Wednesday, February 10, 2010

CRAZY LIFE




Okay, one of the guys I work with sent me this video.  He knows that I like the White Stripes who originally did this... and that I am a fan of some country.  I got a kick out of it and I hope that you do too.  If it's not your cup of tea, pass it by.

What a weird day.  The power went out in our end of the gorge and so school was held in the mostly dark.  Yep, I was teaching kids to read by flashlight.  I have to tell you the journey to the bathroom stalls in the  windowless restrooms was a bit of a trip too.  I don't know how many little ones I escorted by the light of my cell phone... which I had to keep closing and opening.

So I left work early.  No sense in sitting in a dark library.  Instead I went directly home and took a nice long nap... until the light I'd left on to alter me woke me up when the power came back on.  Nice.


Not much doing tonight.  Had my usual with DH on the computer.  Cracked myself up more than I was truly funny, but hey... I have fun and he's a good sport about it.

New frog in the pond.  Frog S... who lives close and is good at flattery.  I keep my brain in straight though.  The other frogs are there, but less.  That's okay.  I am still having fun with this nonsense and unless you have actual interaction, you do run out of things to say and tell.  That is one of many good things about DH... I know his world and he knows mine.


I had an interesting offer.  Not from a frog, but from a friend's mother in the area where I want to relocate.  Relocating is tricky.  You have to have a place to stay while you find employment that is suitable.  No running off just because I'd like to be there.  It has to make sense, there has to be work and a source of income.

I do get paid year round.  By the end of the school year, I will have made the money that I am paid in the summer.  It won't run out until the following fall.  That gives me time to find work there.  But there are still expenses to consider.  Let's see if you can follow this friend line long enough to get through it.


Ny friend's mother, who is my friend, has  friend who had a stroke.  He can basically care for himself.  But he would like a housekeeper and a cook.  Well, geez... I can do those things.  In exchange, I would get my own room and as much time as I like for social life or work.  That is a huge savings.  Think of how much you pay to rent or own your house each month.  That money that I spend could go into the bank.  I like that. The bonus of course is that I would not be exactly alone in a place and would live in a very nice area that I would not otherwise be able to afford.

Have I got enough compassion to do that?  Sure.  I get along with almost everyone, especially men.  So I am thinking about it.  I told her that I would have to meet him first and then could better decide.

But that would buy me time to get on with the district there.  And really, once I meet him and it's all good, there is no reason why I cannot go ahead and apply before I move in that direction.  Use the remainder of my school year here to fish for a job there.  If jobs aren't happening, then I would know before I tried to move.


The big thing here is that I want to stay in the state school system... I would not lose my health care or my retirement.  I need both.  It is iffy at this point... but what do you think?  Is it another case of kissmet?  Like when I got my job because I was trying to get permission to use the soccer field?  She did not know that I was looking.  She thought that maybe I would want it as a summer job...that might work into something more that I liked.

What do you think?  Is that crazy?  I do crazy, sure enough.  but is it too risky? 

26 comments:

  1. If you get along with this friend's friend, and you would have your own room, it seems like a very good idea to me. The last time I had to stay and work somewhere else, the best I could hope for was getting an extended stay room for a hundred and fifty a week, though most of the time we spent much closer to three hundred and fifty a week. And that was ten years ago, so I'm sure everything has gone up.

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  2. I have meant to ask you about your job and such, so this seems like a good time to bring it up. You call yourself a librarian, though so far as I can tell you aren't really, just that the kids call you that and that most of your job is at the school library. But if you are actually a librarian and have the masters degree and all of that, I don't think you have mentioned it. (Though I suppose that you could have gotten the degree much earlier and just never had a chance to use it before.) But it looks like you got the job before the degree requirement and then were "grandfathered in".

    So what I am wondering is what degree you really do have, and what certifications, and will you have to get certified all over again when/if you move, and do you think that the "grandfathered in" stuff will still work getting you a new position?

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  3. It sounds like a perfect plan to me and very, very "you". That man would be lucky to have you as a friend.
    I really hope this works out for you.

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  4. Just jumping at it with no idea would be too risky, but you seem to have the right idea. Go, meet the person. What have you got to lose by doing that? A few hours time, at most. It might turn out to be perfect. Who knows?

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  5. Laughing-- I guess you missed the times I have talked about it. No, I do not have a masters degree in library sciences. If I did, I would not have a job. They are too expensive. I am a Secondary Media Specialist. However, I was trained on the job by a "real" librarian and do everything that she ever did with equal skill. My degree is in Launguage Arts. I am the only librarian that they have and yes, I do believe that I am a real librarian.

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  6. Peggy-- Thanks. It's a thought anyway. I have promised to meet with him soon.

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  7. Suldog-- That's what I think. Good.

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  8. laughing-- We don't have anything like a masters in library science degree requirement "grandfathered in". I think that is interesting that you have that where you live.

    To be a school librarian, you need at least a 2 year degree and to pass the same tests that the teachers have to pass to get a teaching lisence. The testing was expensive.

    Wasn't it clever of me to spell language arts wrong? Hahaha... funny typo.

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  9. Good luck. I think no matter what you decide to do, you'll make it work. Definitely meet with that guy first and make sure he's not a creeper and that your personalities don't clash.

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  10. Churlita-- Yeah that creeper issue is always out there isn't it? Its even there with the frogs. And like you... creeps and weirdos are attracted to me. I will be careful.

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  11. We have a lot of strange things here. In theory, you are not supposed to need a teaching degree, but a teaching certification after you have some other four (or more) year degree in something else. However, if there is "the school of education", and if you did not get your degree from them or was "grandfathered in" you have a really tough time getting hired as a teacher with your "alternative teaching degree", and I forget the name of the school that supplies that degree, just that they are in charge off degrees in specialities that overlap different departments.

    As for libraries and librarians, there are many libraries and many people working in them that are not really librarian, though I am told a lot of the same exact work is done by the senior librarian assistants. Only people with masters degrees (or higher) are actually hired as librarians, though I suppose in the smaller schools they do not have one available and hire someone who has spent many years as an assistant. Most of the people you see working in the libraries are assistants, or, if they have enough workers to define more specifically what they do, clerks and pages.

    I wouldn't have known any of that stuff, except that I was a page one summer. Before that I thought that all the clerks were librarians. I would have liked to have been an assistant, but that will probably never happen now, unless I move far away, as it is one of those jobs that is now "spanish/bilingual preferred."

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  12. Anyway, have you checked to see that the places where you would like to move have the same requirements?

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  13. laughing-- I suppose it would be fair to say that they only hire people they consider qualified here. Both education and experience are respected and required, but not a masters in library sciences.

    Everything here is bi-lingual prefered... even McD's.

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  14. laughing-- The way it works here is that all school employees are state employees. My district is part of the state district, if you will. It's the same employer, same laws and rules. That is why I want to stay in it... it will allow me to keep my perks without interruption and I am already 16 years ahead in seniority than a new hire for placement.

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  15. It never hurts to check things out. Sounds like you have plenty of time to figure out if this is a good move for you. As Mehitabel would say: Wotthehell? Good luck with it.

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  16. Cricket-- Yep, what the hell... may as well check it out.

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  17. So you wouldn't be thinking of moving back to southern California or maybe San Francisco if something became availabe there?

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  18. Sounds to me like a wonderful opportunity that is more than worth looking into. I don't think you are being hasty. Clearly you are thinking this all through and putting things in place. What an exciting adventure!

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  19. I wouldn't move unless I had a sure thing. I think you feel the same way, so I'm not worried about it. I think you'll do fine either way.

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  20. laughing-- I do love and miss Ca very much. But it is expensive and overfull of people. I'd have to win the lottery to be able to afford the way I would want to live there. A move that way is unlikely. Very unlikely.

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  21. That could be ideal. Can you meet the guy first to make sure it would be a reasonable fit. I know you get along with nearly everyone, but there are some extraordinarily difficult people out there. But barring that, it could be a great way to get to relocate as you want to.

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  22. secret agent woman-- I think I want to meet him with my friend, then have a trial stay-over too where it is just me and him. If I can deal with that, good. If not, then I'm not committed and can walk away.

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  23. Nothing wrong with crazy, but I think your life is more than crazy, insane or stupid comes to mind. Even somewhat autistic. :-)

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  24. Billy B.-- Thanks a ton! Ha. Maybe this will make it less crazy.

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  25. Any update? Find out anything yet?

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  26. Suldog-- No, not yet. She needs to set up a meeting when we can both show up. It may take a few weeks.

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