Resoluted in 2013

I have had such a good year.  The biggest and most important thing about my year is I changed jobs (http://tempestinapot.blogspot.com/2013/04/tempest-in-hoosegow.html)!  My new life away from my previous job has been so much better.  I feel again like there may be hope for me yet, that I found this hope while working for a jail is a little surprising.  Yet, working behind bars is so much better than working with books.  My new job has come with challenges, but as I face each one and work towards solutions I like my job even more.  Now when I pass out on my futon at night it is from exhaustion, not depression.  Epic win on that one.

On the epic fail list is a change in my social circle.  This change has been painful, but it has allowed me to throw myself into succeeding at my new job.  These two changes have also given me back my evenings and allowed me more time to spend with my beautiful wife.

Speaking of my beautiful wife, we are married in way more states then we were last year.  The end of DOMA has opened so many doors for our relationship to be legally recognized as what it is, a marriage.  Also both of our jobs recognizes us as married.  Epic win again!  I am expecting next year to be more epic wins for equality.

I reviewed my resolutions from last year (http://tempestinapot.blogspot.com/2013/01/resolute.html) and find on this point I am going to give myself a sort of win. I did write this year.  In fact I took the NaBloPoMo challenge to blog everyday in the month of November.  I decided to write about falling in love with Natalie back in the day.  So many of you said so many nice things about our story, thank you.  However, I wish I would have written more this year. 

But I did knit a sweater! Okay, it was a pullover, but I am calling it a sweater.  Epic win on the sweater for me.  I have even worn the sweater out in the public and been complimented on how great it looks (thank you everyone for being so polite). At first I failed on the sweater but I added some ribbon to the neckline and saved all that knitting, so yay me http://tempestinapot.blogspot.com/2013/10/first-sweater-first-sweater-failure.html).

My year was so good I think I will forego making any resolutions for 2014.  Okay, maybe I will resolve to make another sweater, that sounds like a great resolution.  Have a Happy New Years my friends.

Jail House Rock

Who knew that I would love working in a jail?  But I do.  I am not going to lie and say it is the best job ever, but after 6 months, I am starting to find my niche.  Yay!  I thought I was going to spend the rest of my life in library drudgery, but salvation was at hand.

It has not been a smooth transition, there have been a few bumps along the way.  I miss my friends at the library and in jail you don't make many friends, but I still like it, a lot.  I work hard too.  My days are long and the work load is huge, but I am humming while doing the job (humming because I can't really whistle). 

 

My boss made me permanent with a note that he was very glad I decided to come to work for the jail.  He made me feel like a valued employee and for that I am grateful.  I see more bumps on this path I am on, but you know I have hope.  Who knew I would find hope in jail?

Tempest in the Hoosegow

There are so many words for jail: hoosegow, mainline joint, skinner joint, stoney lonesome, con college, glasshouse, bucket, club fed, greybar hotel, big house, slammer, calaboose, castle, cooler, country club, crowbar hotel, digger, farm, guardhouse, hole, joint, jug, juvie, pen, pokey, rock, sneezer, stockade, the clink to name a few.  I am partial to hoosegow, it sounds like a place you don't want to ever go.  Well Monday through Friday that is where I am finding myself, in the stoney lonesome.

How could dear, sweet, little, ol' me have come to such a fate?  Well a paycheck my friends will make many us reassess the merits of going to the joint.  Many things are not so bad about this new job.  I am downtown, the building is much more secure than any north county library, and my phone rarely rings.  Okay, that might have something to do with my phone being a little broken, but they are going to fix it soon.  I have a very large office, which echoes like a cave.  And honestly everyone is being very nice to me.  Who knew you would meet so many nice people in the clink?

I do get frisked every time I go to my office because I work in a secured part of the building.  I am being checked to make sure I a not taking inside anything I shouldn't.  No gum, cell phones, or scissors for me.  Try opening a sealed box without a sharp implement sometime and you will get my situation.  I am also learning all types of new terminology: contraband, boats, pods, commissary, and sally port have become a part of my everyday lingo. 

My life has changed in so many ways in such a short period of time.  Part of me is a little shocked by the changes, but I will adjust to my new normal.  The new normal includes coming home and sitting down to dinner with my wife more often.  Actually, sometimes I even get to walk a block down and meet her for lunch.  We actually talk about things we will do together when we get home.  In the end I think the extra time is worth spending my days in the crowbar hotel.

Life in the Pokey

I know I have been remiss in blogging.  Bad Tempest.  I have been working on acclimatizing myself to my new job and schedule.  I promise to catch up this weekend, because I get out of jail on the weekends.  I think you will get tired of these lame incarceration puns very soon.

Week of Gainful Unemployment

As I have mentioned, I spent the last week unemployed.  On the eve of this new chapter in my life I am reflective of the things I did with the time off.  I visited friends, family, and yarn stores, six yarn stores to be exact.  I do not know if my mini yarn crawl was productive, but my time off was. 

I traveled to Hermann, Columbia, and Rolla, MO.  I spent time with my wife and her family.  I cashed in change ($70) and sold gold jewelry ($268).  I got a pedicure and dug through the safety deposit box.  I organized yarn and projects.  I listen to music and watched TV.  I was in fact very busy.

I kept myself so busy I did not have time to freak out about starting a new job.  Until tonight now I am nervous.  This almost feels like the night before the first day of school.  I keep thinking, what if they don't like me?  What if I make a mistake?  What if?  What if? Ugh, I am making myself crazy with this line of thought.  I am sure in the end it will be okay, but right now it feels scary.  Send me your bravest thoughts my friends, I will need them tomorrow, that is if it ever stops snowing.