I’m BAAAAACK!

So…guess who’s back?

It’s been a minute, hasn’t it?

During the summer of 2021, I decided that I wanted to take a little break from writing. It came at a time when Pop Culture Retrorama – or, rather, our fearless leader of Pop Culture Retrorama – was hanging up his computer keyboard and retiring from writing. It was also at a time where I was dealing with personal and – as it turned out, professional – issues. I had changed jobs a few months earlier, which left me with far less time for writing. I felt like the quality of my output was declining, because I was just too damn unhappy to care. I was constantly stressed out, and when I would come home at night and go into my home office, the idea of doing anything that felt like “work” was thoroughly unappealing.

However, I was pouring my stresses into my other creative love – crafting. In the last few months, I’ve even taken up a love for painting. I’ve paint poured and stencil painted, made customized mugs, worked with resin, and even sold a few things here and there. I’m even in the process of starting my business, and even sold at my first craft show. Crafting – especially painting – was bringing me so much joy amidst my unhappiness with work.

I was still missing my old job, one I hadn’t done since the beginning of the pandemic, but kept holding out hope that I would get The Phone Call that would allow me to leave my then-current situation. I kept hoping for the moment I would get that call, and say “yes, I’ll be back!” I knew this would mean giving up, but I was so unhappy, burnt out, and lazy, going back there would have been “the easy way out” of my situation.

So, I’m sure that brings up a good question…why didn’t I just quit?

You see, I have a reputation for solid work ethic, and that includes being a “stayer.” I figured cross-training and moving to a different job position would help the resentment of having a new job. While that change did help briefly (I emphasize “briefly”), it wasn’t enough. My un-satisfaction was hurting how I felt, and I was becoming more and more resentful of my job. It was less than a year, and when you spend ten years at one job (my then-previous position), less than one year doesn’t look good on a resume. And – big and – I wanted to bank the experience, which I knew would help in trying to secure a medical office job. I knew I wanted to work in the medical field, and I knew I wanted to go back into performing clerical work, but I needed this experience. So, I hung in there and made the most of it.

And not all of it was terrible. Once any difficulties (however real or perceived) with my co-workers were put to rest, they became my greatest allies in dealing with the difficult patients, who were truly the worst of the worst, and 95% the reason I wanted out. The other five percent was divvied up between my work schedule, and my days off, consisting of Sundays and one weekday, so no proper weekend. I could never really relax when I had off. And a few instances, I had to cover closing because of call outs. I was tired, miserable, and reaching my burnout point. I wanted weekends back – proper Saturday/Sunday weekends at that, I wanted less aggravation, and I wanted an office job. I didn’t feel like being yelled at by patients because I was running behind, I didn’t like having to pick up the slack of an unreliable backup Receptionist (our lead was the best; our backup, not so much) who called out more than she came in, and when she did, she didn’t do much. Trust me, I could go on and on about this!

By the end of January, I decided it was time to start taking the necessary steps to move on. I resigned in early February without having any prospects for a new job, giving myself an end date of February 26, 2022. I had a job interview the day I put in my intent to resign (I submitted it in writing a few days later, on February 7, 2022). I had an excellent interview with a Children’s Rehabilitation Hospital for a Receptionist position in their local outpatient office. Part time hours, better pay, benefits, no nights (the latest I would work was one office “late night,” which was until 7 pm), and no weekends. Opportunities for more hours here and there, it was just a great idea.

And guess what? Nearly three months later, things have worked out well.

I’m now equipped with health insurance, I pick up extra hours here and there (especially the week I’m writing this during), and I get to interact with adorable kids who don’t pitch a hissy fit when I try to take their temperature for screening purposes. I have time to write, I get to listen to music all day, and best of all, I have my weekends back. My mental health has improved, and I’m addressing my physical health – I’m working out more often, even working with weights now in addition to my two weekly dance classes. I have more time with my husband and dogs, which are my biggest priorities. Best of all, I have actual weekends.

Since all of this has happened, I’ve been considering coming back to writing, but it had to be when I was ready, and when I had some great ideas to work with.

I’m planning on bringing the commercials back each week, starting out with Flashback Friday for now. As for other articles, I am hoping to publish something quality once a week. I was particularly proud of my Do You Remember? and Retro Rewatch/Watch/Technology/Replay/Listen articles from 2019 and 2020, the research for those articles was fun. I feel like if I can put something out there once a week with that kind of quality, I will be satisfied with writing again. Also, I’m going to throw in a monthly article on training video nostalgia, which is something I wrote about over on Pop Culture Retrorama, and had a blast with.

Getting back into writing will be a process, but I figure with a more relaxed structure, it will be fun again. I’m excited about starting up again, and I’m looking forward to taking you on that adventure with me, all over again.

So…shall we begin again?