FA+
Shop
Life updates, questions, moving forward
2 weeks ago
General
So, lets cover the big stuff.
I ended up washing out of the Air Traffic Control program with Federal Aviation Administration here in the states.
Which, means I am, once again, out of a job, and looking for work.
I do not have the option to re-apply due to the age constraints on the position, so it's a "dead end" in this case.
I do have other options open, but nothing moves quickly in the federal government, so those are longer term roads im still poking at.
where does this leave me? at the moment, between PTO payout, perdiem, some travel stuff, ect. there's about 6-7 months of savings in the bank.
Unemployment is a wild card at this moment due to a few things.
And i am back home with the parents. So I'm "safe" in the sense that it would take something like a major disaster to really cause issues.
That all having been said, im left with much the same question(s) i had about this time in 2025.
What is the "best" path forward?
What does the future look like?
Is trying for a traditional job worth it, or should i look towards something else? (if so, then what?)
A.I. + the general global situation has left, well, nothing to be entirely stable aside from medical and few other areas.
So im genuinely looking at what might make for either a useful interim line of work, or something i can practice that isn't full out art.
(I'm not an artist by trade, training, ect, I can color, touch up existing lines, but from scratch isn't in the toolbox. So unless there's a need for colorists....)
So for the moment i'm back in the mines searching for jobs, anything to keep the lights on, and the bills paid for the moment, without killing my health
the question is what that takes the form of, be it local, remote, or something else entirely.
but what does the next 10 years, 20, 40, look like?
At one point that might have been an easy question to answer.
Right now? I have no idea. 10 year ago, i was getting out of college, Covid wasn't a thing, the world looked stable.
That's changed, and keeps changing. Houses built on what feels like sand, not stone or bedrock.
Every 2-3 years, having to rebuild. Heck, every 6-12 months now it seems.
I could be in a much, much worse place, for sure.
I could also be in a much better one. But i appear to be failing to figure out a reasonable path to that better place.
Life certainly did make itself more difficult in the last few years....where's difficulty slider?
I ended up washing out of the Air Traffic Control program with Federal Aviation Administration here in the states.
Which, means I am, once again, out of a job, and looking for work.
I do not have the option to re-apply due to the age constraints on the position, so it's a "dead end" in this case.
I do have other options open, but nothing moves quickly in the federal government, so those are longer term roads im still poking at.
where does this leave me? at the moment, between PTO payout, perdiem, some travel stuff, ect. there's about 6-7 months of savings in the bank.
Unemployment is a wild card at this moment due to a few things.
And i am back home with the parents. So I'm "safe" in the sense that it would take something like a major disaster to really cause issues.
That all having been said, im left with much the same question(s) i had about this time in 2025.
What is the "best" path forward?
What does the future look like?
Is trying for a traditional job worth it, or should i look towards something else? (if so, then what?)
A.I. + the general global situation has left, well, nothing to be entirely stable aside from medical and few other areas.
So im genuinely looking at what might make for either a useful interim line of work, or something i can practice that isn't full out art.
(I'm not an artist by trade, training, ect, I can color, touch up existing lines, but from scratch isn't in the toolbox. So unless there's a need for colorists....)
So for the moment i'm back in the mines searching for jobs, anything to keep the lights on, and the bills paid for the moment, without killing my health
the question is what that takes the form of, be it local, remote, or something else entirely.
but what does the next 10 years, 20, 40, look like?
At one point that might have been an easy question to answer.
Right now? I have no idea. 10 year ago, i was getting out of college, Covid wasn't a thing, the world looked stable.
That's changed, and keeps changing. Houses built on what feels like sand, not stone or bedrock.
Every 2-3 years, having to rebuild. Heck, every 6-12 months now it seems.
I could be in a much, much worse place, for sure.
I could also be in a much better one. But i appear to be failing to figure out a reasonable path to that better place.
Life certainly did make itself more difficult in the last few years....where's difficulty slider?
