A job in my field that I always wanted has just come open again. I'm torn about whether to apply for it (it's teaching at a graduate school level in a small school). Problem is this: it would mean that my partner and I would have to have a "commuting" relationship for awhile. I would be outside of Minneapolis, MN and my partner would be in D.C. (no, there's no chance of not being in D.C. -- at least not for another three or four years because of contract obligations and ties to the community since my partner is a minister). We don't have the financial resources to do this commute, maintain two households, and stock up for y2k in two places. My instinct is to stay put -- continue with the Plan B Career plan I've started on -- and keep preparing for y2k. While DC is not a great place to be, we live in a great community with a large network of support. Plus, it's warmer than Minnesota would be in January. Any advice folks as I consider this?

-- Libby Alexander (libbyalex@aol.com), December 02, 1998

Answers

Libby,

What is really important to you? Your job or those you love? Maybe there are other choices to be made. Like both of you moving somewhere else that enhances both your careers and your lives. Expand your options. This job coming up for you may just be there to prod you, to get you thinking about the rest of your life.

Diane

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), December 02, 1998.

Thanks, Diane. That's what I've sort of been thinking too. I was meditating on it last night and came up with that I am loathe to enter the fast paced world of academia and would rather delve more deeply into my work on spirituality and counseling. Hmmm. Funny how these life decisions are woven so strongly into y2k. Maybe it's that y2k is leading me to think more deeply about life decisions and opportunities. What I find is that I'm beginning to shed the ego-investment in the traditional job market and it's trappings of so-called success. Times are a changing...

-- Libby Alexander (libbyalex@aol.com), December 02, 1998.

Libby, having lived in DC many years, I can hardly think of a worse place to be (maybe LA?) if y2k comes down as bad as many here believe it will.

-RC

-- runway cat (runway_cat@hotmail.com), December 02, 1998.

Libby,

I dropped out of the fast-paced life eleven years ago and it took an angle hugging me to knock me off the corporate/start-up treadmill.

Don't regret any of it. Also, note I recently moved away from Southern CA, much as I love those wonderful people. Think I can do more from a Silicon Valley perspective again. And, I had NO idea at that timing that the twist of Y2K would become so pervasive. The universe has unexpected ways of "nudging" us all.

Trust your intuition. That is one thing that does work!

Diane

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), December 02, 1998.

Sorry, angel. Need that spell-checker too!

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), December 02, 1998.

Washington D.C. is toast. The city is WAY behind on Y2K. They have also been selected as the state mostly likely to have Y2K failures in its unemployment insurance system.

Failures in January of *1999*!

-- Kevin (mixesmusic@worldnet.att.net), December 02, 1998.

Stay put and prepare a refuge outside DC. Perhaps you should seek out Cory H!

-- RD. ->H (drherr@erols.com), December 02, 1998.