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I'm alive! It's been a few months since I've posted, I have just been so busy and then suddenly so not busy, I didn't really know what to do with myself.

I graduated with my B.A. in May and was accepted into a graduate program, but due to the cost of attendance I will not be attending this fall. I have asked them to defer my enrollment to next fall, which they said they can probably do for me. That way I can work for a year and save up some money to put me in a better place financially. I was definitely bummed out about it at first, but now I am just accepting that the universe is moving me in this way for a good reason. No point in trying to fight it, so instead I'm going to go with the flow and see what happens.

I am still working in tech support, which has become tiresome due to many things, mostly to do with my managers. A lot of people there have left to find other work because they don't want to deal with management anymore, and I am definitely hopping on that ship. I've been putting in job applications for various positions, so we'll see what happens. I am hoping to get a job doing something different, I'm tired of staring at computer screens all day.

So yes, a lot of setbacks over the past few months, but I'm optimistic that things will begin to improve soon. If nothing else, the weather will cool off in a few months, and autumn is my absolute favorite season. I hope everyone has been doing well!

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:)hi Kat! CONGRATS on your graduation and also on the grad school - I'm sorry that you're not able to enter that immediately as planned but happy for you that they seem willing to work with you on it!

Autumn is my fav time of the year, too - here we have the color changes which I really enjoy!

I haven't been on here much as we're in the middle of chaos with moving- especially so with two dogs. For a while we had our house sold <on paper> but no place to move into. We've ended up needing appliances un-expectedly too- we'd already put them into the inclusions for the house we're moving out of.

But anyway we spent several frantic weeks looking at houses after my husband got home from work each night, hoping to find something. Now we have resolved that and have an offer accepted on a home to purchase.

So I've been lurking on here but not posting as much- good to check in and see you here!

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8/15/12
Hi Kat,
Yes, congratulations on your recent graduation with a bachelor's degree. It's in Anthropology, right? And on working for a year to be in a better financial situation for your grad work, good thinking. I would do the same if by my working for a year I would actually get into a 'better' financial situation. However, my circumstances are that I wasn't able to get a job that paid more than the bare minimum to 'get by' on, so waiting to begin my Masters wouldn't be of benefit to me. If I graduate in December with a BA in Spanish, I'll need to just keep going on my Masters in Spring semester.

I've had to work under management such as you've described. Oppressive. But I'll tell you something amusing about it. 'Now',... now that that office has closed and all the jobs there have been outsourced, those same previous managers are on LinkedIn, trying to get others (their former serfs) to accept them as 'friends', because now they are without jobs. <irony> They want to be able to see the other's 'business contacts' on their profile so that they can take advantage of these contacts to get a good job,... on the shirt tails of those who they used to 'manage'. - jus'.

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Thank you both! Yep, Jus, my degree is in Anthropology. Terribly useful, too. For me, the Master's degree isn't so much to be in a better financial situation as it is to be in the position to work in the field I want to work in, doing the kind of work I want to do. I still won't be making much money, my interest is in community building and nonprofit work, and there's really no money there. But I will be in a better position professionally to manage those kinds of organizations with my Master's, so for me it's worth it as long as I don't turn myself upside down with debt in the process.

That is pretty funny about your old manager, ironic how the tables turn isn't it? My office is downright Draconian now, it didn't used to be this way but we fell under new management and half of the staff are hand-picked by the new manager, because half of them left when the new manager came into power. My new manager and her hand-picked cronies (I know this sounds awful but that's how I think of them) seem to be in it to make as many people as miserable as possible with their negativity, nit-picking, policy rewriting, etc.

Sometimes I think they take no greater pleasure in bludgeoning employees with the rule book. It's as if they write newer, stricter, increasingly pointless rules just so they have more reasons to call us up and berate us. Have you ever seen or read Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, when Professor Umbridge becomes headmaster at Hogwarts? That's pretty much how things are going at my work now. We sometimes refer to our manager as Umbridge, or Miss Trunchbull (from Matilda), or Miss Hannigan (from Annie) when she's not around.

Phew, okay, I'm done ranting now. Long story short, yes, it's gotten awful, and I'm really hoping to find a way out sooner rather than later. All the talented, creative, interesting people are jumping ship, leaving behind only those who are happy with falling in line and keeping their heads down.

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8/17/12
Kat, the term 'jumping ship' is part of my vocabulary, too. So descriptive, isn't it? I hope that you'll find something that let's you enjoy your work and be yourself. What I observed (at my old job) was that those very ones who were so good at applying rules to everyone else made absolutely huge exceptions to the rules when dealing with themselves and each other.

On 'financial situation',... no, I wasn't saying that you were doing a Masters to be in a better financial situation. I was commenting on this part of what you'd said, "That way I can work for a year and save up some money to put me in a better place financially."

Speaking of finances, I've made a proposal to teach an arts and crafts continuing education class at a local community college. My proposal was accepted and the 'class offering' will be posted online in the next few days. If the class 'makes', I'll finally be a teacher! - jus'