December 2003/January 2004

Volume 44, Number 3

Experiencing what so many of my peers have faced

by Frank Tagader, STC RMC President

This column was going to be about being recharged after attending the Region 7 Conference in Calgary. And, while I got a few good ideas at the leadership session following the main conference, a few distractions sidetracked my ideas on the society and the profession.

After the conference I was going to take a week's vacation and drive from Calgary to British Columbia and then down the coast to Seattle and visit family in coastal Oregon. Well, the trip started out great, with a drive through Banff and a night in a beautiful spot in British Columbia before making my way to Vancouver.

But Vancouver proved my undoing-I came down with pneumonia. Here I was, at the furthest point from home, and what had represented my freedom (my car) now became an anchor. I couldn't get home without driving. Vancouver was cold and rainy and in that clammy atmosphere I got sick. I decided to start heading home through Seattle, but there I ended up spending three days in a hotel room raiding the honor bar for bottled water and fruit juice.

At this point, I knew I needed medical attention, but I was intent on getting home, picking up my dog, and seeing my regular doctor, so I gamely hit the road. Well, a few days later I had made my way as far as Ogden, Utah, but at that point I decided the emergency room was the place for me. I got the medical attention I needed and the next day was back on the road for home.

I recuperated at home through the weekend of Oct. 19, and on the 20th, feeling a bit better, headed back to work-only to be called into my director's office with the news that my position was one of four being eliminated in our department before the end of the year! My company of over nine years had been acquired; the new company had a different way of doing things, and my position was not in their plans.

So, now I find myself in the same unenviable position many of you have faced in the past few years: looking for a job in a tough market. I am completely out of practice when it comes to hunting for a job. While many of you have already provided me with leads (I do really appreciate them), it is still a daunting task to look for a new position when you have spent so long in the nice groove of a satisfying job.

In my last column, I speculated on having to take a new path. Well, the path is before me, and I hope I have the tools to deal with the uncertainty.