Much whining on the subjects of job & money flow
I've been thinking a lot lately about my future, and what I want to do with my life. It is only natural, I think, that since my student career has come to a close that I find myself re-evaluating my goals and desires. For as long as I can remember, I have been focused on getting my degrees (B.S. and Ph.D.). I have finished both now, and in a way it is time to start my "real" life.
I have read several articles recently about how getting a job is the worst solution to making a living, because you will probably not be fulfilling your real goals in life. Well, I am not an entrepreneur nor am I an investor (and I wouldn't have the money to become one had I the desire or knowledge). My training is as a scientist, and my interests are compatible with that training. But I wonder if pursuing a traditional academic career or even an industrial career would be what makes me happy in the long run.
Right now I am sure that I want to do a post-doc in academia. That will leave all my career options open in the long run. But what do I want to do my academic post-doc on? I haven't figured that out yet. I need to choose carefully, since my possible future as an academic will rely heavily on this work. I need to select a field that I can find future research projects in to found my lab on, and I need to publish consistently in order to even stand a chance of getting a professorship. Maybe the funding situation will improve now, with the Dems in control of Congress. We'll see. The economy will also have to improve, since the stock market determines how much private foundations fund in the sciences. That situation is already improving, at least somewhat.
No wonder I feel stressed when I start to think about all this...
On the home front, we are getting ready to host a tree-trimming party in our new place. I have shampooed the carpets (courtesy of my mother-in-law's carpet shampooer, which is old-style but gets the job done) and am finishing up the menus. Unfortunately, I managed to get my gas cut off this week. We have still not gotten caught up on our bills, and the one I am currently behind on was the gas bill. I don't think I got any notices, otherwise I would've paid something. But now we are without hot water until Monday. I'll see if I can get them to come sooner. It seems ridiculous that they couldn't. I mean, they cut the gas off without me being home, why can't they cut it back on without me being there? Cold showers suck, and Jay's cousins will be in town this weekend. So they will be taking cold showers also if I can't get the gas company to come sooner. And they really have me in a bind, I can't even open an account with another gas company at this point.
My god, I have a PhD and even with a salary doubling I can't get caught up on my bills. Believe me, it's not that I am ignoring my bills or not paying attention to when things are due. I just don't have the money. I currently don't have any shoes that don't have their soles coming off, and the last time I bought clothes was months ago at a consignment store. I don't have cable, I don't have internet at home, I have canceled as many things as possible. How do people who work minimum wage survive? There is really something wrong when two people making well over $75,000 a year (although this is a recent occurance for us) cannot live on their salaries. I have budgeted us to the point that we are eating leftovers three nights a week, no movies, no trips, no new anything at all. For months it has been this way. Damn. I have to be doing something wrong. I could really use some spare money, if only to replace my shoes and help my sister out financially. She could really use the help right now. Maybe after Christmas I can get caught up... we have curbed our gift list tremendously and are not doing Christmas gifts with each other or my parents (they are also hurting financially).
I have read several articles recently about how getting a job is the worst solution to making a living, because you will probably not be fulfilling your real goals in life. Well, I am not an entrepreneur nor am I an investor (and I wouldn't have the money to become one had I the desire or knowledge). My training is as a scientist, and my interests are compatible with that training. But I wonder if pursuing a traditional academic career or even an industrial career would be what makes me happy in the long run.
Right now I am sure that I want to do a post-doc in academia. That will leave all my career options open in the long run. But what do I want to do my academic post-doc on? I haven't figured that out yet. I need to choose carefully, since my possible future as an academic will rely heavily on this work. I need to select a field that I can find future research projects in to found my lab on, and I need to publish consistently in order to even stand a chance of getting a professorship. Maybe the funding situation will improve now, with the Dems in control of Congress. We'll see. The economy will also have to improve, since the stock market determines how much private foundations fund in the sciences. That situation is already improving, at least somewhat.
No wonder I feel stressed when I start to think about all this...
On the home front, we are getting ready to host a tree-trimming party in our new place. I have shampooed the carpets (courtesy of my mother-in-law's carpet shampooer, which is old-style but gets the job done) and am finishing up the menus. Unfortunately, I managed to get my gas cut off this week. We have still not gotten caught up on our bills, and the one I am currently behind on was the gas bill. I don't think I got any notices, otherwise I would've paid something. But now we are without hot water until Monday. I'll see if I can get them to come sooner. It seems ridiculous that they couldn't. I mean, they cut the gas off without me being home, why can't they cut it back on without me being there? Cold showers suck, and Jay's cousins will be in town this weekend. So they will be taking cold showers also if I can't get the gas company to come sooner. And they really have me in a bind, I can't even open an account with another gas company at this point.
My god, I have a PhD and even with a salary doubling I can't get caught up on my bills. Believe me, it's not that I am ignoring my bills or not paying attention to when things are due. I just don't have the money. I currently don't have any shoes that don't have their soles coming off, and the last time I bought clothes was months ago at a consignment store. I don't have cable, I don't have internet at home, I have canceled as many things as possible. How do people who work minimum wage survive? There is really something wrong when two people making well over $75,000 a year (although this is a recent occurance for us) cannot live on their salaries. I have budgeted us to the point that we are eating leftovers three nights a week, no movies, no trips, no new anything at all. For months it has been this way. Damn. I have to be doing something wrong. I could really use some spare money, if only to replace my shoes and help my sister out financially. She could really use the help right now. Maybe after Christmas I can get caught up... we have curbed our gift list tremendously and are not doing Christmas gifts with each other or my parents (they are also hurting financially).