Fitting in to the mainstream? experiences with employment?

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were you talking about a job or something else?

The average length of time I 've had a job is 6 months. That means forty plus jobs in the past 20 years. I suck at jobs because I sucked at school. I sucked at school 'cuz I'm plain stupid.
I plan on killing myself by the age of 50 if I haven't made something of myself.

Edited for piss-poor grammar and spelling. Sorry.

Last edited by NocturnalQuilter on 05 Jan 2009, 10:48 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I'm going to wait until I'm around 80 or so kind of depending on the weather and stuff just in case I eventually manage somehow to someway amount to something kindof that society will say was worthwhile.

I was talking bout what I did at a job that made people feel more comfortable socializing with me.

Great topic, Millie.

To answer your question...From 1987 (after I got my MA in English) till 2003, I was employed as a technical writer. I worked for both large and small corporations. During the last several years of that career, I worked out of a home office on the east coast for a corporation on the west coast. Along the way, I made good money, got married, had a kid, homeschooled, bought a house, paid it off, got divorced, and got remarried (in 2003). I quit my job in 2003 to be a stay-at-home, homeschooling mom (rather than a working AND homeschooling mom--please don't ask me how I managed it, I couldn't say). Just being a stay-at-home, homeschooling mom was a job and a half, but it was a job I enjoyed immensely.

Before all that, from the time I was 17, I worked as a cashier, a daycare provider, a teacher's aide, a baker, a cook, a housecleaner, and a teacher. There were very few years between the ages of 17 and 45 that I did not work, and that includes my college and grad school days. I do some freelance editing now, but only if it appears on my doorstep.

All that being said, I can't imagine ever working full time again. I'm still trying to explain to myself how I managed to work as hard as I did for as long as I did. For most of that time, I was on my own and really had no one to turn to except myself, so I guess I did what I had to do. Also, I didn't trust anyone enough to depend on them to help me support myself, so I took on a lot of responsibility. For the first time, I now have a very workable, mutually supportive relationship, and can start to think about what I would like to do rather than what I have to do.

I currently volunteer in my community about 8 hours per week. My husband is retired, and we have enough to live on, as our needs are few.

My current job: Facing myself as I really am and trying to do some good for other people.

Pffft. You said you cared about your partner too much to ever do that, Nocturnal Quilter.

hey nesh. always good to read your experiences. and the blog goes mightily, i might add. i check in each day and have a squizz. will read the volunteer instalment in a moment.

NQ, you bring so much beauty into the world with your art. It would be a great loss if you were to take an early exit.

That's what artists do, I think...bring beauty into a very cruel and heart-breaking world. I don't believe that any beauty you create can ever be a waste of time.

yeah NQ. we - "WE" being the crusty old bunch of too-true aspies, actually LIKE you. hold off until 80 like garyww. we need you around these parts - a bit of lively rulebreaking is well and truly required. (It adds salt and pepper to old those STATS posts.....)

I've been working steadily from '87 to now. If I can ace the interview, it will be for a few more years yet. It can be done. I've been repairing printers, servers, laptops, desktops, etc., for 21 years.

If you work hard, try to make sure those around you are taken care of quickly and efficiently (if you're in the service arena), you can win the respect of those around you. I come across as weird, but funny, and fit my almost-rounded edges into the square peg they've made for me.

I know the other techs think of me every time someone says 'network printer'... The calls, the chat lines, emails, or just looking for me...

It can be done.

Thanks!

What's a squizz? Is this an Aspie Aussie thing?

"squizz" is Australian vernacular for " i shall have a quick look." A rather delightful turn of phrase, particularly when coupled wtih the broad Strine accent........

I'll have to try using it at work and see what kind of reactions I get. I have a feeling the resident artists there will enjoy it.

people don't announce they are going to kill themselves and go through with it usually. In most cases the person is just looking for validation they don't get from other people.

Yep.

Sorry, but no.
I do care about my partner. Very much. But I will be very surprised if he is still around in ten years.
Having said that, I have always maintained that if, by the age of 50 I hadn't "made something" of myself I would be better off leaving my space and air to someone who might be better suited to doing something with their lives.

Why is it any who speaks of suicide is simply begging for attention? Just because you haven't the courage doesn't me the rest of us don't. I agree that normally it may be the case. But not always. I have a very strict set of values (as they pertain to me) and living a life wihtout any real value isn't on my personal agenda.