I'm not fretting this... yet. I've felt pretty rough this last week. Very Lupusy (if we can make that a word). I imagine, that between my lupus flare and the cortisol surging through my body that I'm looking at quite a bit of inflammation.
Right now I'm once again feeling the hand of fate slapping me around (or pushing me around, or nudging me firmly) but I'm not sure where it's going to all lead. Apparently there is some discussion over whether or not a position at the zoo that had been eliminated can be reinstated, and whether or not it would be a permanent position, a part time position, or a temporary position... and I'm being eyed for the job. This would be good/bad for me, because it's what I want, but I could loose more than I gain if there is no health insurance, too many hours to keep my Social Security, or too few to live on.
It's one more thing to add to the chaotic mix of change that's happening this year. If I can get this as a permanent full time job, I can stay in Albuquerque. Cay can live on campus. I'd have health insurance. If it's a temp job that's full time, I'd have to buy my own health insurance, I'd still have to move to Santa Fe, and I'd be 8 hours a day at work and 3 on the train, and I'm not sure I can handle that. Oh, and at the end of two years, I could be unemployed. If it's a part time job, I could keep my Social Security (and Medicare), I'd still have to move to Santa Fe and be three hours on the train, but that would be OK if I'm only working 4 hours a day, but would likely loose my Section 8, and if the job were temporary, I'd have to go back on a waiting list to get back on. It's amazing that the potential to get what I want could cause so much chaos and uncertainty.
I really have to sit down with the bosses and talk about some of this, even though none of it is formal, none of it guaranteed, and I'm probably not supposed to really know all this is going on. And I certainly feel uncomfortable with just assuming that the job will automatically be mine.
I have my own ideas of how the job should be run, and the responsibilities, which would require the job be a permanent city position, so that the aspects of the job that are now pushed onto the education clerk can be back with the program co-ordinator, aspects that require specific city training and certification. There are other aspects of the communication portion of the program that should also be done by the program coordinator... and I am babbling on and on, aren't I?
The point is that my ideas for the job match perfectly with the ideas of the new hierarchy in our department, and I think I could really make this work... full time and permanent, and be happy in my job. It's the money and health insurance that will be an issue.
But for now, it's wait and see.
You probably know this already but Social Security Disability has a program where you can do a "trial work period" (also called "ticket to work") where you work full time for a period of time, keep your disability and medicare to see how it goes. If you don't have all the information on this - talk to Social Security! It could make your decision much easier! Good luck!
ReplyDeleteHi Anonymous. Yes, I did know about ticket to work and other working disabled programs. That's part of what we're talking about right now with the BioPark.
ReplyDeleteToday I sat down with the boss to have a heart to heart. No one was supposed to have told me, but everyone was hinting around and making off hand comments, so I told her let's get all the cards on the table. I'd gone in after researching the Ticket to Work and Disabled Workers so I pretty much knew what the options were.
The BioPark only wants this to be a part time position, because the position was dropped by the city, and the BioPark society would be paying me... it's a whole other funding stream (and comes out of donations, not city revenue) so if I want the job I'd have to accept lower wages. Actually, that's OK, because it'll be below what my threshold is for "gainful employment", so while I'm almost doubling the household income, I'm still going to be below the poverty level... but a heck of a lot closer than I have been.
I'll get to keep my Social Security and medicare, although now I'll have to pay my own premium ($93/ month) if they don't pay me more than $1000 per month. My rent will go up, but I'll be ok with that, and the good news is that on next year's income tax return I'll be qualified for earned income credit (as well as the state version of that) and have a little more money coming through.
I'll be able to move to Santa Fe, set my hours as 10 to 2 (four hours a day, 20 hours a week) and take the train in and out with plenty of time left over for normal life. Cay will be able to go to the school she wants, I'll be able to keep my cat, and everything will be hunky-dory.
The only problem? The job doesn't actually EXIST yet, and we don't really know when or if the BioPark society will OK it.
I'm actually going to go in tomorrow and suggest something different: instead of hiring me through a agency at an hourly rate, that they hire me with a monthly flat rate stipend. Then I don't have to worry about monthly overages, and they can pay less into my job than they'd pay an agency.
This all sounds fantastic! Keeping fingers crossed it'll work for you. Sounds like a wonderful plan!
ReplyDelete