Well, I'm busier than ever, and things have a way of working themselves out. Will post more when I have some time... but suffice it to say my bills for the next few weeks are covered, at least. Beyond that, I'm not so sure. However, I think it's going to be fine, because the balance between the two jobs is beginning to emerge.
That still doesn't excuse me from getting down to work on my music again, though. Grrrrrr
Saturday, July 30, 2005
Tuesday, July 12, 2005
Advice, please...
I found myself to be somewhat distraught earlier today,which was further compounded by the lack of a nearby (and sufficiently wise) close friend or relative in whom to confide in for advice.
Running through the list of people I know, I could not think of anyone whose insight would be beneficial... until I thought of YOU... dear readers.
I value your opinions and viewpoints a great deal, and I'm sure you'll have something to tell me... so here is the long and short of it:
I have been working for several months now, steadily... but do not have a full time position anywhere yet. My hours are irregular... and my bills are about to increase due to the fact that I must soon begin to repay my student loan. Not to mention the fact that the kids need school clothes for next month...
I already quit the most distressing job, the one that paid the least and required little (if any) of the education I must soon pay for...
My primary job is shaky. I love the boss, have my own office with a lovely view of a small forest, and do work that I enjoy immensely (stuff that I went to school for). However, although he's a brilliant man from whom I have learned a great deal... he is not managing things well in many respects and I fear that I won't be working more than 20-25 hours/week for him at any time soon. Also, this job is a great distance from home... so it costs me a significant amount each month just to get to and from work. Let me add that when I took this job, it was as a paid internship, and that he agreed to pay what I was asking due to the long distance I have to travel.
My secondary job is questionable... as his ability to pay me rests with his sales... so if there are none he may have to abruptly call a halt to my employment, or I could be laid off until such time as his finances improve. He has given me no indication that any such thing might be likely, however, and recently has been hopeful that I can put in more hours for him (while the other boss is fretting that he's letting me work TOO many hours and that he may not be able to afford to pay me and his other bills) This man can be somewhat short-tempered, but he's not mean like the first one I worked for this year. HERE I must add that he gave me a $1/hour raise two weeks ago... and promises generous bonuses "if and when".
So, as you see, I find myself on the horns of a dilemma. What to do? What to do?
I have come up with several potential solutions, upon which I hope you'll freely comment, as well as offering additional ideas that may not have occurred to me.
1. Find a good-paying full-time job close to home, regardless of whether I like the boss or the work I'm doing.
2. Tough it out with things as they are and have faith that they'll improve.
3. Offer the following three options to boss #1:
a. Volunteer to stay longer hours (off the clock) so we can clear some of the backlog and forge ahead
b. Telecommute and let him pay me less per hour since the gas/tolls will no longer be a factor
c.Barter my time... in other words, stay longer, but work on my own projects, and ask his assistance where required, but in exchange, be available during that time to drop what I'm doing (on my own projects) and sink my teeth into something he needs done on the spur of the moment.
As you can see, I've given this a great deal of thought. I've shed a few tears over it, agonized, and do not want to jump from the proverbial frying pan into the fire.
I sincerely hope someone in the vast blogosphere can illuminate my path through this murky portion of my journey. Thanks for caring enough to read this far!
Running through the list of people I know, I could not think of anyone whose insight would be beneficial... until I thought of YOU... dear readers.
I value your opinions and viewpoints a great deal, and I'm sure you'll have something to tell me... so here is the long and short of it:
I have been working for several months now, steadily... but do not have a full time position anywhere yet. My hours are irregular... and my bills are about to increase due to the fact that I must soon begin to repay my student loan. Not to mention the fact that the kids need school clothes for next month...
I already quit the most distressing job, the one that paid the least and required little (if any) of the education I must soon pay for...
My primary job is shaky. I love the boss, have my own office with a lovely view of a small forest, and do work that I enjoy immensely (stuff that I went to school for). However, although he's a brilliant man from whom I have learned a great deal... he is not managing things well in many respects and I fear that I won't be working more than 20-25 hours/week for him at any time soon. Also, this job is a great distance from home... so it costs me a significant amount each month just to get to and from work. Let me add that when I took this job, it was as a paid internship, and that he agreed to pay what I was asking due to the long distance I have to travel.
My secondary job is questionable... as his ability to pay me rests with his sales... so if there are none he may have to abruptly call a halt to my employment, or I could be laid off until such time as his finances improve. He has given me no indication that any such thing might be likely, however, and recently has been hopeful that I can put in more hours for him (while the other boss is fretting that he's letting me work TOO many hours and that he may not be able to afford to pay me and his other bills) This man can be somewhat short-tempered, but he's not mean like the first one I worked for this year. HERE I must add that he gave me a $1/hour raise two weeks ago... and promises generous bonuses "if and when".
So, as you see, I find myself on the horns of a dilemma. What to do? What to do?
I have come up with several potential solutions, upon which I hope you'll freely comment, as well as offering additional ideas that may not have occurred to me.
1. Find a good-paying full-time job close to home, regardless of whether I like the boss or the work I'm doing.
2. Tough it out with things as they are and have faith that they'll improve.
3. Offer the following three options to boss #1:
a. Volunteer to stay longer hours (off the clock) so we can clear some of the backlog and forge ahead
b. Telecommute and let him pay me less per hour since the gas/tolls will no longer be a factor
c.Barter my time... in other words, stay longer, but work on my own projects, and ask his assistance where required, but in exchange, be available during that time to drop what I'm doing (on my own projects) and sink my teeth into something he needs done on the spur of the moment.
As you can see, I've given this a great deal of thought. I've shed a few tears over it, agonized, and do not want to jump from the proverbial frying pan into the fire.
I sincerely hope someone in the vast blogosphere can illuminate my path through this murky portion of my journey. Thanks for caring enough to read this far!
Friday, July 01, 2005
Gotta share!
Things have been topsy turvy, and I've been working all I can to cover all my bases, which I've done fairly well. Sometimes (like most folks) I get nervous about "keeping the hamster wheel going" and continuing to stay afloat.
This week I had two portentious omens, which I feel are significant to me. On my way to my first (primary) job at the beginning of the week, I saw a rainbow in the west. This job happens to lie west of where I do, so I felt that my week was truly blessed at that point... but didn't have any idea how that would play out.
Suffice it to say that despite a bit of concern over my boss's apparent disappearance on Monday (which was promptly cleared up on Tuesday) this week has been a pretty good one at that office. We are actually going to be written up in a local paper, part of an article about one of our clients that was sparked by a recent press release. As that boss says: "Life is GOOD."
On my second job, sometimes I don't work very many hours... but he has a lot of great ideas for future work, which may really turn out to be beneficial to me.
While leaving the second job yesterday, I saw a faint rainbow, then a glorious DOUBLE rainbow to the east. This job (as you may surmise) lies to the east of where I live...
Today, the east boss gave me a $1/hr raise. Right now that only amounts to about $10/wk... but he also mentioned some other work that he would like me to get involved in, he just wasn't sure if I could find the time for it. I told him I would make time for something particularly worthwhile.
Stay tuned for further developments.
I'm sorry I don't mention the names of my current employers or their companies, but I'm wary of being "Dooced" and prefer to protect them from association with my (ahem) colorful self through anonymity.
However, if one of them reads this and would like for me to add links to their sites and tell my readers who they are, I'd be happy to oblige.
: )
Oh... forgot to mention, I'm also tutoring a former coworker in Miami. I try to make it by there for a few hours every weekend. He had never had/used a computer, so I got him one, initially through Freecycle, then later traded up to a more useful machine when he began to progress. Now he's ready to speed up his 'net access (tired of dialup already) and we're getting him hooked up with broadband cable.
Wow! That was LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG! See what happens when I let my fingers do the talking?
This week I had two portentious omens, which I feel are significant to me. On my way to my first (primary) job at the beginning of the week, I saw a rainbow in the west. This job happens to lie west of where I do, so I felt that my week was truly blessed at that point... but didn't have any idea how that would play out.
Suffice it to say that despite a bit of concern over my boss's apparent disappearance on Monday (which was promptly cleared up on Tuesday) this week has been a pretty good one at that office. We are actually going to be written up in a local paper, part of an article about one of our clients that was sparked by a recent press release. As that boss says: "Life is GOOD."
On my second job, sometimes I don't work very many hours... but he has a lot of great ideas for future work, which may really turn out to be beneficial to me.
While leaving the second job yesterday, I saw a faint rainbow, then a glorious DOUBLE rainbow to the east. This job (as you may surmise) lies to the east of where I live...
Today, the east boss gave me a $1/hr raise. Right now that only amounts to about $10/wk... but he also mentioned some other work that he would like me to get involved in, he just wasn't sure if I could find the time for it. I told him I would make time for something particularly worthwhile.
Stay tuned for further developments.
I'm sorry I don't mention the names of my current employers or their companies, but I'm wary of being "Dooced" and prefer to protect them from association with my (ahem) colorful self through anonymity.
However, if one of them reads this and would like for me to add links to their sites and tell my readers who they are, I'd be happy to oblige.
: )
Oh... forgot to mention, I'm also tutoring a former coworker in Miami. I try to make it by there for a few hours every weekend. He had never had/used a computer, so I got him one, initially through Freecycle, then later traded up to a more useful machine when he began to progress. Now he's ready to speed up his 'net access (tired of dialup already) and we're getting him hooked up with broadband cable.
Wow! That was LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG! See what happens when I let my fingers do the talking?
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