Our American Ride Begins - We're Going Galt!

This BIG CITY family is GOING GALT! 

I was offered a job yesterday in a small town near our family farm in Oklahoma. The pay is slightly less than what I was making just a few short weeks ago here in Phoenix, Arizona...before I was unexpectedly LAID OFF (read The Axe Has Fallen). What a lovely Friday afternoon phone call that was...

Are these city girls ready for country living?

This family's fairy tale is unfolding at an unbelievable pace. For years, we've been learning new skills and inching towards a more self-sufficient lifestyle after our eyes began to open to what was going on all around us. Encroaching government, decline in societal values, currency becoming worthless, tangible goods prices skyrocketing, all leading to an unhappy, fragmented family unit working endless hours just to stay afloat.

Well, not us. We're done. We made a plan and said countless prayers. Now, by the Grace of God, we've had a door opened. It was disguised at first as tragedy after tragedy. I lost my job, my family health insurance, cars were breaking down, bills were coming due and phone call after phone call was going unanswered as I desperately looked for a new job.

As recently discussed (read I've Made My Case), Wifey and I had an idea of moving to our old family farm back in a little town in Oklahoma. It was only being used for occasional family gatherings but had, at one time, been farmed feverishly by my Grandfather many decades ago (before he came down with Alzheimers). Wifey and I were almost brought to tears when we received the welcoming response from my uncle (read The First Response).

How to make it work was our biggest obstacle. Like many folks out there today, we knew we wanted to move to the country for a better life but didn't know how to make it happen. Finally, one night, we decided to "reverse engineer" our plan. Sometimes, when I can't figure out how to get a problem solved from the beginning, I'll start at the end and work backwards.  In this case, we knew WHERE we wanted to live but didn't know HOW to get there. For us, the first hurdle was for me to get a job NEAR the farm. Once an income was established, it was possible to conceive moving there.  I just couldn't fathom moving my entire family out of state with no source of income waiting for me when we got there.

So this will be the first post, in a long series of posts, to share our journey. The past few years, I've shared on this blog what we have been doing to prepare for self sufficiency:

adding to our preps and sharpening our skills
catching rainwater in barrels
barter and trade skills 
herbal home remedies 
disconnecting from cable and meaningless liberal media 
physical fitness 
establishing a bugout location 
bugout SHTF mock runs
building Wifey's uber-cool craft room 
obtaining ammo when there is none
homemade beef jerky & dehydrating
and several posts on gardening, medicine and more.

Today begins the first day of our journey. Tonight we'll sit down with our six daughters and have "The Talk" about moving. I'm sure at least one teenager is going to flip out...and I don't mean in a good way ;-)

~OJD


If you wonder what I do for a living, I wrote about it (read What Does Daddy Do All Night?).

The Suspense is Killing Me!

Image courtesy of JerryStocking.com

Quick update since my last post about losing my job. Things are starting to look better. The first few weeks, there were a few major road blocks in my path which required me to just sit and wait for time to pass. The annual Girls Camp with church just happened to be scheduled about one week after I was laid off. That meant four days of me at home with three of my darling toddlers while Wifey enjoyed a campout with our three oldest girls up in the pines. Yup, made me a bit envious to say the least.

There also just happened to be a pre-planned, pre-paid weekend trip to Disneyland the very weekend prior to campout.  For who? You guessed it, Wifey and the three older girls. Daddy Daycare was in full effect. Talk about getting stressed out. Knowing that you lost your job and having your hands bound with childcare while your better half was off having a whirlwind tour of Disneyland is NOT good for moral. But we endured, after my minor...okay, slightly major meltdown in the church parking lot when picking up from campout.

FINALLY, I could start SERIOUSLY looking for a job. I had spent time emailing, calling, LinkedIn-ing, and FaceBooking everyone I knew in my field. I attempted one phone interview with watching Team Bravo (my younger set of three girls). That just made me a wreck trying to corral them while focusing on whatever the interviewer was saying on the other end of the line.

I had about a week and a half before another roadblock was quickly approaching. Before losing my job, I had sensed a need to fortify my resume. I scheduled two heavy duty Board Exams back to back on consecutive weeks. I am currently studying for one now. My Abdominal Ultrasound Board Exam is tomorrow (Friday). I've been studying at the local library all week in a solitary study room. Next week, on Thursday, is my Computed Tomography Board Exam and I plan on studying Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday in the same fashion (library). The two certifications were going to be crucial if I ever had to find a new job and sure enough, the timing was impeccable.

I couldn't re-schedule them to look for a job, I needed them to land a job. My prior employer didn't require them for employment. They were simply an extra credential to hang on the wall. Now, with the current healthcare situation (thanks Obama), everyone is requiring these certifications because as of 2014, imaging centers will not get reimbursed for examinations that were done by technologists unless the technologist is certified.

Nevertheless, by the grace of God (literally), I secured some good interviews. I currently have in the hopper:

1) an offer from an indian reservation for full time employment at a hourly rate HIGHER than I was making prior. However, this "group" is not family-friendly and expects me to work on their reservation while living in their government housing. They'll pay for the housing but I'll only see my family on the weekends. This is a 13 week temporary assignment. If both parties agree, it could go permanent. Not happy about the family situation but it was offered before I had any other options. I am still waiting for final approval as I counter offered at a higher rate of pay.

2) a beautiful little town three hours south of me has reported that I am one of two people they are considering for a management position. This would be a promotion! It also means moving the family but they would be with me, which is great. We would start over in a new town with new adventures. They said they will announce their selection in mid-June.

3) a smaller town three hours north of me has offered me an interview for management after I turned down an afternoon shift. After much deliberation, I decided working from 11:30am to 8pm Monday through Friday was miserable for family life. Regardless of what the indian reservation paragraph may have led you to believe, I am all about family. This position offered less pay, crummy hours but beautiful location for my family and me. Once I summoned the courage to politely decline the shift work based on the hours offered, the Director asked if I had ever considered management. Of course I have! So, sometime in the next few days, I should have an interview up north for a management position. That would be a promotion and move my family and me to a beautiful snowy town.

4) saving the best for last, if you have read my previous posts about our family farm in Oklahoma, you'll be excited to hear I am uber close to landing a job in a small town right next to my family farm. I passed a successful phone interview a few days ago with the boss. I can't afford to go back there for an interview because I've been there twice since December already (once to visit for Christmas, once for my Grandmother's funeral). Now, with limited funds, I simply can't drive or fly out there (same price). $450-500 either way I travel is not doable at this time. Potential boss is working on a Skype/Internet Video conference solution and waiting on his Human Resource department to approve his paperwork to hire me.

So, there's your update in a nutshell. I do not absolutely have a job yet but things are sure looking positive at the moment. Keep your fingers crossed. I know I am.

~OJD

The Axe has Fallen: I'm Laid Off

Corporate suck.

During the last month or so, my small town hospital has been teetering on bankruptcy. Our pay checks were constantly late and we had little choice in the matter. The latest we were ever paid was one full week. But I was loyal.

It had been five years since we opened and several of my coworkers had stayed together as a team from the prior hospital, dating back to 2004. It is amazing how well a department can function when you have a tight, cohesive team.  So well, in fact, that when our Radiology Director passed from cancer we worked without a Director for nine months.

I think we spoiled the hospital Administration. After a while, they must have figured "Why bother paying a Director? These guys are autonomous!" And on it went...for five years.

They did finally promote someone from within our department to Director. In retrospect, he my have gotten the short end of the stick out of all of us. But let's focus on the important stuff...ME. LoL.

Fast forward five years. ObamaCare kicks in. Recession is causing havoc across America. We've gone FIVE YEARS without a raise in our hospital but remained loyal.

Then the domino effect began. First was the missed payrolls. Uh oh. Speed bump. Carry on. Nothing to see here folks.

Then a last minute meeting was scheduled to tell us the original hospital was being closed. It was hemorrhaging too much debt and was taking both hospitals down the drain. We were told that with our Main campus closed, our little outlier, small town hospital would survive on winter visitors (and their MediCare).

I'll speed the timeline up.

Week One - Six: paychecks inconsistent.

Week Seven: Main hospital closes. 400 people out of a job within days. Smaller hospital employees told they will keep their jobs. All is well. (I was one of the small hospital employees).

Week Eight: Announcement: Large Corporation buys our small hospital. Meeting Monday morning with Corp Admin tells us "Everyone guaranteed to keep their jobs."

Week Nine & Ten: every other day, you have a job, we're not sure you will have a job, it is guaranteed...until we interview you, you salary will NOT change...unless you salary is above or below our established range, then it will be adjusted accordingly.

Week Eleven: you have a job and have great qualifications.

Week Twelve: there's a list coming out in one week that will state who has a job and who is terminated. In the meantime, fill out all this new hire paperwork, get TB shots, MMR titers, physicals, mask fittings, etc etc. Welcome aboard.

Week Thirteen: I am in Oklahoma for my Grandmother's funeral. Corporate's Human Resources calls me to say "Our offer to employ you have been rescinded." No explanation. Just a bunch of corporate double-speak.

So, without notice, on a Friday afternoon, while out of state, grieving for my Grandmother...I lose my job...over the phone. How's that for classy?

Thank you Banner Health Corp.


So, I am currently seeking a full time job in Radiology if anyone has availability during this recession. I am trained in XRay, CT Scanning, Ultrasound, MRI and Interventional Radiology.

I am a walking Radiology Department.