Productive So Far

Hopefully it won't get too complicated if I write about what's going on currently in between posts narrating our trip to Small Town.

Not that there's a huge amount of things happening right now; I just don't like the idea of letting more days slip by unremarked. We've made arrangements for the movers to come "survey" our apartments to get a sense of how much work will be involved for them, and I've been by my storage place to reacquaint myself with my junk there. Happily, it's not as bad as I'd remembered; there's a bit of stuff that will need boxing, but the stacks of book boxes are not as high nor as deep as feared.

I also now have a date for my unemployment hearing, which luckily is not during the time I'm going to be out of town next month. Still, I'm feeling sort of daunted by the prospect of it. The purpose of it is to ascertain whether I am indeed available and looking for full-time employment. This promises to be a tricky line for me to argue because while I am in fact doing so, there are a lot of complicating factors. There's the issue of there there not being any jobs in my academic fields right now (the work for which I am credentialed and have experience in), there's the problem of my switching into a career where the same thing tends to apply, and then there's my experience doing clerical-administrative type stuff, which I worry may lead the judge to wonder why I'm not looking for more of the same. Add in the move and the complications that causes (too short-term here in SoCal, not settled enough in economically depressed Small Town and vicinity, having to negotiate two simultaneous sets of searches) and it gets even messier. I'm planning to print out all the searches I've been doing on Monster and CalJobs and Craig's List and several of my writers' sites to demonstrate I've been trying at least, even if I'm not all that successful. I still don't know how I'm going to answer the "why aren't you looking for more office work" question, though. *sigh*

On a happier note, today I went to the local big box electronics store and played with the camera I've been coveting all this time. I can get it online for about $200 cheaper, but it was nice to be able to play with it in person. And, I have to say, doing so only confirmed my decision -- I almost couldn't put it down, and walked back for a couple more tries with it, before I finally left the store. It's still quite expensive, even if I go through the discount folks, but, oh, it made me so happy to hold it, especially after all the frustrations of fighting with my current one over the last few weeks.

Comments

[Jill Smith]

Be sure you check out your movers very carefully - if they charge by weight, flee. It's an old scam: they give you an "estimate," get your stuff in the van, and say, "Oh, it weighs a lot more than we thought it would, you're going to have to pay us megabucks to get it back." It's extortion, plain and simple.

Reputable movers do not use this tactic.

[Rana]

Well, these ones were recommended by the place D's going to be working, so, fingers crossed. But we'll be ready in case they prove to be scammy.

[Greg]

Back when my first job in Australia disappeared out from under me, I signed up for the "New Start" allowance, essentially Australia's version of unemployment. I was required to keep a written log of 10 jobs I'd applied for every two weeks, including contact details, and to present this log for review biweekly in order to receive the allowance. Failure to do so could have resulted in the termination of the benefit and becoming ineligible to receive the benefit for two years thereafter. There weren't more than one or two jobs in my line per month for 5 months of unemployment, necessitating that I apply for wildly inappropriate jobs (either because of skills gaps or because the wage was half or less of what I needed), none of which I got anyway. The best part was showing up at the unemployment centre and standing on line with drug addicts and drunks, presumably there not for the unemployment scheme but for the disability pension, who would periodically begin acting out and get themselves ejected by the security guard hired for the purpose. Other than that it wasn't so bad. After all, I'd tell myself, tomorrow is another day. Or something like that.

[Rana]

At least I don't need to show up in person; there's a scantronish thing I have to fill out every two weeks instead. But, yeah. And the legal forms and explanations are really really vague. The literal wording for my eligibility requirement is, in fact, "available and looking for full-time work." No work specified, and "available" is not defined. But apparently it means doing nothing else that could result in income.

When I was first interviewed, I said that I was also looking for work at temp agencies (since I knew that this was a better source of income than the benefits, if I could get the work, and a useful way to network new jobs, due to my odd odd resume) -- apparently this is a big no-no. It seems it's better if you sit on your butt and send out oodles of letters to people who'd never hire you in a million years or spend all your hours looking for work you know doesn't exist, than to actually work an afternoon or two. Makes no sense to me, but that's the problem.

*sigh* I probably can't even "get away with" being befuddled in the hearing, even though I very much am, for the very reason I'm so unhireable -- the PhD.

[russianviolets]

Oh, Rana, how unfun. I'll cross fingers and toes that all goes well at the hearing. But couldn't they call it something less formidable? Geez.

[Rana]

Well, it is what it is. If my initial over-the-phone interview had gone better, I wouldn't have had to appeal, and there would not be a hearing. You could say, I suppose, that I asked for it.

Have I said how much I hate doing things over the phone?

[Phantom Scribbler]

(sound of fingers crossing)

I hope it goes well!