People are worried about their jobs these days. Incoming President Barack Obama may or may not be able to do much to alleviate the climate created by the last few decades of unrestrained financial irresponsibility. (Thank you to all the American politicians who helped foster this environment). The company I work for builds retail stores. Guess what? Retail chains are not building new space at the moment. Rather, the opposite is true – more and more space is ending up vacant as company after company folds.
It’s time for me to work on my fallback plan – I’m considering fast tracking officer candidate school before I’m too old to do so. I cannot afford a long-term state of unemployment or even underemployment.
As a commissioned officer, I would have more opportunities to add what I hope would be a positive contribution to the U.S. military. As an enlisted troop, I’ve spent years railing against what I consider to be systemic, ingrained inefficiency and stupidity. I’m under no illusions that I will change anything big or anything long-term but I have to continue to pay the bills and my taxes if I hope to continue to enjoy the semi-freedom of modern American life and a retirement free of financial hardship.
My fallback plan may never be needed. Watching Circuit City crumble is not a good portent.
In the mean time, I will spend a little bit of energy adjusting and shuffling my vanity sites around.
trevorsnyder.com will turn into my writing web site.
fstopdreams.com will become my photography site.
willtoexist.com will remain my personal (non-official) blog.
I make a little more money from my on-line activities with each passing month. Unfortunately I’m not quite paying my current hosting fees. Hopefully, no matter what the economy and our overmanagement of it bring, I’ll be able to continue to post my existence on-line. It’s become an important part of my daily routine.