Also, I was worried about current place giving me a bad reference, and then I remembered that I do goddamn freelance work on the side -- for NUNS. Who better to give a reference than NUNS???

Hee, indeed.

Honestly, you're not in a bad position at all as far as that goes. "I'm not able to give you references from my current employer because I'm not comfortable letting them know I'm hunting, but I think my long tenure there gives testimony to my quality as an employee. Here, have some nuns."

I saw nuns as nuts. So then I saw Teppy pouring little peanut sized nuns out of a glass jar into a open waiting hand...

Tip? No Tip? Tip on load? Tip on unpack?

I was a total space cadet during the load - didn't have water or tip for the 3 guys who hauled butt and took good care of my stuff. I wish I had. I did have water and tip for the guys who unloaded - $20 each. All the guys who loaded and unloaded were fantastic. FANTASTIC. I am not fully unpacked yet, but I have not found any damage (I haven't unpacked the kitchen stuff yet, though).

Teppy, as another who is "starting over", I was terrified of stepping outside the things I felt were trapping me, from multiple directions. I'm still in the middle of it, but I feel so much lighter. A couple of months from now, when the dust has settled, I know I'll be all "why did I wait so long".

As for being "pegged" for what you do - talk to some of the folks you have freelanced for and pick their brains. That is how I ended up with my new job. I wouldn't have tried for this without the guidance of some fantastic co-workers.

What are the chances that it is a coincidence that this push happens not too long after they start their little at work prayer time?

this was something I wondered too.

Thanks, Kristin! My birthday was wonderful! We went out for a nice dinner with my family and went back to the beach house and had ice cream cake. It's been a nice vacation so far.

Assuming Tim's job is portable, I think Teppy should come work in my neighborhood:

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I think I forgot to say happy birthday to the sweet and lovely sj! I hope it was great and that you have a wonderful year.

America is fun. I just walked to the 7-11 to pick up a few things. On the way (about three blocks) I passed families speaking at least three languages other than English -- Spanish, Arabic, and something that I think was Hindi. The Arabic-speaking family had a little tiny girl with super-long curly hair in pigtails tied with sparkly red and blue ribbons, a red shirt with a blue heart with sparkly white stars on it, and white socks with sparkly red hearts. Cutest thing ever.

Also Teppy, changing jobs does not have to mean changing careers. You are good at what you do and there is a lot of demand for it. You can go right on doing what you love, just for someone who is less of an asshat.

Teppy, your bosses sound like things are going out of control at their company, and you seem like a convenient scapegoat. (The plague of economic constriction has come upon us! Burn the witch liberal! Deity will reward us with balanced books!)

I hope that you find something better soon. You might want to look into communications departments at NGOs and other non-profits. Their pay doesn't tend to be stellar, but their bennies are often great. (I work for an NGO and got 3 weeks vacation my first year and 2 weeks sick leave in the bank the first day I started work.)