On the job hunt with an ICD!

   So here I am on the prowl for a job, in the midst of this I am also studying for the GED. What an everlovin pain in the back! Ha! You didn't see that one coming! I know, it's not normal for me not to cuss at every possible opportunity. So I have to make 3 viable contacts a week for the unemployment to stay in effect, that is not bad. The trick is to avoid becoming under employed, so I can support my family. I would like to entertain the possibilities of even telecommuting if at all possible. How damned cool would that be? So here is the thing. I am studying for the GED, that I was working on last year at this time. Last year it was for self improvement, now its out of necessity. I find it actually pretty funny that they require a GED to even go into a call center. Humm, I didn't see that one coming. So I studied all day yesterday, and I think I am less intelligent now than when I started. I hate Language Arts with a passion. A necessary evil I suppose, as I am attempting to pull off a career change here. 

    It is a pain in the butt trying to follow what your Doc says you are no longer supposed to do when job hunting. I do not know if the rest of you have had this problem, and I sure hope you do not. The problem I have is, if I do not disclose that I have an ICD and go back to a shop setting I am liable if something happens. If I do disclose I have an ICD and the can't do's that go with it, most employers do not want to dive into a pool like that for a new employee. I have a lot of ability as a mechanic, but according to my Doc, I am just no longer able to participate in the daily operations of a shop. There are things that I took for granted I suppose. I used to be able to grab a drill and go do what I needed to do. Now I have to maintain a drill ( cordless drill ) 12 inches from my chest at a minimum. A corded drill is a different animal all together, it puts off a larger magnetic field and has more power. The Doc and the owners manual suggest I cant play with these any longer. I am supposed to maintain 5 ft distance from most electric motors, the size of electric motors found in lathes and mills and such. I am not even supposed to work on cars any longer. So what does that leave for me to do? Well as it turns out, that leaves me needing to become properly educated. I am 43 years old and back in High School! Whoo Hoo! I am so Excited! Does that mean I get to go party and go to keggers and stuff? This will be a breeze, I have life experiences! OMG! WTF! All of this stuff has changed since I was in school. Damn!

  

   I thought Language Arts sucked when I went through it the first time. Now it stresses me out and makes the plasma in my brain boil. I can't believe we actually pay people to dissect a sentence and come up with names for every word that is in it. Then to allow them to implement new rules regarding proper usage. No wonder kids are more screwed up now then they were when we were kids. Holy crap this sucks! I remember a few years back my kids were getting correct answers marked wrong in math. This was because they had installed this thing called new math, in place of math. The answers were correct, but the teacher was marking them wrong, and my wife and I could not understand this. So she went in to talk with the teacher and get things sorted out. This was a booster class as she home schools our children, so they are supposed to support our chosen curriculum. She went in to talk with the teacher, and he explained to her that our children were doing the problems wrong. She asked if the answers were correct, and per her math and the calculator the answers were spot on. The teacher explained to her that the solution didn't make the way they got there right, so in fact they were wrong with the solutions they had come up with. The thing with new math  is, they have added so many steps to get to the solution, that it takes 5 times as long to come to the answer. Well, I call Bull Shit, and so did my wife! Math is math, and how we arrive at the correct solution is irrelevant! Should the answer to the problem be 81, then I do not give a rats ass how you got there. I do not think it is necessary to take a 9x9 problem and have it jump up off the table, go to the store, build a rocket, loop around the moon at 15 g's, to start a space time continuum rift to arrive at our answer of 81. I say go Fuck yourself! And apparently so did my wife! I have trained her well. 

   So at this point you are probably going, what the hell does that have to do with having an ICD. Well honestly it has absolutely nothing at all to do with and ICD. OK, well I was wrong, it has everything to do with an ICD. It is about how we deal with the stress of every day life. Stress happens to be a huge contributor to how our hearts react, and if we get "therapy" or not. The better we are able to deal with stress, the less likely we will get shocked for getting overly excited in situations. I am the calmest I have ever been being unemployed this time. Is it because I know everything will work out just fine? It always has in the past, even though I was a gigantic ball of stress. Or is it that this time I am approaching things differently? I do not know what the actual answer is. I do know that worrying is a natural thing to do, and to deny the worrying is unnatural. But I am furthering my education, and my children know that dad does find education important now. The fact that getting an education will help land an office type of position, eases the stress of being in a hazardous position. This eases the stress of every day life. Now I am not sure how, but you may relate this to a similar situation in your life, and this in some way may help you to calm yourself so you do not get electrocuted. I know first hand how bad that sucks! So I hope you have a fantastic day, and I hope you find less stressful ways to go about every day life. It is easier said then done.

                         Life with an ICD is not easy!  But maybe we can still make it enjoyable?

  Keep coming back! More stuff to come!