Perpetual Beta, or, Waiting for the Plateau

In the computer world there is the phrase "Perpetual Beta." It means something that's never quite finished, always changing, that can still be improved.

Back when I was much younger, my goal was to graduate from college, get a good job, and live happily ever after. During my undergrad years, I began working at the Goodell Library at UMass/Amherst, decided I liked the work and added getting a Masters in Library Science to my goal. Since I was going to school part time, it took many years to complete the goal.

Soon after beginning my professional career, I realized that finishing my MSLS and getting a job as a librarian was only the beginning, not the end. Somehow, though, I kept waiting for that plateau where I'd achieve what I wanted and live happily ever after. I thought I'd found it many times at different jobs, but after a few years I'd become restless in that position and move on to something else. When I began work at CMRLS, I figured I had a good job (regardless of the long daily commute) and would stay there until retirement which wasn't all that many years away.

Surpri-ise! Even though I was still happy with the job, the Universe decided I was ready for a change and here I am becoming an Independent Consultant. I'm finally becoming comfortable with that status and thinking about ways I can market myself and my skills. I have a couple of new projects starting soon that will likely continue for a while and a few others in the works.

Still, after all these years, way down deep, I can't quite rid myself of the feeling that there is a plateau not too far away even though intellectually I know that life is Perpetual Beta.

Problem Solved - Again

For the moment I'm in good standing with the Unemployment Office.

Even though I tried calling the 800 number 3 times yesterday, I never got through to a person. I arrived at the Career Center a little after 8 a.m. this morning and I was #26 in line. We weren't allowed into the building until about 8:15, but I (and everyone else) was bundled up. At about 11:00 I was led into the cubby of the representative who looked at my information on the computer screen, made a change to one piece of data, and fixed the problem. It took less than 5 minutes.

Instead of a thriller from the local public library, I had brought along the textbook that I'll be using for LIS415, so I got a lot of necessary reading done.

What relief. I expect I'll have a better night's sleep tonight than I've had for the last couple of days. I don't know why I worry about this stuff so much and no amount of deep breathing seems to help. Perhaps I should be thankful to the Unemployment Office for providing me with blog material.

The Saga Continues

I arrived at the Career Center a little after 8 this morning to learn that there is no Unemployment Representative on January 3 (today). I'll try calling later today. I understand it is easier to get through if one calls after 5 p.m. Many people assume (I would have if I didn't know otherwise) that the telephone service ends at 5 but it continues until 6:30 - at least during this time of heavy use.

So it's back into my play clothes to prepare for Wednesday evening's Library Trustee meeting, a consulting job I have this week, LIS415, and to follow up on some other stuff. I may also have a chance to read my current book.

Watch for the next installment of this adventure.

Oh, No! Not Again!

I logged onto the Mass. Department of Workforce Development - Division of Unemployment Assistance earlier today to file my weekly claim. I answered all the required questions and upon submitting my claim, a Red Message said "Call the Telephone Claims Center. Additional information is required to determine your eligibility for benefits." I thought this was all straightened out.

So I guess tomorrow I'll be back at the Hampshire/Franklin Career Center talking to a representative trying to find out what's wrong. The upside to all if this is that I'm in the middle of a really engrossing book called Die For You by Lisa Unger. I get a lot of reading done at the Career Center. I wonder how early I should show up?

Play Clothes

When I was a kid, my siblings and I had three distinct wardrobes: church clothes, school clothes and play clothes. When we came home from school or church, we were instructed immediately to change into our play clothes. Those were the stained and/or torn clothes that might also be a little too small. Playing in our good clothes soon turned them into play clothes.

I still have play clothes. They are still the stained and/or torn clothes that are sometimes a little too small. However, they are perfect for gardening, house cleaning, and generally hanging around the house. I have lots of play clothes because after a while things just wear out or I spill something. Wearning my play clothes means my other casual clothes stay stain-free and tear-free longer. When they get really bad, I cut them up into rags and use them for dusting, cleaning and polishing. I have a very large basket of rags.

When I was working, I'd come home at the end of the day and change into my play clothes before cooking dinner or even just relaxing. Many evenings I had a meeting, so when I came home I skipped the play clothes and just went to bed. Since I didn't wear them a lot (a few evenings a week; one day, maybe two on weekends) they didn't wear out very fast.

Now I spend most of my time in my play clothes and I'm getting sick of them. And they're still not wearing out very fast. What's going on here? How come a nice new pair of sweatpants gets a tear or gets stained after a short period of time, but once it become play clothes, it seems to last forever? I was hoping that all these ratty sweat shirts and sweat pants and turtle neck jerseys would all disintegrate and I could buy lots of new ones.

Right now I'm actually wearing a turtle neck that is about 25 years old. It has a few holes in it, but it's still quite warm and the holes are easily covered with a sweatshirt. How can I cut it up into rags when it's still useful? The curse of the native New Englander.

If my current life style continues, I'll have ample opportunity to wear out my play clothes. But probably by that time, my newer casual clothes will be old enough and stained enough to be play clothes, too.

Whew!

All is back on track on the unemployment benefits front.

I arrived at the Career Center office at 8 a.m. (They open at 8:30) and I was 13th in line. The staff were being very efficient and trying to get as much paperwork ready even before the office opened. Overall, things went very well. We were allowed into the building (but not the office) so we did not have to wait out in the cold. I was hoping my number 13 would be lucky. At about 10:15 I was called into the representative's office.

She spotted the problem immediately and corrected it. She said she didn't understand why this hadn't been taken care of via telephone when I called yesterday or why I had been referred to the city of Springfield to resolve the issue.

My claim has been "re-opened", a check will soon be deposited into my account, and I'm ready to log on again on Sunday.

I wonder if I could make a living guiding others through this process :-).

Bureaucracy = Frustration

I'm having another go-'round with the unemployment bureaucracy. When I filed my weekly claim via computer on Sunday, December 12 (which went very quickly), I received a message in red saying "There has been a break in the reporting of your Partial Earnings. Please contact ..."


The computer system doesn't like the fact that I work a day or two for a few weeks, but then not at all for a few weeks. When I arrived at the career center at 9:00 a.m. (they open at 8:30) to see a representative, they were already booked for the day. I tried again two days later and was put into the queue. After about an hour's wait, I talked with a representative who re-opened my claim and said she needed to send paperwork to the city of Springfield (again) to verify there was no work for me.

When I logged on to my unemployment account on Sunday, the 12th, the red message was "Call the Telephone Claims Center. Additional information is required to determine your eligibility for benefits." No phone number; no hours of operation.

I stopped by the career center on Monday a little after 9. All filled for the day. The same on Tuesday. (I tried to arrive earlier, but other obligations prevented that.) Wednesday (one of the few days I'm allowed to call; it's determined by by SSN), I finally got through only to be told the city of Springfield says I started working again the Monday after Thanksgiving. That's news to me. After calling a couple of people at the library, I was directed to the personnel office for the city.

The personnel officer said he filled out the paperwork saying that I'm technically an employee of the city, but only as part of a substitute pool. He doesn't know why unemployment is giving me a hard time. Each person keeps referring me back to the other one to straighten it out.

Of course, this is a short week with the Christmas holiday (is this the place I say "Bah, humbug!"?). My plan is to arrive at the career center tomorrow before they open. I'll be bundled up since the temperature will be about 30 degrees at 8:00 a.m.

If this had to happen, I wish it had happened in warmer weather.