Burn Down The Mission

Today at around 2:20PM, I was unceremoniously escorted out of the building by my supervisor.

I had pretty much packed up everything already and cleared out my locker, but I was at least expecting to finish out the week. As it turns out, once you get your exit interview, it is company policy to hustle you out of these as fast as possible (with full pay for the rest of your shifts).

I kind of like the fact that they thought it would be dangerous to have me hanging around after all the paperwork had been processed. They had no problem leaving me alone in charge of what I estimate to be about a half a billion dollars of computer equipment every weekend for the better part of three years, but these last few days were apparently just too much to risk.

Somebody who took this to heart was one of my co-workers, who took the rest of the day off once she heard I was leaving. I mean, she was never my favorite person, but I had no great plan to go out in blaze of glory or anything!

As you can see from the picture above, my work uniforms however did meet a fiery end this evening. I always hated those stupid shirts, and it was a singular thrill to toast a couple marshmallows over their burning polyester embers.

Burn down the mission
If we're gonna stay alive
Watch the black smoke fly to heaven
See the red flame light the sky

"Burn Down The Mission" was performed by Elton John

Alarm Clock Shock

When the alarm goes of on Monday, I will begin my last blessed week of work with the company I have been with for almost seven years. Strange to think that after next week, I'll have absolutely no use for all the myriad rules, protocols, and procedures that I have performed with robotic precision for the better part of a decade.

Just where does all that unnecessary knowledge go, exactly? How can something so important to my present ability to put food on the table become worthless information so quickly?

Anyway, my wife and I have a wedding to attend tonight. Invariably, at social functions like these, you'll be seated next to somebody you don't know, and that person will at some point during the evening ask what you do for a living.

In days past, I would have just muttered something about "computers," or "the Internet," and left it at that. Along with my response, I would always find it necessary to impart to the person inquiring that I didn't really enjoy my job; if only through the tone of my response, or the less-than-enthusiastic look that immediately came over my face when they asked.

Tonight will be different. I will be able to respond with passion and vigor.

"Freelance Bum," I will proudly state. Or, "Soon-To-Be Unemployed Drain On Our Personal Finances."

Should be fun to watch the person's expression when I answer the question. At least the pitiful look won't be on my face this time...

Six o'clock--Alarm clock shock!
Seven o'clock--I'm on the train
Dragged in at eight--No, don't be late
A million days of work--Yes that's my fate

"Alarm Clock Shock" was performed by The British Norberts

Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now

Right before I landed this job, my wife had a phone consultation with a psychic. She was one of those professional-type psychics who helped police find lost kids etc. I had worked on a documentary about her, and I think she gave us a discount.

In any case, instead of telling my wife's future, she mainly focused on me and my life, which annoyed my wife to no end. Nevertheless, one of her predictions was that I would be offered a full-time position outside of the entertainment industry, and that I should absolutely turn the offer down.

I guess I didn't listen.

I don't regret taking this job--it has certainly paid my bills and taken good care of my health needs for the past seven years. But I also don't regret quitting either. I wish I would have had something lined up before I moved on, but this week they really put me in a position where I would have had to abandon any shred of dignity I had left in order to continue working there.

I was happy in the haze of a drunken hour
But heaven knows I'm miserable now

I was looking for a job, and then I found a job
And heaven knows I'm miserable now

In my life
Why do I give valuable time
To people who don't care if I live or die ?

"Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now" is by The Smiths

Welcome To The Working Week

Hello. My name is Rob. Today I quit my job.

Not really sure what to say about it at this point. Sure felt great when I hit the "send" button yesterday on my resignation e-mail though! At this point, I'm not really freaking out or anything, I am just kind of numb. Didn't sleep much last night in any case. Strange to think that after seven years of gainful employment at the same company, that it will all be ending in a couple weeks.

Welcome to the workin' week.
Oh I know it don't thrill you, I hope it don't kill you.
Welcome to the workin' week.
You gotta do it 'til you're through it so you better get to it.

"Welcome To The Working Week" was written by Elvis Costello