Work

On Tuesday, I began working full-time.  The last time I held a full-time job was May 1997.  We moved from New York at the beginning of June 1997, and I haven't had a "real" job since then.  That's over twenty years.  I was driven to apply for work due to our lack of income and the lawsuit (which I can't talk about here), and was so grateful to get a job.  I don't want to work outside our home, I don't want to be gone all day, and I don't want to have to be the breadwinner in the family, but needs must.  The Lord very kindly dropped a job in my lap with little effort on my part, and I truly see it as a blessing.  Like the people of Alma, we are in bondage, a situation not of our making.  We've been trying to do good, but have found ourselves unable to work freely and move forward free of oppression.  While Heavenly Father has not delivered us from bondage yet, he has made our burdens light and given me work.

I'm working for the 2020 Census and was hired as an Office Operations Supervisor (OOS).  I'm making $19/hour (big money!) and so far have done virtually nothing but training.  I've watched government training videos, I have sat in training classes learning how to work the computer system, and I've read government training manuals.  Talk about a gripping read.  On Friday, day four of training, I was having a hard time staying awake and concentrating on what I was reading, so I went and walked circles in the conference room while reading the manual.  If I had questions or wanted to look at a form on the computer, I would go back to my desk.  But mostly I walked.  I've spent 30 of the 32 hours I've worked doing training.  I hope this coming week is better, but I'm not sure it will be.  Apparently I'm going to be the MQAC OOS, the Mobile Questionnaire Assistance Coordinator, or something like that.  No one knows exactly what I'm going to be doing, and it probably won't actually start until the Census officially begins on April 1.  That means, I've likely got weeks to do little or nothing.  It's not looking like it will be a super exciting job, but it's something.

 

Two pictures from my online training.

On the left, a "mechanic" indicating that I should keep my car is good repair if I'm using it for Census work.

Look at those beautiful hands.  

They've never seen the underside of an automobile.

But even so, I'd take my car to him.

Cuz he's hot.

On the right, an OOS responding to an enumerator's call for assistance.

Clearly, she's irritated at having to deal with some problem in the field.

I'm not sure what they're trying to convey here.

Should I be rolling my eyes when those I supervise call?

Do I really have to field these calls?

Was this the very best picture they could get of this woman?

That's easily two full inches of paper I read through on Friday afternoon.

Reading it left me looking like the woman pictured above.

The people I work with are nice.  Quite a few of them are veterans, as the Census Bureau gives hiring preference to veterans.  There are more men than women, but I think they will all be pleasant to work with.  I've tried really hard to be friendly and learn everyone's name.  I was delighted to walk in the first day (Tuesday) and see Mark Bigelow, a man in our stake who has a daughter Brandt's age and who bikes regularly with Spencer Magleby.  It was a treat to have a friendly face and kind word first thing.  I hope it will all pick up soon, that I'll pick it up soon, and that as soon as the Census is over, I can be done working for another 20+ years because our court case will have been settled.

I'm praying that I won't have to work anymore after this job finishes, but I'm also applying for other positions that look like something I could both do and enjoy.  If I want something better, I'm willing to work for that, looking for jobs, submitting applications, and being hopeful.  I wish the future were more clear, that when God gives me reassurance it will all be fine, I could see what that "fine" would look like.  Ah well!  That's how we live by faith.