posted September 01, 2004 01:18 AM           

I mean, do, but, grrr, I don't want you to feel compelled to expend a buncha energy.

The situation: We're kind of in a whirl right now - Jase's currently out of the flight program. Sleep problems and his tendency to ADD contributed to his not performing to sat. in it, so he's out and has been denied readmittance by the Bat. and Brigade Commanders.
He still has the Deputy Commanding General to appeal to, but the outcome of that has a good chance of being the same as he tends to back-up those below him.

So.

We now have no idea what's going to happen.

The possibilities:

A) Jase defies the odds against him and is granted a Warrant position in the CID (Criminal Investigative Division) - the odds being against him b/c they prefer applicants to have a Bachelor's and a background in law enforcement. Everything stays pretty much the same as far as our financial situation.
B) He goes enlisted for two years (as an E-4) in Intel; after 2 years, goes Warrant again. This'd be interesting if for not other reason than that with some MOSs there's a very limited number of places we could be stationed (the UK, Italy, Japan, Texas, a couple of others for jobs depending on satellite feed). Financially, we'd be sucking hind teat for that time. Those soldiers that you hear about getting foodstamps = lower enlisted with families. Given that, though, if I didn't work, or brought-in minimal income, we'd qualify for a butt-load of student grants and I could probably finish-up my B.A. with minimal out of pocket expense.
And we'd have guaranteed health care - a must with a baby.
C) We go back to Ft. Livingroom (become civi again) and go back up to DC. The cost of living is through the roof, but we have family up there and pretty much assured jobs - they aren't the highest paying jobs in the world, but we could survive with loads of family help to get us started.
My old college is also there, so no problems tranferring credits so I can finish my B.A. http://www.co.fairfax.va.us/ <-- Fairfax http://www.gmu.edu <-- My Old School/Old Job
D) We go civi and move to Huntsville, Alabama. No family, but Jase has friends there and the cost of living is much more reasonable than that in the DC/Metro area (I was paying $382/mo for a room - not including utilities - up there and that was considered a great find; a nice 2nd floor apartment in Huntsville with a fireplace is about $450/mo). There's a branch of the University of Alabama in Huntsville, and I could most likely get enough of my credits transferred to get Jr. with some change standing. We've no assured jobs, but the economy's healthy there and we could most likely at least get by. There's no guarantees, though. If it comes down to it, I have a good feeling about it, however, and I did astro.com's AstroClick Travel thing and Jase, I, and Meg all have shiny-happy lines 'round about that area. http://www.ci.huntsville.al.us/ <-- Huntsville's Official Site http://huntsville.about.com/ <-- Better Huntsville Site http://www.uah.edu/ <-- The School I'd Probably Try to Go To If We Move to Huntsville

If you have the time and the inclination, I was wondering what your readings might have to say about those options. It's a lot, though, so I'm not really going to push that on you.

posted September 01, 2004 06:25 AM           

Didn't sleep much last night.

Jason talking in his sleep again.
Got to sleep around 2. Woke-up around 4:30.

posted September 01, 2004 12:41 PM         

***I am feeling worn and vulnerable lately.... this retrograde has finally messed with my schedule enough to make me feel <shrug> kinda' impatient . Now isn't a fabulous time to do a reading.. but I will keep it in mind and whatever pops in I will post. Keep us updated too. I have a feeling it is a different option than the ones outlined....or a combination of a few.
Is there any way you can find out about the Military, and options for Jase? Or is it out of your hands, and is a waiting game?

posted September 13, 2004 09:11 AM           

Jase'd do costumes and work on creating and testing stuff and tinker on cars and machines for no pay.
I'd write for no pay, though now I feel no muse, flat-footed with my thoughts. At this moment I'd pay to be able to take care of my daughter.

But it remains that neither of us have a degree and I see no immediate way (if we're out of the Army) for Meg to have health care. Even if we just seek out life-draining jobs for the sake of coverage (as, since neither of us have degrees, we'd both have to work full-time - especially in DC - to eat), it'd take a minimum of 6 months until most employers would consider us eligible. And then, with what we'd be making, one job would go soley towards health care premiums and childcare (unless we could work out the day/night thing mentioned above...but then our marriage would fall apart because we'd see each other for all of a combined hour in any given day while under stultifying stress) and we'd be living off of the income generated from one near-minimum wage job. In DC. Or in Huntsville, we could do the same with no familial support system, but at least our wages might stretch further.

I apologize for dumping.
Doing so does no good as nothing can come of it. I'm just feeling a bit overwhelmed, though that could be lack of sleep talking. Jase, being stressed, has not slept well the past few nights - tossing and turning and talking and waking. I, being a light sleeper, have dodged and listened and awakened, too.

But at least there's the trippy smiley.

posted September 13, 2004 05:12 PM           

Well, there's a good side - with what we'll be making combined and each working over forty hours a week, if we go civilian we'll qualify for WIC - maybe even other forms of food aid!

*drags little black cloud behind self, leaves linda-goodman.com*