TheBanyanTree: Calm Before the Storm

[Margaret R. Kramer]

It’s –2.  The eastern sky is orange announcing the imminent sunrise.
Several male cardinals are fighting for position at the feeders.  The wind
is nonexistent.  Frigid air is settling in over the fresh snow cover.  We’re
in a winter storm watch for Sunday/Monday.  The atmosphere will stir up and
hopefully, spit out a big storm and turn this winter into a real winter.

January is a reflective month for me.  It’s a funny, busy month, but it
doesn’t have a goal like Christmas.  It just sort of meanders around.  The
days seem the same.  I go to work out, I go to work, I suffer, and then I go
home.  Sometimes I’m extraordinarily tired and sometimes I’m a live wire of
energy.

And I have issues hanging over my head.  Unresolved, complicated, and icky
issues to deal with.

First, my car is still languishing at the dealership, waiting for some
unknown part so the mechanics can get that new engine in.  Meanwhile, my car
insurance coverage for the rental car is over, so every day I have this
little Jetta, I’m paying $30.  That adds up fast.  I have the check for the
repair, $6,000, from the insurance company in my hot little hand, but the
promise of all that green hasn’t made my missing part appear.

I miss my little black Golf.  I hate driving an automatic.  This car has no
pop, no instant acceleration, and no charisma.

It was time for some action, so I called the dealership one more time and
got the standard answer that they don’t know where the part is.  I called
the insurance company that did the appraisal, because they had a used engine
that we could have put in initially, but the dealership talked me out of it,
to find out what I should do in case this part doesn’t show up.  Then I
called Volkswagen, the company, and talked to a helpful person who’ll try to
find out what’s going on with the part.  He said that they have more “pull”
than dealership to make things happen.

I hate getting mad.  I don’t blow up easily.  But this is getting
ridiculous.  I’m making car payments on a car I don’t have.  I think if
nothing happens this week, then I’m going to suggest to my insurance company
that they should “total out” my car.  Send me the check for that.  If I have
to come up with some additional money to pay off the loan, then I will, and
I’ll buy another car.  I’ll never drive over another ice chunk again.  I
promise.

The other issue is my job search.  It’s difficult to search when working.  I
try to sneak a few internet searches in during my work time.  But it’s hard
to find the time I need to build up network contacts and write up a
customized resume and cover letter for each job I apply for.

But I found the ideal job yesterday on the internet.  It fits me to a tee
and it’s in St. Paul – so no long commute.  I’ll work on my resume this
weekend and send it in and keep my fingers crossed.  I’ll haunt their
doorstep until they hire me.  Again, as with the car, I feel helpless,
because I can’t control my own destiny.

Like the cardinals, I’m at the feeder fighting.  I want a new job and a car
that’s my own.

Margaret R. Kramer
margaretkramer at earthlink.net

http://www.polarispublications.com
Be a star!

http://www.bpwmn.org
Business and Professional Women of Minnesota

A New Year's resolution is something that goes in one year and out the
other.
~Author Unknown