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Post by Fleck on Jun 14, 2015 1:43:51 GMT -8
Don't worry, I still care what's going on in Bobland, even if I've been elusive these past few months. I was hoping for a big rant about your life so that I'd know what's been going on lately, and you delivered!
I obviously don't know all the details about your school, but from what you've said on the forums and elsewhere, it sounds like you gotta bail. Best case scenario, as far as I can tell, is that everything settles into a shitty equilibrium where you're not happy, but not angry enough to quit. Worst case scenario, the school gets destroyed by a giant snake monster like at the end of Buffy season 3 (THE MAAAAYYOORRR!). Either way, your long-term survival and sanity probably depend on finding a new school.
Sorry I haven't been online at all, but I get the feeling that you haven't been on a lot either, so I doubt we'd have had much chance to talk. I'm not nearly as busy as you, but working second shift has an odd tendency to somehow give you fewer hours in a day. My days are broken up oddly, so I find it difficult to interact with the outside world and do things I need to do. I've honestly considered busting myself back down from being a supervisor because I really loved having tons of free time, but damn it, the money is too nice and I'm saving up for a lot of things that I've wanted for years (like Flash or a car that doesn't suck). Plus I have a shit ton of fun at work. For the first time in quite a while, I don't really have anything substantive to complain about. Hooray! Life doesn't suck!
We gotta arrange a time to talk more. I have Tuesdays and Saturdays off and can probably get online then.
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Post by Bob on Jun 14, 2015 7:01:24 GMT -8
Yeah, I'll talk to you more coming up. I can give more details there about my job and such (always some fear of saying too much online). Money is hard to say no to, isn't it? I could be working this summer for an extra 3K, but I just can't for sanity and family-time's sake. But yeah, thing is, my job day-to-day is fine, it just sucks working for a guy that doesn't have the right priorities (cares more about looking like we're a good school than being one). But my class would be hard to leave. I have a SmartBoard and teach an AP Computer Science class, neither of which exist in many schools. Also I'm in walking distance of work. My plan is to work here while I'm living here with the inlaws, but if this school isn't better soon, then I'll be buying a house far from this place and find a job there. Too bad THIS year is the one that my sister-in-law mentions 3 math openings at her school... Tempting tempting. Glad to hear your job is fun. Mine is too, honestly. I host a Game Club after all! Daily Magic the Gathering and/or Smash Bros is awesome. A lot of my issues with this school involve unused potential. It's fine here, but we aren't making the right choices to really improve. If I just ignore that I work for an asshole, then it isn't so bad
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Post by wyvernxk7 on Jun 15, 2015 18:22:42 GMT -8
HOLYSHIT
HOLYSHIT
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Post by wyvernxk7 on Jun 15, 2015 19:33:45 GMT -8
As for me, things are going well enough. I'm still working with 3-4 year olds down here in Austin, but I want to get out of it when my current class moves up. Don't know what the future holds. I'd love to do teaching on a higher level, as most of what you're talking about sounds great, Bob (plus, I'm sure anything pays better than this, school-wise)... but I am at a point where I can't really tell precisely what I want in that regard.
What I've found with kids is that the most frustrating thing is when you try to tell them things and they SHOULD be able to understand, but instead they just laugh at you. That's pissed me off on several occasions, but I wonder (personal opinion-based conjecture incoming) whether this particular kid who does that a lot is used to just getting hit rather than told what not to do, as pretty much all the other kids will stop and listen if you tell them they need to. Even this kid, I've found, is generally more open to listening and behaving well on days when I take 5 minutes out to just chat with him (just to get an update on his life).
Aaaannyway, working on compiling a book-length manuscript of poetry... trying to get it all together by the end of the month for submission to a publisher that I connect with.
What else? Let's see. Brittany has been having a rough time of it down here, being isolated and experiencing first-hand the shittiness that is modern employment, and I'm doing my best to be the support for her, even though it's hitting me just as hard. Hmm... just trying to stay afloat at the moment, I guess. How do you find a job that actually pays decent money? We're in one of the best job markets in the country and are constantly failing at that... maybe it's just best in terms of quantity, and the majority of that quantity is shitty, service-industry jobs? Maybe... kinda seems like that. Planning on jettisoning ourselves from here when our new lease ends in May. Hopefully between now and then, I'll have a better job, possibly even one that has offices in other cities/states. Primarily, we're looking at either getting back to NJ (I haven't lived there for any great duration since 2006! Holy jeez!) or possibly NC, where two of my sisters, my nephew and niece, and a friend of ours lives (another friend of ours frequents NC)... I think that's it at the moment.
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Post by Fleck on Jun 16, 2015 1:23:39 GMT -8
I KNOW! I was just about to say something, but you beat me to it. So anyway, you're just going to slip in an off-hand comment about submitting work to a publisher in a little sentence in the midde of your post like it's no big deal? We need more details! And as for "a job that actually pays decent money," I don't know what you mean by that. Or what anyone means. But perhaps my opinion of "decent money" is skewed. Right now I make a little under 30K a year (before taxes and everything) and that is literally more money than I know what to do with. Like, honestly, I don't know what to do with my bank account right now. I've just been binge-buying anime, comic books, and food because that's all I can think to do. And yet I know some people who would rather vomit themselves to death than work for less than 50K a year. I remember watching news stories back when the recession was in its peak and they had pieces about all these suffering people struggling to keep their four-car garages and 20 acre suburban plots. Like we were supposed to feel sorry for them? While I was sitting here eating ramen and rice and I couldn't turn my heat on in the middle of winter because I could barely afford rent, let alone heat? So, if you think I'm making decent money (and I sure as hell think I am) then you can't go wrong climbing the corporate ladder. It sucks for a few years, but if you find the right place you can have a cushy supervisor job and make good money and spend a lot of your days talking about Game of Thrones and Orange is the New Black and making paper airplanes. I suppose I'm pretty lucky in that regard, but that's all I can tell you. Good luck in the future.
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Post by wyvernxk7 on Jun 16, 2015 6:00:38 GMT -8
Well, I know what you mean about having more money than we know what to do with. When we were both working here, we were making something like 35k between the two of us, which was plenty to pay our rent, loans, and utilities and still go out to dinner a fair amount. It was great. But right now, she's going through some psychological issues (major panic attacks and other things like that), so not only is she not working at the moment (she just quit a part-time job last week), but we're paying for a therapist, which is fine, because she's helping a ton and B's making a ton of progress and she's not a just a pharmacy (in fact, she doesn't prescribe at all)... So it just adds up to barely scraping by at the moment. At the moment is the key word. It'll get better.
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Post by Bob on Jun 16, 2015 11:52:10 GMT -8
Money is somewhat relative and depends on your situation. I'd be right there with you, Fleck, given your situation and location and all that. With that, you can probably afford everything you need and then some, even a good savings account building up. Now, flash over to a one income family in California and that money you're making it horrendous. I'm making just above 50k per year and had to move in with family to survive. Where I'm at, if I want to slum it, rent is about 1k a month, but if I want to be closer to work and have enough space to fit more than just myself (wife, child, those creatures), then closer to 2k. When the paycheck is just above 3k per month and rent is about half that, not even factoring in utilities, food, diapers, all that stuff, it leaves little room for savings. We wanted to save up for a house and were only putting away about $300 while renting. Doing a lot better now, but just making a long point to say that money is relative.
Oh, and when you have a kid, suddenly housing location is important for good school and all that blah blah blah. The houses here are insanely priced. Down the street from us is a house with like, 1300 sq. feet or so and it is listed for 534k. My $300 a month will sooooo work for that!
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Post by Fleck on Jun 16, 2015 13:54:43 GMT -8
Moral of the story: stay single forever and live in the Midwest!
Yeah, I'm with you, Bob. I guess I was trying to make a similar point before, about me not knowing what a "decent" amount of money was. Also I know that when you're on your own, you can make sacrifices easier because you only hurt yourself. But when people are depending on you, it's harder to impose burdens on them. It's a different moral choice.
I guess I'm saying... good luck everybody? Hope things turn out well? I know very little about living in Texas or California, really so I can't really say more than that.
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Post by wyvernxk7 on Jun 16, 2015 17:00:30 GMT -8
Like I said, we're not running out of money, but we're financially at a stalemate at the moment... It would be a thrill to actually be able to freakin' save some money. I'm making... 2000 a month I think? Right now, that's it. Rent is close to 900, +internet and electricity. Then, we've got something like 500 bucks in college loans each month, and you can see where this is going.
Even if I could bolster my income to 30k a year, the two of us could live comfortably and save money with just me working. I would love that. Fingers crossed.
Anyway, I'm working on assembling (much like the Avengers) a collection of poems from the past year or two, most of which seem to have the overwhelmingly common theme of or reference to driving (finally, some good comes out of commuting?), with the tentative title, "Curve Blocks View." When I'm all done putting it together, I'll let you guys know, and if you have interest in checking it out, you'll get it in a PM.
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Post by Bob on Jun 16, 2015 17:06:20 GMT -8
Heh, yeah. Life is weird like that, but ditto the "good luck, everybody." Especially Gabe because it sounds like hard times for you right now. My stress is mental/emotional. Financial stress is harder to handle nowadays. By the way, Gabe, you are driving my wife and me crazy because you keep never publicly saying if you and Brittney are married, engaged, bitter rivals, partners in crime, or whatever. What are you guys and for how long now!? (if the answer is private that's fine, just curious since I remember you two talking marriage when I got married 6 years ago ).
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Post by wyvernxk7 on Jun 16, 2015 17:11:22 GMT -8
All of the above since April '10.
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Post by Bob on Jun 16, 2015 18:07:14 GMT -8
Haha, well, congrats 5 years ago! I'm punctual!
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Post by wyvernxk7 on Jun 16, 2015 20:59:31 GMT -8
But we're not technically married, we've just been together since then, so no worries.
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Post by Bob on Jun 16, 2015 21:42:52 GMT -8
Ohh, okay. Phew. So I didn't miss any formal announcement.
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Post by wyvernxk7 on Jun 17, 2015 5:38:39 GMT -8
Sorry I had to take the most roundabout way of giving you a straight answer. In retrospect, I feel like a bit of a dick.
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