After being laid off 4 years ago and after about 2 years of no unemployment benefits which made me the sole breadwinner, a second pay check is now coming in! While Big A searches for that ever elusive graphic design job, he did find a job working for one of the 'Big 3' as a test driver. This job is considered a temporary job and could end at some time (during which he could then always be called back), but in the meantime, it's a lovely feeling to have the funds to get caught back up on things and perhaps get us back on level ground.
This past Friday, his first full 2 week pay check was direct deposited and after checking the bank account online that morning, I skipped off to work with a lighter weight on my shoulders. Today, Big A even went along with me to my weekly free cooking class at Williams-Sonoma (granted, the topic was 'Homemade Ice Cream') and we did a little mall shopping for the first time in what feels like forever. To keep the strange and wondrous feeling alive, we paid cash for the external hard drive that we purchased at the Apple store.
There is one drawback - we are still living with one car which we have made work since he is working 3rd shift and I was able to move my start time at work back a little bit. When he gets home, I 'tag' him, climb into the car and head into work as he heads to bed.
While I have a job application floating out there for which I have interviewed for and he keeps applying to graphic design jobs, hopefully one day very soon we will be back to 'normal'. That light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter.
6 comments:
Good thoughts and prayers directed your way. I ache for all those in similar positions and continue to hope there's some respite near at hand.
Cheers.
Awesome! A little extra money never hurts.
A test driver? Does that involve 'burning rubber' and lots of smoke coming from the wheel wells? Somehow I have a suspicion that it involves just making sure everything functions on the way to the shipping lot.
My dream back in high school was to work for the big three designing new cars. That was before I understood what bureaucracy and red tape were so now I'm kind of glad it didn't happen but a test driver sounds cool.
R - Thank you! I still count myself lucky that the only residue is a credit card balance that needs to be cleared compared to a lot of people's unemployment horror stories.
Ed - Sort of. There are many types of courses at this 40,000 acre area (off road, an oval that resembles the Indy 500, a steep incline, etc.) and they have to put the car of the day through a particular course so many times and make notes on its pros and cons both as it drives and handles these courses and even down to things like the dashboard layout. The cars are usually ones that have yet to be released and still in the early phase or it can be a completed and released car from another car company that they buy off the lot and test. He cant talk about some things in regards to the job but I keep telling him that he needs to start blogging again about his experience at least regarding the other people that work the 3rd shift.
Excellent, I think I would like a job like that! My biggest gripe with automobiles these days is that there appears to be no thought on allowing a homeowner with a set of small ramps being able to change the oil filter. My wife's CR-V is darn near impossible to get at even when over the pit at the local oil changing place by people who do this all day long much less me attempting to do it at home.
You need to tell Big A to smile because you never know when his picture will be taken by some guy hiding in the bushes with a ginormous telephoto lens and posting his picture in the next Car & Driver cars of the future section.
I hadn't thought of the photo. That would be funny to see a nighttime photo of the car and the driver and the driver is wearing a Detroit Tigers hat and eating a Fiber One bar. :-)
Glad to hear the news!
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