24 January 2001
Last year: There were a couple of good scenes, a few amusing lines, but at the end of the movie, I could only be glad that it was over.
Yesterday was not a good day.
They announced the lay-offs. Somewhat to my surprise, I still have a job. But they laid off my father. He was laid off about six years ago, and had problems getting another job then because of ageism. Now that he's six years older, what is he going to do? The least they could have done was offer him an early retirement instead of a severance package. No matter what the manager here says, I have to believe it was at least partially political.
Nearly half the office was laid off or placed on furlough. I think at least half of those of us who are left are still looking for other jobs. I know I am. They laid off half the office. That means the rest of us are going to have nearly twice the work to do... And our chance of getting decent raises in March is pretty much nil.
They're going to announce the details of a re-organization sometime within the next week. It will be interesting to see what happens.
As if that wasn't bad enough, I went to have my foot checked out yesterday. My usual doctor was out with the flu, so I saw his partner. I didn't like him.
I didn't even care for him much before he lectured me about my weight, but that put the nail in his coffin.
I will not indulge in a rant. I will not indulge in a rant. I will not indulge in a rant.
Okay, maybe a little one.
What do people think will happen? They'll say, "You should lose some weight," and the fat person will say, "Holy cow! I'm fat! I think I'll completely change my eating and exercising habits! And I could never have done it without you!" Skinny people, I've noticed, tend to think of food as nothing more than a mildly interesting source of fuel for their bodies, and so they think all fat people have to do is find a different way to sate their hunger.
I've got news for you, skinny people: Fat people aren't fat because we're hungry a lot. We're fat because we enjoy eating even when we're not hungry. It's not something we can change, and apparently it's not something you can understand: we eat because it tastes good.
A skinny person once told me, "The last bite is as good as the first," - apparently thinking this was a good reason to eat the last bite of something. What kind of logic is that? If it's good, I want to keep eating it, not stop! Stupid skinny person.
All right, I'm going to stop now. Really. But it's been bothering me since yesterday, and it's making me irritable. Maybe I'll go over to the Brandts' this afternoon and borrow Kris' bike for a while.
Having written about thinking about changing my career yesterday, I decided to actually look into it. I called the four school systems that have numbers listed in my phone book, and asked each of them 1) whether they'd have openings for math or computer science teachers in the upcoming school year, and 2) whether they made any provisions for people who didn't have teaching licenses.
The answers were interesting. Two of them said they wouldn't know anything until spring, which is the deadline for teachers to get their letters of intent in, but the other two said they were definitely going to need math teachers, and could they send me an application? One place misunderstood my question about licensing, assuming I had a license in another state; two others said they did, in fact, have provisions in place; and the third didn't know, but thought that something could be arranged since math teachers are so scarce, and gave me the phone number for the Department of Education in Richmond.
Matt and I talked a little about our concerns last night. I'm not sure we actually resolved anything, but we did agree that it couldn't hurt for me to do some research and at least call the Department of Education and find out what it would take for me to get my license, and maybe even begin working toward it. I might also call the local community colleges - college teaching doesn't require a license, and community colleges don't require a PhD.
The big concerns boil down to two things: 1) the money, and 2) what if I try it and hate it? I don't have much of an answer for the first. It's nice to know, right now, that if either Matt or I lose our job, the other is capable of picking up the slack for several months, at least. That wouldn't be the case if I were a teacher. The second concern is a little easier - if I'm going to hate teaching, I'll probably hate it within the first year, and if that's the case, I can probably go back to programming. (As Matt said, "If you're going to hate your job, you might as well be well-paid.")
So nothing's been decided except that I'll look into it. I don't want to be paralyzed by fear of change. But I don't want to leap headfirst into something before I've thought it through, either.
Word of the Day:
marshal - a high official in a royal household in the Middle Ages; a person who arranges and directs ceremonies or parades; an officer of the highest rank in some military forces; a federal official having duties similar to those of a sheriff; the head of a division of a city government
Currently Reading:
- The second of Dave Duncan's King's Daggers series. Darnit, I looked at the title just this morning, but I've forgotten again!
Current Projects:
- Kris' afghan