I'm mostly healthy again

After I got the flu, my wife got it, so I spent 4 or 5 days taking care of her. We are both better now, so I've been living like a real unemployed person for about a week now. My days consist of checking the morning email from Monster for any worthwhile job opportunities, sending my information to temp agencies, applying to miscellaneous jobs that I find or that my wife finds, doing household errands, and sometimes going to Northwestern to work from there (to get me out of the house).

The engineering firm that I interviewed with told me that I'd know within a month of the second interview whether or not the wanted to hire me. Not surprisingly, the one-month anniversary came and went without incident, so I called the president (it's a small company, so he does the hiring) yesterday and left a message nicely asking about my status. I haven't heard back yet.

This waiting can be frustrating. I think I avoid thinking about it a lot. That is to say, I try to push the anxiety to the back of my mind, since there's nothing I can really do about it. But, I'm sure you know, when you've called the president and are waiting for him to call back, you can end up with a lot of thoughts like "What's taking so long? Is he trying to figure out the best way to word their decision to not hire me?".

Monday, I got a call from a headhunter who found my resume on Monster. He had a manufacturing engineering job that he thought I'd be a good fit for. Tuesday, he called to tell me that the company wasn't interested, as they wanted someone with manufacturing experience. Easy come, easy go.

I've also found that doing a sabbatical like I was considering is tricky business. Every time I think about trying to find temporary work like that, I feel a strong urge not to, since I might get permanent employment soon. It's like these companies could call me at any moment!