My Mom offered to put Mark through UXO training. My mom and Dad are both active UXO technicians, working on jobs all over the country for a few months at a time. UXO jobs are usually short term, lasting only a few months. A tech moves from place to place as projects become available. For my Dad this seems ideal, he's got something of a lone wolf thing going on. For my Mom it is a lot harder to leave her family behind for months at a time.
Mark and I graduated from the local community college with Associates Degrees in the Spring of 2005. I had a great job as a legal secretary, still do. Mark was working at Radio Shack. We discussed our options, what to do next, Mark said he was interested in engineering.
Mark was hesitant to go back to school, we were comfortable, we made more than we spent. We weren't saving for retirement or anything, but we were making the ends meet. The temptation to stay in "comfortable" for a while - a short while - just to rest before getting down to business in the pursuit of "better," was nearly overwhelming. But I grit my teeth and shoved him on, afraid that if we spent even one semester in "comfortable" we might forget how to get back on the road to "better."
In late 2005 Mark and I bought a house. It was a tiny little thing, 3 bedrooms, 1 bath covered in pink tile, a kitchen that someone had tried to remodel but ran out of steam or capitol midway through. The living room was painted pink. Not soft, powder pink. Bubblegum, Pepto Bismal, Barbie pink. We spent 2 weeks after the closing priming and painting.
Sure, it needed a little work, but it was ours. And yeah, maybe we paid a little too much for it, but it was ours. And ok, it had no Central A/C (did I mention we live in Florida?), but still it came with window units and it - and they - were ours.
We had to borrow money to get Mark through school. Our Grand Total is in the neighborhood of $35,000. Classes weren't too bad, books were pretty expensive, but most of the cash went to room and bored. The mortgage payment alone was over half my income. So we borrowed, because that is what people do to get ahead, it was an investment.
There was never a doubt in my mind that once Mark graduated there would be an engineering job waiting for him. We live on the Space Coast, for crying out loud. You can't spit without hitting a Defense Contractor. If anything, he might have trouble deciding which offer to accept.
Once he had an engineering degree nailed down paying back the debt would be cake. It was an investment. Or a gamble.
Mark graduated from UCF with a Bachelor's Degree in Electrical Engineering May of this year. I couldn't be more proud.
Last week we got four more rejection letters, "Thank you for you interest in the position. We regret to inform you..." No calls for interviews, no offers for internships.
Fucking Economy
A realtor is coming to the house on Monday so we can sign the listing documents. We have to have the house on the market for 3 months before the Bank will get involved for a short sale. The market value of the property is around $70,000 less than what we owe.
If Mark goes to UXO school he will be gone for Will's First Birthday. If Will and I stay here in an apartment while Mark travels to UXO jobs Mark will miss huge chunks of Will's life.
UXO companies pay their techs well and house them, usually in a local hotel. Techs make a per diem and overtime is not uncommon.
So what if Will and I went with Mark? We are losing the house anyway, right? And Will is too young for school, it won't disrupt his education. We could just pack up the essentials, sell the rest and start over, start from scratch. I could try my hand at the stay at home Mom gig. We could see the country, I here they are looking for a Tech I in Nevada. Or Virgina. Maybe Louisiana?
What if we traded our dream of a 3 bedroom palace on a quarter acre for a 25' RV parked in a State Park? What if we made Home about where our family is together and not about where are things are? What if we carried home with us on the back of a pickup truck?
But seriously, the turtle thing really creeps me out. It's like someone is trying to tell me something. Something about reptiles with shells on their back? Something about taking your home with you? I am sure it means something, I just can't put the pieces together.
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