It's all good so far

I received a challenge yesterday during a lunch interview. It’s one that has been resonating with me, stirring thoughts and consideration,

Think about a job you have held in the past. One that has been part of your career path, but something you have moved past.

Now think how you would design that job to be your ideal job.

You know what was bad. There were the issues that caused you to leave. Unrealistic expectations of utilization, lack of opportunity to manage or mentor, lack of growth potential?

How would this job be if you could remove these issues?

Would you rather spend more time being sure that the work meets the needs of clients that you have a personal relationship with, not having to worry about the clock or the time sheet notice that you failed to meet your billable requirement.

Intriguing?

You know that there is still time your career clock, that retirement today is not an option. You know that you are going to have to work. Why not design the next job into your ideal job?

Dragon slaying underway. The first volley sent and it is off for a haircut which is also part of the job search criteria.

I have been keeping my hair longer as I had been traveling, or at least that has been the excuse. I like it longer as long as maintenance stays easy.

I have become accustomed to the fact that my mustache and beard are gray. I am too attached to shave the mustache but will look at revising the beard as time goes by. It’s all probably a good thing to show these exterior signs of battle rattle. The gray badge of having been there, having done that, and having lived to tell about it.

Sometimes you know “where be dragons”. I know that tomorrow morning I have an encounter with a dragon. The dragon is health insurance coverage.

Yesterday I received the notice in the mail that my regular coverage ended with the end of the month and COBRA was available. The high deductible COBRA coverage costs more than my monthly mortgage.

The first battle is to see where the subsidized coverage is that was mentioned in the separation package. I am due this benefit for the duration of the severance, approximately 2 months. This would be a great tide us over until the new job, But suurely this rate is lower than what was quoted in the insurance information that I received yesterday.

Getting a new policy in place for the short term will be challenging. My previous go to company that I used when working as a contractor is closed for new policies pending a review of Obamacare. My concern is that this may be the trend and there may not be many affordable options available. How is that for irony for the electorate?

Hippocrates versus HIPPA and Hypocrites. Experience has taught me that you have to challenge this dragon, otherwise you end up owing a mortgage equivalent debt to cover a life-threatening illness.

It is a battle that will end up costing me, I will not win (unless the revolution or a zombie apocalypse happens). I just want to be sure I have some control in the amount sacrificed.

I saw a Facebook query a couple of days ago. A friend of mine was asking people to recount how / when they first met him. I thought it was a very interesting idea.

I first encountered him when I spied upon him at the Cathedral. Our church was in the process of calling a new Priest and I was a member of the search committee. We had been given names of likely candidates, and some of the committee had already interviewed him and were very impressed.

I was a little skeptical, I was one of the more conservative even stodgy, members of the search committee. I felt the obligation to represent the “frozen chosen”, the older and grater members of the congregation that still wanted the formality, choir and hymns, the minority in our church.

So I sat there in the Cathedral and listened to him preach. His sermon was tied to Independence Day and the theme was that not everyone could celebrate independence. That there were those that were dependent of day work, dependent on the whims of the economy, struggling to live good lives.

It was a sermon that was challenging me. I began to realize that this was the man that could challenge and move our Church. The other candidate that we had seen would keep us at the status quo, and that is not what our Church needed. This was a moment of discernment.

He became our Priest. He became a close friend. He engaged me, challenged me, and pushed me way out of my comfort zone. We worked together on the Vestry. He challenged me again when he called me to be Senior Warden. I learned more about discernment. I learned that I could change and so could our Church.

Time has passed, and there have been a few more changes. He has been called to plant a different Church. I finished term of leadership and now am back in the pew as a parishioner.

Sometimes, when you hear a challenge to your preconceived notions, it’s a good thing to listen, to discern, and see where you will go.