[Previous entry: "feelin' a mite low"] [Next entry: "unequal goodness"]
10/11/2006: "ready, set, scrape!"
For the past day or so I've been on a very slight high. A family currently living in the Ecovillage @ Ithaca is moving to town, and will be joining our small group to help make cohousing a reality here. While we don't lack people with some intentional community experience, this by far will be the most concrete and direct experience our group will have.
Sadly, that high is totally gone. Even despite getting a phone call today about another possible contract that will take me through until school (this time in Burlington), the cold hard reality has set in: I haven't worked (for pay) for 3 weeks now, and we're going to have to tap the line of credit for November. That means that I need to get my EI in gear, and also start looking for temp work. Ugh.
The last time I did temp work was for $9/hour, fitting tires onto rims of all various sizes. It was shiftwork, so I did everything; days, afternoons, graveyard shifts. I came home stinking of rubber. It was dreary, ugly, mundane labour. And that's where I'm heading again. With my professional engineering designation, no less.
All I can think about is getting on a bus and heading out to Edmonton or Fort McMurray and working as a carpenter instead. I have basic skills, but from what I hear I could still probably land $15/hour easily. Of course, there is NOWHERE for me to live out there, but that's nothing that a cheap cube van and a gym membership couldn't fix. Still, being out there certainly wouldn't do me any good trying to find a job here at home, let alone what it would do to my family situation.
Crap. (To put it mildly.) What the hell is wrong with an economy where a professional engineer can't find contract work just to pay the bills anymore? If this tells me anything, it's that I sure as hell have to go through with doing the MBET now. Engineering just isn't where it's at for me anymore, and the sooner I can put distance between myself and engineering, the better my career (and income, and stability, and mental health, and family) will be.
Right now, there are three paths that could get me through this. One, the contract in Mississauga. Problem there is I've heard nothing from them in a week. Second, this potential contract in Burlington. No problem thus far there, and it seems they're in a hurry to fill the position. Third, if I can convince my dad to invest in Gerald's. That will allow Gerald to hire me (among other things), and would provide a return on investment for my dad instead of a bum loan to his broke-ass engineer son. I'd say it's win-win, but only if he's in the position to invest. We'll see what falls out.
Those that are of the praying persuasion, I could sure use some support here. My prayer engine just isn't firing these days.
