So, most people reading this will probably already know that I
managed to find a job. I started in the last week of September and I
seem to be pretty good at it so far. The job is in call centre customer
service, which I seem to be unable to escape, for a Health and Benefits
Outsourcing company. That might bear some explanation for my NZ friends
and family so here goes: the company basically takes the work from HR
departments of other companies (outsourcing the work but not off-shoring
it - as Mitt Romney likes to point out) to manage the benefits that the
employers offer. One cannot survive long in the US without medical,
dental, vision, long and short term disability and probably a number of
other insurances. Employers here tend to offer these benefits to
employees at a lower rate than they could purchase them on their own -
known as group policies because the insurer gives a discount since it's
expected to be bulk coverage - and also subsidise the premiums heavily -
usually around 70-80% from what I've seen of good employers.
I
like the job, it's interesting and it's certainly teaching me important
skills to do with dealing with insurance carriers and understanding
benefits that I would never ever had needed in New Zealand, but there is
one problem. Well, perhaps 2, really. It's only a temporary job, to
start with, so I don't have the stability I need to move out on my own
with my husband. This time of year is known as "Open Enrollment" for the
insurance industry and it's when most employers allow their employees
to make changes to their benefits. They usually can't make changes any
other time or year unless they have something major happen they they get
married, have a child, get divorced and so forth. So, as you can
imagine, it's a very busy time of year. The company I am temping for
hired about 200 extra employees for this season and they won't have work
for all of them once the season is over. That means that some people
will be out of a job come January 31 of 2013.
The other
problem is that it doesn't pay well enough for me to be able to support
my husband as the main (if not technically quite sole) breadwinner. It
doesn't offer employer subsidised group insurance at all unless I get
"converted", as they call it, to permanent employment. I don't even know
what hourly rate I would be offered if they wanted me to convert or if I
would even get a pay rise except for being offered benefits. So much
uncertainty.
To top it all off: my in-law just lost his
job because the contract, which was meant to be for 3 years, ended due
to the research project he was hired for being cancelled. So he has less
resources and is stressed and taking it out on us by expecting us to
pay for everything we need - which, as mentioned previously, we cannot
afford to do. I'm trying to save up so that we can purchase our own car
and pay for a deposit on an apartment and all that expensive stuff. The
sooner I can do those things then the sooner he can sell his house and
move closer to work opportunities and the entertainment that he enjoys. I
guess it's hard to see the medium and long term when money is tight and
you're not feeling very reasonable.
You may also have
heard of Hurricane (or tropical storm as she was down-graded to) Sandy.
She passed this way and I was forced to stay overnight away from home in
a hotel paid for by my employer. It wasn't too bad as it was a nice
hotel. I had to share the room with a co-worker but she was really nice
and into RPing and LARPing so it was a nice evening. I sort of want to
be friends with her now but I'm not sure how to approach her. I don't
even know where she sits at work because the place is a maze of cubicles
that I still get lost in occasionally. At home during the storm the
power stayed steady and no damage to the house or people was sustained.
Many are still without power in New York and New Jersey so we were very
lucky that it we just got an edge of it and not the full force.
Lastly,
my greencard arrived unexpectedly last week. I was expecting to have to
apply for another work authorisation card since mine was only good
until April 2013 and the processing time for greencards at the
California immigration services (where my application was moved to
expedite it, apparently) was 16 months when I last checked so that would
have put me at July 2013 before I received my greencard. And I wasn't
even certain if they were going to request a second interview here in
the US, as they are entitled to do, so I really wasn't expecting it to
arrive so soon. Still, one less thing to worry about it always good. So,
as of October 2012 I am officially a conditional permanent resident of
the United States of America for 2 years. Complicated, huh? Well, once
the 2 years is almost up (90 days before it is up, in fact) I will be
required to apply to have my conditional residency removed if I wish to
remain in residence in the US of A. Then, after 3 years of continuous
residence in the US (and if I meet a list of other requirements like
still being married to a US citizen, having lived with him the whole 3
years and having been present in the US continuously for 18 months prior
to applying, to name a few) I can apply for Naturalisation to become a
US Citizen.
At first when I was considering moving here
I thought that I would never want to be a US Citizen. And I still
don't, really, if I have to be honest about it. But there are downsides
to being only a permanent resident. Such as: if I leave the US for more
than a year they can refuse to let me back in. They can also refuse to
let me back in for any reason at all, if they so choose, and they don't
even have to tell me why. That uncertainty really sucks. There are
downsides to being a US Citizen too. Becoming a target for Anti-US
forces (paranoid, huh?), having to file tax returns in the US for the
rest of my life even if I don't live there and being targeted by the
nasty and big dollar political industry as a potential voter. That last
one really gets my gall because I feel like Abby from youtube (If you
haven't seen the "Tired of Broco Bamma and Mitt Romney" video on
Elizabeth Evans' channel, you should) and I'm not even targeted by all
the ads, volunteers, cold callers and flyers that SuperPACs and
campaigns are sending out. I really do feel badly for the voters of the
US.
Well, if anything else interesting happens then
I'll try to update. I'm so homesick it's not even funny. Keep NZ warm
(figuratively speaking) for me, guys! I'll be home as soon as I can. I
think even husband is sick of the US now. He's even said he could put up
with Wellington's earthquakes and he was not as all tolerant of them
previously so it's a good sign. Now, just to figure out how to afford to
return. Put your thinking caps on and let me know if you have any
brilliant ideas that are within the law.
I miss you guys!
~Be
P.S.
I have my driver's license now also. I have to get it before I could
really start applying for jobs in earnest as driving is really the only
reliable way to get around here with jobs 20+ miles away.
