Getting a Pfizer booster shot is a far cry from the chaos of early 2021! I logged on to CVS's site and within two days I had an appointment set up at the local store up the road; if I'd been really in a hurry I could have even made an appointment the same day. Originally it was weeks of reloading Rite-Aid and CVS's site, using Vaxfinder and other civilian-made compiling websites that searched for appointments, and trying to crack the code of when each site reset their data to open up new dates. I finally scored an appointment at a Rite-Aid 30 minutes away and still couldn't get anything before March. Now it's a slight detour during any given day to get the vaccine.

I'm proud of this country and Biden's presidency for improving the availability, supply, and outreach so much despite the fervent anti-vaccine sentiment in this country. Almost every inhabitant, regardless of socioeconomic status, has been offered a chance to get vaccinated and now with boosters being administered Delta cases should continue to drop, finally leading us closer to "normal." 

As for those who are choosing not to get vaccinated? I don't hate them or wish to see them suffer. I do think that severe cases of Covid or long Covid are things to be avoided at all costs, and the slight inconvenience of mild vaccine side effects are a small price to pay to significantly lower the chances of dying in need of, or on, a ventilator. Serious vaccine side effects are still less prevalent than cases of unvaccinated severe Covid, so getting vaccinated still puts the odds in your favor to not suffer horribly.

Non-vaccination has become a pride issue, a contrarian issue, an identity issue, and most of all a political issue, which is the greatest failing of this country. Reducing deaths from a disease should never be politicized, but sadly that bridge was crossed as soon as Trump eschewed masks and other public health measures, insisting that "one day - it's like a miracle - it will disappear," and battle lines were drawn between Republicans and Democrats.

Let both sides' propaganda go, walk into your nearest pharmacy, or go online. Get the shot, and place the odds in your favor. This is not about politics. It's about your life and the lives of others.

The Great Resignation has been making a lot of headlines lately. I'm not at all surprised, considering companies have practically made it their mission to treat at least sixty percent of their workers like disposable dirt, giving no raises or promotions, and screwing with benefits every which way they can. It's good to see some general backlash beginning, even if I doubt much lasting change will result in this country since the US government has rarely backed the worker class in a meaningful way, unlike other developed nations in Europe, but at this point I'm in favor of any improvement for workers.

There have also been a few articles about boomerang workers, which also doesn't surprise me. At my old job we had a few researchers who either left LIB or transferred departments, and then six months to a year later asked for their old jobs back since their new jobs were even worse. It's always the risk you take when you move on, and I'm sure a decent proportion of those quitting now will find that is true in their cases as well. Going back isn't always better though.

For me, when I left LIB it was out of desperation since it was literally killing me to stay there, and I STILL seriously considered asking for my old job back once the pandemic hit and it was obvious I would be unemployed and living with my parents for the foreseeable future. The job had switched to remote, and I thought maybe I could make it work in some way. 

However, I felt sick every time I thought about actually making that plea to come back, not because of the humiliation, but because I knew I would be walking back into the exact same situation I had left in terms of a terrible company treating us progressively worse for my class of worker, stress that would make me unable to eat without vomiting again, and a dysfunctional management structure. Health insurance that was eating up over $15,000 a year and a big brother "wellness" framework that was increasingly invasive. Doing the jobs of three people since key people had retired and weren't being replaced, but still receiving minimal or no raises for years. Banking was one of the industries that enforced a call back into the office over the summer despite Delta, so it would be in person alternating weeks, and the loss of anything I could consider my space since they moved my desk 12 times in five years across two boroughs even before any pandemic upheaval. And most of all having no power to effect changes that would address any of these problems.

In short, I was Milton in Office Space and burning down the building (metaphorically) was the point I was pushed to before quitting. Unfortunately the building I chose to burn down was my body since I had some autonomy over that. I don't want to be there again.

I wish the boomerang workers the best and hope that they can come back to their positions with new benefits, a substantial raise, and a better outlook on where they are in life. In some organizations it can work that way. I hope that the minimum wage is raised due to this worker backlash and that basic rights like health benefits and maternity leave can be secured for everyone. I see glimmers of hope that we can do better even if it remains to be seen if we will. Fingers crossed that there is a silver lining in all of this.

The job posting closed on Tuesday night at 9pm, and today around 2:30 I received an email that they want to schedule me for an interview in early November! The waiting period seems a little long, but I guess for public libraries this is sort of normal. I hope I'm not just one of the check-the-box interviews so that they can say they gave consideration to x number of candidates before picking someone who they already had in mind, but there's no way to know that from my vantage point.

I was at my aunt's today, so I'll reply tomorrow and set up the appointment. It will be another tele-interview since they're still not seeing anyone in person, but my fingers and toes will be crossed and I have a much higher level of confidence that this actually is an adult department position. It's time to brush up on my public librarianship industry trends and try to have a few non-profits/community link ideas and some programming proposals ready this time around.

Next week I'll submit requests for my transcripts from my universities so I can have them prepped and ready to send in for NJ Public Librarian certification (which I should probably get anyway if I'm truly set on this direction), and try to figure out if there's anything else proactive I can do. Not gonna lie, I'm pretty excited :).

Another job has been posted which seems...well...completely ideal if I want a normal, boring life, and I'm actually low-key psyched about it. It's a regular adult reference librarian job in a county branch, not the county seat's main library, and since it's NJ state-affiliated the benefits would HAVE to be better than my last corporate job.

Of course, I'm nervous that I'll be overlooked or dismissed as overqualified, or there could be a perfect public librarian wanting the job instead, or any of the myriad factors that cause so many job applications to disappear into the void, but I can't control those things. I can, however, double-check my resume, tailor my cover letter, and hope like hell that they do pick me.

I would be taking a 33% pay cut, but I've built that into my expectations since public sector will never pay as well as finance did, even if I was on the very low end of the scale there. I would make enough to have a decent apartment, decent car, and most importantly, my health wouldn't be constantly eroded by the insane stressors of a completely dysfunctional organization. For evidence that I wasn't the only one, about half of my ex-colleagues had stress-induced illnesses as well, and about a quarter were alcoholics or alcohol abusers too. Three had died in a five year period, one from brain cancer, one from an autoimmune disease, and one from a heart attack. It was obviously not the healthiest work environment.

A part of me is still tormented by knowing that this means the dream of NYC is over, but at this point, I feel I've partially accepted it on a deeper level than before. Tomorrow I'll submit the application with my eyes wide open to what this will mean, then cross my fingers and wait.

That fall chill is in the air, and we're entering the month of the year I probably like the best for TV. Since I'm often sewing or baking, the constant airing of horror films is simply perfect for background, especially since the rest of my family hates horror, lol. 

Growing up I never watched them besides an unexpectedly traumatic viewing of the initial camp counselor killing in Friday the 13th, which I accidentally saw when I was nine. Halloween was always more about candy and costumes anyway in those days. It wasn't until grad school that a friend introduced me to horror like Evil Dead 2 and Freddy vs. Jason. I acquired a taste for loving the good movies' ability to shock and creep me out (e.g. Scream, Psycho, and Halloween), and laughing at the rash of terrible ones (most horror sequels). Sinister was the first film in a long time that had me checking the locks and windows, and the Nightmare on Elm Street series always holds a special place in my heart for showing just how campy and hilarious movies can be mixed with a scary initial premise.

This month can be just escapism, and being grateful that while I'm not even close to where I want to be, it's a huge improvement in my health over last year and two years ago. I'll let the horror on the screen speak instead at far worse situations I will never find myself in.

"Some stupid killer stalking some big-breasted girl who can't act, who's always running up the stairs when she should be going out the front door. It's insulting." - Scream

Ha, joke's on them, this house doesn't even have stairs ;).