Friday, February 3, 2017

Priorities and real life

I'm aware that I'm very lucky with my job.  I work from home and have flexible hours.  I have paid vacation, sick days, and supportive managers that don't care when I work, just that it gets done.  I can zip out for a lesson at 3pm and then pick up work again at 5pm with no problems.  I've had a job that allowed me to ride horses for a long time.

It's a crazy job, but flexible

 I saw a very surprising update today at work.  They've decided that the teams must be colocated now.  That means that our currently very scattered team will be moving to one of six offices in the country.  Surprise, surprise, none of those locations are in New Hampshire.

No details yet.  We probably won't have details for a couple months, but by the end of September, it's expected that all of my part of the business will be working in offices in the middle of major cities.  For many of my co-workers, it's going to be a choice between losing a job (with no unemployment) or moving hundreds of miles with their families.  For me, the best I can hope for is Boston.  Downtown, packed with people, Boston.  Which is going to be a 2 - 3 hour commute from my current residence.

This has thrown a monkey wrench into everything.  The best case scenario is that I only have to go in once a week and can work from home the rest of the week.  That would minimize the impact.  But if that doesn't work?  I'll have to get a different job.  Which will, most likely, include a commute.  Most of the jobs in my field are south, near Boston.  My horse is north.

If I have to take a full time job with a one hour commute heading south, I'll never see Theo.  I told the hubby I'd be looking for jobs that are north so I can see Theo and that I'd be requesting a swing shift so I can ride before or after I work.  He informed me that if I want all of that, I'd better start looking now.  And that I better be ready to choose between a job I want and being able to see Theo as much as I want.

Sonovabitch.

 I didn't work this hard to turn Theo into my dressage pony so I could never see him.  But I need to be able to afford him.  How does anyone do this?  How do people with regular jobs keep up with their riding?  Even if I can manage to get an 8 to 4 job, I'll be leaving at 7am, getting to the barn at 5pm, and getting home around 7:30pm or 8pm.  With chicken chores in the morning, that's a 6am wake up call and running all out until 8pm.  I managed it when I had an office job by working from home twice a week and riding those nights.  Then I only needed to ride and work in an office twice a week.  But I'm discovering that working from home is not all that common.

 Because I have more critters to care for than just mi papi

So I'm polishing up my resume and crossing my fingers for the best possible options because I don't want to lease out my horse because I'm commuting four hours a day. 

11 comments:

  1. "How does anyone do this? How do people with regular jobs keep up with their riding?"

    Not well :( I have a regular job and two horses in 'work'. I've ridden them each once this week, bareback.

    I'm so jealous of everyone with flexible schedule. I hope you're able to figure something out that works for you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah this me too! I hope to reduce to part-time hours eventually but my winters just kind of suck with the lack of light and freezing cold weather.

      Delete
  2. I really hope you are able to find a good solution! Maybe some of the DC girls will be able to offer you better insight. I'm not helpful because I'm very careful to do my best to minimize my commute.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Such a tough situation!! Good luck on the job front.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I have a reg job with an hour commute each way. Up at 5, in the office by 6:30, home by 4:30, to the barn by 6, home by 8:30, shower, rinse, repeat. What makes it significantly easy for me is a complete lack of other responsibilities - no children, no SO, and two dogs who don't need a ton of exercise. But I chose that kinda life to eliminate stress...still doesn't leave much room for other stuff like gaming and reading :(

    I really hope you can get a good schedule. Even if a new job or commute doesn't seem great at first, you'd be surprised how easy it might be to get into a routine that eventually optimizes your time. Sorry you have to go through this :(

    ReplyDelete
  5. Good luck with the job hunt! I just had to change jobs thanks to commuting (health-related, not time constraints), and it's hard. It seems like every company assumes that colocation is the only way to get things done, so finding a company that allows (let alone encourages) remote working is really hard.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Ugh this is so hard. Damn work life balance!! I took. New job this past spring that really reshuffled my schedule. So far it's working out ok bc I can work from home a ton when I'm not traveling. But days I commute into the office are days that I simply do not ride, which kinda sucks. Good luck!!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Oh, I am so sorry. I work from home too and this is my worst fear. Best of luck finding work and sorting out Theo time.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I hate to see something get in the way of the fabulous progress you and Theo are making. A wise friend of mine always says - good news, bad news - too soon to tell... I hope things work out better than you expect. :D

    ReplyDelete
  9. Ughh, sending you tons of good luck! Currently, my story is super non inspirational as far as work/life/horse balancing. My big suggestion: Most places have flex days/option for a compressed work week now, and most people roll that into long weekends. I.e. No one ever wants Wednesdays off! ;) I've done that before with success- scheduled all my lessons/barn stuff/appointments on Wednesdays, given the horses Mondays and Fridays off, which means only tues/Thursdays were super long days where I worked and rode.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Ugh. That's rough. It's definitely tricky, and requires more planning and sometimes less sleeping, but it is doable. At least when your commute is around an hour or less. Perhaps this will be an excuse for training rides for Theo? At least while you adjust to a new schedule.

    ReplyDelete