My life: The present

My life seems to be at a bit of a nexus right now. Just finished a whirlwind of a trip to LA; now I'm back in Sydney; and then... well, I don't know what happens then. I used my last post to tackle the (very immediate) past. Now up: my present circumstances.

-------------------------------------------------------

The week in LA is over.

Last Wednesday morning, after a nice flight on V Australia (had a whole row to myself!), I arrived back in Sydney. Eager to get a move on things, I jumped off the plane, darted through customs, grabbed my luggage and ran out of the airport so that I could get back to... well, yeeeeaaaaaahhhhh. There actually wasn't anything to get back to. For I am still sans job. It sucks.

This sucktitude really took hold of me sometime in early March, when, after over a month of searching for work day after day, it became apparent that the GFC was in full effect. There are hardly any jobs out there, and when one becomes available, dozens of qualified applicants flock. Yeah, it sucks. And it began to get me down.

Clearly, I needed to recharge my batteries. And with Sam, Sarah and Robert visiting for two weeks, followed by my trip to LA, I had the opportunity to do just that. The time from mid March to last Wednesday was fantastic.

Back in Sydney and refreshed -- and that includes defying jet lag yet again! -- I'm determined to renew and redouble my efforts to locate a job. So no stone goes unturned! I'm calling in all favors from anyone I know, reaching out to friends of friends of friends, calling up every Penn alum in Australia and hanging out at traffic intersections with cardboard signs that profess my desire to work. If there's an opportunity out there, I'll locate it. And then beg for the job.

But here's the thing: I can't keep on doing this in perpetuity. Amazingly, we're looking at 87 days of unemployment and counting. 87 freaking days. Nearly three months. To me, that's a staggering number, one that I never dreamed of encountering.

As much as I love Sydney, love the people, love the weather, I can't continue to go on, day by day, without any purpose or income. Something needs to change. So as much as it pains me to do so, I've given myself until May 8 to locate a job. That's four work weeks after I first arrived back in Sydney. If I don't find a job by this deadline? Well, my (potential) future awaits. And we'll tackle that last topic next.