Late in the afternoon, I emailed several recruiters who have been working with me. I wanted to find out if positions they submitted me for had been filled or not. Turns out, all of them are still active. Shaking these recruiters' cages was a good thing. It reminded them that I am here and still looking. Two submitted me for new positions.

I just found another 10 jobs to apply for tomorrow. One of these wants 'experience in higher education.' I think I can safely say I have that. I may yet get this Chicago experiment to work, despite my lack of 'domain' experience.

I had a relaxing time with 'X' this evening. He brought up the subject of our mutual attraction and wondered how this could be. He has a blue collar background while mine is, as he openly informed me tonight over dinner, 'borderline elitist.' He was referring to the way I speak, for one thing. I was never able to follow the advice of a mentor from my college days who told me I needed to learn to speak in the vernacular. I thought I was! 'X' is convinced he can get me talking like a native in no time. I am not sure he is up for the challenge, although I am perfectly willing to let him try. He realizes that in the way I talk and do other things, I am being myself. Nothing more or less than that.

By referring to me as 'borderline elitist', he was also addressing what he views as my extensive knowledge in a number of areas. He tends to enjoy the simpler things in life; I tend to prefer the more complex. When I am with him, however, I find the simple quite fascinating! I am very glad we met and, although we have many differences, I continue to feel completely comfortable with him. This evening, I am calm and ready to take on more challenges in the morning.

You go girl, sounds like Chi might be the right place at the right time.

River

Riverwind (imported) wrote: Fri Jun 04, 2010 5:04 am You go girl, sounds like Chi might be the right place at the right time.

River

Dear River,

You have been a special person in my life from shortly before my transition. I well remember sitting with you and Talula for 'the test.'

Are you still playing "World of Warcraft"?

Danya (imported) wrote: Thu Jun 03, 2010 10:54 am So far today, I have applied for

eight jobs and I just found one more. This pays a very large salary and is another one of those jobs requiring a lot of travel. I know frequent business travel can be wearing, but given my own life circumstances I think I would be fine.

Being near a very large airport, with many non-stop flights, was one of the many reasons I chose to move to Chicago. O'Hare fits the bill.

I am also very happy 'X' is part of my life.

Hugs,

Danya

My close Minnesota woman friend, the one who thought I might decide to leave Chicago too soon for greener job pastures, has changed her mind. We spoke yesterday and she has a better understanding of my reasoning and the research I have done.

While I am still generating interest from recruiters here, it may not be enough to land a job. Just last night, a recruiter emailed me about a job he thought I would be perfect for. It's in the western suburbs. I sent him my resume and will wait to see what happens.

I applied for eight more jobs this afternoon that all look to be good fits.

I have been tracking per capita job postings in my field, and an alternate area, for a few weeks. The Chicago metropolitan region continues to show a significant jobs deficit when compared with every other metro area I have looked into.

A June 2, 2010 report by Chicago Breaking News (http://www.chicagobreakingbusiness.com/ ... areas.html) notes that:

"The largest over-the-year decrease in nonfarm payroll employment was in the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, Calif. region, followed by the Chicago-Joliet-Naperville Ind.-Wis. region."

"The largest over-the-year increase in nonfarm payroll employment occurred in the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, Va.-Md.-W.Va. region."

The Lake County (IL)-Kenosha County (WI) subdivision of the greater Chicago metro area is where I live. Its April, 2010 unemployment rate of 11.1% is higher than the larger Chicago metro unemployment rate of 10.7%. (http://www.bls.gov/news.release/metro.t02.htm)

Washington, DC by itself shows hardly any sign of significant job loss over the last two years. Other areas of this metro region do.

I am finding it harder than I imagined to decide (I thought I already had!) on a region of the country where I would increase my chance of success. The DC area is certainly an option. Reluctantly, I need to also consider

Danya (imported) wrote: Tue Apr 27, 2010 7:16 pm moving back to Minnesota. It is always difficult for me to return to a place once I

made an informed decisi

Danya (imported) wrote: Sat May 22, 2010 12:43 pm on to leave.

The thing is, there a

re no easy answers. I still prefer to stay right here, but given my freedom to move that may not be wise.

I was out with 'X' last night for what will likely be my last trip, by car, to downtown Chicago. The round trip uses too much gas and adds too many miles to the car.

We had a long talk and enjoyed our time downtown. He then took me to a 24-hour diner type place for a very late meal.

Even I am finding my posts boring. When I have something more significant to write about, I will.

The stories I read about other transsexual persons who have perservered through trials at least as daunting as mine inspire me. As do the responses and PM's of people here.

I am tired tonight, having slept no more than 5 1/2 hours last night. When I am not rested, I do not think clearly and my mood is not good. Right now, I feel very alone and the fact is I am, for all practical purposes, alone in the world. After I get a good night's sleep, this will not bother me.

The last few days have been a little difficult for me. Today is close to the one year 'anniversary' of an event at my last job. A very unpleasant event, at that. Fortunately, Jesus was available to take my tearful call. As usual, he knew just what to say to me to help me cope.

Today, I am back to my normal self. There were few job postings over the weekend and, even by this morning, there were none that matched my qualifications. So I ran some errands and then met 'X' at the Chicago Botanic Garden. I was way over dressed for the garden but I wanted to make 'X' happy. He was. I left my camera behind and we had a terrific time. The weather was gorgeous with lots of sun and low humidity.

Just as I was leaving home, I got a call from a recruiter about a contract job in Minneapolis, of all places. It is for a well known retailer based there and would give me retail domain experience. The 'problem' is that the contract is for only three months, although it could be extended. I'd have no problem moving, even if I had to move again three months later. The recruiter submitted me for this job today. So I could be driving to the Twin Cities soon for an interview.

Another problem is that I am having second thoughts about leaving Chicago, unless it is for a permanent position, a contract to hire job or consulting gigs through a regular employer. Even though I have known 'X' for only three weeks, I would find it at least a little difficult to leave because of him. We have such a great time together. Although we are very different, we are finding a lot of common ground. We talk quite openly about our differences and how to adjust.

I continue to get fantastic results from electrolysis, too. In addition, I am very pleased with my HRT physician. I hope to get a certain amount of 'development' that would not be possible with treatment in Minnesota.

On the way home, I stopped in for my every other week appointment with a local therapist. She is not my very far off, southwest suburbs gender therapist. Her husband, who had been out of work for 14 months, started a new job today. I was delighted to hear this. He had applied for this opening two months ago and didn't hear anything back until last week.

I just heard from a Minneapolis bank that I had applied to back in November. They weren't interested, but it shows how slowly these things can move. This tells me that perhaps I should remain here after all. I have applied to a lot of places and have not heard back from a fair number.

Some time ago, my therapist asked if I would speak at a class she is teaching on GLBT persons and issues. The date will be sometime in July and I will be glad to do this if I am still here.

When I got home, there was a message from a local recruiter. I

Danya (imported) wrote: Wed Apr 14, 2010 10:43 am have a phone interview tomorrow

with a hiring manager for a major bank in downtown Chicago. It's in that white skyscraper that curves out at the bottom. This is a contract job, but it would give me financial services domain experience. If I get this job, I can commute downtown on Metra.

Several other recruiters sent emails to see if I am interested in other jobs. I'm still waiting to hear back on several permanent job applications.

I started checking into executive assistant job postings and found several at a nearby, well know national accelerator laboratory. They are looking for people with enough science background to know what, for instance, tachyons are. I do, or I can figure it out with at least a fair understanding very quickly. I am not concerned that an accelerator will produce anything more than an exceedingly short lived black hole of little more than singularity size. I would not be swallowed up by working there.

There was a job I found this evening in Evanston. The advertiser mentioned their location on the 'beautiful shores of Lake Michigan.' I agree! This liberal northern suburb once declared itself as a nuclear free zone....

While I am overqualified for this particular job, I am very interested in it based on the description. It is a permanent 'opportunity' besides. I will apply.

So, for now, I will likely stick with the Chicago region. My original thinking on moving here balanced the high unemployment rate with the relatively high blue collar nature of the region. These tend to go togethe

Danya (imported) wrote: Sun May 30, 2010 10:01 pm r. It is very unlike the Twin Cities. Tha

t area has a significantly lower unemployment rate. It is also among the top areas in the country for percentage of college educated people.

I have absolutely nothing against blue collar places, by the way, or people. 'X' is blue collar. He is now going to college. I find him to be one of the most genuine people I have met. Part of what I like about Chicago is its blue collar background. I have met some wonderful people here who are both kind and generous, and just happen to be blue collar.

I think your confusion over X and his background is simply that Opposites attract and he and you have different experiences. Who would want to get involved with a copy of themselves?!

Anyway, I sure do understand your issues with health care and in particular prescription costs.

Danya (imported) wrote: Tue Jun 08, 2010 7:29 pm The last few days have been a little difficult for me. Today is close to the one year 'anniversary' of an event at my last job. A very unpleasant event, at that. Fortunately, Jesus was available to take my tearful call. As usual, he knew just what to say to me to help me cope. ................

Time certainly goes by fast. It doesn't seem like a year since your job ended. Wish you luck soon.

mrt (imported) wrote: Wed Jun 09, 2010 4:52 am I think your confusion over X and his background is simply that Opposites attract and he and you have different experiences. Who would want to get involved with a copy of themselves?!

Anyway, I sure do understand your issues with health care and in particular prescription costs.

'X' is a very interesting, yet playful, man. I give him a lot of credit for what he is doing with his life by going back to school. We did not see each other today and I missed that connection.

Having a relationship with anyone close to being a copy of me would be incredibly boring.

The

Danya (imported) wrote: Tue May 25, 2010 9:28 am phone interview this morning went well. The

hiring manager said this c

Danya (imported) wrote: Fri Apr 09, 2010 2:53 pm ould turn into a permanent position.

I am waiting to hear if I will have an in person interview. If I get this contract job, I will take the excellent health benefits that the agency offers its temporary workers. That way, if the contract ends without my being offered a permanent job I can continue on COBRA health coverage for another 18 months. My current COBRA coverage ends in January.

Mac (imported) wrote: Wed Jun 09, 2010 7:41 am Time certainly goes by fast. It doesn't seem like a year since your job ended. Wish you luck soon.

Hi Mac,

My job did not end until the end of July, 2009. I heard it would end, though, on June 9, 2009. The way things were handled made it a very unpleasant experience. That's all I can say about it here.

Danya (imported) wrote: Sun Dec 14, 2008 5:17 pm Thanks for the good wishes.

Hugs,

Danya