2007 in review, part 1
Part one of the annual wrap-up concerns career and finances.
I was under-employed for most of 2007. The experience of going stir-crazy is best expressed by Climbing The Walls from the latest album by They Might Be Giants. (Besides, it's a very fun and listenable song.)
Too much junk, too much junk
_
Can we please clear out this house?
In the trunk, in the trunk
And then we'll take it all to the dump
Then we won't need the car
'Cause we'll stay where we are
And I'll have all this room
The deep end, the deep end
People talk a lot, but they don't know
They pretend, they pretend
They don't really know how deep it goes
I had misunderstood
Thought the wall was just good
For staring blankly at
Now I'm done chewing my nails
Hanging my head, chasing my tail
It got so bad I quit my job
_
And I got a new job climbing the walls
However, I've been very well-employed for the past few months, working on the internet, intranet and extranet for a cutting tool company. Political obstacles to successful web work are part of any multinational corporation. Digital systems are set up such that the employee doing a job is treated as the obstacle and the problem and the person who is not trusted to do that job. Everybody kind of has to fight I.T. But I don't mind that. I'm learning how to work in that weird environment. It's certainly a different structure from what I'm used to in creating smaller and more casual websites.
The key is to remember not to get too comfortable. The best time to look for a job is while you already have one.
This year I conducted an informal survey of people my age who seemed to have reasonably secure incomes to find out what their secret was. It turns out a lot of them did not need to use a lot of business skills and self-marketing strategy to establish themselves. They either were well-connected and prepared by the various caregivers who launched them into the world, or they just did whatever they liked and it happened to be profitable. Generally speaking, the ones who seemed to express a lot of conscious, deliberate planning for how to cope with a desperate economy were the ones who were having trouble making ends meet.
My Unhatched Chickens are coming along splendidly. Numbers 1, 2, 5, and 6 are done. Number 3, the collection agency goal, is late but very close. That was held up when they decided to play hardball and I couldn't get a settlement. Number 4, the bank account, was hindered when I found out that, after my 2004 dispute with Chase Bank's silently snowballing fees on an account I thought was closed and inactive, the bank left a consumer report out there on me. I was denied at Dearborn Financial Credit Union. I'm going to try to get this report lifted. Until then I'm just having R cash my checks.
As for Unhatched Chicken Number 10, on further thought I'm just hoping Menlo Innovations doesn't turn out to be a scam. I'm not sure the workforce really can work the way they depict. Plus the temp who worked at my job before me had some experience with them, and I think she mentioned costly seminars that Menlo Innovations asks their High Tech Anthropologists to attend. I think I detect money flowing in the wrong direction. We'll see.
I'm still figuring out what kind of long-term career goals I ought to have. I long to have a job where I give a damn about what I'm accomplishing. But I'm not sure how to find a job like that and still care for my financial needs as an adult. Alternately, I could change myself so that I start caring about things that I currently can't summon any enthusiasm for. I'm not sure how to do that. Most advice on the topic goes like this:
There's no substitute for sincere interest. Faking it won't succeed, so you've got to be yourself. Except you can't be your current self, that's all wrong. Be yourself by being somebody other than who you are. But don't fake it!
Comments
tlatoani on (None)
tlatoani on Dec. 27, 2007 2:03 PM
I know several people who have worked at Menlo. They aren't a scam, and I've never heard of them charging their people to attend their own seminars. However, they do have some issues you should be aware of. Email me.
rachelann1977 on Dec. 28, 2007 9:30 PM
"Except you can't be your current self, that's all wrong."
That part either needs to be reworded or thrown out completely. You must always be your current self, you have no choice. At any given moment in time, you will be your current self. However, that person will not be exactly the same in 2008 as in 2003, for example. You are still called by the same name, and have certain experiences in common, but have made gradual changes that add up over time.
You will continue to learn new things and evolve, and find what you both love and are willing to work for in the world of gainful employment by gradual degrees. That does not mean that you must attempt to suddenly become someone different. It simply means keep your eyes and your mind open, because you never know what the future may hold, and you never know what you're capable of until you do it.
rbradakis on Dec. 31, 2007 3:11 PM
I may not have mentioned it, but you seem to stand out as an example of someone that is achieving goals and getting your life together. I admire your ability to keep on track.
matt-arnold on Dec. 31, 2007 3:31 PM
Thanks. It's nice to think of it as admirable compared to the alternative, instead of just thinking of it as a normality to which the alternative compares shamefully.
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