Fulfillment

One of my main problems with the current 8-5 that I have is that I do not find my job fulfilling. I experience frustration because I keep seeking this in my position, and have been for two years, and have yet to find it. Similarly, when I gave notice, the chair of the department told me that he wasn't surprised because the work I do isn't "fulfilling and rewarding" work (his words...).

I was listening to NPR this morning and a PhD graduate, who has been unable to find teaching employment, is working as a clerk for the Census 2010 and stated that he has no problem with this because he finds the work he does fulfilling. I realized just how much I need this feeling in all of the work I do. This is probably why I work 3 part time jobs, teach friends to knit, work with my hands, and continually seek new hobbies.

What then IS fulfilling work? I read an article recently that people find more happiness in fulfilling jobs than in jobs with higher pay. Sometimes these two go hand in hand, often they don't. Volunteer work is often suggested for those suffering depression because helping others and feeling useful can cause chemicals in the brain to shift.

I find my teaching to be fulfilling. It is challenging, I feel I am doing some good, and it keeps me sharp. I enjoy that "aha!" moment when what I say and what they do and finally what they understand clicks. I like having to continually adapt, reconsider, and train. And, I have fun.

And this, more than anything, is why I am taking up this journey and move. To seek fulfillment, to seek a happiness, to seek fun.

The cat and the bag

I think (almost) everyone knows that we are leaving now. Our parents know, my 8-5 knows--although Scott's does not, friends know or are finding out. The word is out. Scott's brother encouraged us to tell people, to let them know that we are on the loose. We had kept the news quiet for so long that we found it surprising that people were surprised we were leaving. It had become such a part of us, we have been seriously planning and talking since New Years Day. And, I guess we just supposed people could read it in our body language, in our demeanor.

We have a wide network of people who have an even wider network of people. As one friend put it, " I wouldn't be surprised if the contacts you've made become more important as time passes. The immediate experience of Chicago has -- from [our] perspective -- really been good to you. That's not news. But I believe that the long-term positive effects will eclipse the short-term..."

I do hope so.

They built this city

The download venture was more or less a success. I was able to grade in the airports and on the planes on the way out. I did cut the deadline too closely for my comfort but the grades were in. The time change (3 hours behind CST) threw me off and I was incredibly grateful that I did not have to do my lectures from the road. This will need to be figured out, and rather quickly, before I hit the road and try this little experiment. It may mean changing lecture days and times to accommodate the schedule for the summer.

I gave my notice on Wednesday before I left. I squeaked it in at 5:00pm and then went on holiday for the next four business days. Upon giving my notice, I was told by the chair of the department that it was not that surprising because my job is not a fulfilling or rewarding job. Thanks, boss, for making me feel like a winner. I think that pretty much explains why I seek other employment opportunities.

I now have job applications out in Colorado, Oregon, and Washington. We need mountains, trees, and a location that has a touch of "danger" to it. I explained this to Scott's mom and she laughed as she said "You need somewhere more dangerous than south side Chicago?" I then had to explain that it was not human danger but a touch of the wild being close that we needed. Mountains and ocean would be lovely.

Grading lesson learned (the easier way)

We're catching a plane later today and will be in transit for 9 hours. I have a deadline for grading at midnight. How to get these to work together? Download all papers (changing titles of papers to students' names) and put into desktop folder, have rubric in Word document, and write comments in a separate Word document. When I get to wi-fi, I can easily upload comments into my grade book.

Yes!

Jumping off cliffs into the unknown

It's official. I gave my notice of resignation today. My last day in the office is May 21. 9 weeks away.

I'm still trying to figure out my summer teaching load and if I will try to teach both sessions. I may see how it goes and opt out for one session. The live chats and office hours are what concern me. I need to have a pretty solid connection to run the audio chats and IM.

My other course requires only the discussion boards, email, and the grade book so it is pretty easy to manage with a coffee shop or wifi stop. Ooh, imagine grading those papers in some little hookah bar in San Fran! Or grading in a coffee shop in Seattle!*


This is going to be fun.






*Does not guarantee we will make it to these locations.

Eek!

We've decided that May 21 is our last day at the office. That means 9 weeks left. Eek!

It's scary. It really is a mix of terror and relief knowing that in two months I am free of my day job. My stomach drops randomly when I think about it, I blush when someone at the office talks about "next year" or "over the summer", I find myself counting the days to figure out when I can tell them that I'm leaving.

I find myself fretting because I like a plan. I like knowing all potential outcomes of a decision. And I am completely blind with this. I don't know what is on the other end. I don't know where we will be in August. I am terrified and exhilarated.

Now to talk to our staff manager and figure out when I let these people know of my imminent resignation...

The search for service

Scott may have stumbled upon a plan that may work for us. With the Sprint network, we apparently have the option of adding the internet service into our phone service/bill (Scott, please correct me if I am explaining this incorrectly) for more each month. The issue, however, becomes a higher phone bill while we are on the road--and a $200/month bill for that will begin to be taxing on the accounts. Unfortunately, we can't simply use the phone minutes to make the internet go; it has its own separate plan but is bundled in with the phone bill. After talking with Sprint, Scott has discovered that we can substitute the internet service for one of our phones, thus making the bill almost equal to what we pay now. This we can swing with relative ease. With Skype and other services I think that we should be able to transition to a single phone between us. We will be together on the road so we don't really need that extra phone. If it comes to it, I can always get a pay-as-you-go phone so students can reach me and it won't be eating through our regular minutes.

I will still need to figure out if we will have service once we get out west. Looking at the maps it seems that much of the west, and the northwest in particular, is still a wide open frontier. There are pockets of people but not always enough in some areas outside the major metropolitan areas to warrant putting in cell towers (how antiquated is the idea of on-ground towers transmitting signals...)

Thanks, Naomi, for that vote of tax deductible on the service, too!

Reconsidering

Scott and I have begun searching out internet connections for the road. It's not a easy as I thought it would be or as the commercials make it seem (of course). What we've found requires a two-year contract, may have questionable service areas, and probably doesn't really work in Antarctica. It is, as Scott put, "more of a committed relationship than a one-night stand kind of service." I hate to buy into a service that may or may not serve my purpose on the road.

This shouldn't be too much of a complication for one class since we could always pop into a coffee shop or wifi hub while I graded and checked emails but the other class is more complicated. It requires two live lectures per week plus a one hour office hour session and pretty steady email. I don't want to be the annoying girl in the corner of a coffee shop with her headset on explaining what a subject-verb agreement is. I can only imagine the roar of the espresso machine over the audio, too. My students wonder what the terrible clanking noise is when my radiators come on in the apartment right now.

I'm going to continue searching. The 4G network would be lovely but I don't want to have to pay an arm and a leg to make internet happen in the woods of northern California.

Another consideration: if I use the internet for work, is that tax deductible?

Bills

I wrote to this a little in my last post but I was suddenly overcome with a feeling of uncertainty today. It could just be the sheer exhaustion I'm feeling or it could be that the exhaustion lets in these little cracks--who knows. Regardless, I need to sit down and crunch some numbers regarding bills to pay from the road.

The phone bill is the obvious one. We have Sprint so coverage is alright until you get out west.

http://coverage.sprint.com/IMPACT.jsp?

There is a lot of roaming area so we will have to be careful about that. AT&T was the worst for random charges on our cell bill but Sprint has been surprisingly straight forward; however, it would be nice not to send our phone bill skyrocketing in charges over the course of this trip. The coverage wanes significantly as you hit the northwest and Oregon is a huge swath of "No Coverage".

Car insurance is cheap enough that it shouldn't be a problem, either. This is simply deciding to pay forward a bit or continue on monthly payments. It might be better to simply make one payment that covers us for a while.


The health insurance is another matter. I can buy into plans as an adjunct and one of the schools offers a decent PPO--which would be ideal since we have no idea where we will be. However, the $250/month for two of us might be more difficult. You can purchase COBRA from the University where we are employed that last up to six months after you leave your position. You pay out of pocket for this and the services are limited to the area. This runs around $400/person--definitely out of the price range. And, what of medical history? Although mild, I have pre-existing conditions by some insurance standards, I receive maintenance treatment (more on this later) and each of these are guaranteed to make the costs rise. Navigating the personal insurance is terrible. I feel at sea trying to figure out what is offered, how it is offered, the jargon, the necessary coverage, and so much more. And how to explain to the agencies that I really don't have a location currently since I will be on the road and uncertain where I will be after that?

These issues can't be new for the traveler. You can purchase traveler's insurance for international trips but what of domestic coverage? I suppose this gets lumped in with your personal insurance. Who has the vacation accrual to simply leave work for several months to travel, though, to keep this coverage? Teachers?

We will have to sit down and crunch some serious numbers to figure out this insurance mess.