Checking back in with the latest thrills

[aadler]

News. Okay, news.

Hm. Where to begin?

First Cut — Work Issues

Over the past few months I alluded a few times to a potential new ‘career’ path, but didn’t want to say anything about it yet because sometimes things don’t work out, and I didn’t want to talk up something that then fell apart. Well, this one didn’t exactly work out, but didn’t exactly fall apart either. See, after three years of seeking a job, following my return from Iraq the last time, I decided I wasn’t getting anywhere, and it was time to change approaches. (Master’s degree or no, at my age and in this job market, even if I look good in any particular interview, there are so many other applicants that there’s always someone who looks better.) So I went to truck driving school, passed, and got my CDL. Then I spent some time driving — coast to coast, eventually — with a relative of Susan’s who has a small trucking company of his own; then I borrowed from my government savings plan, bought a 2006 Freightliner Columbia, and went to work for that same man.

My career as an owner-operator lasted three days. In that time, I went through three blown tires and a blown head gasket, and even though I’d left myself several thousand dollars in reserve, to carry me while I was starting out, I didn’t have enough to cover what the engine repair would have cost. (These things happen, that’s why you build up a reserve … but they usually don’t happen all at once, in the first few days.) I was one load short of breaking even on the fuel I’d bought, after which I’d have begun pulling in a profit; instead, it was over almost the moment it started.

So I signed on with a national carrier, and promptly got enrolled in their orientation/training program. I’ve finished the initial phase, I’ll spend the next few weeks teaming with another driver to complete their training and assessment, and then I’ll be set to drive on my own. The pay won’t be as good as my first set-up would have been (if it hadn’t disintegrated in the first WEEK!), but I’ll have somewhat more support and security, and the idea is that after I’ve acquired some experience and built up more of a cash store, I can return to the original plan.

What the heck. At least it’s work.

Close First Cut

Second Cut — Family and Personal Issues

My daughter has returned from Ireland, to do further work on gathering the paperwork support that will allow her to stay longer if she returns. I wasn’t able to see her at first, because I was away on a five-day Army Reserve exercise, but spoke to her on the phone a few times. Now I’m home, and we’re able to spend a little time together (probably very little time, because I have to leave pretty much immediately to return to my over-the-road training. Still, it’s something.

I have only six months left in my military career. I wanted to stay in longer, tried to find ways to do so, pulled every string I could imagine in the attempt to squeeze in one last deployment … but now that the end is in sight and there’s no avoiding it, I find myself wishing it could just be over and done. Problem is, I still haven’t made any headway in locating anyone who can help me establish the points earned for my Air National Guard service, which will be necessary not just for a decent retirement, but even to indicate that I’m entitled to a pension at all. I’m almost to the point of requesting Congressional help on this; everybody I contact refers me to someone else, and that’s been going on for close to two years now. I currently have three different avenues I can be following, and I believe I’ll pursue all three simultaneously (to the extent I can do so while I’m out on the road). One way or another, it has to be settled.

Close Second Cut

Third Cut — Fanfic Issues

First, in magnanimous response to a request I was by no means entitled to make, the generous and talented comlodge produced a title illustration (below) for the very first Buffyfic I ever wrote. It took me weeks to reach the point where I could even put it up on my fanfic pages, much less make this post expressing appropriate gratitude, but now it’s up in all its glory.

Second, the ever-gracious Gabrielle (velvetwhip) advised me that one of my stories had taken an award in the most recent round of awards at absence_oflight, banner likewise below:

Third, the same thing that has limited my ability to post over the last nearly-a-month will continue to have an effect. Out on the road, in my current circumstances, my standard Internet access is sharply curtailed. I can access the ’Net (and LJ) on my smartphone, but I haven’t even attempted any detailed posts. Along the same lines, spare time has been all but nonexistent; if I’m not driving, I’m sleeping till the next stint of driving. That will slack off eventually, but it may be nearly another month before it does (and even then, I may not gain more than two or three hours to myself per day). The combination makes it difficult to compose; it makes it quite difficult to post anything I’ve written; and, specifically to the point, it could make it enormously difficult to fulfill an obligation to RemixRedux this year.

That distresses me. I love remixes so much, I’ve participated every year since I found out about their existence, and started my own remix event just to increase the joy. I’d hate to miss one, just as I’d hate to sign up and then be unable to deliver. So far this year’s RemixRedux hasn’t been announced yet, so I can hope that I’ll be past my biggest obstacles by the time it actually begins. I’m crossing my fingers.

Close Third Cut

So there we are. The state of my life, such as it now stands.