Nomad Turned 'Ploid'

As the post heading suggests, I am (for the time being) casting off my self-appointed label of 'nomad' and replacing it with the more suitable title of 'ploid.' I have settled into a new, albeit temporary (So I guess one could argue that I am still a nomad. But "Nomad Remaining Status of Nomad Yet Also Acquiring the Title of 'Ploid'" seemed too lengthy.), house and now occupy my time being a ploid.

'Ploid' is not a word that one would find in the dictionary, though hopefully one will soon find it in the online Urban Dictionary (thanks to my handiwork). In fact, some of my friends - ploids at the time - coined the word two summers ago when they found themselves sitting around the house, more or less (or totally) unemployed. "We are unemployed," they declared. "We are ploids. We are ploids who are unemployed." Not the most exciting etymology, but one befitting the creators of the word itself. Over the course of the summer, the word 'ploid' found its way into everyday use, and the self-proclaimed ploids won renown for their flexible schedules, fun and interesting daytime projects and their laid back lifestyles. They also had no source of income, but they didn't care because they had enough money to survive for the interim time between jobs.

Now, based on this description, I am not a ploid in the strictest sense of the word. I am currently unemployed and I do revel in my wide open daily schedule, but I am looking for work. And as of this morning, after a Personal Financial Investigation (looking at my account balances), I'm redoubling my efforts. Am I worried? No. Will I survive? Yes. I am merely coming to the realization that my savings are finite and that my spending-to-income ratio is infinite (or undefined, I suppose, mathematically speaking). In order to improve this ratio, I am now trying even harder to find a job, and I'm getting less and less picky. I've now applied to the local school system (for substitute teaching), several tutoring positions, several food industry positions, and most recently I signed up to take a qualifying test to work for the 2010 census! (I'm secretly hoping for a census job at this point. Decent pay, novelty and temporariness are all good things right now.)

On the other side of the coin I decided to take a tip from Obama and work at Freezing Domestic Discretionary Spending. That is to say that for the time being I'm not going to spend money on craft beer (expensive vice #1), chocolate (expensive vice #2) or... anything really. You may be thinking, "beer is one thing, but how do you freeze spending on other expensive vices like... say... FOOD?!" No worries. One housemate works at a bakery, the other at a diner. I get free carbs out the wazoo! (Judging from Urban Dictionary's definitions of the word 'wazoo' that last statement is true in more ways than one...) PLUS, in my vast amount of free time I find plenty of time to dumpster dive, scoring such finds as oranges, peppers, green beans, onions, eggs, yoghurt, and PIZZA ROLLS! (Let the record state that though I think those little morsels are disgusting, I also think that they are disgustingly delicious. And I was probably pleased by this find the most.) So I won't starve at least.

And speaking of vast amounts of free time, let me say a bit about all of the, er, productive things I've been doing with my time. The first priority, obviously, has been to secure a job, and much (though admittedly not enough) of my time has been devoted to searching the web, filling out applications, and tailoring resumes. I have also been spending a decent amount of time exercising - something I had not really had time for with my previous job. Squash, climbing at the rock wall, and pond hockey have been my preferred means. (Though hockey has been a tough one recently as one of my borrowed skate's blade broke off - sorry, Tim!) Moving in/organising my room has been another ongoing endeavour (I've been finding that it's difficult to organise small things when you have no furniture.) and has led to construction of a coffee table from dumpstered materials. I have also been intentionally setting aside time for self-edification, and I've been reading on such topics as digital photography and computer programming. Finally, I've been spending glorious amounts of time hanging out with friends and playing games! Woot! I may not have any money, but life is good! And that is the anthem of the ploid.