She Sells Seashels by the Seashore

Last week I did an in person interview for a new job and got an offer before I left to come back home. It’s Director of Collections for a local historical society in an area I’ve spent a lot of time in (my partner was actually living in the area when we met). The pay would be what I’m currently making in a much lower cost of living area and I would have a real office with windows overlooking the ocean and a historic lighthouse. They are also willing to wait and let me start in March so I don’t have to break my current lease.

I am currently on furlough because everything is terrible. DOI was forced to release how many cuts they are planning to do by office and mine stands to lose 69 jobs which is about 32% of our full numbers. And I can guarantee you museum work and cultural resources as a whole are one of the main targets. Thankfully they can’t do anything as of right now while the government is shutdown because of a temporary restraining order but conversely, I also don’t get paid until it’s over. I had a first round interview for a job a few weeks ago and I know they’ve been checking my references this week so I’m hopeful for making the second round interview.

I am still holding on at my job by some miracle and I’ve come to grips with the fact that at some point I have to stop acting like I’m going to get fired tomorrow and actually find some kind of motivation to do work but also I could still get fired tomorrow, who knows, the world sucks and our country is circling the toilet. So. That’s fun.

It’s lookin’ like ya girl is gonna get RIF’d as early as 2 weeks from now. They are planning to decimate those of us in regional offices and the Washington, DC office while not doing as much to parks because we don’t interact with the public and they’re hoping it won’t be as noticeable. But guess whose jobs allow park staff to do THEIR jobs?

Had a work meeting this afternoon where the unspoken theme was “we’re likely all going to get fired and it’s going to be bad” and my Alma mater had an active shooter on campus this morning so it’s really been a banner day.

Things I don’t miss about living in Florida: