You see, for the last few months, we've been tempted by fantasizing about what our lives could be like if we weren't starving students. "When we have a washer and a dryer...when we have a yard for Stellan to play in...when we get our new computer...when I buy new clothes that are actually new..." is one of our most favorite games. We like to look around the house and snub our noses at the stuff we can't wait to get rid of.
That is what we do when we feel optimistic. But lately we feel that way less often. Kevin has been actively looking for a job for about 6 months now. He's sent out dozens, probably hundreds, of applications; he's done a handful of interviews; positions he has applied for have been dropped about as often as he has been rejected. He hasn't heard back from anyone he has interviewed with. What that means is that, in all likelihood, he'll be jobless when that research stipend money FAU has been sending to our bank account stops coming in a couple of weeks.
So instead of the "When we have a washer and dryer..." game, we play the "When we're living in our car..." game. We dream of the day when, while surfing the web on wi-fi stolen from the McDonald's parking lot, we hear about a hurricane coming straight for us. And we cheer because, since we (and everything we own) now live in our car, we can evacuate before anyone else in the state of Florida and beat the traffic.
I liked the old fantasy life better.
P.S. Don't feel sorry for us, and please don't start a fundraising campaign. We'll be fine, we've got some money saved up and many relatives have offered to house us if we need it. Oh, and we really do believe that Kevin will find a job sometime soon. This was not a call for pity, simply a peek into my twisted mind.
8 comments:
we've been thinking about living in a van too... Maybe we could meet you somewhere in the middle? Arkansas anyone?
Yep, I feel you. Alex is almost done with school too...and we have absolutely no money and no job lined up. He's actually talked about living in our 10-person tent if worse comes to worse! I LOVE my fantasy life. LOVE it!!! Washer, dryer,house with a yard...someday...someday...This is such a weird stage of life. (That I can't wait to be over with!)
Maybe you need to leave FL and just go to where you want to be. Once you are a local/known entity the job will emerge. I know you are coastal folk, but have you looked in Davis? Keeping my fingers crossed.
http://schilling.com/index.php
Don't worry, when he does get a job, chances are that it'll be somewhere awesome and he'll be getting paid three times what we're earning and this will all be a distant memory. Life is funny that way, you've both worked hard and it will pay off sooner than you think. If you move back west, you'll have places to stay practically the whole way; Texas, New Mexico, Arizona.
You'll make it. I have total faith in you guys and your awesomeness. You'll soon look back and laugh that you ever thought about living in a van down by the river!
We love you, Kris :-)
and Kevin and Stellan and Rachelle
you'll find something. You can come and live in the nursery in our house for the next three or four months. Too bad we don't live anywhere near an ocean but if you need a place to stay in Seattle my parents love visitors and they have two bedrooms and a bathroom to offer. :) 6 months is not unusual in the job search so don't lose hope yet!
The 'when we live in our car' game! I know it well. In fact, I've had so much practice, if you ever wanted to play it against me I'm pretty sure I could take you down.
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