Once Again, I Consider A Career In Pharmaceuticals

I think I will start this conversation out by discussing my new job which I start October 26th. Not a change in pay but a change in scenery, people, hopes, dreams, and potentially, job satisfaction.

Yeah, smart people would probably hang onto a job in today's market and only settle for something that pays more. Well, I've been trying for awhile and I am, unfortunately, not finding much else. So I'm hoping I can cash in on my job satisfaction and tell the bank that a change in my workplace attitude has to be worth SOMETHING.

I look at it as my own little mini-reboot. They are also in a field that I might be headed into in the future so, if job satisfaction doesn't pan out, perhaps resume building will.

How's that for rationalization?

It is rather weird to walk among people that don't know my story. Right now, my name is hyphenated for pay purposes but after I was introduced to some of the staff with the hyphenated name, I've decided to tell them that the hyphenate exists just for my paycheck. I want a fresh start.

What will really be weird is that I won't be working downtown anymore. I have worked in downtown Duluth for nearly a decade and I love it. As much as I enjoy the quiet countryside and hanging out in my one room shack with my rifle loaded and my still bubbling away, there is something to be said for the vitality of a downtown area.

For those of you who are rolling their eyes and saying "Yeah, but it's Duluth...dear oh dear, you're so cosmopolitan" (I'm picturing you wearing a monocle and using a long cigarette holder. Am I right?) I really must protest. I have seen big and I have seen small and for me, Duluth is a nice "Goldilocks" kind of a town, just right.

As I've been investigating places I might want to live, I use Duluth as a population scale. I am interested in moving to a town that is two Duluth's big. There is also another town which is seven Duluth's big. It would be a fabulous place to go but I'm afraid I would need to sell drugs to support myself as the cost of living is a little high. Funnily enough, I think I'd like to keep 'drug dealer' off my resume.

Hey, speaking of resumes, drug dealers, and new jobs, I learned that prisoners are put through classes in prison before they are released that teach them how to write a resume and fill out a job application while tactfully avoiding, or at least downplaying, their prison record.

I also learned that prisoners are garnished a $400 gate fee when they first enter prison which is the money they get when they leave. Since they can only garnish 50% of their wages, the gate fee comes off first. Then and only then do they begin to pay their court ordered restitution.

And when you're making .50 an hour, you get to pay yourself for quite some time before you even begin to think about your pesky victim.

All I can say is JUSTICE ROCKS!