On Jobs

Working is a large part of life. I find it bordering on criminal that I have to spend half of my life with people that do not go through the same rigorous vetting process that my friends and M went through. Sometimes you get extremely lucky and your co-workers become actual friends. For me that has rarely been the case. In all of my years of working, I have made one friend and he lives in Albany.

I grew up believing that because you spend so much of your life working, you'd better make sure that you like your job. I had the luxury of growing up middle class, so money was never a consideration when it came to employment (beyond being able to live, that is). Take money out of the equation and that opens the door to many professions like Archives.

Previously, I worked at an archives that I really enjoyed. I was there for 3 years before moving on and would have stayed longer had geographic circumstances been different. It was the perfect quirky, unique position. It was interesting and I had a lot of freedom to go in many different directions.

Then I had to move on and I moved on to a place that looked great on paper with a company that actually is pretty great. What should have tipped me off was the salary. It was way too high for an archives position. When the new car smell wore off I was left with a boring job, isolated into a cubicle. It was the exact job that I had worked so hard to avoid.

Why is he using the past tense?

Because I have moved on once again; this time to a job that I am confident will be "all that and a bag of chips." No longer a corporate archivist, now (and perhaps forever) a photo archivist (or photograph curator as my actual title reads). I'll be working with (and for) the public and again it looks like I may have freedom to decide on projects.

Finally I'll be working with other archivists instead of just e-mail responses from lists; disembodied advice and misunderstood questions.

2008 is indeed looking like it is going to be a great year.

Attack of the young urban professionals

It has been more than a month without a post from me (whoever that may be) and its been a very busy month. Like the last time, its Friday, but unlike last time, I actually have plans.

The largest noticeable difference between there and here was the sudden explosion of things to do. If I don't have a beer in my hand by 6pm nearly any day of the week, then I'm in the car on my way to put a beer in my hand. In four weeks, I've been to 3 happy hours, numerous get-togethers, and one dog birthday party.-----

The dog party was quite a site to behold. There were about 20 people at the party and 16 dogs. It was great! Felix and Oscar got overwhelmed by the end of the party, especially when two larger than usual labs bounded into the yard and slobbered on everyone and everything.


-----When I'm not drinking while unpacking, or watching the gay pride parade, I'm at work. Its strange, to say the least, going from a small museum environment to the marketing department of a technology corporation. The archival work is almost eerily similar but as they say, its the little things.

One of those things I never got used when I previously worked in a corporate-like environment was passing the same person in the hall not 30 seconds after passing them before. Do I ignore them? Do I say hi again? Most of the time, the decision is made for me and I'm left to puzzle after the next time. Then there is the fact that I'm the only one who seems to look other in the eye...and it seems to make people uncomfortable. I kinda like that part.

I'm also the only one who makes a lunch in the break room. And I've found that lunch, as a meal, is highly overrated. I really don't mind eating at my desk and it means that if I want to leave a little early, I can. Or if I want to go out and take an hour and half for lunch, I can do that also.

I do miss being able to sing, play music, burp, and fart as loudly as I please. I guess I could do that here, but not for long. Though I did forget how rich music sounds when played through headphones.

The house that we rent, though conveniently located, is too small for our needs, so I've been building shelves all over the place. That's what I do in the evenings. We strategies on how to make more space and try to unpack more boxes. At least we have a garage. My drum set ended up at the homebase of HN. I've yet to play it though as we are trying to soundproof their garage.

That's all my lunch break allows for today. Whenever we get all of the unpacking and decorating done, we'll post pictures.

The Last Hour

Though not as depressing as the Elliott Smith song by the same title, sitting here at my desk with an hour to go on my last day of work here makes me sad.

I really liked my job. It was everything that graduate school had promised me and yet had that down-to-earth quality that I like in all of my endeavors. The public, the staff, all of the stakeholders were grateful and appreciative even if they didn't always quite understand what I did. I had the kind of support that is rare in any library or archives situation regardless of size of institution or budget.

It wasn't always perfect. I'm sure none of you have cleaned 100 years of dust and rat poop to get the goods, but in the end I leave square. The Archives are better off than when I started and I got an alleged "kick ass" job.

So have any of you out there ever left a job you didn't really want to? I'll say that I know of one person who did and she did it for me 3 years ago and I'll always be grateful to her.

I realize that I'm in the minority here and may not get any responses, but have at it.

The experiment is what?

The experiment is over. No, not the dog one, the rural life experiment. M and I moved for one reason: so that I could gain the experience needed to someday return to Austin with a decent paying job.

The experiment is over.
Now, I can get to appreciating all of what I'm going to miss about ranch life: I'm going to miss the snakes and spiders (mo' poisonous, mo' better), the scorpions, the myriad of bugs, beetles, grasshoppers, walking sticks, mantids, bees, wasps, lizards, hawks, owls, kites, moo cows, horses, coyotes, road runners, the view, the storms,the stars!, moonlit nights you could read a book they were so bright, quietude, drumming whenever I pleased, peeing in the middle of the yard, moonless nights do dark you couldn't see your hand unless it was silhouetted against the stars, that one eclipse of the moon, our yard, our veterinarian, the cheap rent. I guess there is more than I thought I'd miss.

The experiment is over.
Essentially, it is the other 15 hours of the day where the liabilities of small town "come to light" (in the parlance of our times). More for M than me. I actually really like my job. Our collective "beef" with this town are many and they have been documented. But not here...this is a celebratory post.

The experiment is over
Now it is time to pay back what I owe. M supported me when I was unemploy(able?)ed and when I was in grad school. And then I asked her to pick up and move from a job that she liked. All for me. Well now its my turn. The risk was worth it as my remuneration will be enough to support M while she takes her sabbatical from reality. We'll be looking for housing now; housing with a yard, a spare bedroom, quiet neighbors, all for under $1000. Hey, it could happen.

The experiment is over.
Moving time has come. If anyone is interested in helping, we'll likely do it May 26th or June 2. Keep those dates in mind. Dinner and beer on us.

The blog may change form in the coming months to punctuate the change, but we'll keep the name.

In case I haven't been clear, I did get that job that I interviewed for last week. And just in time. Yea!