Dad Revisited

Life comes in fits and starts, doesn’t it? What could possibly occupy my time for two months and keep me from my faithful readers?

My Mother-In-Law got sick. She ended up in the hospital, and then a rehabilitation facility. My Father-In-Law can’t stay by himself, so he moved in with us. Well, more with them, since I still live 5/7 of the time far from the family.

The job has been… challenging. Things in education are tough, if you are on the bottom of the Seniority List. Which I am. Was. As a result, my position went from a full-time position to a part-time position. I was excessed (released from full time employment, with rights to be recalled if a FT position opens up) and offered the new PT gig.

When my boss heard about this, he was concerned. You see, he is retired. He is in the second year of a planned three year stint as Director of Fine and Performing Arts. He looked at the situation and found it to be unacceptable. So he did what any of us would have done.

He resigned.

Sounds drastic, but he had a thought. He thought “I could resign and leave room for the new guy, who has all the right certification and experience to take over.” Apparently he also thought “I don’t need another $100k of money that I would have made.” Can you imagine? How many of us would have given up that kind of scratch for someone we hardly know?

This set up a strange sequence of events:

• Apply for new position
• get excessed from current position
• interview for new job
• get recalled as a music teacher
• get appointed as Coordinator of Fine and Performing Arts
• Oh, I was also approved for tenure as a Music Teacher K-12.

As you can see, this has been a bit of a whirlwind. I’ve jumped into the new job (which I don’t officially have yet) with both feet, so I have been out at Award Ceremonies, dinners, and concerts. All of this hubbub has kept me from you, dear readers. However, I hope to be back soon. Today is a chance to catch up. Keep your eyes open for new posts. I’ve missed you, and I’m looking forward to sharing with you again. Things are starting to get interesting.

I have been away for a while. When I say ‘away,’ I mean ‘not here blogging.’ I’ve been with the family and generally avoiding all technology except for my iPod Touch application of Solitaire.

It’s not that I want to stop. Sometimes family commitments have to come first. Finishing work in my basement, fixing a variety of ills around the house, and visiting with my families (Nuclear, Mom, Dad, and In-Laws). I’ve missed you all, and I look forward to a new year of blogging about Technology, Family, and Faith.

My recent work history has been, as some might say, troubled.

• Two and a half years ago, I lost a job. A really good paying job. A fairly significant, life changing event for anyone.
• A little over one year ago, I lost another job. It paid less than the previous job (by about 20%) but we were making it on that money. It was a decent job. Not a great job, mind you. I thought it was going to be much better. It wasn’t.
• A little less than one year ago, I got another job. This job paid half of what the previous job paid. For the mathematicians in the crowd, this means I took an approximately 55% pay cut over two years. This pay cut hurt a lot.

The pay cut could have been the most painful part of the deal. The job I have now is a good one. I like what I do, and I do it pretty well. The people I work with have already laid out the long range plans they have for my career. The real problem, as they say in the real estate business, is “location, location, location.” I work 80 miles from home. I love to drive. I have a Prius, which means I can get great gas mileage. The 80 miles I have to travel takes me directly past New York City, along with a few million other people. What takes 90 minutes to drive in the early afternoon and later evening takes 2-3 hours to drive during rush hour.

I took an apartment closer to my job in order to avoid this traffic. By taking this apartment I made my life easier. Taking this apartment has complicated and compromised the lives of my family. I’ve gone from seeing my family every day to seeing them two and a half days a week. A few years ago I would have thought this would be fine. I would make it work. However, once I started living in the new apartment I discovered a few things I didn’t know about myself:

1. I missed being at home with the kids;
2. I wanted to be a more spiritual person;
3. I wasn’t doing the job I wanted to do as a father or a husband; and
4. I was afraid of missing out on the last few years my son has at home before college.

I started the Digital Father Blog and Podcast after I started reading ‘mommy blogs’ and listening to some ‘mommy podcasts’ (which were, in many ways, quite demeaning to men), but lately I’ve felt like neither are doing what I’d really like them to do. For the past few months, I’ve been considering what to do next. I think I’ve figured it out.

“Dad Revisited” is going to be different than “Digital Father.” A little more structure. A little more predictable. A little more writing, and maybe less about podcasting. Fans of “Digital Father” will still find plenty of me here, but they may hear it with a slightly different voice. I look forward to hearing from those who care what they think of the changes.