Flooding Blues

It is pouring here.  The rain only stops intermittently for the last 10 days or so.  Today it is nonstop in downpours.  It makes me sad--not sad because it is raining but sad because it could cause flooding and I am no longer the floodplain administrator over anything more the property where I live.  This is the time of year that CFM's like me actually prepare for.  I don't want to say we hope for them but we do spend hours and hours preparing for action in times of flooding and yet there is nothing for me to do.  Blah!  I wish it was sunny instead and then I wouldn't mind being unemployed as much--although watching out my front window at the cars hydroplaning as they race by is a good way to keep my mind of it.  I just hope no one jumps the curb and hits my parked cars.

Jedi Knight or Knight of the Sith?

Every once in a while you come to a fork in the road and you must choose the path you will take: the high road, the low road, the one less traveled, blah, blah, blah....I arrived at that fork today and I am still not sure which way I will go.  If anyone pulls up behind me, please just honk and I will pull over to the side so you can go around me.

I went out to lunch with some friends.  While we were leaving I saw an acquaintance who works in the real estate business.  We chit-chatted for a moment about my lack of gainful unemployment and my side jobs as a pizza delivery driver and stripper (aka housekeeper).  She began to quiz me in my computer application skills and experience with office skills, accounting, etc.  She then said they were possibly going to hire an assistant for her and I should bring by a resume.  Now this woman is super nice, super smart and actually super cool.  Not such a bad gig actually.  The quandary revolves around the profession of  real estate.    

In this world there are two types of people:  Planners (me and my kind) and Real Estate Agents (them).  Planners and real estate agents interact for a handful of reasons including arguing about allowed land uses and the impact of the zoning on the value; arguing about building codes and the impacts on the value; and discussing the specifics of planning/zoning/building law which apply to properties they are trying to sell and make a butt-load of money on for commission without typically doing any of the footwork or research (that is what planners do).   

My planning friends and I refer to the real estate industry as "The Dark Side."  I believe it may be a planning-wide joke as well because I have heard it at conferences too.  They are dark--we are light (or so I thought).  Now that the planning world has been reduced to nothing by the failing real estate market (much like the planet Alderaan was destroyed by the Death Star) I must decide which force is stronger inside of me:  the planning side that is unemployed or the side that would really like a job to earn some money.  I wish I had Yoda nearby to help point me in the right direction.  

PS.  I know that Star Wars did not involve any zombies chanting something from the movie "Freaks" but I threw it in anyway.....

Somewhat Related to My Job Search But Mostly Why I Haven't Found a Job Yet

I have mentioned a time or two as to how discouraged I am about the availability of decent paying jobs or for things other than surrogacy, egg donation and direct-selling scams.  I read an article about the county planning department and how they are not renewing the contract for the director position.  I shall post the alarming section here:

 It goes to show that I am not alone.  The planning department at Flathead County has been reduced from 13 to 7.5 in the last year.  The county planning director's job is not going to be renewed and they may get rid of the assistance director position.  While this is very sad for those involved, it provides a sense of balance for me.  I am now rather sure that the lack of good jobs and no response from employers after submitting applications is due to other professionals like me who are competing (and there are so many of us that employers don't need to submit such niceties like rejection letters or follow-calls).  I guess this has become a contest amongst peers.   I shall win it.   I might have to win it by getting a job at a day spa or helping a friend fold sheets and bedding at a resort on Friday afternoons in May ***wait, I am doing that already but it is just to help her out and not really my job*** but I will win.......


Here is a link to the article on the Flathead Beacon:  http://www.flatheadbeacon.com/articles/article/planning_board/17107/