I've got some good news, bad news, and probably some in between and yet to be determined news.
Where to start?
Maybe some bad news first. I'm going to end up bouncing back and forth, regardless, just because some things tend to bring both good and bad news.
Bad News
I worked two days this week—Monday and today. Total of a little over 14 hours between the two days.
Good News
I guess you can call this good news. I might still qualify for the federally aided pandemic relief unemployment benefits, which would be nice, since I've yet to work more than 25 hours since going back and June's paycheck reflected that.
So, we'll see how that goes.
More Good News
I was told today that starting Monday, we'll try to get back into our normal routine of collecting machines. Not every place has opened up or had a whole lot of dining in yet, but I am supposed to make some rounds, maybe combine some routes, along with the ATMs I will undoubtedly need to fill.
It sounds like the first counties to get into our version of Phase One in Oregon now have the opportunity to move into Phase Two, so essentially loosening of restrictions continue. That's happening even as the number of cases of COVID-19 have shot back up. Since the few major metropolitan areas there are in Oregon all saw sizable protests from last week to this one, I'm wondering what that will do to the counts, and whether it will matter as much as it did the first time around.
Side note: It doesn't seem to matter nearly as much anymore. Most places I go to, employees are wearing masks and gloves, but not all places, and patrons to the establishment are the least likely to be wearing either.
At any rate, as things continue to progress, that will mean more work.
Bad News
My youngest son, who recently finished an online Master's Degree in Education has been working as a temporary Spanish teacher at a nearby high school. The idea was for him to finish out the rest of the school year, albeit from home, and apply when the position came open. He's done that and was actually accepted.
That's all good news. The bad news is, because of the shutdown, like many other state governments, I'm sure, Oregon will see a shortfall in revenue of $3 billion (that's what I last heard). This if the federal government doesn't come through with a bailout. The House passed a bill a couple of weeks ago or so that includes, among many other things, relief to the states. I haven't heard anything about it lately, but it was supposed to be dead on arrival in the Senate because of everything else it includes.
Unlike the federal government, states have to balance their budgets every year. So, while that's in limbo, so are the programs and departments the money is suppose to support.
How this relates to my son is that funding for public schools come from the state, and he's already been told by the administration of the high school that there's a hiring freeze, which I guess means even though he's been approved to work in September as a permanent full-time teacher, it's not going to happen now unless there's money for it.
Language classes are generally classified as electives, and therefore, are among the first programs to be axed if there are monetary shortfalls.
Since there has been a fair amount of uncertainty throughout this entire process, my son has been applying for other teaching jobs wherever they pop up. Quite a few have been out of state, as well as around Oregon. So far, nothing aside from his current job has come of it.
Until now.
Good News
I stumbled in on a pre-interview conversation last Friday between my son and the principal of a high school he'd applied to a while ago. On Monday this week, he was told that they wanted to hold another interview with him today, which would include the vice principals, too.
Well, that interview happened, and apparently, after it was over, they offered him the job. After talking it over with his wife, he's decided to accept.
Bad News
That means he, his wife, and our two grandchildren will be moving. That in and of itself isn't the bad news per se—it will be good for them and us when they get their own place so we can both be out of each others' hair for longer than a few hours at a time.
The bad news is, the job is in South Carolina, which is about as far away as you can get from here, and still be in the continental United States.
His wife has family much closer to there than here, and so she's excited. It would have been nice if he could have found something that sat more between us and her parents, rather than overshooting them, too, but that didn't happen.
More Bad News
Since I wasn't even supposed to know about any of this, that's put me in a rather unenviable position. He's been rejected a number of times, more than I even know for sure, and so I guess that's meant they wanted to keep things quiet until he was actually accepted, which kind of feels a little late, but I'm just the Grandpa.
At any rate, I was sworn to secrecy, so I didn't tell my wife any of this was going on. I thought she knew he had been applying all this time, anyway, but she didn't. So, she found out all about it today, after it was a done deal.
Now I'm wishing I hadn't kept the secret. She's been taking it pretty hard.
She didn't have to work today, which was probably good, but after she found out, she basically didn't accomplish very much the rest of the day. Which isn't so bad, either, because it's good for her to rest, but the way she's feeling isn't good, either.
I think next time I find out something, I'm going to tell her. I find all of this secrecy quite dumb, even if nothing comes of it. All this time, my wife's been thinking they were going to be living with us for at least another year, and now they're planning to be gone by the first week of August, if that timetable doesn't move up. They'll probably spring any changes about that on us last minute, too, unless I manage to come in on a conversation again.
Good News
I'm happy for him. To have known him as a student when he was younger, you might have wondered where he might end up. He just wasn't that great of a student. But then he went on a mission, learned Japanese, got interested in an assortment of languages, came back and went to school, finished his degrees, passed his certifications and he's making things happen.
I can't be happier as a father that he's been opening doors and succeeding at walking through them.
I just hope he knows what he's walking into.
Interlude
The daughter-in-law wanted to talk about the aspects of buying a home, but decided to postpone it for another time. I'm not sure if that's the best thing to do right off the bat, but I guess it will all come down to what they can afford. I don't know if this is universal, but the couple of times we've done home loans the bank asked for two years worth of tax returns to determine if the income to debt ratio could be met. I think the upper limit is 30-35%.
The last time we did anything was about three years ago when we refinanced.
I'm not sure what they're going to need as a down, either. I doubt they have 20% or whatever it is. There might still be some first time home buyer programs out there for all I know.
To Be Determined
A cross country move is going to include some logistics. They'll be closer to where her parents live, but still a good six to seven hours away. It wouldn't make sense for him to commute more than an hour each way, and I would imagine they should be be able to get closer than that.
Their daughter will be three by the time they move, while their youngest just turned one. That's a long way to go for two young ones. I don't know if they've talked about how they're going to do this, but it's just under 3,000 miles where the high school is, and according to the map, it will take 45 hours to get there. If it were just the two of them, they could conceivably do it in four days. With the two young ones, I'll be surprised if it doesn't take at least six, and possibly up to eight.
They've already asked my wife, I'm told, to go with them, but she can't get the time off now. She has to put in her vacation months in advance for anything more than just a day or two. She already has a week coming in July, and then three weeks in September, but she's planning to visit family in Mexico.
With the COVID-19 lockdowns, and Mexico coming into it later along with South America, we're not even sure what it's going to look like by then as far as travel goes.
So, who knows, maybe we'll be taking a trip to South Carolina in September instead.
The Impetus
The last time we moved, over 15 years ago now, my wife was the one who wanted it to happen. I didn't think we could afford it, but I didn't bother to see what we could be preapproved for until she insisted, so we might have been able to move earlier. As it was, it came at the best time, anyway.
While we still don't know where are oldest son and his family are going to be yet (they're still with his in-laws in the same town, coincidentally, where the youngest son has been teaching), his wife, apparently, has been looking for somewhere to live back in Eastern Idaho, where they both swore off living again. That just happens to be where all four (both sons and their wives) attended college.
Who knows what will come of that. The youngest son's moving might, however, serve as the catalyst for us to actually move, after talking about it for several years.
Problem still would be where. If the older son and his family stay put, to be about halfway between the two sons would put us somewhere in Northern Kansas, give or take. I can't say that's the last place I would want to live, but it's not been on the radar at all. I looked into Texas as a relocation destination several years ago, which would be kind of halfway, but I don't think we'll end up there.
Truth is, though, no one knows what's going to happen with this job the youngest son is taking. We don't know if he's going to like it, if they'll end up moving again, and we don't know what the older son and family will do. Plus, I still have my father and two sisters to consider, and my wife has family living in California that we've been able to go see thanks to our relative proximity. Moving east would probably change that, too.
So, who knows. Until it happens, we'll probably end up staying here for a few more years.
Such Is Life
One thing seems certain: seeing the grandchildren who have been living with us for nearly three years is going to get a whole lot harder and more expensive to do.
I don't know if this is why I've been feeling I need to put my financial life in order and find a way to work from anywhere while making much more, but having the freedom to take off when we want to visit family is at least one good reason for it.
I told my sons several years ago that we should enjoy the times we have together because as life goes on, the opportunities to do so are bound to get fewer and farther between. I told them that before either were married. Little did I know they would both move back to the area, and one of them end up living with us.
As always seems to be the case, my timing was a little off.
For once, I'm glad it was.
All images source—Pixabay
I taught in Portland for a few years and to have been hired for a teaching job the year before is indeed good news for your son. Portland Public Schools likes to wait until the absolute last second to tell you if you have been hired or not. (Like the week before schools starts.) So he has that going for him. :)
Also, now it will be a lot easier to take the grandchildren to Disneyworld.
Good luck to you and your family in this ever changing journey of life.
Hey, @doctorcrypto.
He's had some pretty decent luck with getting hired with some lead time so far. I thought maybe that's the way district's did it. I guess I'm not surprised by anything Portland does or doesn't do, though. :)
re: Disneyworld
Well, with the other grandparents closer, I don't think we'll end up being the first ones to take them there. Disneyland is closer for us here, anyway. So, we'll see. The way things work, we'll find out after they're already there.
Hmm, a peppering of good and bad news, but the bad news isn't bad per se, just news that will force some changes...Right? Yeah, maybe having to travel to see each other is costly, but the job is there and life moves on I guess. It's just a new chapter and I'm sure you will work it out the best you can.
I'm hoping you manage to qualify for some government assistance mate, it's been tough I'm sure, as it has been for some who have failed to qualify here and other places. It's all crazy, but you have each other and whilst that may not pay the bills, it is meaningful, even despite the soon-to-be additional distance.
Thanks for spacing out the bad with good which kind of balanced it out for me, and I suppose you. I hope your wife comes to terms with the news and like you said, life moves on and opportunities have to be taken whilst they are there.
Have a great weekend.
Hey, @galenkp.
I suppose in the end it's possible that the good news and bad news was mostly thematic—my way of telling the story. There's always a mixture of pros and cons, positive and negative, to many of life's experiences and changes.
I don't know if that's exactly where the job is—he was going to apply for a job with one of the local high school's too, but I'm not sure if he followed through or not.
So, anyway, this is the first one to come through, and even though I think it's quite possible his current job might have sorted out, I think it's what the daughter-in-law wants.
At this stage in the game, I don't know if either of them has truly thought it all the way through, or even part of the way through. Good news is, I don't have to figure it out for them, either, though I probably will end up involved to some degree. :)
re: government assistance
I appreciate that. I wish things had not locked down to the point I was laid off for two months, with a slow reboot to it all, and I dislike not having a whit of control or say over it, other than having a different means of earning income that would not be subject to the whims of those who want and maintain power.
I'm not sure what that revenue stream is, but when I do, I'll be sure to let you all know. :)
re: my wife
I think it's going to get worse before it gets better in her case, but thanks again for the sentiment.
re: weekend
I'm probably going to spend at least an hour or so tomorrow replacing the temperature pressure valve in our shower, so woohoo for that! :)
Life always seems to have many twists and turns and despite our efforts to shape and control it we are largely passengers at times. I hope things work out for you guys as it's been tough, and you deserve a break. I'm sure things will improve and, whilst they may not look exactly as you'd like them to, you'll work through it and craft a life that you can work with.
An exciting weekend of pressure-value replacement for you it seems...
Nah. Not very exciting at all. Except for taking out one screw too many, it went actually better than I remembered. The first time around took hours over multiple days. This time, about an hour, simply because we don't appear to have any water shut off valves for the showers—everything else has them—other than the main at the street. Couldn't even find one on the water heater, which doesn't seem right.
Anyway, it's fixed.
re: twists and turns
Well, we've been making it through to this point. I don't see why we can't moving forward. If the world doesn't blow itself apart from the insanity, that is. :)
The world seems to be going crazy right now huh? I'll be honest, I try to insulate from it as much as possible as I don't see there's much to take away that will make my life any better. I keep apprised of happenings, and move on living my life. The hate violence being actively promoted to protest hate and violence has me feeling a little dubious about the true motives, and endgames. Same with the virus really.
I'm not sure will lead. It's a debacle really, but I'm not surprised as most things are when humans are concerned. We burn brightly at times, but mostly quite dimly.
I've seen people denigrate others , even here in hive, for saying all lives matter as if it's racist. If I recall correctly we are all humans, and all matter, but maybe I'm wrong.
Anyway, I've said enough...I better go. I mean I'm brownish in colour, and so I clearly I don't matter.
It's crazy mate...So mad.
I'm glad I'm not the only one thinking there's got to be more to it.
There is definitely something called COVID-19, and there's definitely hate still in the world, and some of it may be racist, though most of it probably falls under some other category. No one cares, though. You're either for or against. No happy mediums, no layers, don't try to follow the facts—if that's even possible.
I don't know how police officers are trained, but aside from instances where its apparent that excessive force is being used, they also need to be trained in optics, because with so many people running around with cameras in their phones, virtually anything they do that goes beyond being super nice is going to look bad to someone.
Especially, if there's lead up and provocation missing from the video, either because it doesn't exist or because someone conveniently left that part out.
I don't know how people can condone violence and destruction while basically condemning it. There may be some agent provocateurs among these groups, and if so, that's another added dimension to it. But the battles raging over all forms of media has increased. I don't know how hearts and minds are supposed to be changed here, when essentially people are demanding submission.
I have friends who are cops, male and female. They are good ones as far as air know, but I'm sure there are bad ones. It's a position of authority and power and the wrong people in the job will cause an abuse of that power. It has always been that way for humans. Generally they Dona good job though; It is a difficult job and whilst it's easy for us to judge, we need to remember that they are just as human as we are, just as susceptible to fault and failure.
This hate-dialogue and ethos being promoted now is doing nothing but creating more division. I will never respect a peaceful protester, or the message, when that person smashes the window of a shop and steals some Nike's, or holds a sign saying kill cops. Yes, it's not all of them, I know, but it's enough...Just like not all cops are bad, but the few taint the many. It's the same thing, exactly.
I've got my thoughts and opinions on the matter, quite strong ones, but I keep them to myself. I've been a victim of racism most of my life but never turned it into a brown dude against a white dude...I always knew that someone being racist to me was that person being that way, not every white person.
Anyway, it's a mad world and humans are a crazy, egotistical, greedy, hubris-loaded and selfish animal...And we can see all of that unfolding before our eyes right now...And will again.
Scattered to the four winds, I think your daughter in law has it right though, if they can find a small starter home, that would be great. Problem is quick turnarounds if he can not stand the job, work environment does make a difference. If they are able to give it six months, and then know and feel secure in the job and work, then house hunting should be on the table. A lease to buy option or something like that would be a good start on a first home. It gives the new home owner a chance to see if they want the hassle and the pain in the ass at times of maintaining a house.
Hey, @bashadow.
I agree. Six months of renting somewhere might be better. The daughter-in-law seems to think they would have to lease for a year, but then, that's how long the school year would be, anyway. So I don't know. It's been a while since we've rented. :)
I just know jumping into a home is not necessarily the best thing, especially if you don't know what you're doing, don't know the area, so on and so on. Somehow, my knowledge (whenever I may end up giving it) is supposed to be all they need. :)
Aw, it's okay. I'm glad that he has options, and one way or another, it will work out. The problem is, if things get rough, I don't know if her parents will be in a position to help, and in our case, they'll be on the other side of the country, so what we'll be able to do will be more limited than if they launched somewhere closer.
Yep, 4 to 6 days away is not much fun. I am sure they will be okay. They are young and I don't know if they have ever experienced humidity and heat, and hurricanes, it does take awhile to acclimate to new climates at least S. Carolina is not to bad of a climate, at least it wasn't when I was there for a short time.
It does get fairly humid here, just not as much during the summer. We shall see. As far as hurricanes go, that will definitely be a new experience.
Weather, it doesn't matter whether or not you like it weather is going to happen. I've been chased by tornadoes, been 6 stories up during a volcanic earthquake and eruption, been in Hurricanes, and falling ash from volcanoes, had to wait for road to be cleared because of snow, nearly passed out from heat stroke, and have had bad bad sunburns, I even got snowed in once. So much variety to weather, always some thing interesting. But I really really did not like Alabama at all, I don't understand what sane person would want to live somewhere that when in rains you need to decide how you want to get wet, from the outside in or the inside out. There humidity was awful, that is one place I would never be able to acclimate to.
That's a lot of weather.
Flooding and ice are generally as bad as it could get here, and we haven't really had either for years. Probably about due.
I've heard the east coast can get pretty bad in the summer time as far as humidity goes. I guess we'll see how that works out for them.
Well, overall, Muchas Felicidades for him!!
It is just starting a new life and that is always challenging in a way but also interesting. California is probably one of the best areas in the country for a Spanish teacher. Plus, you will have an excuse to go down there every once in a while :)
Hey, @santigs.
re: muchas felicidades
Gracias!
re: California
Well, now, this new job is in South Carolina, so that's a little farther away. But you're right, we'd be down there on a regular basis. In fact, my wife would probably want us to move down there again. :)
Oh!, I was still sleepy and confused Carolina by California.
But that's even better news!
A friend of mine and his wife own one of the best Spanish Restaurants in the country, located in Ashville, NC.
I recommend you to try it if you have a chance when you visit your son's family.
Curate Restaurant
That's sounds good. I'm not sure how far away it will be from where they'll be located, but I've never really had authentic Spanish food before, and I would love to try it.
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