careers | The Scamp Abroad

The Scamp Quits

Posted on July 26, 2014 by erranteditor

Today I quit my job.

It has been a long time coming (which is a bit sad since I have only been there a year), but the day finally arrived.

Today I quit my job in favor of a career.

My classes at the community college filled, and I will now make my living doing something I love instead of just something that allows me to barely scrape by and pay my bills.

I’m not really a quitter, so it feels strange to quit a job, but it served its purpose, and now I no longer have to put up with the Bitchy Bitty Brigade. I know that I won’t be there to see those women get their comeuppance, but I would like to think that the universe will right that environment soon enough.

The good news is: it is no longer my problem.

Summer school has finally finished. I survived mostly intact.

The qualifying exam is in 6 days. I wish I had done some more studying, but I think I will be able to pass.

Then I have the first two weeks I have had in almost two years.

The Scamp and Construction

Posted on May 1, 2014 by erranteditor

Right now it seems like everything in my life is under construction. I live about 30 minutes from the library, and there are four routes (well, three, because I don’t want to get on the freeway at 7:30 am) that I can take to get there. I used to take a new route everyday just to keep myself from getting bored. In March my favorite route was closed to fix some pipes in the street.

The best part of that? It is closed for the next two years! I will just about in the defense stage of my dissertation before the road is open again!

Okay, not a big deal, I still have two more routes to work.

Wrong.

Route three was quickly axed because it takes more than 30 minutes to get to work with trains and traffic, so I gave it up so I could be on time to work and still sleep in a little bit. One route left.

For the last few weeks, everything has been great with that route. I’m getting to work on time, there is no crazy confusing detour, and I’ve only waited for the train to cross once.

Now there is a sign on the main street I take on my last remaining route that is advertising a construction project and warning of possible delays.

Seriously?

To top it off, the City of Walnut has started a construction project on the street in front of the library.

Shoot me now.

If I have to resort to the freeway to get to work, I will quit my job early and sign up for sugardaddies.com.

I’m not even kidding.

The only upside to all of this is that I will not have to be at the library much longer (fingers crossed that my classes at the college don’t get cancelled again) and some of the routes will be open again within the next month. All of the construction also allows me to catch up on all the podcasts I haven’t had the time to listen to lately. Adam Carolla ranting about traffic, people, and the general lack of common sense in the world makes me feel a little better about starting my day in traffic.

The roads in the city are not the only things under construction. I have friends getting married, friends getting ready to have babies, and friends getting ready to make big moves and adult decisions. All of them are under construction for the better.

I am doing none of those things, although, I guess you could say I am under construction. I’m trying to rebuild myself into Kim 2.0 (except, I think I am version 2.0 now, so it is more like 2.5….or 4.0?). It is a slow process. There are no blueprints, no plans, and I am not sure I even have any tools. Luckily the second semester of the program is winding down and I will have a little bit of time before the third semester starts to take a breath, find my center, and work on getting ready for the comprehensive exam in August.