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Rejoining society
Author: TriSec    Date: 01/28/2012 12:27:01

Good Morning!

A lovely day here in the Greater Boston region...and with excursion season in full swing at the store, I'll be heading out to Mill Pond in Burlington to lead a birding and tracking hike this morning.

But it's somewhat bittersweet; I'll be cutting back my hours at the store, and will be focusing on moving off in another direction. Nothing tragic has happened, but Tuesday is my last day at my current day job.

Not quite three years ago, a job I had at a company I loved was suddenly "no longer compatible"...and like many, I joined the great upheaval in the job market. I bounced from place to place, contracting here...temping there, and finally I landed a lower-paying permanent position at a small billing company. I knew going in that I was vastly over-qualified for the position, but I gave it a solid try. Unfortunately, a lot of the things I had hoped this might morph into never happened.

So last fall it was back to the hunt.

I won't bore you with the details, but the process had gone on so long at a place that I interviewed that I wrote the place off over the holidays as another lost opportunity.

Then the first week of the new year they called me with a job offer...something so beyond what I had dared hope for that as I told everyone, "I couldn't have turned that job down if it was in Albany."

I'm sure I don't need to tell everyone what a struggle it is to be in an unsure position, and under-employed at that. We all recall 'President' Bush telling the lady with three jobs that it was "uniquely American". Well, I had three jobs too and I have to tell you...it was barely enough.

I still have three jobs, but one of them I have cut back significantly (on the sales floor), while the other is truly seasonal (Kayak instructor). With the new day job, I'm back at that point where extra jobs are for extra pocket money, or purely for fun. (Kayak instructor is considered the best job at LL Bean - they're very tough to get.)

I've spent the last 3 years cutting back everything, and even a day trip to a museum or something as mundane as ordering a pizza required careful planning and timing so we had the cash on hand. But all that's about to change...and for the better.

I'm not gloating (at least I hope it doesn't sound that way), for as I leave my current job behind, I've also opened up two opportunities for someone else there. Our current temp is taking over my job on a permanent basis when I leave, and that means the team will need another temp to backfill. So it's all good.

Two things to leave you with before I head out...

You all know I work in healthcare. About 16 years ago now, a controversial healthcare law was passed by then President Clinton (written by my late Senator). You all know it as "HIPPA", but buried in the legislation was a provision standardizing electronic claim formats and mandating that everyone use them. This created the electronic claim industry overnight, and created thousands, if not millions, of jobs throughout the healthcare sector.

Not very long ago, another controversial healthcare law was passed...and this one is mandating expanded coverage and accessibility for all. Curiously enough...this has sparked enormous growth in the insurance industry to handle all the expected increase in business, and yes, has likely created thousands of jobs throughout the healthcare sector. I believe I have one of those jobs.

Not long after I accepted the position, I was musing out loud. January 20, 2013 is a Sunday...which means the official ceremony should take place on the next day, January 21 (which is MLK day.) We were at the inaugural just before all hell broke loose for me, so what say you that if we win this thing, let's try for a meetup on that weekend? To my way of thinking, it would make a nice bookend.



And as I always post on this date....

Remember Challenger


http://www.voyagerstore.com/catalog/sts-51Lpat.jpg

 

2 comments (Latest Comment: 01/28/2012 19:28:32 by livingonli)
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