Two Week Notice

Dan and I have been talking a lot lately about our future and what the next couple of years will look like for us. When do we want kids? Soon. When do we want to start looking for a house? Soon. Where do we want that house to be? Depends on where we are working. Are we happy where we are currently working? No. Well, I'm happy. Dan, not so much.

Dan has been working at the same place for 5 years now. He took a little hiatus for a couple weeks to test out his firefighting skills, but when that fell through, his boss graciously hired him back on. Since then, the practice was bought out by a local, big name hospital and things have gone down hill. Before, he had the opportunity to advance within the practice. Now, because he doesn't have a college degree, the hospital won't even look twice at his resume and consider him for a supervisory or managerial position. So, basically, he's reached the proverbial glass ceiling.  At 25 years old being told that you can't advance any further, you have no chance of a pay increase (with the exception of cost of living raises, which still aren't guaranteed), and you aren't as important to this organization as you were before you left to pursue your dream.....well, it sucks.

So Dan has been looking for jobs closer to home. Right now he drives two hours to get to work and two hours back. No fun when you hate your job. But he's had no luck in finding anything closer - he's only had one interview. The only light we're seeing at the end of the tunnel is the fact that he's volunteering with a local EMS company and they're willing to help him sharpen his skills. Considering its been at least 3 years since Dan originally got his EMT licensing, his skills are a little rusty.

It's because of this light at the end of the tunnel, that we've decided to take a big leap.... After talking it over (and over and over) and crunching numbers (over and over), we've decided to become a one-income household. Dan officially put in his two week notice on Thursday, so now I can freely talk about our plans and post them online without the fear of his job somehow finding out.

Every new hire at the EMS company goes through a six week new hire course. Being a volunteer, Dan isn't required to go through the entire six weeks at once - there would be no way since the company won't pay volunteers to do that. But, he's encouraged to work his way through the course as he can. But, if Dan can get the entire six week course done, he's as qualified as a new hire and could potentially get hired on the minute they have a new position open. He's gotten the first week of the course completed, and was trying to figure out how to do the rest over the weekends. Turns out they're starting a new course the first week of June.

So, Dan came up with the crazy idea to quit his full time job and basically work for the EMS company for free and get this course done. I'm trying to look at it like my teaching internship - you're going to put in a lot of time to a company, busting your butt to learn the ins and outs of the profession, and you're going to do it all at no cost to them. To say I was hesitant is an understatement. Having only one income to rely on is scary. Having to do so over the summer when I'm not getting steady paychecks is even scarier. But, Dan has faith that it'll all work out, and I have to have faith in his decision.

To say I'm not worried would be a lie. But I will say that I'm proud of Dan for taking such a big leap and putting in all the hard work that he has to achieve his goal. Fingers crossed that by the end of the summer I'll be writing another update post saying that all this hard work has paid off and Dan is officially a full-time EMT.