It’s been a while since I last wrote.
An understatement to say the least. Last we spoke, I was taking a class in technical communication. It went fairly well by my standards—by which I mean that it was a total disaster. I had 90+ average going into the last week where I totally flubbed my portfolio project and then missed the exam because of not remembering where to look for it on the course website. I did not receive a certificate. As usual, I wasted both time and money.
I suppose they were not totally wasted. This class did teach me a very important lesson: I do not want to be a technical communicator for a living. I think tech comm is one step too far away from the actual problem/project for me. I don’t want to teach people how to use the thing, I want to make the thing. That’s important information.
In September I started a full-time job at a local food pantry. I was a Warehouse Associate. The job was very physically demanding. Too physically demanding, as it turned out. A few weeks in, I was injured on the job. I got a staph infection that combined with my type 2 diabetes came very close to making me lose my left leg below the knee. I was given two different antibiotics for the two different infections I had. I was immediately sent to a wound care clinic by my primary care doctor. My doctors put me on two weeks of bed rest with my legs elevated to promote healing for my wounds. I am 95% healed up and haired over, but I have had massive fatigue since the staph infection.
I tried going back to work, but I barely had the stamina to complete even half days. I also started having panic attacks about getting injured again. When I was at work, I could feel myself dragging and away from work I was ruminating on how badly I was feeling at work. I tendered my resignation earlier this week. I feel terrible about leaving a rewarding job with great coworkers and volunteers, but I feel terrible physically. I hurt everywhere. Perhaps a morbidly obese, diabetic, asthmatic body that is fast approaching fifty cannot work such a physically demanding job. Apparently this one can’t.
I really liked having a job after so many months—hell, years without full-time employment. It has been very nice to have my own money again. Being able to contribute to the household’s expenses have made me feel useful and like a fully functioning adult. I am looking for jobs and recently reached out to a temp agency that I have a relationship with, so I think that I will find something soon.
In the meantime, I am taking one of those Grow with Google certificate classes through Coursera in IT Support. It’s supposed to take eight months to complete, but I think that I can complete it in a much shorter time—in seven and a half months, probably. I have some experience and a rusty skill set in this field, so I don’t think that it is foolish to pursue a career in IT Support. Also, I really need work that won’t break my body, and a job in IT will be far easier on my hardware than being a warehouse associate was.
Thank you, as always, for reading.
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