It’s Thursday. It feels like a Friday because Pete is now on a three-day work schedule – or at least he teaches three days a week. So this is the start of his long weekend. He resumes teaching on Tuesday. Although he works all weekend reading papers, I tell him he has a plum job, meaning that it’s not as hard as some.

There was the distinct likelihood that because of Governor Dunleavy’s proposed budget cuts that the college might close and he might lose his job. This did not come to be – at least not this year. The proposed budget cuts will be forthcoming, but won’t be to the degree first envisioned. So what we know is that for now, he has a job.

Alys and Tyra in the playground

The consequence of this ongoing bit of news was that we are both more appreciative of the fact that he still has a job. As I keep reminding him, let’s not take your plum job for granted.

Faculty have left, this includes a full time English Department person. So there does exist the possibility that in the future, her job might again be available. I who have applied several times for a teaching job at the college, will (if there is an opening) apply again.

I will again hesitate because it takes a long, long time to put together an application. They usually ask for a few essays and a letter of recommendation. There is then a wait. And I have yet to get a reject letter from the last time I applied. The latter pisses me off because this, in academic circles, is a common courtesy.

I’d of course take the job, though of course I’d have a few qualms, the most significant one being that this would be a major lifestyle change for me. I joking tell friends that I retired when I was 14. Behind every joke is a half-truth. The half-truth here is really, that I retired when I was 40, after I’d become over educated, and over educated a handful of students.

On a day-to-day basis, I really enjoy what I’m doing. I write in the mornings. This has always been a given. Right now, I am catching up on trip dispatches. However, after, I have two book projects and several essays that I need to complete.

For the past fifteen years or so, I’ve also taken one or two classes a year. There are course fees but no tuition. Right now I’m taking the first level EMT class. This is because I sat in on it last semester, and this semester I figured that for this reason it would not be as tough to pass as it might be otherwise. If I do well, that is I pass the national exam, I will be a certified WEMT, or Wilderness Emergency Medical Technician. There is then, that the likelihood that after doing this, that an interesting job might materialize.

I also (of course) enjoy working with the animals. I’ve resumed doing agility with Ryder and the horses. If I got a real job, I would have to curtail these activities.

I also enjoy adhering to my own schedule.

We’ll see what happens. I’m open to any and all possibilities.

Next: 240. 8/30/19: The Writing Life: A Chance Meeting