Everyday Lunasea

A few random questions as I sit here frosting my hair: Does anyone actually do the test strand? Why do they put little strings on the frosting cap so you can tie it under your chin? As anyone who's done this knows - once you get those hair strands coming through the little holes, that cap ain't going nowhere. G helped me do the back and said I reminded him of of Baby Face in Toy Story . He also said he's going to have nightmares after this.

Job dilemma: I was offered a 20-hr/wk position at CaPS. It would be $30/hr plus benefits would cost about $14 a month. We currently pay about $500 a month for benefits. If I took it, I would get post-doc hours (which I need if I'm ever going to get the psychologist license - right now I'm working under a MFT license). I would also have a set schedule, low stress, I'd get paid whether clients showed up or not, and I'd still supervise some interns.

However, I also would have to close my private practice. This would mean saying goodbye to some clients with whom I've worked for almost 7 years. I'd lose freedom and autonomy (redundant?), which are very important to me. I would have to take vacation when school is out.

If I didn't take the job and did mainly private practice, I'd lose security and paid benefits, but I'd average $60/hr, I'd have the flexibility to take time off when I choose. I'd make my own hours. I'd work less. I'd have to wait for post-doc hours or just give that up entirely.

When I asked Boss if in the future there'd be a chance to increase my hours and get benefits, I didn't expect him to actually DO it. I mean, this is the public university system in California, for goodness' sake. California, the sunny bankrupt state. The last round of negotiations involved me saying, well, if you can't cover my benefits for the whole year, forget it. They wanted to just pay for benefits during the academic year, when I'd be working, and pay $800/month for them over the summer, when I wouldn't be working. Apparently only full professors get that kind of arrangement. I thought, great, no chance he'll be able to swing that - decision made. Phooey. He came back with a proposal to work 20 hrs/wk all year, including the summer (which is unheard of - to have guaranteed hours over the summer)....and get full benefits. Thanks a lot, bud. On the one hand, it's nice to be wanted, on the other, I'm not looking forward to telling him, "Hey, thanks for all that work you did getting me a position, but no thanks." Yeah, I think I'm leaning toward private practice. I've never made a career decision based on money, but now my priorities are different. We need me to work, but we want to avoid daycare. So I need to make as much money in as little time as possible.