jobs | Koi Scribblings

The end of an era is the beginning of a new era.

I’ve been doing this full-time writer thing for almost six years. Despite what you might think, that was never the plan.

In my latest newsletter*, I said “Everything takes longer than planned.” That was true of getting Like Herding Cats out the door. And it’s true of the plan for launching my writing career.

* Are you subscribed to the newsletter? If not, why not? You could be reading exclusive first draft excerpts from Like Herding Cats, and blog-like rambles on the publishing industry and my place in it. How can you not want to read my extended metaphor of the querying process as a theatrical audition? Millions of authors singing, dancing, and doing Hamlet’s soliloquy for your pleasure! Ahem. Pardon me. And if you’re not already signed up, please click that link over in the sidebar.

See, the original idea was to take six months to focus on writing. Learn to string words together in pleasing ways. (Pleasing to me and to others. The latter is much harder than the former.) Develop the habit of writing. (The jokes about procrastinating writers are funny because there is a certain amount of truth behind the stereotype–which is why we tend to get defensive when non-writers tell them.)

And after six months, I’d start looking for a job, because, despite what Kokoro might tell you, cat food doesn’t just magically appear in the bowl. I never figured it would take five years to land a paycheck. But somehow, that’s what happened.

I haven’t started the job yet; I’m still doing paperwork. I don’t know what my hours will be, so I can’t gauge the impact on the blog. But I can make some contingency plans. If I wind up working or commuting Tuesday and/or Thursday mornings, I won’t be blogging at those times. Ideally, I’ll change the schedule* and blog other days or times. Not so ideally–and it’s a possibility since I will unquestionably have less time to write–I may have to make the hard decisions.

* Friday cat-or-other-critter posts are always written and posted ahead of time, so I don’t expect any change to those. You’re welcome.

If it comes down to a choice between blogging and writing novels, I’m going to pick the novels.

It’s all well and good to say that this blog is building platform–attracting followers who’ll buy my books–but if I never write the books, it doesn’t matter how many followers I’ve got. I won’t stop blogging about things unrelated to felines. But if I have to cut back the frequency, I will.

With that said, let’s move on. You may have noticed that I haven’t mentioned who my new employer is. That was intentional. The job is in the technology sector. I plan to continue my usual snark about Apple, Google, Amazon, Microsoft, and anyone who believes the Internet of Things is a good idea. My employer may fall into one of those categories. Or not. This might be disinformation.

But I want to be absolutely clear that anything I say here is my own opinion, completely uninfluenced by questions of employment or sanity.

Welcome to the new era, in which I’m less worried about waking up to find that somebody has supplemented their diet with my toes. Hopefully, that’ll make for a more cheerful blog, the political environment notwithstanding.

Change is good. In well-controlled, carefully measured doses.

Apparently this country has made no progress in the last 150 years.

Back then, the big issue was the Chinese. During the gold rushes of the 1840s and after, many Chinese came to America in search of a better life. And, because life sucked so badly for so many in China, those workers who came to the US were willing to take any job at pay rates far below what white workers demanded. Corporations, seeking as always to maximize profits, actively recruited Chinese laborers and paid them as little as they could.

And millions of Chinese took those jobs because they were still better than anything they could find at home. Some of them were probably illegal immigrants, but as far as I can tell, most of them had entered the country legally.

At least until 1882, when anti-Chinese violence persuaded the government to ban all immigration from China–a ban that was renewed in 1892 and 1902.

Of course, banning further immigration didn’t do anything to improve the lot of those immigrants who were already in the country. By the mid-1880s, there were riots across the western US, most notably in Rock Springs, Wyoming Territory and Seattle, Washington.

Let me note, by the way, that when I went to school in Seattle in the 1970s and 1980s, the Seattle riot wasn’t discussed in History class. Somehow I doubt that’s changed; if anyone in the Seattle area knows differently, I’d love to hear it. Those who don’t remember history…

Anyway, the Seattle riot is noteworthy if only for the sheer pointlessness of the actions taken by the rioters. A loose coalition of labor leaders and Socialist activists rounded up 350 Chinese residents of Seattle’s Chinatown and marched them to the docks.

When the captain of the ship they chose demanded payment to carry the Chinese, the rioters passed the hat and raised funds to cover the fares. In short, roughly two hundred of the Chinese were deported. Not back to China, but down the coast to San Francisco. Arguably, the original expression of Seattle’s NIMBY spirit. As for the rioters, a confrontation with the militia resulted in serious injury to three rioters and two militiamen and the imposition of martial law, which lasted for two weeks.

So here we are, a century and a half later. We’ve got corporations fighting against minimum wage laws and a president who wants to cut off immigration, ostensibly to protect American jobs.

Deja vu, anybody?

PS: Something more cheerful tomorrow, I promise. Oh, and don’t forget that my monthly newsletter for August comes out on Monday. If you want a sneak peek at my current work in progress, sign up now!