Frankly, I'm not enthusiastic about a lot of things in my life.

I'm not enthusiastic about living in Southern California and forking out half our income just so we can live in a crappy 2-bedroom apartment I can't stand.

I'm not enthusiastic about the fact that my H has had the same job for 13 years with not even a single promotion. I'm not enthusiastic about the fact that he went back to school for his MBA so he could change that, but nothing is changing.

I'm not enthusiastic about living paycheck to paycheck and never knowing if we're going to be able to pay our bills this month.

I'm not enthusiastic about never being able to go anywhere because I don't have a reliable vehicle so I pretty much can only go places I can walk to.

I'm not enthusiastic about the fact that my adult son has been sleeping on my sofa for the past two years, that he doesn't have a job or go to school, and even though my H says he's had it with him to and ready to kick him out, he never actually helps me do anything about it.

My H doesn't seem to think much of the idea of POJA. I don't know what to do about that. I can't force him.

Is his MBA complete?

Yes, he is finished with the MBA portion of his degree. It was a dual MBA in Business and MA in Leadership. He did all the MBA courses first. He is in his second course of the leadership portion now. He has three classes to go after this and then he will be done.

So... if there is no promotion/raise resulting in his additional education... he will now have additional employment opportunities?

That is the goal. We gave up a long time ago ever hoping that his current company would offer him any sort of promotion.

But no other employment opportunities seem to be working out either. He has been applying for lots of jobs for over a year now (none of them required an MBA, only a BA, which he has had for years). He has gotten quite a few phone interviews, but it never progresses beyond that. Not a single in-person interview. Not a single job offer.

Writer, I really think you guys should seriously consider getting out of CA.

That is definitely the goal. There's nothing I want more than to get out of this place!

Hi Writer1,

Long time no "see?" talk I guess.

Just a thought about your H's job search. If he is applying for jobs that only require a BA and he has an MBA is isn't likely to get the job. He is over qualified and they don't/won't pay him the difference for his advanced degree.

Has he gotten together with someone where he has obtained his degree to really go over his resume? Has he approached them about contacts? These are touchy times. I have a son who works in HR for a large company, and they receive so many resume's that unless they really hit a target, they don't bother with them.

Seems to me it is time to sharpen up his resume and his job search. Apply where MBA's are required.

Good luck,

JL

Good to see you JL

Hi JL!

He was applying for the jobs that don't require MBA's while he was still working on his MBA, but you're right, he needs to start applying to jobs that do require one now that he actually has the degree. The problem I think he's having is that most of these jobs also require a good deal of management experience along with the degree. He has the degree, but no actual management experience. Not sure how to remedy that one.

I do agree that he needs to sharpen up his job hunting skills. We've talked about this at length. I don't know what his school offers, since it is a distance program. The main campus is located in Arizona, but he is doing the online degree, so he can't go in and talk to them in person, but I have encouraged him to contact them. Also, to contact head hunters or job placement agencies. I don't know if he's actually done any of this though.

Schools are graduating 10 times as many MBA grads each year as there are jobs. Apparently the on-line programmes are toughest of all. He needs to lean on the school really hard to get the help he needs and he needs to do it now. Otherwise he will find himself no better off jobwise and carrying all that extra debt.

If this school is University of Phoenix, then his job search may be doubly difficult. I'm not knocking your husband's scholastic work but there is a certain stigma regarding UoP.

Someone asked this question before. No, it is not UoP.

We are going to look at a 3-bedroom place tonight. It's a townhouse style, with one full bedroom and a bathroom on the first floor and the other two bedrooms and a loft on the 2nd floor. The design would work well for us. Unfortunately, we had to sign a new lease on our current apartment a week ago in order to keep our rent from shooting up $400 a month, so if we don't stay here another year, we will have to pay a $2000 fee to break the lease. I suppose we'll have to pay it at some point, since I don't think any of us want to stay in a 2-bedroom apartment that long.

We're 3 weeks away from my mom moving in.

My van just died today (no oil pressure in the engine, so I suppose it's done for good now). I'm not going to be able to go anywhere now unless my H is home, so it's going to be difficult figuring out the move with limited transportation. I'll probably be without a car now until late May. And his car isn't in good shape either. Hopefully it'll hold together a little longer, since it's all we've got now and his work is 26 miles away. If the new place works out, he'll be a little closer, only about 20 miles from his work.

What about public transportation? I take the bus to work daily to keep miles off my truck (and protect my wallet from the gas guzzler!).

Prayers for you and your family.

Is there a bridge or liason program inovolved... like The College Network?


I'm working on my BSN through Indiana State University, and The College Network works between myself and ISU, and offers resources for me to use here in town...

I'm not sure, but I'm going to ask my husband. It would be great if his school had something like this.

Public transportation is a joke in CA. Literally. People joke about it all the time.

There is a train (metrolink) but the nearest station is about 10 miles away, so DH would still have to drive there. And the train is horribly expensive. Also, it would get him home about 2 hours later than he gets home now, since they only run at certain times.

Unfortunately, we had to sign a new lease on our current apartment a week ago in order to keep our rent from shooting up $400 a month, so if we don't stay here another year, we will have to pay a $2000 fee to break the lease.

When people here get on you for NOT looking ahead in managing your circumstances, please recall this particularly blatant example.

Now that I "dinged" you, let me try to assist.

As for the car, it may be either the oil-pump, or the linkage that drives it (don't know your make/model, but Chrysler minivans were notorious for the linkage failing). It may also be merely the sending unit, or the wire that carries the signal to your dashboard.

Dinged me for what? If you don't have a lease in our apartment complex, the month-to-month rate is more than if you do have a lease. The longer the lease agreement, the lower the rent. That has nothing to do with me planning ahead. We searched for a new apartment for a month and weren't able to find one. It was either sign the lease, or pay $1850 a month in rent. We would have had to give our 30-day notice on March 1, and at that time, we had no idea how long it would take my grandmother's house to sell. It wasn't even on the market yet at that time. It sold quicker than we thought it would, but we did the best we could with the information we had at the time.

As far as the van goes, I spoke to our mechanic. He said try putting more oil in it and see if that helps (we only put one container in yesterday because that was all we had). If it doesn't, he wants us to bring it in.