Waiting

The waiting is the hardest part
Every day you see one more card
You take it on faith, you take it to the heart
The waiting is the hardest part

"The Waiting," Tom Petty

Unemployed people do a lot of waiting.

We wait for decisions.

For job interviews.

For our unemployment payments and decisions from the unemployment agency. For our efforts at finding the right job to finally pay off.

Yesterday, I had an interview. For a job. Well, that's not really true. It wasn't just for a job. It was for The Job.

After I sent the interviewers thank you notes, I began waiting for their decision about whether or not they want to bring me back for another interview. I should know the result by this time next week.

I'm thrilled I made it this far in the process.

I know -- even though they didn't say it -- they must be looking at other candidates.

And that there are other factors involved -- HR, funding, paperwork, scheduling -- at their end.

The best I can do is wait. And continue to go about my life as I wait.

Going the Distance or What I've Learned from My Car

I own an older car -- a 2003 Saturn Ion. Thanks to its modern styling and its plastic side panels, my car doesn't look old. But it was made in the last decade, so it's not a young car. And, alas, GM's Saturn division is a casualty of the GM bankruptcy and declining sales.

About a month ago on a Saturday afternoon on westbound I-696 west of Telegraph Road, the joannemobile's digital odometer went to 100,000 miles. I'm just old enough to remember when old-fashioned odometers "rolled over" from 99,999.9 to 00,000.00 when you reached the 100,000 milestone. The old way gave you a "new" car. However, I like the new odometers.

My car's in good shape; I imagine it'll go the distance for many more tens of thousands of miles. As long as I keep changing the oil and keep maintaining the rest of the car as best I can.

My car's taken me across the city, the state, and to other states in search of my next position. If I've been late, or lost in my job search, well, my car did its part.

We mature job seekers are like my older car. It's true, we have some mileage.

However, if we've maintained ourselves -- if we've kept up our skills -- we can keep on going and going for the distance.

Joanne Scharich is a Ferndale writer, librarian, and job seeker. She regularly blogs at What's So Funny About Unemployment? This is her first contribution to the EXPworker45+ blog.