Rainmaker

I want to find a job.

I need something to do instead of waiting for DH to get home from work all day. Cooking and cleaning and grocery shopping has lost its appeal. The weekends are fine as we go hiking into the mountains but the weekdays are painful.

It is extremely quiet here on the legal locum scene at the moment. I have even widened my search and am prepared to commute one way to 1.5 hour commute. I know its 3 hours of travelling a day but I rarely drive and transport links here a fairly good. But even doing this the market is still DEAD.

According to The Lawyer on line job site there are in excess of 400 jobs for employment lawyers in London. Its tempting. I don't want to be away from home or DH but what am I supposed to do? I am trying to gauge what it would cost me to work part of the week in London. I would need accommodation at least 4 nights a week, plus train travel - expenses could come in at around £400.00 per week! Ideally perhaps I could find something on part time basis in London.

I don't like London. But the pay is good. Its too far to commute daily - the quickest I could do it would be 2 hours 15 mins one way. This would also cost the extortionate amount of circa £130.00 per day.

The other option is to take any local job just to get out of the house and earn some pocket money. That's fine. But how easy is it for a lawyer to get a mac job? I still need to work as a Lawyer for the next few years at least so I wouldn't want to do anything to jeopardise this.

Be careful what you wish for....

Well the first week of unemployment is nearly over. I wish I could say that I am enjoying my time off but I'm not.

I'm feeling very displaced. I feel very down at the moment. I cant really put my finger on why this is. I have been in between jobs before and I haven't felt like this. I feel lonely and quite isolated. Perhaps I have realised what a great assignment the last gig was. Realistically I don't think something that good will crop up again. Perhaps it is the stark realisation that the only people hiring at the moment are local government. Local Government pays less than private practice. But its not just the pay its the thought of those dirty offices, and uncomfortable surroundings and the general atmosphere.

Do we need work to give us routine and structure? I'll admit that I've scoffed at this possibility in the past. But think about it, maybe its not so much the routine but the social interaction. We've all heard of those lottery winners who win a fortune but then announce that they wont give up their jobs. Now I sort of understand why. Is it because you have a ready made social circle and social interaction on a daily basis?

So I am thinking that if I feel like this now how am I going to handle The Escape? But then I think that in The Escape I will be OK because I will be "living" somewhere which aligns with my core values, there will be plenty to do and I will have DH. I don't have DH to play with at the moment because he is at work. The fact is that there is nothing to do in this city unless one works.

Anyone else faced the same issues when not working/giving up work?

Unemployed

Well I am now unemployed.

I finished at the firm on Friday. I was at the firm for 11 months and 2 weeks. It was a great gig.

I have e mailed agencies advising them of my availability. There doesn't seem to be much out there at the moment.

My loss of pay means that our savings will drop from £4,500 per month to £1,500.

I hope I find something soon. In the meantime I am counting my blessings. I am practising contentment. I have a wonderful husband. We have a roof over our head. We can afford our home. My husband has a job. We can afford to buy food and still afford to save and enjoy the little luxuries. I am trying to live in the now and trying to stop obsessing with the escape and the future.