nyj58: back in the city again


Gulp. Wow, has it really been since October for an entry in this category?!! Yikes. Sorry, all. It's been a crazy, wild ride the last few months. This blurb will not do justice to the full span of drama/happenings/excitement, but it will give you some kind of update.

For starters, as some of you know, I spent the last three weeks or so out on the West Coast, primarily in northern California. During that time I caught up with family and friends, saw relatives on both sides of my family, and was exposed to a very radical, truly amazing group of Christians living out on the Peninsula. The impact of that last experience will probably be felt for weeks and maybe months to come.

The other major thing that happened while out in California was my attempt to find work. I spent about two weeks out there after Christmas, actively contacting temporary agencies and searching for work. It turned out the week between Christmas and New Year's was mostly a bust, but I kept busy keeping a wary eye on my friends' cat, helping the staff of a small community center with preparations for their Jan. 1st move, and poking around old haunts in Berkeley.

Tuesday, Dec. 28 I was at Cafe Strada, the infamous coffee shop across the street from Westminster House, where I stayed that fateful summer of '99. Scribbles from my journal that afternoon:

A violin concerto I suddenly recognize but cannot name plays over the stereo while Roy Lichtenstein-esque paintings loom almost garishly from the walls. Outside on the covered patio, a haunted-looking Indian man in runner's clothes sits drinking at a table. India. Haunted. Of course. There may be ample and obvious reasons for his troubled mien.

To my left a cute, West Coast-type intellectual wears stocking hat over long, curly locks and scribbles into a [leather-bound] journal. The hair is not quite blond, though, sparing me the swoon. ;)

Across the street a large tan building I scarcely recognized: where once I ate, pined, dreamt nightmares ... and was shouted at for drinking on my 21st birthday. A strange way (and place) to fully come-of-age.

Later that week I went back to the same vicinity, this time camping out at the bar where those controversial drinks were had. The bartender was welcoming and gave me $2 chai lattes while I pondered fretfully in a corner. That was Thursday, the eve of New Year's Eve. I left there having convinced myself a nearly immediate move 'cross country was the answer, but by Monday of the following week all was up in question again.

Indeed by this last Wednesday I could not shake the conviction my original plan — moving only if I had a job — was the one I needed to stick with. Then came word of two interviews and my spirits brightened. Thursday morning I met with the staff at a very small office for a non-profit company that administers aptitude testing. Curiously they have a New York office, and the person hired would begin employment with two weeks' paid training in lower Manhattan. Tomorrow I meet with someone in that "local" office but word on the hiring decision is not expected until month's end.

Friday was the interview I'd really awaited, for a very exciting marketing job that deep down I knew I didn't really have all the know-how required. There was disappointment coupled with relief when I learned, mid-interview, that indeed they wanted someone with more experience. Other than that setback, however, the guy was as nice as could be. He offered some very helpful advice on looking for jobs in that area, and strongly encouraged me to be in contact if I end up moving out that way. Apparently things will be quite busy in the summertime, so I could possibly pick up a little freelance work with them.

And that's about where things stand. Limbo for the rest of this month and while I wait, hopefully some temp work. I have most of the money needed to pay my rent in 5 days, but the last two remaining unemployment checks have yet to arrive in my mailbox. I can't tell if they've been held up by my delay in returning a form, or are currently en route to California because of temporary mail-forwarding I set up.

Yes, you read that right: the last unemployment checks. Hard to believe, but my six months' allotment has basically been exhausted. It would have been used up sooner except for those freelance gigs I found mid-fall and the nearly four weeks of temp work I had before my trip.

It'll certainly be an interesting next few weeks. My back is basically up against the wall I guess, but I don't feel a deep-down anxiety. I know I have to be faithful to do my best in seeking work, but I also know that God will be faithful to provide. Considering His great generosity to me so recently — which included use of a car for almost all the time I was in California — I have no reason to be afraid. After all, as I first began to learn a few years ago, the fact I don't know how God will provide does not mean He will not do so; I just don't have the luxury of anticipation. ;)

posted @ 08:47 PM on Mon - January 10, 2005 remark! Email |  as quoted:
before I said ...  but more recently: 

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