catherineldf | Uncertain times (Reply)

So Hell Boss, after making a layoff list and showing it off to a person or two and doing sundry other unhinged things, all of which pointed to layoffs, suddenly did a pivot and offered me a permanent position. 2 months ago, I would have taken it. However, the offer came couched in exactly the same terminology that she used when I asked her why she had fired Scrum Master #2 (we’re on #4 since last April when I started) and experience has taught me that any boss who equates “team participation” with being servile is not one I can work for. My days would be numbered at the outset and frankly between my dying wife, my sick cat and the political situation, I’m out of spoons for dealing with extra crazy. Will I regret it? Probably. Would I regret hiring on even more? Also probably. And yes there could be a chance of transferring if I hired on, but I’ve been told explicitly that I’m not “allowed” to talk to other teams and she badmouths all of us on the regular, from the snippets I’ve heard. So vanishingly unlikely. Still employed today, will go on discussing job options and looking about and having a more serious look at retraining. One foot in front of the other, step by step.

What else am I doing? Reviewing 26 arts grant proposals for a local organization for a small stipend. So far, so good. Currently completing my favs and then going through my other yeses, maybes and nos. Some amazing BIPOC and queer art projects in the hopper! I’m also working on a new pirate/spy in the 17th century Caribbean story and making good progress.

Other than that, I made an appointment for a free energy audit to look for more ways to make the house a tad less drafty. We had one about 20 years ago, so it’s time. I sold some more of Jana’s tools and supplies to a local artist. I’m looking at upgrading my convection oven to a new model that will further reduce my reliance on the gas stove. Next up, looking at a single induction burner for same. I’d love to replace the stove but all the repiping and changes were super spendy when last I checked it out, not to mention the cost of the stove so baby steps. I’m also reorganizing my finances to make it easier to access funds and to organize my estate planning. And adding events for this year! Stay tuned on that. I’m also trying to do 1 or 2 things every day to support queer folks, women who didn’t vote for this hellscape, BIPOC and immigrants folks in the same bucket. Everything is very budget-dependent so a healthy chunk is things like spending my money at better places, renewing memberships and upping monthly pledges a bit, but doing what I can at the moment. More to come!