Got more money from the Pirates!

I've got a raise. When the agency called to "congratulate" me on the extension of my contract, they caught me at a bad time. I was suffering from the effects of PMS (Pass My Shotgun), low-bloodsugar, sleep deprivation, the beginnings of a cold, a sore back, and an annoying co-worker who was hovering around my cubicle being a depressing, self-absorbed, whiney bigot with the intelligence of a stick. Not a good time for the wage pirates to call and "congratulate" me for my ability to continue funding their blood-sucking weasel business.

I asked, through clenched teeth, if there would be a raise in my pay this time around. When the inevitable "no" answer came (amidst some of the usual weasel words), I shouted "THAT'S FUCKING RIDICULOUS". I then launched into a tirade that lasted about 5 minutes, included quotes from the Federal Labour Standards Review Board, who call the agencies the "pirates of the Canadian labour market, the President of the Public Service Union, and a few juicy snippets of my own highlighting my view of them as the vultures of the employment world, circling over the laid off workers of this country: taking advantage of their desperation to get a foot in the door of potential employers with their poverty wages, lack of benefits, holidays, or sick leave, and general moral decrepitude. There was also some stuff in there about medieval attitudes. She would have to speak to her manager, she said.

About two hours later, I got an email back saying I would get a $5.00/hour raise. Cool. Who'd have thought I could harness my BITCH (Be In Total Control Honey) powers for good? Live and learn.

Integral Coaching

Times of transition are exciting but difficult, and it's great if you have a companion along for the ride who can push you up the hills or pull you over the bumps. On that note, I met with my coach this week. Her name is Monique, and she's smart and funny and is interested in working with me. I got her through Integral Coaching, and she's in training to be a coach. We just spent the time yesterday getting to know each other a bit, and trying to nail down what it is I'm going to work on. We decided on "unraveling the spaghetti" as an initial theme.

Talking to her, I realized that I'm still bitter about the Carleton experience. I loved my job, and the students, and invested a lot of my creativity, intellect and energy into being the best I could be at teaching English and all that went with it. I thought I had found my calling, and that I would be like the women I worked with who had some rough times but who had stuck with it until they had enough seniority to say that they had a place, a purpose and a pension. If it had come in one fell blow, then it would have been over all at once. Done. Instead it was a plane that ran out of gas still coasting along the runway. It's hard to stay positive. And I still haven't found a new direction. And I'm frightened to commit again. 7 years of education and work came to nothing. That being said, it was a great experience and I wouldn't trade it for the world. So there you go.

Wish me luck

I have a job interview on Thursday that I'm really looking forward to. It's for N-Able Technology. It would be an exciting opportunity to work with entrepreneurs in small and medium businesses, in a support and training capacity. I can see this... could be what I need to shake me up.