Noravirus & Job Hunting

So I've been a bit "under the weather" this week.  I managed to make it half way through my shift on Monday only to leave work.  After returning home and immediately falling asleep I woke up later with the usual symptoms now in full flare: fever, cephalgia (headache), and of course making my "offering to the porcelain god."  So that wasn't fun.  Fortunately - I'm not sure how - I somehow survived this short round of noravirus, commonly known as the stomach flu.  My dear wife was there to keep the Gatorade and a bucket at my side to avoid dehydration with much success.

Unlike the last time I had the stomach flu I'm not being wiped out for a few weeks.  The 2017 noravirus was essentially a week long taste of death, without actually dying, and recovery lasting a few weeks after the symptoms went away.  And some folk out there think the man cold and man flu is just a myth.  Ha!  I beg to differ!

Of course as life would have it, the day I'm better and can return to work, the roads are covered in ~1/4 inch of ice making travel impossible (can't stop at an intersection if you're on ice).

On the other side of things, because of changes happening at work, such as the threat of reducing payable hours, I'm putting myself back on the job market for something decent.  As I look back on my now "on again off again" work relationship with Walmart I see that the company has always been there when I've needed a a job.  In fact I emphatically support anyone who wants to work there!  For someone starting out on the job market, or going to school, or is in need of something, it does the trick.  The problem frequently arises when you're trying to take care of a family (whether married or a single parent) and perhaps other financial responsibilities (student debt, rent/mortgage, car payments, etc.) that the wages don't really cover.  This of course leaves the employee with a couple of options:

1. Get a second job and hope that work schedules don't conflict, or
2. Take your chances on the job market

Option 2 seems the best option in most cases.  As I mentioned in a previous post, I'm looking primarily for a job that utilizes my computer, analytical, and technical skills.  Unfortunately, where I live there's a lot of manufacturing jobs and it's semi rural.  A lot of people don't think tech is really all that important.  There's much more emphasis on a job sometimes requiring 12 hour days, boots on your feet, and the type of work that a trained monkey could do in its sleep.  In a sense, finding a job within my skill set is like finding a needle in a haystack.  Sometimes I really perceive that I'm really "not from 'round 'ere."

I press on, because there has to be a job out there that I can retire from, and can support my family with.  The good news is that I did here about a potential job that would likely utilize AND develop my skills which apparently has a place not too far from me, so I'm definitely going to apply to that!