Skip to main content

Warrior Wednesday - Fighting for Freedom

[caption id="attachment_11040" align="alignright" width="300"]sword Image created using Bitmoji[/caption]

It's really hard to feel free when you're in the position I am right now. I suppose I have some options, but many of them have things to weigh carefully. Financially, I need to make a serious change if I don't get a regular job soon. I'm at risk of losing my home.

It's not that I don't have desirable skills. There is one particular skill that is making it difficult for me. Which one? I don't speak enough French. I'm learning it, but I mostly know basic etiquette and swears. One of those is helpful for work.

I'm waiting to hear on the results of a job interview.

Options if I don't get the job:

  1. Drive Uber: I'm already delivering food through them, but delivering people makes more money. There are drawbacks. One being that I don't love driving enough to make it my main career. The increase in car maintenance costs needs to be considered. If something happens to my car, I'm back to having trouble paying my mortgage. But the schedule is flexible, which is great for writing. The varied clientele could be inspiring for a story. I could end up working less to pay my expenses. Note: I also recently applied to another type of delivery service that pays more.

  2. Relocate: I could apply to jobs in another part of the country. Peterborough would be my first choice because it's closer to my family, closer to Toronto (a major film hub in Canada), and there may be more English speakers and less of a need to be bilingual. Also, I really like the dojo there. I could even get back into karate as they do that too. But moving means selling my condo. It needs a bit of work before I can really do that. It also means not seeing my movie club friends much, missing my little buddy, and his sister. I'd miss my dojo too, but I know I'll see them eventually at a seminar at least. But I could go through all the work of moving again to end up in the same position. It feels like regardless this French issue will continue to pop up in my life. Selling includes extra costs like legal fees that would eat into any equity I've accumulated. Moving to Peterborough would put me closer to my family. My parents are in their mid-seventies, so it could become important to be closer to them.


I feel like if my car was paid off, everything would be easier. I'm feeling pulled in a couple of directions and I don't know what the answer is for me. On the one hand, one of the options has a lot of potential, but on the other, am I done with Ottawa? The only thing I know is that I can't stay in this limbo state forever. What about the other things I'm already working on here? I think some could be done from anywhere. I'm less worried about the cost of moving than I am about the possibility that no one will buy my condo. That could put me in a worse position.

I think if I don't hear anything by the end of this week, I'm going to try option 1. Or maybe I should just set that in motion now via email...

The idea of getting back to karate is tantalizing. My life is rather busy for it right now though.

I've hardly been able to write lately :(

I really don't know what the right decision is on this. I think I can try option 1 for a bit, see if I can make enough doing that to support myself, and if not, go for option 2. I may try both and see what happens.

R~
Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

2020 Vision

Mostly, I’ve been planning for the new year, but I discovered I know Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. It was a recollection under the influence that brought this to light. I also discovered I still suck at drawing, but I’m okay with that. I used to think I had to be good at everything, and I’ve realized that’s just not so. Some friends and I recently hit up a local board game pub. It was a pretty fun night. The first game was Balderdash and I was terrible at it. Because I was the writer in the group, some of my friends thought I should be more embarrassed about it and hide the fact that I don’t spend all my free time learning advanced vocabulary. But I’m not upset about it. Why? Two reasons: 1. I now know what I don’t know. 2. If one takes a close look at the top selling novels on the market, the level of the language used is not the level of many of the words in Balderdash. Not that I’m comparing my own work to those, but audience is what matters in writing. To me, it is far better to e...
Read more

Fortifying Friday - Rejection

Yesterday, I received my first rejection from an agent. It stung. It wasn't that it was bad. It was worded in a way that it may have even been personally written. Regardless, rejection never feels good unless you were secretly hoping to stay home and do nothing when a friend made plans with you. Then it feels great! I might be an introvert ;) Anyway, it hurts a bit extra when you have other things going on. Between the worries of the state of the world and being unemployed, it felt much like being kicked while I was already down. The agent said she couldn't connect with my book though she really wanted to. She also said not to take her rejection as any kind of sign that I should give up. It was nice as far as rejections go. So, I lay there for a bit. Then I let my friends know via social media. Several said that I had hit a milestone and I should try to collect as many as possible this year. Rejections, they said, were a badge of honour awarded for putting myself out there. See...
Read more

Thoughtful Thursday - Dental Access

I haven't made use of it yet as I discovered it only this week, but there are free dental screenings in Ottawa for people who have a low income. I'm not sure what happens at these things, but I imagine they're rather like the once or twice yearly visits we had in grade school from the health unit where they checked our teeth. Anyway, I thought I'd mention that in case anyone is in need. There is a schedule with the locations listed and I'm guessing it's hard to get there early enough to get seen, but I'll check it out soon. I've been using dental products that are supposed to repair and whiten. I'm unsure they are working, but I figured they were worth a try. Also, I hear if you add activated charcoal to your toothbrush before the toothpaste, it helps whiten too. It makes a hell of a mess, but I tried it. I think it might take a while to whiten, but my teeth are definitely cleaner, so I think it really does help with plaque. Activated charcoal is als...
Read more