No lifeguarding for me...

from JoeUser Forums

Well, I'm not taking the Lifeguard class next week, for a number of reasons...

I can't find anyone to watch the kids, I'm not guaranteed a job at the end of the class (the instructor has a hand in the hiring and she knows I'm going to leave in August - while she's got some pull, she's not the final decison maker)..if I DID get the job I'd have to co-ordinate daycare with packing, scheduling household goods shipments, cleaning and all the rest of that jazz, then I'd have to FIND daycare..a feat in itself around here in the summertime.  Yeah, I hear you say, but you'd have the certification.  Well, true...but, there's no pool at our next base and my certification from here won't mean a thing in England.  I'll still have to re-test and pay to re-certify over there. 

Besides, I sat and thought about it, and I'd be doing it for the wrong reasons.  I'm not doing it as a career move or even for the job aspect of things.  I'm doing it so I can have a piece of paper that signifies to me and to others that I'm in better shape now than I ever have been in my entire life.  A certificate to say that Dharma came back from almost dying 6 months ago, that she did not let her injuries beat her into submission, that she adpated, overcame, and kicked some ass. 

I don't need a piece of paper to say that.  I know it.  I can see it.  Other people can see it. It's obvious, in the way I carry myself, the way I talk, walk, eat...that I am a new, a better, a changed person.

I don't need any certificate to hang on the wall for that.  I KNOW.

misc
6,647 views 19 replies
Reply #1 from JoeUser Forums Top
Well, while I am sorry to hear things didn't work out for you the way you may have hoped, it sounds as though you gained additional insight into yourself. While those types of personal revelations are often painful, working through them and the understanding we gain usually outweighs the pain. Your conviction and self-knowledge is admirable and will very likely help to strengthen you even further. Thanks for sharing. I recently went through a not so dissimilar bout of self inspection with a concomitant change in some plans. While painful, it has had some marvelous results. Hmm, maybe I will write about it.
Reply #2 from JoeUser Forums Top

I recently went through a not so dissimilar bout of self inspection with a concomitant change in some plans. While painful, it has had some marvelous results. Hmm, maybe I will write about it.

Please do..!

Ashes of the Singularity II
Reply #4 from JoeUser Forums Top

Thanks, Shades.  I think I did too.

I think, just for fun, that I'm going to make myself a certificate and frame it.  I haven't quite figured out what it should say yet...but it should be along the lines of 'vini vidi vicci' or something like that.

Reply #5 from JoeUser Forums Top
Look at the bright side Dharma......

You tested yourself to see if you could pass the lifeguard test, and you came through with flying colors. (And a shit eating grin... love that expression )

Now you know that if the opportunity arises for you in the future, it's a foregone conclusion.

Kudo's to ya for effort, you gave it your best shot...... others would have given up.

Wreckless.
Reply #7 from JoeUser Forums Top
Will do Dharma, but I'm just about to start work. I'll send one off tonight when I finish up.... ok?

Wreckless.
Reply #8 from JoeUser Forums Top
That'll work just groovy.  I'll just be getting up.
Reply #9 from JoeUser Forums Top
Dharma, I think you made the right choice.  Plus, I'm sure you will want to spend the summer getting yourself and the kids ready to move.  I am sure that it will be a big change for the kids to move to England, so you may need to start feeding them fish and chips and "pudding" more often so they get used to it
Reply #10 from JoeUser Forums Top

Thanks, Karma.

After I slept on it I too think that I've made the right decision.  Trying to work full time this summer as well as packing up the house and getting ready to leave, completeing the class I'm in the middle of...just going to be too much.

We eat fish and chips occasionally now, and my kids are hooked on vegemite.  I am going to start making trifles though..yummy!!

Reply #11 from JoeUser Forums Top

Vegemite I know from the "men at work" song back in the 80's but what the blue hell is a trifle?

 

Congrats on deciding to determine your own self worth. It is trick that is hard to manage some days.

Reply #12 from JoeUser Forums Top

A trifle, grey, is a dessert.  It has sponge cake on the botton, usually spiked with a bit of sherry or perhaps some rum, then a layer of jello with fruit mixed in, then a layer of vanilla custard, then a layer of whipped cream with some sprinkles on top.  It is THE yummiest thing I can possibly think of.  The jello seeps down through the cake at the bottom...oh, man it's good.  I'm almost drooling thinking about it.

I got asked to please take the class today.  They need 'mature' lifeguards, apparently.  I'm still thinking about it....if they offer me a job on the condition that I certify, then yes, I'll do it.  If not...well, I don't think so.

Reply #13 from JoeUser Forums Top
Dharma are you there its Trina - tegan came to my house last night and I don't know how she did it but she's signed in so this will say its from her but its not its from me and i don't know how to change it - do you?
Reply #14 from JoeUser Forums Top

Yes, I do...go up to the upper right where it says 'my blog' and the user name...next to the username there's a little red button..click on that and it will log you out. Then you can log back in using your name.

Let me know if it works.

Reply #15 from JoeUser Forums Top
Thanks Dharma! You really ARE a Lifesaver
Reply #16 from JoeUser Forums Top
Yay! It worked!
Reply #17 from JoeUser Forums Top
BTW - question - why do we call Jello - JELLY??
Reply #18 from JoeUser Forums Top

I think because jelly here is Jello brand gelatin.  Jello is the product name.  Jelly in the US is what we would call jam. 

I think I'm going to write a blog about the different words used for the same thing. 

Reply #19 from JoeUser Forums Top
Good plan! I know about the different words - I still don't know WHY they're different