Friday, December 31, 2010

Fate Gets A New Job


I don't talk much about work here for a couple major reasons. First, I'm not a big fan of writing 'blog-as-therapy' entries. Second, my old employer forbade work-related blogging. Big companies generally try to keep their outward facing image consistent. Individuals muck that up.

Now, I'm sure all 3 of our readers will likely have noticed something of a sharp decline in the amount of entries here. I like writing, and when I started this blog, I had high hopes the experiments Fin and I were doing in our daily lives (trash reduction, used vs. new, composting, soap) would make interesting reading. We continued the experiments but I never really wrote about them. And really, the experiments continued more from Fin's stick-to-it-ness than my efforts. For the past year or so, I've been fighting depression.

In early November, I stayed home sick a few days with the flu. Staying at home, I realized just how crappy "the job" making me feel. Of course, it doesn't help when you've heard so much news about lay-offs and friends having difficulty finding or keeping a job. The thought comes, shouldn't I be happy to just have a job? In my head, there's a whole essay that answers that question. The short version is that in life it's important to be happy with what you have, but also strive to do what you want. But then, where will you go?

"But where will you go?" is a bullshit question for fear based decision making. When asked by yourself or others, it tends to be more of an answer than a question. It's implied that there's not a better solution or way. You're at the top of the world already, any other direction will be a step down. Being successful means finding where you want to be, not asking a bullshit question to not make a move.

So, I sent my resume out to a select few companies that struck my interest. I interviewed, and managed to find something new. I'm not sure how long I'll be in this new spot, or happy there, or any other thing really. For the time being though, I'm happier than I was before. Part of that is finding something that better fits with my desired lifestyle and ideals. I've moved into a "Green Company" that will be helping me continue with the volunteer work I've been doing at local schools.

As advanced as society and tools have become, our lives have also become complicated. Health insurance, transportation, standard of living, job security, etc... etc... It almost seems to me, that as we moved away from the farms into industrialized civilization, that we introduced complexity just to make things in life seem more meaningful. As much as the tools of civilization make our lives easier, I also wonder if they simply enable us to lie to ourselves too.

Fate's 2010 Resolutions Recap

Recap of last years resolutions:
1. Reduce / Eliminate trash at the office
Success. I started bringing in dish towels instead of using paper towels. At the my new job, I'm throwing practically nothing away on a daily basis. :)

2. Go camping / outdoors more often
Mixed. Fin and I spent more time outdoors, but spent less time camping. We did a LOT more outside though, with the garden.

3. Pay off another debt
Success. I got rid of a particularly nasty cash advance that had been around my kneck for a while.

4. Perfect a soap recipe / be able to make commercial quality soap
Success. I won't say 'perfect a soap recipe', but we've been using my soap for the past year, with excellent results. Even the mistake batches have been good. Hoping to do another batch soon.

5. Return to martial arts
Fail. This never really worked from a time / money standpoint, and my old job was getting in the way as well.

6. Post more useful stuff more often
Fail. I've been really distracted for a while.

7. Grow and maintain a garden
SUCCESS. We had a great garden this past year.

8. Release some software / finish a project
Fail. I did make a lot of progress though...

9. Finish unpacking
EPIC FAIL. Yeah.... about those 5 new boxes of packed random crap...

10. Grow in maintenance / carpentry / plumbing / etc... skills
Continuing. I've got a lot to learn still...