As I approach what a lot of people call the "Double Nickles Birthday" in May - and having just discovered that my driver's license will have to be renewed for the event - I'm having a lot of thoughts running through my head and am making some decisions for my future....
One of the biggest of these, much as I hate to have to give up my "pallet workout" that helped me lose the 40 pounds I had put on due to a stressful job, is to actually LISTEN to what my doctors are telling me and seek a new position that's a little less physical. Darn. And just when I was starting to see that ever-popular "six pack" starting to show itself under the scars from last year's hernia surgery....
Let me explain this....
When I was working as a janitor back in 1997, I developed a bulge in a disc way low in my back. At the time, I considered myself in the best shape I'd ever been in, tipping the scales at 140 pounds, but I didn't know about such things as adding protein to my diet to allow the muscles to grow, so I was lighter than I am right now, but didn't have the muscle structure...
Due to severe work restrictions resulting from the damage I'd done to myself, I had to change jobs, as there was no way that being a janitor would allow me to do the light duty work that I was told would be permanent. As a result, I started working through a temp agency that eventually got me into an office position at a veterinary clinic.
And, because I wasn't as active, I quickly started putting on weight.
By the time I got into an argument with my boss that made me quit the veterinary field, I had been working desk jobs for 15 years. I was weighing in at 192 pounds and was sincerely upset with myself for letting myself get that fat. With special permission from my nerve specialist and a promise "not to overdo", I went back into retail, which eventually led to working in my current position, which requires me to do a lot of heavy lifting. I'm back down weight wise (usually 155-160), I've been adding whey protein to my diet on the heavier "workout days", but after last year's hernia surgery, I'm a little more prone to pain-filled nights when I'm pushing myself too hard.....
And my body is starting to tell me, in no uncertain terms, that I'm breaking the promise I made to my nerve specialist. I'm starting to have regular evenings in which I'm having muscle spasms again and there are spots on my belly that the doctor who did the hernia surgery is telling me may be the mesh she put in last year trying to pull free...so on doctor's orders, I'm having to reconsider my job choice, as I still have a minimum of 10 years before I retire (which is, of course, contingent on our next presidential choice, since the Social Security retirement fund I've been paying into since I first started working may well be taken away if the Republicans get their nominees into office).
Despite liking the co-workers I currently have and the fact that, instead of paying for a gym membership, the "gym" pays me, I seriously have to look at the fact that my husband, who is three years older and has all kinds of health issues creeping up on him as well, may not be able to be our primary source of income within the next 5 years....
*BIG sigh*
So, over the past week, I've re-vamped my resume, posted it on a jobs site, and am applying for positions that might still keep me more active than my receptionist job, yet allow me to back down from the "pallet workouts". I've found a few places to put in my resume that will offer the opportunity of moving up in the company, should I find the right fit, but I'm looking for your suggestions as well.
Here are my demands before I put myself into another "hostage situation" at a new company:
1) Since we're half-way through a mortgage on our current home, the job needs to be within easy driving distance of Gray - or needs to pay enough that I can pay off the house and put it on the market to move to another part of the state.
2) It needs to involve SOME physical activity, but not so much that I'll need another hernia repaired in the next six months to a year.
3) I need to be able to relax around the co-workers, as I really have become less and less interested in the stress of working for someone I dislike.
Um, yeah. I think I may as well wish for a unicorn to ride to work, right?
However, if any of my constant readers hears of a position in Maine for this soon-to-be-55-year-old, PLEASE drop me a line in the comments below, or hit me up on Facebook, or email me through The Northern Bard web site.
Of course, if you just want to "help" by making Northern Bard Publications successful, buying my books would work as well, since editing and publishing is something that fulfills all those "demands" and gives me the opportunity to work longer hours with two very sweet ladies whom I see eye-to-eye with.....
Blessed be, and welcome to all the new folks visiting my blog from other countries.
One of the biggest of these, much as I hate to have to give up my "pallet workout" that helped me lose the 40 pounds I had put on due to a stressful job, is to actually LISTEN to what my doctors are telling me and seek a new position that's a little less physical. Darn. And just when I was starting to see that ever-popular "six pack" starting to show itself under the scars from last year's hernia surgery....
Let me explain this....
When I was working as a janitor back in 1997, I developed a bulge in a disc way low in my back. At the time, I considered myself in the best shape I'd ever been in, tipping the scales at 140 pounds, but I didn't know about such things as adding protein to my diet to allow the muscles to grow, so I was lighter than I am right now, but didn't have the muscle structure...
Due to severe work restrictions resulting from the damage I'd done to myself, I had to change jobs, as there was no way that being a janitor would allow me to do the light duty work that I was told would be permanent. As a result, I started working through a temp agency that eventually got me into an office position at a veterinary clinic.
And, because I wasn't as active, I quickly started putting on weight.
By the time I got into an argument with my boss that made me quit the veterinary field, I had been working desk jobs for 15 years. I was weighing in at 192 pounds and was sincerely upset with myself for letting myself get that fat. With special permission from my nerve specialist and a promise "not to overdo", I went back into retail, which eventually led to working in my current position, which requires me to do a lot of heavy lifting. I'm back down weight wise (usually 155-160), I've been adding whey protein to my diet on the heavier "workout days", but after last year's hernia surgery, I'm a little more prone to pain-filled nights when I'm pushing myself too hard.....
And my body is starting to tell me, in no uncertain terms, that I'm breaking the promise I made to my nerve specialist. I'm starting to have regular evenings in which I'm having muscle spasms again and there are spots on my belly that the doctor who did the hernia surgery is telling me may be the mesh she put in last year trying to pull free...so on doctor's orders, I'm having to reconsider my job choice, as I still have a minimum of 10 years before I retire (which is, of course, contingent on our next presidential choice, since the Social Security retirement fund I've been paying into since I first started working may well be taken away if the Republicans get their nominees into office).
Despite liking the co-workers I currently have and the fact that, instead of paying for a gym membership, the "gym" pays me, I seriously have to look at the fact that my husband, who is three years older and has all kinds of health issues creeping up on him as well, may not be able to be our primary source of income within the next 5 years....
*BIG sigh*
So, over the past week, I've re-vamped my resume, posted it on a jobs site, and am applying for positions that might still keep me more active than my receptionist job, yet allow me to back down from the "pallet workouts". I've found a few places to put in my resume that will offer the opportunity of moving up in the company, should I find the right fit, but I'm looking for your suggestions as well.
Here are my demands before I put myself into another "hostage situation" at a new company:
1) Since we're half-way through a mortgage on our current home, the job needs to be within easy driving distance of Gray - or needs to pay enough that I can pay off the house and put it on the market to move to another part of the state.
2) It needs to involve SOME physical activity, but not so much that I'll need another hernia repaired in the next six months to a year.
3) I need to be able to relax around the co-workers, as I really have become less and less interested in the stress of working for someone I dislike.
Um, yeah. I think I may as well wish for a unicorn to ride to work, right?
However, if any of my constant readers hears of a position in Maine for this soon-to-be-55-year-old, PLEASE drop me a line in the comments below, or hit me up on Facebook, or email me through The Northern Bard web site.
Of course, if you just want to "help" by making Northern Bard Publications successful, buying my books would work as well, since editing and publishing is something that fulfills all those "demands" and gives me the opportunity to work longer hours with two very sweet ladies whom I see eye-to-eye with.....
Blessed be, and welcome to all the new folks visiting my blog from other countries.
No comments:
Post a Comment
This is to COMMENT ON THE BLOG, not TO SELL YOUR STUFF!
If you insist on commenting that "you need this", be prepared to have your comment deleted PARTICULARLY IF YOU ARE ANJU SHUKLA!!