Making Changes In My Life

Making Changes

Job Changes

I'm looking to change my current job situation. My main reason are that (1) I am commuting 82 miles to work each day and (2) the job what not what it was advertised to be.

My first point is that the job is just too far away physically from my home. I and driving at least 165 miles per day driving between work and home. That's about a half tank of gas a day which is about $120 in gas per week! I feel like the gas station is my second home! I know I can't keep this up for much longer.

Why don't I just move closer to my job site? A couple of reasons. First, my current job is a contract position, which could end at any point in time. At this time, there is no indication that I will transition to a direct-hire position. To me that's not a good reason to relocate. The thing that scares me the most is to relocate and then find out afterward that my contract has ended and will not be renewed. That would totally suck! Also, moving is expensive! Finding another place to live, packing, renting a moving van,hiring a moving company, it all cost money! Money I don't have. And it's something you don't do on a whim. Also, I'm not the spring chicken I once was! Carrying boxes, carrying pieces of furniture, and loading / unloading trucks takes a LOT out of me now and I feel EVERY bit of it! 

Secondly, my current job was not the job that was advertised. My experience for the most part has been in Computer Desktop Support (Break/Fix), which the current job was advertised as such. After I was offered the job and came on board, I found out that the job is actually PCI Compliance and had nothing to do with Desktop Support. Another notch in my IT tool belt? Of course, but it was not the job for which I had interviewed. So I'm making the best of the situation by learning PCI Compliance and, in my view, making myself more valuable.

Most of all, I'm not happy with my job. It's just a means to keep the bills paid. The people I work with aren't very friendly (at least towards me). The manager at the time I was hired on (who has moved on to a job with another company) did not train me on the job or at least get me acclimated with the job, so I feel like I'm stumbling along, getting bits and pieces here and there. I've been on jobs where there the training is like a baptism by fire, but to get hired on to a job that turns out to be different than what you interviewed for and not to receive any training whatsoever?  I feel so unprepared and getting no guidance or direction from anyone. I'm am dealing with it for now while looking for another job.

Changes in Where I Worship

This is a very hard but necessary change. I have been attending the same church since living in Louisville. I understand there is politics in everything (Church is not immune), but I have been feeling like I have been stifled for a very long time despite efforts of  being an active member in the church. I have created a website for the church when none existed, I helped run the soundboard at a time when no adult was doing it, and I also sing in the choir. In all these area, I feel like I am not getting any support or guidance. Speaking of guidance, my spiritual walk is no different that when I start a new job. My experience has been a "baptism by fire"; no real guidance, just being thrown out there to figure things out for myself and only told what not to do after I've done it. I've learn a lot from my old church but being a church steeped in Louisville history. there are traditions from the past that are still practiced today. That would be a good thing except that there is no allowance for some of the more modern church practices. My biggest complaint would be that there doesn't seem to be any leadership / organization within the church. The auxiliaries seem to be doing there own thing without the knowledge or approval of the Pastor which has resulted in conflicts among themselves, which is very disheartening.

For the first time yesterday, I attended another church service. Checking out the congregation, I was amazed that a sizable number of them are young and middle-aged adults! Secondly, the children's choir was very good! Thirdly, I was amazed that the entire service lasted for a little over an hour! Service at my old church lasted around 3.5 hours! No chance of me falling asleep during service!

Not everything is without its drawbacks! Since this church has 3 services, you can't help but feel like you're moving through the drive-thru of a a fast food restaurant. Even though the sermon was very powerful and exciting, there's really no time to meditate on the speaker's words and relate the sermon to what is going on in my life, so I'm saying that there's really no time to get in to the Spirit. For the same reason, there is no hooping going on. Even though there is an acknowledgement of visitors, there was no opportunity to speak; again, mainly because of time restraints.It's more like you're herded in, get a word, then herded out.

Not ready to pull my membership just yet! After all , this is just one visit to one church. There are a few other churches in Louisville I have been interested in visiting so I'm officially church-hopping for now.