I worked it for three months. My supervisor wanted to hire me in. I was laid off due to an unexpected drop in business. I was working 12.5 hour shifts and driving an hour each way to get there.
I pulled over and took this picture one day after I got off work.
There are a few things I know I need focus on now, and this was the case both before and after I was laid off:
#1. I need to work on my health. I have gotten a lot stronger physically and my immune system also became stronger.I changed my diet a lot gradually, but I need to improve that more.
#2.I need to work on my German Language and my academic writing skills, and I need to be practicing piano. All these are skills I will need in school and also probably in life in general.
#3 I need to develop marketable/usable video editing and graphic design skills. A lot.
#4 I need to work on organic gardening and get some super healthy and essentially free food into my life.
#5 I need to own my own home.
My roommate and I moved into the house I had fixed up in exchange for the privilege of living there back when I was at Richland Community College in Decatur - where I did graduate by the way, with high honors. This time I pay rent with money, and the landlord does the fixing of things. The landlord might have let me buy it on contract-for-deed if either my job had been closer or my car much newer. The deal he was offering the previous tenants was $10,000 with payments of $350 month. It would be free and clear in under three years. As long as I worked so far way, that was not going to happen, not even if I hired in full time and was no longer a temp.
The long drive to work combined with long hours made it hard to do much of anything and was very hard on my physically. It also made returning to school impossible. Plus it was expensive. I was torn. I wanted the house but i wanted to study in Champaign...
Well, it turns out that part time study is not allowed in most majors at U of I Champaign - including any majors I was interested in. I would have to take at least 12 credits, and probably more because previous study will count against my 10 semester limit. Even if I did go part time, it would cost $13,000 a year; that's only $3000 less per year than going full time, and at least twice as many years. NO GO! This does not mean no way ever, in fact I even know of at least two things to do that could make it possible eventually. It is however, a resounding "Not now."
I still liked my job and the people I worked with, and there weren't a lot of opportunities in Decatur. So I still felt kind of torn and divided. I could see pieces coming together: job, house, relationships, etc. But the locations did not really assemble well.
Then I heard a really high paying factory here in Decatur was hiring a lot of people for a big expansion. My work schedule hindered me from getting to their office and applying, though. Then I got FRUSTRATED. I was so stressed that my hair was coming out in my fingers. I was beginning to feel trapped and miserable. I was also getting exhausted by the long drives and long hours. Iwas nearing a breaking int, quickly.
Then I got laid off. Suddenly.
I got to the plant and the temp service representative was there waiting to tell me I was about to start my last shift. THAT was a shock, but I was told I was at the top of the call-back list.
They probably will not need me again until January. Five months away.
Since then I have found several more local opportunities I did not know about before or that were not hiring before now. If I find a job locally that can pay the bills, I can POSSIBLY buy the house. Maybe. In the meantime, I can now resume the pursuit of my lofty health and fitness goals,and the online business associated with health and fitness that I need to become a poster child for. I also have time to write blogs again now. The afternoon after that final shift ended, I got the Piano I have needed so badly for so long. At last. Here is a picture of it my living room.
While it is hard for me to deal with being unemployed again, so many things about this situation tell me that it needed to happen, and that something good is going to come out of it soon.
Stay tuned for more news on how God gets me out of this one. He always does, and I am confident an important victory is just around the corner. Thank you all for reading.
Godspeed.
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