Jenaicklefritz’s Weblog

(The Sequel to Jenai’s Chronicles of Online Dating)

Well, since I’ve decided to put my online dating on hold for an unforeseeable amount of time while I try to procure a job which will entitle me to capitol beyond my capacity to earn thus far—I’ve decided to make a new chronicle series on my blog to keep me writing. (FYI, that doesn’t mean I’ll be on the ball, since I’m not sure if I’m coming or going these days…)

Okay, let’s get on with it!

So right. Basics, starting with basics! I’m enrolled in a pedagogy and professional responsibilities class for my teacher certification program that I’m betting is going to be a big-time repeat of everything I learned in my international teacher training program for TESOL, plus all the weird rules and laws the great country of Texas (ahem, excuse me, I meant “state”) might find necessary for pedagogical students to commit to memory.

Also, the class is a condensed version of it’s normal “semester” sister, meaning it’s twice as short, twice as crammed, and three times more stressful to balance with a job—especially a job that requires me to leave an hour and a half early to make it to work on time. Top that off with a work schedule that doesn’t allow for extra curricular (see homework) activities, and we have a winning combination.

Let me jot it all out to illustrate better what I mean.

NOTE: The early half of the day for the next few months is ALWAYS dedicated to one of these tasks, depending on the specific date: online test/quiz, teacher meeting, teaching job fair, job hunting, or program meeting.

Monday: CLASS DAY 6:30-9:30pm
Tuesday: WORK DAY 2:30-12:30am
Wednesday: CLASS DAY 6:30-9:30pm
Thursday: WORK DAY 2:30-12:30am
Friday: GAWD WILLING I GET THIS DAY FREE.
Saturday: WORK DAY 9:30am-6:30pm
Sunday: WORK DAY 9:30am-12:30am (double shift day)

I only pray I am left time to actually do the few hours of homework required for each class (that’s about 4-6 hours of computer based learning per week that I have to fit in with all my extra curricular activities and part time job)… and that doesn’t even cover everything. I don’t make enough money working at my job in Kemah, and so I’m running low on fuel! I have no idea how I can afford to drive myself to work and still manage to make it to my school, which is a good 40 minute drive from where I live, too.

Nothing is near by, and I’m wondering if maybe I should give my two weeks notice and go back to working in a private club, and make 500 dollar in tips per night… if I did that, I could dedicate the whole week to school and getting my teaching contract through an Harris County independent school district, and work Friday and Saturday nights, making the big tips, pulling out close to a grand a week by looking cute and serving liquor to guys who are wealthier beyond comprehension, and probably married while they enjoy the scenery and music… I know after my jobs in Japan I said I’d avoid that kind of work, being burned out and all… but I’m very sick of being broke and still having to borrow money to pay for stupid fees to take a million tests to get a sheet of paper that says I’m qualified to do something I’m already qualified to do in Japan or Taiwan… oh the humanity…

Wow, that was a bigass runon sentence, wasn’t it?

And does anyone else see the wrongness of me working in a private club (probably a titty bar) in order to make money so I can go to school to be a high school English teacher? Here’s the real kicker: If I made an average of $500 a night like my cousin does at the bar she works at, and worked four nights a week, I’d make an yearly tip income of 96K, assuming I don’t claim any of the tips… my teaching salary would only be 44K a year, minus taxes, and I would be working 5 days week.

Oddly enough, I’d rather be a teacher, making less and paying taxes, even though I could just as easily work in a bar for the rest of my life.

Here’s where I do the long-term responsible thing:

Cons of Club Work: no benefits, shitty hours, rude clients, I’ll eventually get old and my cuteness won’t earn me extra tips anymore, no retirement plan, possibly caught for tax evasion if I don’t claim my tips, and I wouldn’t… me+lots of alcohol=bad news, etc etc. Oh, and since I’m on the paranoid path: hepatitis. LOL

Cons of Teaching: could end up working for a title one school, and get shot by a student who thinks I failed him/her because of an imaginary vendetta.

Just for fun, the pros of Teaching: benefits, retirement, sense of purpose, summers off to work on my novels, can afford to legally buy a house and car without worrying if the IRS is hiding in my front bushes… Obama said teachers are cool.  Okay, that last part is not a pro, and is almost a lie, since I never heard Obama say teachers are cool. But I have the feeling he would say it, if asked.

Okay, I kind of lost track of what I was talking about, so I’ll go to sleep now. I have a list as long as my arm of things I need to do for school before I go to work tomorrow, and I really don’t have time to try and do all that on sleep dep. (I really wanted to type way more about my situation and how my first day of class went, but I’m out of time folks.)

Ta!

I took a personality quiz recently and just wanted to post the results!

Here they are:

Others see you as sensible, cautious, careful and practical. They see you as clever, gifted, or talented, but modest. Not a person who makes friends too quickly or easily, but someone who’s extremely loyal to friends you do make and who expect the same loyalty in return. Those who really get to know you realize it takes a lot to shake your trust in your friends, but equally that it takes you a long time to get over it if that trust is ever broken.

…I had three people tell me that was all too accurate. I guess I feel good about that.