Into The Great Unknown

My last post reported that my computer had crashed. I took it to the local dech dude who pronounced it DOA. He managed to retrieve all my documents and pix and everything else off the hard drive, thank goodness, so I didn't lose anything except the computer itself.

Now for computing purposes I have to share the family computer. This presents a multitude of problems, not the least of which is that now I can't work because I don't have access to a computer I can dedicate solely to my job.

As a medical transcriptionists we're required, for purposes of privacy and HIPAA compliance, to have a computer that is not accessed by anyone else and that is not used for anything other than work. In theory that makes sense, but I believe that it's rarely practiced. I think most MTs use their work computer for more than just work. However, I can't in good conscience share a computer with 4 other people when it would give them access to a bunch of private medical records.

So this leaves me in a pickle. I can't afford a new computer because the company I work for doesn't pay me well enough to I can afford a new computer, but without a computer I'm unable to work in order to earn the money I need to buy a computer. You see my dilemma.

Because I was in a major panic about not earning any money, imagining the water and power being shut off, my home foreclosed on, becoming one of those people who sits outside WalMart with a cardboard sign that says "anything helps" just so I can feed my kids, I called the employment office to see if I'd qualify for unemployment insurance.

To my great relief, I do. Here's the strangest part of this whole thing, though: I tried calling my boss but she didn't answer her phone, so I left a message that I don't have a computer, I can't work until further notice, please call me. Not a peep out of her. She has never called me back. I called a couple of supervisory people and told them. Their response? "Oh, okay." That's it. And I haven't heard from anyone else since then. So, since I didn't quit, and I haven't been informed that they're letting me go, where does that leave me? In some vague gray unknown, I guess.

In the meantime, I'm looking for a job that doesn't require me to have a separate computer, and I'm taking advantage of all my free time to get some writing done. I need to have completed a first draft of my screenplay by May. I'm currently about 12 pages into act II so I have a ways to go. I want to finish the first draft of book two of my trilogy, and I have about one, maybe two chapters to go so I'm very close. Then I want to start revisions on book one so I can start the query process.

Being unemployed is a terrifying prospect for me since I've worked all of my adult life. I haven't always liked my job, but I've always had one. We're seriously tightening our belts to try to live within the unemployment benefits, and it's a huge challenge, but more than anything if I'm not spending this time working I'm going to use it to be writing.

Maybe it's a blessing in disguise? I certainly hope so. Wish me luck!