Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Why I Can Now Link Entries on Facebook

Really, how could I have neglected to write about this subject for four days? I had been keeping this blog pretty quiet during that first week or so, not really making people aware that I now have a blog through Facebook or another channel like that, for the express reason that I was concerned that the subject matter and focus of this blog, my efforts to pursue a major career change would be seen and met with a negative reaction by my present employer. I should clarify, if I haven't in past entries, that I have no grievance with my current job or employer. The work is generally not stressful beyond my ability to cope with it, and my current supervisors and bosses have been absolutely great. If I did not have a specific career goal I would be wholly content to continue to work in the call center I work in indefinitely. That's how I felt before I determined what I really wanted to be doing, and figuring that out has made all the difference. It is much harder to come in to work every day and perform my best, when I know that there is something specific I would prefer to be doing professionally.

Okay, before I get lost on too much of a tangent on the subject of my relative satisfaction with my employer in relation and conflict with my aspiration for a career in veterinary medicine I should really focus and get back to what happened that changes how I'm approaching this blog. Last week it was brought to my attention that I have quite a bit of vacation time for this year that I have accumulated, and reminded that with the new vacation policy if I don't use it I will lose it January, 2011. To help facilitate use of vacation time part of the policy change in my company has been to make all potential earned vacation available at the start of the new year. This operates on the presumption that the employee will be around for the entire year to earn all that vacation.

In my present circumstances, considering the possibility, the probability, that schedule incompatibility will necessitate I leave my current job in order to pursue the education necessary to my longer term goals, getting this reminder that I had vacation time to use raised an alarm for me. I would LIKE to take some time off from work, to be fully compensated for everything I have earned, but I did not yet know just how much vacation time had been earned. I was afraid that if I estimated incorrectly I may find myself in a situation where I could lose a portion of my final pay, maybe all of it, to paying back those vacation hours. With this in mind I went to my supervisor and boss to find out how much vacation time I was accruing I was earning in a day? a week? a month? of work. To try and reign in my chronic verbosity I will just say that this resulted in me needing to explain to my Supervisor and my Boss why I was concerned about this, and I ended up having the conversation I had long been dreading wherein I explained I may be abandoning my gainful employment here to desperately pursue the profession of my dreams. This all went surprisingly well. I really have to give my supervisor and my boss credit. They are both incredibly cool and supportive people. I am very lucky to have them as the people to whom I report at this particular moment in my professional life. They were appreciative of my honesty, and of the time given for them to adjust if necessary and to explore options with me for transitioning to an alternate work schedule (part time or funky hours). That wouldn't be so bad. I would probably, hopefully, be able to retain my health benefits at some level, but realistically I know I cannot depend on it. So the search continues, but at least I can explore my options without feeling the need to be clandestine about my intentions to anyone beyond the people closest to me. It is a bit liberating.

Maybe tomorrow, if I have nothing new to report, I will write a slightly nerdier entry. It has been a while. I guess it will depend on what the next 24 hours bring me.

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