Homeless

You’ll have noticed, if you’re a regular, that much of 2012 has been very quiet here.

As I announced back in April 2012, in May 2012 I moved to Wellington to work on a project for my employer. My fairly lowly job title and salary didn’t change, but the work was more engaging and the move would hopefully give me some experience that might help in getting a new job. I generally keep personal details out of the blog, but I don’t mind admitting that finances have never been great since graduating in 2008 (not that they were great before then, but that’s to be expected). Plus, if we could eventually move to Wellington there would be more opportunities in terms of jobs, speaking opportunities and who knows what else (Wellington is the capital of New Zealand and is centrally located). At the time we didn’t know whether my time in Wellington would be long or short-term. We’ve found out since then (a few weeks ago) that my time with the project has been extended until the end of June 2013, so we started making plans to move to Wellington with a view to me using the next six months or so securing a permanent job after June.

I thought that perhaps the blog output might have increased during my time here, but I was wrong. It’s hard to be in “normal” mode – or hard for me at any rate – when you’re away from the ones you love, living in a permanent state of limbo (or so it has felt). Plus, my access to the internet has been a bit more limited than before (I’m staying in an apartment building where the cheapest internet access I have is mobile broadband, which is fairly pricey here in New Zealand). I’ve been living apart from my wife and our four children for seven months now (visiting home one weekend per month, but for the last several months that became three visits every two months), and it hasn’t been easy – being a hermit is an interesting insight into one’s own mental health! Husbands and wives (and their children, some of the time) should be together.

However – and this is the point of this blog entry – all that’s about to change. A few days ago I was very pleased to learn that my application for a permanent job here in Wellington (with the same employer that I currently have) was successful and I will be starting on the 4th of February 2013. Change is in the air. Today my wife and kids say goodbye to our former home in Dunedin and start making the trek north (they will be joined by my wife’s father, who will make most of the trip with them). I suppose we’re technically homeless. They’re off to my in-laws (north of Wellington), where I will join them all for Christmas, and some time between now and the end of January we need to find a house to rent in Wellington (I still have this apartment until then). Wellington is much more expensive to rent in, but I’ll be earning a little more in my new role, so it evens out. We’ll just have to swallow hard and go a little more into the red to move our things up. The theory (and a pretty plausible one, say I) is that it’s worth it in the long term (and it’s still cheaper than replacing everything). Now… to seek out and make the most of the opportunities this may present.

I do aim to be more proactive in 2013 in reaching out beyond the blog and podcast. More on this in the near future.

So – there’s some background into what’s happening with me and why things have been a little slow here. I’ve set aside hopes of an academic role for the next little while in order to focus on reality (!!), but I’m certainly welcoming this change and the opportunities it may present. Once we’re set up in our new place, things should pick up again, and once we’re a couple of months into 2013 the blog and podcast should be back in full swing. It’s nice to see that there have still been plenty of visitors to the site, and here’s to many more in 2013.

Glenn