Gleefully Unemployed

Hi! If you are here, you are family or a friend who knows that:

1. On May 6, I was RIF'ed from a job I loved deeply.

2. Since then, I have recovered and feel much more cheerful, as my family's life appears poised for an upgrade.

You may also know that I am going to Scotland, and my trip starts tomorrow! I am co-teaching a vibrational spectral interpretation course at the University of Strathclyde from Monday, 7/1, through Friday, 7/5, and then I will stay in Glasgow until the morning of Wednesday, 7/10. This will be my first trip to the U.K. 

Very few of you know that earlier this week I splurged all my SkyMiles on an upgrade to Delta One for the transatlantic portion of my trip (Detroit to Amsterdam on an Airbus A330-300). I had dinner with a friend last night, and she expressed a strong interest in seeing photos of my suite, which inspired me to start this "travel/job search" journal.

Anyway, I have never really traveled in business class before, let alone on an international flight. I was wild with excitement after I booked it on Monday, and then I woke up on Tuesday to equally powerful regret for blowing enough carefully saved miles (79,900) to pay for a whole domestic flight. I am down to less than 10,000.

It didn't take long for me to start making justifications, though. When we flew to Italy in 2022, I was crammed into a middle seat in economy. I could not sleep on a plane to save my life, so by the time we arrived in Venice, I was too tired to speak, and it was only early afternoon. This time, I need to be ready to teach fluently and knowledgeably by Monday morning. I don't have time for jet lag, that's my excuse, and I'm sticking with it!

At this point, I am packed, checked in, and ready. 

I promise to post photos and updates every day while I am in Scotland. After that, I'll post any news about my job search and interview travel here.

I am trying to figure out how to send email alerts when I post. If you want to receive an email when I post an update and you are on a mobile device, click "view web version" at the bottom of this page. In the web version, you should be able to see a "follow.it" subscription gadget. I think this will only email once a day. Sorry, GenX here. I like blogs for writing.

Once I start a new job, wherever that is, this journaling endeavor is likely to end. I have some time on my hands and a dramatic life change underway. It's a good time to write.