So, What’s up with Jaymen?

In response to all the feverish inquiries as to my disappearance from the blog (okay, I imagine someone might have wondered about it), here’s the skinny on what’s been going down in our neck of the woods.

First, I no longer have a job. I won’t go into the sordid details but the situation wasn’t as bad as it could have been. On the other hand, it wasn’t as good, either. I’ve been poring over the want ads in newspapers and online but, well, Louisiana isn’t exactly the pinnacle of the information technology industry and network admin/support jobs are at a premium. I’ve been running all over Louisiana (except the northeast – we’re hoping to move closer to family, not further) applying for jobs. I currently have about three companies showing some interest but that’s about as far as it’s gotten. And if I don’t find something pretty soon, we’ll be standing in line at the local soup kitchen.

Second, a week after my “layoff”, I passed my final test. I would say that I’m ecstatic but Prometric has yet to publish the results to Microsoft’s Partnering database. So, the best I can say is that I’m an undercover MCSE. Also, today I just noticed this little tidbit on my Microsoft transcript: “Microsoft Certified Non-Professional”. What the heck does that mean? I don’t know, and neither does Google. I found mention of it on a newsgroup, but that was the only mention I’ve seen thus far and the last message was from some guy on the Microsoft Learning Team saying he’d look into it.

So, pretty much all my time has been spent studying for that last test and, after that, looking for jobs. Hey, at this point I’d dig ditches if it would pay the bills.

You know, I have to say it’s pretty depressing to lose your job. I wouldn’t mind it so much if we didn’t have so many bills hanging over our head, but creditors aren’t always very friendly. I’ve really had to fight to keep from falling into bleak despair.

I can’t even sit back and relax because I’m so worked up about cover letters, rewriting resumes, and figuring out where else to look. Monster? Been there. CareerBuilder? We’re old friends. HotJobs? Every day. Federal and state civil service? I could search them blindfolded.

I talked to a priest about it and he said to pray that A) God helps us deal with it, and B) that He opens another door. I’ve since added C) that He opens our eyes to what He makes available and ensures that we are humble and courageous enough to use whatever opportunity He may give us. If any of you are of the praying variety, we’d sure appreciate it if you’d mention us.

If I have to, I’ll look out of state. I wouldn’t mind leaving Louisiana that much but we were really hoping to move closer to our parents. There’s nothing like two doting grandmothers to watch over your kid when you need a break. Julie has siblings scattered around three other states so those are possibilities, just not our first choice.

I’m trying to look on the bright side of things. I can’t really say that I was happy at my last job. I liked some of my coworkers and some of my duties and, of course, it paid the bills. So maybe this is an enforced opportunity to change jobs, maybe even careers. There’s something about staring at computer screens all day long that can just wear a person down. Were I to find another career that could keep the creditors away and me happy, I’d jump into it in a New York second.

So that’s where we are, and that’s where I’ve been. Julie’s really been a trooper and Jude has really been a pooper (but that’s entirely normal). At this point I’m just going through the motions and hoping something turns up. We all are.