May Gray

As I type in my Southern California home, I hear the drone of traffic and see partially lit windows giving way to the marine layer, which in turn gives way to sunlight. Local weathercasters call these conditions May Gray. Neither the marine layer nor the sunshine has won out yet. This condition describes my life at the moment.

Life requires markers of time to keep a sense of order. Colleges run on quarters and semesters, punctuated by mid-term exams, papers due, and final exams. My life had those markers until last Christmas when my college teaching job ended, and my days now run together. I have weekly events like Boy Scout meetings, church on Sunday, music classes on Monday and Wednesday, and the late start on Tuesday (my son has late start at his middle school, and for some reason, I forget this and wake him up too early nearly every week). And then there’s the seemingly endless job search.

For the first time in more than twenty years I filed for unemployment because I lost my job due to “no fault of my own,” which is the standard for these benefits. Unemployment benefits fit the May Gray theme and live in the uncomfortable middle ground because they aren’t exactly welfare and aren’t exactly insurance because the employer pays into the system from payroll taxes (not from the worker’s check directly however).

Using these funds, I’ve taken Adobe Software training, paid for the LinkedIn Premium membership, subscribed to Flexjobs (a freelance and remote work subscription site)–basically anything that might improve my job prospects. Every week I apply for one to three jobs and record these details online with the Labor Department. I interviewed at small performing arts college in Hollywood to teach history, applied at a summer extension program to teach history to incoming freshmen (no word), and to write content on Study.com (another of those awful online writing gigs where they mine your intellectual property–I didn’t get an interview).

Today I will work on completing the training for the Adult Literacy Volunteer with LA Libraries. This work could definitely help someone in my community to gain literacy and function better in society, but I also want the experience on my resume for future adult education job opportunities. Again mixed motives and May Gray.