seeing a pattern

02-11-00

Don't worry, you haven't missed anything. I work every day, John came home from Biloxi with another round of the flu, and that's about it. I began an entry last night, but it was all about you-know-what. (The vet.)

Today I came home with a fresh batch of work complaints. Just to sum up, Jennifer, the high school helper, quit. Walked out. And for good reason—her co-op contract stated that she should work 2 days a week. She works at least 5, often 6 days in a week, and long hours. Since softball season is starting, she asked to be scheduled on Mondays and Saturdays only. Aida said no, and Jennifer said bye. Bye-bye.

While I'm all for employees with backbones, I really got screwed this time. They decided not to replace Jennifer, just to give the hours to me. So I'd be working 8:30 to 5:30 on weekdays, and my regular morning and evening dog-feeding shifts on Saturdays and Sundays. Yah, fuck off, y'all. I teach in the afternoons. This is my second job. Bullshit.

Did I say I was summing up? Oops. Sum up: I decided to start looking for another job. Tough thing, since nobody in the world would want to hire me. I'm overqualified for every damn thing, I need afternoons off, and to top it off, my resume is starting to look suspicious. Every three to six months I purge my job and start over. Not cool.

So I'm screwed. Don't like my job, can't get a new one. I fretted for two straight days. Mostly self-pity, mixed with unfairness-of-the-world. Be thankful I didn't write entries.

So. Today I taught my lessons. On top of having two really good trombone lessons with two students who seem to be really into playing, the mother of my second student offered to get me a job. No kidding. She works in the job placement office of a local technical college, and she wants to slip me a gig. The one she told me about today is a daily 10-2 shift in an office of some kind. Pay is the same as what I'm getting, but I'm more likely to get my raises on time. (Oh, yeah. Did I mention I was supposed to get a raise from the Figaros after 3 months? That would be last week. Sorry to be so picky.)

The catch? The reason she really wants me to get a better job is so I can go to her church. She wants me to play in her church orchestra, which has about 8 members. While I'd welcome the opportunity to play in a small ensemble, I feel uncomfortable committing to a weekly or biweekly schedule of rehearsals and performances, especially in a church whose beliefs I don't exactly follow. Every time she's asked me to play, I beg off and tell her I have to work Sundays. I'm not lying, I do have to work. Comes in handy, I guess.

So now she wants to get me a job that would keep me free on Sundays. Is it worth it? Right now I'm leaning toward "Hell, YES!" I'll fax her my resume and see what comes of it.

It's Becky's birthday today, so eight of us went to dinner and then had cake at Anna's. More porcine pornography. Petey and Patch (the gay guinea pigs) are the source of much amusement whenever we hang at Anna's, second only to the comments inspired by Anna's coffee table collection of Victoria's Secret catalogs. Most of the band is heading out on TDY again tomorrow, and I have to be at work on time for a change, as I'm doing Sherrie's job now on top of Jennifer's and my own. (Long story—Sherrie's out because she got bitten while bathing a cat, and the owner hadn't told us that the cat is half bobcat. Ow.) So party's over early and we're all off to bed like adults. Sucks.