no job/$ = no triathlon

Tuesday morning after my shift I had my 4th interview for the job that is posted for the contract job I am currently in - 2 HR phone interviews and 2 interviews with my supervisor. They are supposed to be making a decision by the end of next week. I truly hope they hire me. I have been a contractor for almost 3 years which means 3 years of buying my own health insurance, and 2 of those 3 years I did not get any sick days, vacation days, holidays, etc. Being a contractor is not fun although I have always been thankful to have a paycheck. Being hired would mean job stability (THANK GOD) because our lab has only 5 people to support 3 shifts/5 days per week. We can't afford to lose anyone. That's why they are turning this contract position into a permanent one - because every 2 years when a contract is up, they have to hire a new one and train a new person.

If I could do one thing in my life over, I would go back to 2004 and not drop my pre-PT major. I was such an idiot. Out of all of the stupid things I have done in my life (believe me - there are a lot), me saying "..but I want to be a biologist" was the dumbest. Being a physical therapist would have gotten me a doctorate, a job wherever I wanted, and a really good salary, plus I would get to work with athletes which would integrate perfectly with my lifestyle. But I couldn't see that at the wonderful age of 20 at which no one should be forced to make a life-changing decision (not that I'm any better at them at 26).

But.. that's what happened, and 6 years later, here I am. A B.S. in Biology which is virtually useless, half of an M.S. in Wildlife Biology that I didn't want to finish. And sometimes I wonder that if this progression (moving to Syracuse for grad. school, moving to Rochester for my thesis, dropping out of grad. school, riding my bike because I only knew 2 people and I was bored) is what let me to triathlon but then again, I am not one of those "everything happens for a reason" kind of people. I made all of those choices and that led me to where I am today - it did not happen because of "destiny." That is complete bullshit.

So I guess what I am trying to say is I really need this job because I need to buy things for my bike and pay for race entries. They say money doesn't buy happiness but I say whoever said that never met a triathlete!