Change Is Hard

…but change is certain.

Category Archives: employment


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Can you do yoga with a broken foot? And other unrelated thoughts.

I went to my last physical therapy session this morning for that annoying crick in my neck. I haven’t had neck pain since I started PT, plus they gave me lots of exercises to do to keep the neck muscles stronger. And they reminded me about the importance of posture. In fact it feels good to be doing anything remotely athletic given I can’t run at the moment. Which makes me wonder just what I can do with a broken foot. I’m thinking maybe I can do some simple yoga? Do you think? I’ve got a few yoga dvds…I think I”ll dig some out and see what might work with a broken foot.

On another front I have two interviews scheduled for this coming week. One is tomorrow for holiday temp work at a bookstore. Another is later in the week for part-time library work. Wish me well, I’d like to try to do them both. Even with a broken foot.

Thirdly, Katie graduated from intermediate dog obedience this past week. She wasn’t particularly well behaved on our last day of class, probably because I didn’t work with her as much, and we only went to the park to practice our homework once during the week. But she still graduated. So next week we move on to advanced obedience. We considered for a moment not enrolling her, as a cost saving measure, but she loves school so much. And it certainly works out some of her energy on school nights, which works for me. Especially with a broken foot.


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Doing more with less

I was talking to someone this week about my search for public library work. She seemed to feel that I should have no trouble finding work, because she had heard that public libraries were even more busy in these trying economic times. That in fact is true. As the economy turns to mush more people recognize and begin to use the resource in their midst. And while public libraries are not “free” because the library is generally funded through taxes, they are still a pretty economical place to find information, music, internet access and programs. So in theory as libraries become busier, the demand for services increasing, there should be more need for librarians. And maybe there is more need, but a key thing is missing, and that is additional funding to support the additional requests for services. And in fact, just like everyone else, libraries are learning how to do more with less. In these economic times libraries are not exempt from budget cuts, layoffs, shortened hours and reduced services. It’s a sad comment on society that an institution that can provide support to those facing unimaginable decisions struggles to provide adequate services to meet increased demand precisely when it’s most needed. So I continue to look for work and hope that someday I can contribute again.


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It's a mad mad world

I’m sitting this afternoon on my beautiful deck, reading email, investigating retirement communities, checking favorite blogs. I’m also digesting the latest news about the financial mess, the potential bailout, fears of losing retirement opportunities, craziness here in the US and everywhere else. It’s a wonderful thing having wireless, access to the world from a comfortable chair. But the news is not good from anywhere. Ah yes, there is the news that GM will build a small plant in Flint Michigan. That’s good news for a town that has been depressed for several decades. And the weather is still good. So there are two positive stories. But the overwhelming feeling I get is that I want to curl up in a small, warm, safe spot and wait it out. Preferably with my head in the sand. Maybe in warm beach sand on a far away island.

Not having a job has exacerbated my fearful feelings. I am beginning to believe that I need to make the smallest possible financial footprint right now. Similar to making a small carbon footprint in an effort to cause no harm to the environment, I feel like I need to hole up and not spend anything at all. Not drive the car. Not shop for groceries. Certainly not purchase anything remotely frivolous. Like books. Or underwear. Dog food is on the potentially frivolous list, but don’t tell Katie.

I know I am probably reacting foolishly, but I feel like I need to find a job now. Any job. That I need to work to replace the funds lost in the crazy market because I don’t have years to wait for the market to correct. My hairdresser (yes there is another frivolous expense that needs reconsideration) said that maybe I could get a job at Borders. Probably could. Good thing I went to school for all those advanced degrees.

Wait a minute; note to self. Remember that you LOVED going to school, and that in itself was reason enough to spend the money. In those days. Maybe not in these.


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No news is bad news

The hunt for library employment continues. I really didn’t think it would be so difficult to find work doing something I love. Who knew? I have to believe that something will turn up. I think I will be added to a relatively close library’s substitute roster sometime this fall. And perhaps I should pursue that type of employment as a way to get inside and known. There is also a Michigan Oral History seminar coming up that I will attend, both because I’m interested in oral history work and because there will be librarians to talk to there who might have ideas about how to find work.

Meanwhile as I watch the crisis on Wall Street brought on by the mortgage debacle I am grateful to be out of that business. Yet I find myself wondering what my future will hold and if I will have to go back to that world someday. I truly hope I can make a go of library work. I just need to stay focused.


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Catching you all up

I interviewed last Friday at a small library quite a ways away from home for a part-time librarian position. They are supposed to make a decision this week. As it’s already Thursday night and I haven’t heard from them I have to assume the news is not good. Which might be a good thing, you never know. If it’s meant to be, it will happen. Sometime. I interviewed yesterday at a library closer to home for substitute librarian work. This looks more promising, but budget/managerial work has to be done before anything can be offered me, so it’s not clear that it’s a done deal. And the number of hours, even if it gets approved to add me to the sub list, is not guaranteed. But it would be very good to be back in a library regardless of the number of hours.

Meanwhile, tomorrow I’m going to my local library for a bit, just to get my library fix!


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Rain, a new deck and a crazy sheltie

Since I’ve been back from Alabama it’s been raining, courtesy of tropical storm Gustuv which I dodged while in Alabama, but which apparently followed me home. I can’t complain, we need the rain. But still. Katie is getting antsy, no playing in the park because I’m too wimpy to run around in the rain with her. Not that she loves the rain either. So she’s been hanging around the house getting more and more wound up. Though if I get the camera out she will pose, being the princess that she is.

And, to keep her occupied we have hired two guys to construct a deck on the back of our house. This provides hours of entertainment for Katie, who barks at them pretty much nonstop for the first hour of each morning. Eventually she can be convinced that these are the same two guys that were here all day yesterday, but initially every day she has to warn us of the two interlopers IN OUR BACKYARD RIGHT NOW! It’s so hard being a Sheltie, always on alert. When she grows up she wants to be a Labrador, or maybe a Retriever, something more mellow. But she’s young…tomorrow she might want to be a Scottie! We, however, think she should be happy with what she is. Teenagers…

This morning she and I went out to explore the deck which is almost finished.

It’s a really big deck, and she is not sure what to make of it. But she has figured out it gives her a good view of the bird feeder, and that’s a good thing in her mind. They say it will be finished on Monday, too much rain to work on it today. So we’ll have a three day weekend without workers in the back. Good rest for her and for me.

I have an interview later this afternoon for library work. I think I’m prepared. I’ll let you know!


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Employment woes

I have begun to wonder if I can be called a librarian at all. Am I the only person who knows what she wants to be when she grows up but can’t find a place to be it? Of course not! But does graduating from library school make me a librarian? Even without a library to librarian from? These thoughts were running through my head while I lay awake in the tent next to a snoring sheltie during a nice rain last night. The thoughts were rumbling through my head because a new posting for a part time adult reference librarian appeared late in the evening. The position is in a city about 38 miles from me, maybe a 45 minute drive during traffic. It’s not a large library system, probably doesn’t pay outstanding wages. But it’s a library and I’m hungry for library work. So I will drop by this library today and pick up an employment application. And since I’ll be dressed in something more presentable than my current uniform of sloppy shorts, Tshirt and flip flops, maybe I’ll stop by a few other libraries as well.


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Struggling with employment

I’m struggling with finding employment as a librarian in a library near where I live. There has only been one position posted so far that I have interviewed for, and I wasn’t offered that position. Now the library where I worked during school is posting a full time librarian position, and part of me thinks I should apply, and the other half of my brain is reminding me how horrible the commute down to Ann Arbor was. An eight hour work day will become a ten hour day at the least. Sometimes longer. The cost of the commute is escalating along with the cost of gas. I’d need to purchase a more fuel efficient vehicle…I might break even sometime during the first year. Maybe. Yet I enjoyed working for that library and would again enjoy working with them.

Now a full time librarian job has been posted at a town north of me. Forty miles north, the trip per map quest would be 45 minutes. There is no salary listed in this new posting, but it will be less than what is offered at my previous library, because this library is not in an affluent community. The commute would be better in the sense that I’d be going against the main flow of traffic, going north when most people go south in the morning, and coming back south when most people travel north in the evenings. When I first saw this posting I thought “GREAT!” a position just north of me. But I didn’t realize how far north.

So the question is, does it make sense to apply for the northern position for less money and about a ten minute shorter commute and NOT apply for the position that pays better but has a slightly longer (and overall more difficult) commute? Or should I not apply to either of them because they’re both too far away and wait it out to see what happens around here?

I just don’t know what to do.