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