MetaChat - Lets compare our really, really shitty days.

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23 January 2006

Lets compare our really, really shitty days. →[More:]Hand up who else has had a day from hell. I arrived at university this morning to discover a note in my letter-box, to the effect that my PhD scholarship was running out in two weeks, and I will no longer have any scholarship income. I haven't yet been accepted for any jobs, and all the jobs I've applied for have been pretty marginal. My pregnant wife is stressing, as she's off work and it's looking pretty tragic in regards to paying our mortgage and various debts. So it looks like we'll have to rent out our house and move into my mother-in-law's. I'm starting to apply for desperate jobs - lab assistant jobs requiring a diploma in my own department. I'll rock up to the interview and they'll know I'll only be hanging around in the job until I find a decent one.

And then...we arrived home this evening, after three days away, to discover a strange smell in the house. It should be noted that here in Adelaide, we've had 42C / 107F temperatures over the last week. Turns out the compressor in our refridgerator had given out while we were away - and it was HOT inside that fridge. I vomited once cleaning out all the rotten fruit and meat. Then we walked into another room and discovered...a candle, my wife had left burning before we left three days ago, was still burning. We almost had no house left to rent! And on top of that, with no fridge, my beer's warm and I can't even drink myself sane. And my ferns have died in the heat. Compare and contrast.

post by: Jimbob at: 05:21 | 15 comments

Jimbob, that all sucks very, very much.

I know a few things about The Suck, though, and here's one thing to keep in mind:

No matter how bad it is, it could always, always be worse. (For me, it always helps to run through a list of ways things could be worse. I could have a broken leg. Someone in my family could have been stabbed to death yesterday. I could have food poisoning. My house could have burned down, with the cats in it. I could owe money to the mafia, and they could be breaking down the door in order to break my legs.... You get the picture.)

And futhermore, things will always, always get better. If not right away, then soon. But they will improve.

These are two things you can, and should, count on.

Meantime, hang on tight.

Cheers.

posted by mudpuppie 23 January | 05:34

Cheers mudpuppie. Oh and I also donated blood today. So I got jabbed in the arm with a needle and received a can of Sprite and a ham and cheese sandwich for my efforts. But at least I've helped humanity ;)

posted by Jimbob 23 January | 05:44

Sorry it's so ultrasuck right now, Jimbob! What mudpuppie said, absolutely.

There are so many mecha people in job-related trouble or limbo at the moment... I've just thought of nine members here, right off the top of my head. Wait, make that 10. It's a weird trend right now, and happening with people from different countries, so it's mechaglobal!

I'm getting ready to pull a card for our daily bunnytarot - I'll concentrate on the job problem thing, to see if we can get some enlightenment. ;)

posted by taz 23 January | 06:06

Sorry to hear all that, Jimbob. I doubt that there is much I can do, but drop me a line if I can be of any assistance. The Queensland Government is doing lots of hiring at the moment, so check out jobs.qld.gov.au - you never know.

I started my new job today and am already having serious second thoughts about it, but at least I have a job - unemployment and imminent-loss-of-home is still too recent a memory that I don't shudder at the thought of it happening again.

But then, you say your wife is pregnant - at least the future is looking up. No matter how much I whinge about my kids, they are by far the best thing that ever happened to me, so enjoy the anticipation of that. There is nothing like it.

As mudpuppie says - things will get better. They might get worse first, but they will eventually get better. Hang in there.

posted by dg 23 January | 06:40

I'm applying for lots of jobs in Queensland, actually dg - ranger positions up and down the coast, which technically I'm overqualified for as well, but I'd be quite happy mending national park fences in Townsville at the moment.

posted by Jimbob 23 January | 06:44

Jimbob - I'm currently reading Bill Bryson's In a Sunburned Country, and he mentions Townsville and Adelaide. Sounds pretty rugged down there, geographically and at your house. When it hits the fan here, I try to think of it as being in the thickest part of the woods - it gets thinner as you go on! May the joblessness soon be a memory, like the fridge stench.

cheers -

posted by chewatadistance 23 January | 07:49

Good luck with your job search jimbob. I hope something comes up for you soon.

posted by Tarrama 23 January | 09:17

My day was actually pretty good. I did some laundry and watched the game in a bar full of loud Steelers fans and one poor slob in a Broncos jersey. The laundry has made one pair of my jeans fit perfectly snug. And the bar had free hot dogs and nachos and gave me a couple on the house.

posted by jonmc 23 January | 09:43

and good luck, jimbob, old buddy.

posted by jonmc 23 January | 09:45

Lordy, Jimbob, I'm feeling your pain. Good luck, man.

posted by stilicho 23 January | 10:43

Exactly what mudpuppie said.

I've gone through the worst, the absolutely worst, couple of months imaginable and there is light at the end of the tunnel. I've even had a few good days. On the days that aren't so great, I've learned to sit with it, because I know tomorrow'll be different.

And on the bad days, there are sometimes good moments, sometimes just the tiniest thing that makes me smile, or like the day when the pheasant visited my garden, walked right up to the patio door and stared in at my two cats who were totally freaked by it.

Life happens a day at a time, thank God.

posted by essexjan 23 January | 12:38

Oh man, sorry to hear that you're in such a crummy position.

Any chance you can secure a line of credit from your bank/credit union? Financial aid at the Uni might be able to help you out, too.

With a PhD, it's not like you're not going to be able to pay them back (er, well...).

I don't know the situation at Australian Unis, but is your advisor able to "hire you on" as a part time tech or something, just until you manage to score something a little more stable?

posted by porpoise 23 January | 13:34

I don't know the situation at Australian Unis, but is your advisor able to "hire you on" as a part time tech or something, just until you manage to score something a little more stable?

Advisor has nicked off to Argentina for three weeks, nice for him ;)

posted by Jimbob 23 January | 17:33

Ah, mine's shuffled off to Italy (and as such, holding up my thesis defence date).

posted by porpoise 23 January | 19:18

Jimbob - I feel ya, man, seriously. I haven't had permanent work since 2004! Just a series of lame-ass temp jobs. I made less than $19,000 last year, so even my unemployment recompense is tiny. But I know how you're doing. Trust me - I agree with Essex about life only being one day at a time. Rents due in a week and I'm 200 bucks shy right now.

Peace.

posted by Lipstick Thespian 23 January | 20:18

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