An Sionnach

Turn your mind away from things which are not permanent. – Buddha

It’s been a long road. 3 months ago I left my job and the beautiful mountains of North Carolina and headed west to the City of Angels. It was this weekend that the wedding was planned. But plans don’t always go as planned. I spent almost two and a half months looking for work, found 1 temp job and a little bit of side work doing networking and web design. After 2 months the budget ran thin, and I found myself staying in a motel while continuing to look for work.

I had a financial milestone set that if I reached was considered as the point of no return. It was either stick out my last resources and tempt another month or head east. The destination was NY, as I had a fail safe to drive limo till I found something better. Along the way I would stop in Denver, visit my sister and check out what possibilities Denver had. Within less than 2 weeks I had 2 job offers on the table. One working night shift at a hospital as a security guard in the ER, and the second as a counselor working with in-crisis teens.

Security guard would have been interesting but I think in the long haul it I would have found it boring, and it was a Thurs – Mon on the third shift. I would have spent my time working with the patients in ER, which would have been rewarding enough. I ended up opting for counselor at the Shiloh House. It will be much like my work at Eckerd Youth Alternatives, minus the outdoor work as well as the 24 hr shifts for 5 to 20 days.

So NY is on hold, as I see where this brings me. Denver is a good city, lots of opportunities, and is still growing. I have family here, there’s the mountains, the city, the snow, and rocking thunderstorms.

Thanks to everyone who has been out there building up contacts and forwarding around my resumes.

Next step the apartment, hmmmmm… or maybe a cabin.

Like Rome, Byzantium, Russia the US will have it’s day. Much like those countries and empires the US is focused on Power and Money, and it forgets about the needs of it’s people. You are all probably wondering what brought this up. Well as many of you know I have been on the job hunt for quite a while when I was out in Los Angeles. I was suppose to get a job at Herbalife, which would have brought me a very nice paycheck, somewhere in the 60,000 to 80,000 area.

Due to circumstances I have left LA and am now in Denver and have been looking at counseling opportunities, much like what I did at Eckerd Youth Alternatives. Not to my surprise they are offering $8.75 – $9.54 /hr at Outward Bound. Clearly people don’t do this for the money. When I worked at Eckerd we were paid for each day that we worked, which was a 24/hr day, and we would work anywhere from 5 days to 21 days straight. There was a lot of personal investment put in, and understandably < 10% of counselors would actually complete their 2 year contract. When we figured out the hourly it came out to be less than $3/hr for a new counselor, as a Senior Counselor you made less than $4/hr.

Where the hell are our priorities when we focus more on things like programming, diets, oil, gaming, Internet, TV, Clothing, etc and just toss our youth aside. I think it’s time we re-evaluate our priorities.

The candidate that can do that will get my vote.

On Fri. July 11th, I will officially be leaving Los Angeles and heading to New York. I will temporarily be staying out on the Island over at my dads. I have already started my job search, and have contacted many of my old acquaintances there. I will be stopping in Denver along the way to visit my sister, her husband and the kids. The trip will take approximately 4 days or so, so I should be arriving in NY on the 15. Based on my budget and time I may swerve North and stop by Raphael’s place up in Buffalo, as of right now will be playing that leg by ear.

If by any chance anyone has any leads in the NY or even Boston area I am all ears. See you all in a few days. Posting will be sparse here to NY. snic snic’.