Friday, July 24, 2009

Now Living in Wichita, KS

I'm not quite sure at this point when my last posting was, sometine prior to June 20th is my guess. Sounds bad I know but the relocation to Wichita hasn't quite gone as smoothly as I would have liked. Packing, shipping, bus trip, housing situation, job search, and all the fun associated with moving provided enough glitches to last a life time.

Packing up was a b****, didn't quite sell as much as I wanted but did find homes for everything I wasn't able to bring. The rest is waiting to be shipped (again is some cases). I was hoping to be able to sell enough of my former possessions to pay for the shipping. To dis-possess (is that a word?) what was left I used the local FreeCycle; I was suprised how fast everything disappeared when it was free. I did shipped two packages but due to an address snafu they ended up floating around the USPS for a few weeks before being returned to the originating post office. Thankfully they weren't lost and both offices I had to deal with handle the situation well.

As for my bus trip I was dreading it after the fiasco of my last one (which I still need to post about, altho it is not quite resolved). The trip was un-eventful but long. To help with that I decided to take a longer lay-over in Kansas City, MO. Gave me a nice break prior to the last 5 hrs of bus time and I was able to meet and spend time with an online friend and her partner. In hind-site it was a good idea, meeting my friend was awesome and I'm looking foreward to traveling back to KC and visit in the near future.

The real problems I have been having concerns my housing situation. Needless to say it is not going according to plan, BUT a "solution" has been had. What is complicating matters is my lack of employment at the moment (which I am finding a bit perplexing) and now having to appeal my unemployment determination. It seems I was ill-informed and have to file 2 appeals. I also am attempting to acquire my 401k balance, which is taking longer than I anticipated.

Overall I am happy with my decision to move. I am much calmer, altho that I attribute that to my dear friend. Her assistance in dealing with the snafus has been inmeasureable. My mental health has also improved. The ending of my relationship still bothers me (more than I think I am willing to admit), but I "think" in the long run it may be a good thing. My initial goals/reasons for moving have been accomplished. Now its just a matter of searching and getting a job.

Yes, I did say job and not career. One thing I am attempting to decide is the "what now question." So for the moment I am looking for a job until I decide on a course of action. I do have my resume(s) out there, tho not happy about the "out there" part; I am also re-working my resume(s). I do have numerous applications submitted to various employers but no responses as of yet; I am trying to determine the best way to handle the lack of response. The jobs applied for at this piont are the usual fast-food joints, convenient stores, Wal*Mart, and Dillons. Two applications (Wal*Mart and Dillons) where submitted within the last 7 days BUT using their computerized kiosks. Herein is my dilemma, how long should I wait until calling or personally contacting management about my interest in employment?

With some of the establishments applied to I was informed that that weren't hiring but others nothing was said. Again, how long to wait? Personal or phone contact? On the positive side of things there are many more choices, something I did not have back in PA. So I won't be giving up any time soon. I do need to spend some time learning about what "services" are available to assist in my endeavours; another item to add to my to-do list.

Debt reduction what's that? I'm so off-track, not a good thing. Enough said about that at the moment. No, I'm not sticking head in the sand again!! As things progress I will be trying to write a bit more often to help get myself back in the groove.

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