Saturday, October 31, 2009

Three months


This Halloween marks the end of three months of unemployment, or should I say the beginning of month four.  This isn't the first time I've been jobless.  I had a four month stretch in 1994 but the circumstances were quite different because I was still getting a paycheck while I searched for another job.  Plus I was running 70 miles a week or more and that certainly kept me occupied and tired.

Since my right hamstring blew out two months ago the running has been put on the back burner.  The job search seems never ending.  In fact I'm convinced the job search contributed to my current hamstring/hip problems from sitting at the computer all day searching the web for jobs.

The unemployment check almost covers the mortgage on the house.  It misses the mark by about a dollar.  I get an allowance from the Czarina.  I must say she's pretty generous.  She didn't have a job for about the first three months of our marriage.  I finally made her take a job at K-Mart.  She looked great in that smock.  Of course that very week she finally got a legitimate job offer.

Most of my free time is spent filling out the job applications at USAJOBS.  I've been applying for Public Affairs positions with the government.  Some of the applications are like taking a college test.  Take the time and check them out.  It's about as bad as the old freshman English comp finals at K.U. which were pure torture.

The television side of the search has been a little more interesting.  I've had some nibbles but only a couple of decent bites.  Some of the jobs where I think they would be interested I don't hear squat.  The one's I've heard from have been surprising.  Part of me suspects that some of the news director's are scared of my experience.  I don't want their freaking job.  If I got a news director's job that would be fine.  But I've come to realize that there's nothing wrong with being an executive producer. 

I've kept my hand in the game so to speak by freelancing for the local paper covering high school football and cross country.  Thank God for the endless patience of the sports editor Ed Reed.  You would think after 30 plus years of television experience I would be a pretty good reporter but sometimes I make mistakes.  I think a lot of it is rust.  Doing it once a week isn't the same as doing it everyday. 

The best part so far is I'm not depressed or stressed out.  Even better is the Czarina isn't going nuts about it, yet.  I think it could get dicey when the unemployment runs out.  I wonder how I would look in that K-Mart smock?

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