It looks like Curt’s attempt at a comeback as a professional painter is doomed to failure*. His tendonitis/ carpal tunnel-prone hands just can’t take it anymore. After another night being woken up with numb appendages he conceded defeat this morning. I shall miss him coming home in his cute little painter’s overalls , cooler in hand. I shall also miss the regular paycheck. I shall not miss all the painting tools/gear in the backseat of his car; or the nightly ritual of icing his screwed-up knee and donning of the wrist braces. When he was painting I missed our picnic lunches. Today he brought bologna sandwiches. We dined overlooking the river below my office and discussed options.
1. Have surgery to fix the bad hands. Then go back to painting at least until the baby comes along. This will allow us to save some $$ for when I’m off on maternity leave, and Curt will stay at home and take care of the bambino.
2. Open own home-based business. Like buying a letter folding/ envelope stuffing machine and doing mailers for small businesses.
3. Go back to work for a shitty sub-prime mortgage company. Easier on the hands, but soul-killing.
4. Go to nursing school. This was Curt’s original career choice - but that was 16 years ago or thereabouts. Even though he just completed his BS in Business in 2002, his original prereqs were taken back 15 years ago. So far the nursing schools I’m looking at require certain prereqs (like anatomy) to have been taken in the last 5 years. So he’d about have to start from scratch. 3 years at a minimum. So soon after he took time off to finish his B.S. However, there’s such a shortage of nurses right now that there’s a shitload of financial assistance available.
5. Look for other corporate type job.
Or maybe some combination of the above. Most important thing – don’t lose my job in the meantime. Oh, and did I forget to mention some silly oxygen sensor thingamabob went kaput in Curt’s car last week, requiring repair? Note – it doesn’t look like anything with the actual mechanics of the car are kaput…. Just the stupid computer chips that are needed to *monitor* the mechanics. Kind of ironic, don’t you think? Thankfully, we have a friend who is a mechanic who can probably fix for the cost of the part. Argh!!! Trying not to panic. Really. But that’s at least $100 less than we have to get us through the next year. OK – happy joy joy thoughts. Deep breaths. It’ll be OK, won’t it?
*I just went back through my archives and realized I hadn't mentioned this. Shortly after not getting the salaried position he was hoping for Curt responded to a couple of "painters wanted" ads in the paper, and hooked up with a pretty decent contractor. He was, thanks to Curt's 8+ years of experience painting way back when (and lack of a drug habit &/ criminal record), willing to give him some time (and slack) to get into better physical shape and prove himself. The plan was to "get paid to get in shape"; pay off our outstanding medical bills and get some $$ set aside for when I go on maternity leave. And he liked it. Money was decent, but no office politics and no stress - just do your job and go home.
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