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Some stuff

A few things have been weighing on my mind lately. Most notable has been the hub's job. The company he has worked for for more than 7 years has not been doing well for, well, years. Paychecks have been late for at least a year or two. His salary was cut long before that, never to be brought back. And, even though the economy is better than it was earlier this decade, it still is not great, thus keeping the hubs at that job. Still, we both knew the biggest advantage of his job was that he got to work from home. Being able to get out of bed just before your starting time, particularly when you are not a morning person, is pretty great. Not having to sit in traffic most days, also pretty great. And being able to take a late lunch so you can get your kid from school and bring her back home, saving on after-school care, also pretty darn good.

J will be 13 at the end of the summer. We had decided that we were going to transition her to staying by herself by letting her do that 2 or 3 days a week, knowing that B would be home most of the time (he does site visits most weeks, for a couple of hours at a time). The place she has gone to the past 3 summers goes up to age 11, for some odd reason (to me), but they were fine with letting her come back a final summer.

So we had a plan.

And then things changed.

Another company is buying out a portion of the company B currently works for. This company is large and established, so it is mostly a good thing. If nothing else, I am 99.9% sure he will be paid on time!

But B will now have to go into an office. Fortunately, the office is only about 10 minutes away. But this muddies the waters of our summer plans. And it means B can no longer get J after school and bring her back home. Even if this company would let him take lunch at 2:30 or 3, it would take his entire lunch hour to get her, bring her home, and then come back to work. And, unfortunately, B won't have health insurance until August. But even then, he will pay quite a bit more than what he paid at his current (now former) job. So he will go on my plan, which will mean about $200 less in my monthly pay. :-(  And that does not even include dental and eye, for which J and I were on his plan, and they were much cheaper. And whereas he had to be "on call" 1/4 weeks a month (he had to answer help calls 24/7), this new job will require that 2/4 weeks, and this time, he will have to drive places after normal work hours.

So, as is so often the case, it feels like two steps forward and two steps back.

But, looking on the bright side, as I try to do, change is inevitable, and sometimes good. This could turn out to be a good job opportunity, with growth. And perhaps there are other advantages I am not even realizing. I sure hope so.

My dad said to me years ago, whatever decision you make, you will make it the right one. So we will make it the right one. Right?

Now let's go Pens!

Comments

chris h. said…
Transitions like these are so hard -- but look how it all worked out after your transition from TF. Staying home for a while, teaching, now at Pitt -- they seemed to happen at the right time. I agree with your dad -- you will make it work for the better.
Facie said…
Chris: The first week was the most up and down week for B. He actually went in to quit one day for a number of reasons. But things have changed for the better, it seems, so, again, he is planning to try for awhile.

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