Again
 

I'm dying here. It's been a really bad couple of days.

Again, I was told I was "the second choice." for a job, this is the 5th or 6th time. I don't even keep count anymore.

I'm so ******* sick of being the "runner up" in life. How do I win? I am sick of being anyone's "second best."

I apologize to the board, don't read my craziness, I just have to express somewhere. I have been having a very rough patch. I'll shut up now.

Aw, that sucks! If I was going to be nauseatingly upbeat I'd say, "but think of all the great interview practice you're getting!". Um, good thing I'm not saying that. ;) You will get something, it's just a matter of waiting it out. The hardest things are when you don't know how much longer you have to wait...but it'll happen. Sorry that things are going so hard right now!

If you said that, and you did, I would get a big laugh, and I did. Thank you.

I have a job, I've just been looking for something a little more stable. I want to make a huge career change and it's hard to convince people. That question "why the change?" is hurting me. I can explain it, but people don't want to hear it, so it seems.

Hmm...
I found an interesting job..completely out of
my job history by networking beore AA meetings.

Funny you should mention this....I just counseled
my 29 year old Grandson to stay in the Army.
He's making decent money... benefits for his son
and his skills are not very marketable "outside"

IMO ..our economy is sliding downhill

Mega :hug: ...Prayers continue for your serenity

Tex
look at what`s going right in your life and be grateful for it.If we continually focus on whats wrong,we`ll end up on our.....pity pot of self pity...poor me,poor me,pour me a drink..

I don`t have a pity pot,I have a pity recliner!I try and avoid it..

stay gratefully dude,one day at a time!

Tommy

I am trying to change from a very artistic type of thing into some reality,

**** it, I'll say it to a group of strangers. If you didn't know, I'm an opera singer. That is what I do for a living. That is what I cannot escape from.

I have/had the life so many young artists want, yet all I want is to be back 9 -5 M-F again. I do not want to do this. I am stuck here so it seems. I get job offers, but they are all "sing this, direct that" I just want some normalcy and stability in my life. That's the only way I'll get married again, that's the only way I'll ever have children. Women say they do, but they really don't, want the artist. It's so funny, because I do this, and I do this for a living, and it's killing me.

I just feel like I'm dying inside. I took a long break, and that didn't even help. I have to pay the bills, so I have to do Die Fledermaus, again. What do you do when you really have no skills? I have all the useless degrees in the world, but that doesn't explain that you have been independently employed for 15 years.

Tommy,

I'm stealing that line. Just to let you know.

Thanks so much for everything you've done for me.

Tex

I've always loved that line. I related instantly to it. ;)

Opera singer doesn't sound so bad. I love opera music. Maybe you're just dating the wrong girls. Nope. Not hitting you. Just it's not as bad as say, janitor or gas station attendant. Something will open for you. I know it. The economy is tough right now. Hugs to everyone looking for work!!

I love opera, I love to sing. I hate being that guy. I hate disappearing for three weeks. I hate doing the same damn shows over and over. If I have to play Figaro one more time...Oh that's right, I'm doing that (again) in a few weeks. How can you learn lines when you've done the same show 20 TIMES! I really need to find some new stuff.

Yes, I absolutley am dating the wrong girls. You do not meet the right ones in this business.

Like I said, don't anyone listen to me. I'm venting and I'm an idiot.

Are you sober Texas? I know when I was still in active addiction I couldn't think straight and everything was bad bad bad. AA worked for me...on so many levels.
Cathy31
x

It is s*** isn't it - I've been out of work for a while now and have had interviews - yep, 'down to the last two', 'we don't want you but your interview skills are first class', 'dear ms...we had a huge response to our advert so unfortunately...' etc etc.

I could give up and start drinking again, I could give in to my money problem and hit my credit card limits on rubbish i don't need, i could lie in bed all day and cry, but I can't. I owe it to my family and to myself to keep trying, to stay the 'different person' my husband says I am now, to not do all these things.

And - my house is sparkling!!

No excuses. It's no-ones 'fault'. True, it's 'not fair' but what is nowadays?

stay strong

love
sas

Tex are you willing to relocate? Have you floated a resume to PBS or any other networks? Today there are a ton of TV/Cable networks offering an awful lot of possibilities of long term steady employment that could make use of some of your skills.

Stay sober, pray, and keep working at it, there is a job for you, you simply have to keep searching until you find it.

Taz: Of course I'm willing to relocate. I do apply for jobs out of state, there is a wonderful resource for us called Artsearch. I just feel I am stuck in a career I really don't want and I really don't have the skills to change. I try to stop, but the money comes and I'm a *****. I've done the TV/film thing and it's really not me, I did enough of that. I prefer the live stage. If I movie I worked on comes on, I change the channel. But, I am glad for the .05 cent check I'll be getting in a few weeks.

Cathy: Yes, I'm sober. Long enough, but not long enough.

I'm in a real rut right now.

Hey Texas
Glad you sober, at least that's out the way! :) I know how it feels to be in a rut, it's not cool :( but it's so much better than drinking!!! I don't konw which proram you are working, but I know this too shall pass, and what helped me recently was the adage : just act different to how you FEEL - those feelings will change...
Cathy31
x

...and I thought I had it bad when I had to sing for a meal at the mission. Chin up friend!

Now that was funny.

Chin up I will. Thank you.

I'm in a very bad way lately. Not to the point of my sobriety, but just generally feeling very bad.

Taz: By the way, the PBS thing made me smile. I did a show for them recently about art education in Central America as a way to help children overcome abadonment or addiction related issues.

I was 47 years old and had a 6th grade education when I got sober. I was scared that I could never be an asset to any job. The first year of sobriety I got my GED, and went on to college. It was tough but I did it. I did a lot of volunteer work to put together a resume and landed a part time job while I attended school. I say this to say ~ in sobriety, I believe anything is possible ~ I didn't get rich, but I now have a job that pays my bills and allows me to have a few extras in life....I am comfortable and that's enough today. Anything is possible if I do not drink 1 day at a time.
Blessings and love
Terry

50 years old, and this old bat is in college full-time. My currently disability (degenerative disc disease) no longer allows me to work the jobs I worked for so many years.

It's never too late to make a career change and take the necessary steps to achieve that goal.

I am living proof!

put it in God`s hands and leave it there and it will return to you better than what it is now

TB I don't know if you are in ABQ or not, but these yellow pages listings for Temp Agencies might just help.

Between Temp Agencies and networking in AA meetings I got some fabulous jobs.

Yellow Pages & Online Phone Book | DexKnows.com

Honest, and by working the Temp Agencies, and yes I would be registered with more than one, call each one each morning starting at 8:30 am and again starting at 4:00 pm every day, before too long they would give me stuff just to stop bugging them, then when they would start to get the reports back from the employers would give me better and better jobs until I usually got hired.

Also, working the Temp Agencies while looking for something full time does bring in money to keep the roof over ones head.

I believe there is a pretty good listing for Santa Fe also, and even the smaller cities like here in Las cruces have several Temp Agencies.

J M H O

Love and hugs,

Tex, you seemed to be apologizing for letting off steam. You must NEVER be afraid of venting your feelings. That's why we are here, ya know, to listen to you when you're feeling low and offer help and friendship.

Who the hell are these women you're dating who don't like 'artists'?? Huh! Well don't waste any more valuable time on them. As far as finding a different job... well, yes, the economy does suck, big time, so try to be patient until you find what you want.

PS, from the way I was raised, by an English-professor-violin-playing-classical-music-buff dad, and other music and art lovers in the family ... I'd think it was way cool to be dating an opera singer! Keep looking, the woman who will treat you well and like you for yourself is still out there somewhere. Don't give up hope!

:ghug3 Glad you're still sober despite the frustrations.

Laurie: Yes I am in ABQ. I've tried the temp agencies, but I have no real skills according to them. I have to go back to school for basic stuff like Windows and MS Office. I have no "real" knowledge according to employers.

I could sing you something. I can't Excel you something.

Least: Thank you.

The artist thing and women I've been dating: My experience is when it gets to the "serious" point, women need stability. I can't really offer that. I don't have a 9-5 job. I'm a working actor. That does not instill confidence in anyone. I have to work out all day and and I have to save any extra money. I have to be a certain weight, I have to be a certain height. Basically, my job is my relationship, that's why I want to change. I just feel like I can only offer the "excitement" part of an early relationship, but nothing deeper and for real. Women do not like "gone for three weeks." Even if they could join me, "Gone for three weeks" is my life.

BTW, I will be gone for three weeks in early October. I will try to check in.

I guess I feel that if I had something steady, I would be in a position of stability and then someone might have a child with me. Which is really all I want at this point in my life.

Nice to see you, hope you feel better soon.
Cathy31
x

Here we are again: do I accept yet another Figaro in Le Nozze di Figaro, do I accept another Leporello in Don Giovanni or do I do King "whomever" in Amahl?

At least Amahl is local, but the other pay too much better. I do not want to brag but we're talking tens of thousands for two or three weeks work.

All I want to do is stay home and get better. I'm okay in my savings (as far as an artist) so I'm leaning to Amahl. Yes, I do not have to drink without any of them, but how do you bond with a cast without the bar? Every night after rehearsal "Hey! Let's go to the bar." I guess I could go and drink water, but what a damn trigger.

"Where's Tex?" Spreads like wildfire, then I have to go out. People keep buying me drinks, I keep passing them off which gets people offended, which means I get less jobs. BTW, "I'm a recovering alcoholic" is met by nothing but laughs. I had librium shoved down my throat and was stilll pushed onstage.

BUT! I have to tell you, the Figaro will be more than I've made all year. I know, I know, poor me. This is coming from the heart though. So, my question is (and it's serious) how much is our sobriety worth to us?

I'm changing jobs first of the year.

I hope you can find success in a different line of work. Do whatever it takes, wherever you are, and you'll keep your sobriety.
:Val004:

Good news that you are changeing jobs soon.
I know you have been trying hard to do that.
:)
Ok..if you put any job ahead of your sobriety
it's not going to work out well for you.
JMO
Look at the bigger picture

I spent alot of my days in the music industry as well. I do have business skills.
I took up substitute teaching for something else to do. I get a kick out of teaching music classes to the younger kids.

Did you go to school for opera and if so, you should have a degree to get a job.
The economy is so bad right now.
If you can read and write music you could teach it. A teaching degree isn't that difficult.
Keep trying, don't give up. It will happen.
I'm very tired but I wanted to give you support. Best wishes.