Nicole's Employed! / Got a Raise! / Backyard Theater
Things seem good. Right now, things seem unusually wonderful!
When I took in Nicole after she fled her abusive ex-husband, I gave her a two-month ultimatum. She had to either land a job or at least be seriously interviewing with several potentials by the beginning of October or else she would have to move back to California and live with her parents. In truth, I think deep down I'd have given her more time anyway because I know how absolutely abysmal the Portland job market is, but I had confidence in her. I knew how much she wanted to stay in Portland and I was happy to motivate and encourage her. It all paid off, because much faster than everyone expected, she was interviewing and actually got a real actual job with a local company who handles billing for a cellular phone company. It's hardly what she went to college for and it is only thirty hours a week, but it's steady work with a predictable schedule that'll allow her to keep looking for an even better job.
I'm thrilled for her success but I mostly feel relief that Nicole will get to stay in Portland and relief that she's gaining some major independence. The pressure is off and she can start to build her own finances and look for her own place. Don't get me wrong: It's not like I'm gonna kick her out tomorrow or anything. She's got time now. One of the agreements we made when she landed on my doorstep was that once she got a job, she could stay here without a forced time limit and save up some money while she looked for a place. All is going according to plan! And both our birthdays are next week, so maybe we'll do something special.
The good news keeps rolling in, too! I got a raise at work! The microchip fab I work at has been tightening its belt regardless of the fact that they're profiting hand over fist. The rumor on the floor between coworkers was to not expect any raise during our annual reviews. For a while now, I've felt unappreciated for the dual life-saving roles I play for this company (Being both the only night-shift IT staffer in the fab as well as an actual production tech) so I was going into my review knowing that not getting a raise would prove exactly how exploitable they think I am and exactly how greedy they are.
Shocked is how I'd classify my reaction when I was told that not only was I getting a great raise, but that I was put in for a promotion and that the IT department was preparing a second even more substantial raise as a surprise on top of the one I was already getting. I was speechless. Maybe there are good people within gigantic corporations who care about the forgotten foot soldiers in the trenches making their products. This is still a dead end job and I don't plan on being there much longer, but the sudden acknowledgement that I'm indispensable to these people is making it hard to be anything but momentarily comfortable and content.
Last week, my entire immediate family got together to have a meal, celebrate my sister, Val's, birthday, and watch a movie in the backyard. Yea, that's right, in the outdoors. Val recently bought this ridiculously awesome pico projector, a portable surround-sound system, and a huge collapsable fabric projection screen. Once the sun was gone, we used it all to watch The Avengers on the back patio under the stars. It was literally like being at a drive-in and such a unique and wild experience that we're planning on doing another backyard theater event in a couple weeks. We just need to agree on a movie or two...
When I took in Nicole after she fled her abusive ex-husband, I gave her a two-month ultimatum. She had to either land a job or at least be seriously interviewing with several potentials by the beginning of October or else she would have to move back to California and live with her parents. In truth, I think deep down I'd have given her more time anyway because I know how absolutely abysmal the Portland job market is, but I had confidence in her. I knew how much she wanted to stay in Portland and I was happy to motivate and encourage her. It all paid off, because much faster than everyone expected, she was interviewing and actually got a real actual job with a local company who handles billing for a cellular phone company. It's hardly what she went to college for and it is only thirty hours a week, but it's steady work with a predictable schedule that'll allow her to keep looking for an even better job.
I'm thrilled for her success but I mostly feel relief that Nicole will get to stay in Portland and relief that she's gaining some major independence. The pressure is off and she can start to build her own finances and look for her own place. Don't get me wrong: It's not like I'm gonna kick her out tomorrow or anything. She's got time now. One of the agreements we made when she landed on my doorstep was that once she got a job, she could stay here without a forced time limit and save up some money while she looked for a place. All is going according to plan! And both our birthdays are next week, so maybe we'll do something special.
The good news keeps rolling in, too! I got a raise at work! The microchip fab I work at has been tightening its belt regardless of the fact that they're profiting hand over fist. The rumor on the floor between coworkers was to not expect any raise during our annual reviews. For a while now, I've felt unappreciated for the dual life-saving roles I play for this company (Being both the only night-shift IT staffer in the fab as well as an actual production tech) so I was going into my review knowing that not getting a raise would prove exactly how exploitable they think I am and exactly how greedy they are.
Shocked is how I'd classify my reaction when I was told that not only was I getting a great raise, but that I was put in for a promotion and that the IT department was preparing a second even more substantial raise as a surprise on top of the one I was already getting. I was speechless. Maybe there are good people within gigantic corporations who care about the forgotten foot soldiers in the trenches making their products. This is still a dead end job and I don't plan on being there much longer, but the sudden acknowledgement that I'm indispensable to these people is making it hard to be anything but momentarily comfortable and content.
Last week, my entire immediate family got together to have a meal, celebrate my sister, Val's, birthday, and watch a movie in the backyard. Yea, that's right, in the outdoors. Val recently bought this ridiculously awesome pico projector, a portable surround-sound system, and a huge collapsable fabric projection screen. Once the sun was gone, we used it all to watch The Avengers on the back patio under the stars. It was literally like being at a drive-in and such a unique and wild experience that we're planning on doing another backyard theater event in a couple weeks. We just need to agree on a movie or two...