Are you experienced?
So, I haven’t done one of these in a million years. This is not an unnecessary, self-important apology like when bloggers would make a big deal about not regularly updating, as if anyone noticed or cared.
It’s not as if I’m bereft of newsletter fodder, it’s that for the past seven months I’ve had to wake up at 6:30am and churn out an 800+ word article about financial tech while fielding urgent--often borderline emotionally abusive (I will not say “violent,” which is one of my latest semantic pet peeves. Microaggressions aren’t violence. And yes, I just used “microaggression.”) email requests until 3pm and sometimes on weekends for significantly less money than I was accustomed to. That left a whole afternoon and evening, but I had no mental energy to do anything words-wise the rest of the day.
So, I’ve been on a rampage, applying for jobs I don’t even want, doing writing tests, talking myself up, and got very close to landing a few high-paying gigs, but nothing has panned out yet. In fact, I have a phone interview in two hours and another on Monday. The Portland job market is abysmal. Recently, I did interview for a role brought to my attention via a former coworker when I was in Seattle for a leisurely weekend. That also didn’t pan out, but I have freelance work lined up because of the meeting. Seattle is kind of my plan B, if I can’t land a decent remote gig. Since I own a home, I have no idea about logistics. I only know that at any given time, there might be five open positions in Portland that are even vaguely appropriate while in Seattle there are 5x as many (and in the Bay Area 10x).
I’d been toying around with just flat-out quitting my horrible job, so horrible that the “friend” who referred me quit the day I started. But you don’t get unemployment that way. To add insult to injury, my paycheck with taxes taken out was practically the same as what I was getting earlier in the year on unemployment with no taxes withheld (I’m sure I’ll pay the price when tax time comes around). So, being let go last week was a gift from the heavens. I had my final check and vacation pay within 24-hours.
This is a long-winded way of saying that for the near future, I have all the free-time I want and absolutely can’t squander it. I have a million food and travel ideas to research and pitch. I need to get over my social anxiety and start interviewee outreach for The Middle Ages. (I’ve been cold emailing potential freelance clients and that doesn’t bother me. I’ve also started selling crap online and meeting up with Belarussian guys to offload used iPhone 7's, which also doesn’t give me pause in the least.)
By the way, I’m going to be in Singapore, Bangkok, and Saigon in just a week-and-a-half because who needs a steady paycheck to hang out in Southeast Asia eating everything? Never mind that I’m going to have to write an article about Black Friday Amazon advertising while in Thailand. Digital nomad, baby! I managed to score two business-class tickets (lie-flat beds!) for the 16-hour flight from Seattle with points, as well as a few free hotel nights. (I can’t believe at one time I had the patience and fortitude to make the 20-hour trip from NYC in coach.)
I also can’t believe that I didn’t even make it to the second interview with Nerdwallet for a points and rewards writer because I didn’t have enough expertise and experience. Seriously? I was also rejected at the Points Guy for the same reason. Nothing makes me crazier than being too old for most jobs (let me know when you ever see a job ad that requests more than 3-5 years--that’s why I was so disappointed by the job I recently didn’t get--made it to the final three, though--that asked for 15+ years experience) and being told I don’t have enough experience. This very second I received like my sixth automated rejection email in a week for a job I don't even give a shit about.
Oh, and I also have time to catch up on all the reading I haven’t been doing. I love the public library (I also applied to a communications position at a county library system despite the fact that I only worked in PR for like 6 months and have zero management experience. I could use a steady government job--and it pays surprisingly well) for their ebooks. The problem is that the books I put on hold an eternity ago, all became available at the same time. I can’t read four books in 14 days even with no job. “Mostly Dead Things” already expired, I’m making good progress on “Trust Exercise,” which won a National Book Award yesterday, and started on the “Goldfinch” before realizing the damn things is over 700 pages long. I have not downloaded “The Problem With Everything” yet because maybe I should just concentrate on fiction and also it might red-pill me or something.
Sorry for making this a job newsletter when I’d really like to talk more about my blossoming shopping addiction and the asshole who drove a car up on my yard, caused a ton of damage, and left the car while fleeing on foot. Maybe next time.
Inexpertly,
Krista