I haven’t had a lot of time for comics lately because I returned from my con trip and vacation to find myself forced to deal with two big issues.

The first one’s not complicated, just expensive. We have a dual-zone house (that means two heating/cooling systems, one for each floor), and the upstairs air conditioner is running but not cooling. I’m not willing to pay double rates for weekend service calls, so I’ll be able to find out what’s wrong and how much it will cost to fix on Monday. I’m guessing, based on its age and previous issues, that I’m looking at a replacement, which will be, rough estimate, a couple grand. Thankfully, that’s financially manageable, with proper planning. (Thanks, Dad, for setting such a great example when it comes to budgeting and teaching me well.)

The second thing is that I came back to work to find several poor management decisions had been made by higher-higher-ups, and the end result was that my department name had been changed without notification. We’re still waiting to hear whether our tasks will change. That was one of the big problems with the announcement — there was no backup information available or follow-through on what the changes meant, and people like my immediate manager (a great boss) were left to face questions without any idea of the answers.

Anyway, it caused me to think that this might be a good time to explore the market. If possible, I’d like to get back into comics, but I’m not sure that there are any positions available that are comparable to my salary range and are a good match for my experience. KC and I are also trying to decide where we’d like to live, which might be a function of where positions are likely for him. (I’ve got over 10 years of IT experience as a project manager, webmaster, and manager of testing departments, so I’m more flexible as to location and position.) I just don’t know what I really want to do, and having too many choices can be almost as bad as not having any.

We’ve been in Richmond to be close to my family, but they’re supportive of us following our dream, bless them. When I’m being optimistic, I realize how lucky we are, able to try new things and handle what life throws at us. So here’s hoping that things settle down soon and I’m able to find the time to figure out what I should be pursuing. Too bad no one’s throwing money at comic journalists, like they were doing the tech boom.