Life Spins and Then I Ramble

So here are today's ramblings...

• I've been contemplating a next step for several weeks, career wise. My current job is a term position, which I am confident they will renew, however I've been thinking about whether or not I wish to, and if not, what else would I do. I struggle so much in making these decisions, as my faithful readers know, particularly as I've written about it before on Dreamazone. So I've been looking at other opportunites, in other provinces, countries, you name it. Lots to consider, lots of options...too many almost, that I was stuggling to settle on one path.
• Then I happened to be checking out our gov website for current postings, mostly to see how the job description for the second social worker here was written, as I was boning up my resume...and then I happened upon an interesting position for which I am qualified, and intersted.
• It is an adoptions/foster care social worker job in Yellowknife. I had said my next move would be out of the north, but I was wavering on that already. The money is hard to leave behind, particularly when I still owe so much on student loans. Taking a job anywhere else but in the territories would certainly mean a huge pay cut. So I looked at pros and cons...and forwarded a cover letter and application yesterday. Interested in the pros/cons? Read on...

Pros

1. no more child protection investigations. As anyone who has worked in child protection (and still is) knows, this can get quite stressful at times, and I have been MORE than ready to leave it all behind. There isn't much here most of the time, but a recent rush of referrals has provided motivation for change.
2. no on-call work. I am not currently "on-call" but have the opportunity to be called, and have. Just knowing that I can be called is somewhat stressful.
3. less social isolation - Yellowknife is a busy city, tiny as it may be, they do have a lot to offer. I would be close to my friend K., and other new friends, and the opportunity to make more friends is vast. I could go back to having drinks with friends after work on payday Friday, going out to movies, dinners, having folks over for dinner, movie rentals, taking in live music, shopping with friends, you name it. It's been such a void for that here and I've had to stuff it into any business trips to YK instead, cramming in at night, or lunchtime between work commitments.
4. better shopping - no longer would I be forced to pay $8.19 for a gallon of milk. Grocery prices in YK are actually quite good, wayyyyyy better than Hay River as they have an Extra Foods, AND a COOP, both very large stores. There is also Wal-Mart, and we all know I have an addiction...not to mention many other stores, a mall, fast food (come one, sometimes ya gotta break down) great restaurants, etc.
5. more activites - I can take a class in just about anything in YK...so I may even return to yoga, or something else.
6. Live would no longer be lived in a fishbowl (to use I's phrase). Doing the job that I currently do and living where I currently live, my every move is watched, and commented upon. I don't always hear about it, and people have been generally quite friendly, but I can't sit out on my own deck and have a few beers on the weekend. One simply just cannot do that here, where alcoholism is high. So moving to YK would mean I could recapture some of my anonymity that I really like sometimes.
7. the job would be a very useful career move, if I do manage to get myself to Africa to work, I would like to process international adoptions at an agency there, and this would give me much more experience. I can currently do it here, but the volume is very low, and opportunity for international adoptions is slim to none here, but more in YK.
8. less occupational isolation. Much of the time, I am in the office here completely alone. I am the only social worker, despite there being two positions. No one has yet been hired for the other one and it took them MONTHS to even post. The boss is away often, and the receptionist/finance clerk is here occasionally (WHOLE OTHER STORY), which leaves me on my own much of the time. Workwise, I can manage to putter away, but I do miss the comraderie of a fully staffed office. I could return to going out for lunch with coworkers, something I truly enjoyed in previous workplaces, particularly in Cape Breton - yeah ladies, you know it!
9. the end of listening to people problems day in and day out. Some of them are minor, but they certainly take a toll on you day after day, having to sort out and problem solve constantly. I know, I know, it's often part of a social worker's job, but in the words of my friend L., I'm OVER it. I get enough problems listening to my family...EEEK!
10. this change of job would mean I wouldn't have to orient too much to a new workplace. I've been to the office several times, it is the same folks I work for here, and I have met most everyone. I have already done all the required training, and have processed the same paperwork in the new job, so there would be very little learning curve. I could just about slide right in...just about.
11. quicker access to health care providers. I can get in for an appt quickly enough here with a nurse, and the doc isn't too hard, but I have to go somewhere else for stuff, such as physio, massage therapy, etc. who really wants to pay for a nice massage then have to get behind the wheel for a bone rattling 155 kms drive home over a dirt road?

And now for the cons, and yes, there are a few...

1. less pay. I may be able to negotiate my current salary, but I cannot control the loss of some of my northern allowance. Not the end of the world, but to be considered.
2. another fucking move. Believe it or not, I am tiring of moving - the packing, setting up, notifying everyone of my new address, phone number, blah, blah, blah.
3. I would have to pay more for rent, and likely live in an apartment. Apartment life can suck...depending on neighbors, and I can't play my music as loud, would have to use a laundrymat again, and probably have to climb stairs.
4. I would be farther away from my daughter, though I would be closer to the main airport in NWT that flys into Whitehorse....something to chew on...
5. I would be isolated from southern Canada for several weeks a year while the iceroad/ferry process is in changeover...however there is promise of a permanent bridge by 2009 I think...
6. I would feel guilty about pulling up stakes here where I have begun so many projects in the community. I would feel better if they were able to hire someone before I left.

so there you have it...clearly the pros outweigh the cons. The reality is, I don't have the job yet, so this could all be moot if it goes to someone else. And then I would probably settle on renewing my term until June here, and things would simply continue on as they were for several more months, and I would face the big question again in the spring.