I know I promised nothing but irregular posts on this reboot, and I have certainly delivered. Many things have changed about my life since my last post in April swooning over Kei trucks.
First and foremost, I left my job at spectrUM at the end of May. I worked there more than full time for almost 12 years, so it was a difficult decision to make. The long and the short of it - DOGE made my entirely grant-funded position miserable, quite frankly. There were many solutions for me to continue employment there, but I got quite tired of the uncertainty and the constant battle to keep my job and those of my employees. I think I was spending more time reacting to executive orders, funding uncertainty and university bureaucracy than doing the things that I signed up to do sharing science and wonder with kids and adults.
I deeply loved my job and all of the amazing things I got to do at spectrUM. My coworkers sent me off in style complete with a "funeral" at which many people said really nice things about me. It was one of the nicest things anyone has done for me, ever.
The summer was good - for the first time in many years, summer was a time to enjoy the nice weather, ride bikes and spend less time working rather than have it be my peak season of employment. Between my bike industry jobs and spectrUM, summer was when you put in the most time and effort and it was really nice to have this past summer be the exact opposite. Caitlin and I took several trips that involved multiple nights of camping, seeing friends, exploring new places, and generally enjoying ourselves. I made it up to the Blue Mountain Observatory a few times to help out with events and trainings - it was really nice to volunteer there again, rather than be the main person responsible for everything!
I've been working part-time at Home Resource taking donations, organizing materials and helping customers find reusable building materials. It's quite enjoyable to do something low-stakes for a bit. In addition, I started my own exhibit building venture - MechaNickal Wonders. I've had a couple of commissioned jobs and pieces, and it's been exciting to do one of my favorite things at spectrUM - designing and building exhibits - for other organizations. I hope to do this full-time at some point, and am working towards that possibility.
I'm now back at spectrUM in a very limited, part-time capacity implementing a project that has been a longtime dream of mine - to get a telescope available for checkout in every single public library across the state of Montana. I submitted a grant to NASA over a year ago that actually was selected for funding, to our great surprise. In addition, I'll be stepping in as the temporary programs director over the winter at Home Resource to oversee some of the educational programs they implement. It will be fun, and a good mix of different tasks to keep me busy! My days are now a mix of building things, working with clients and learning new skills.
Caitlin and I also spent another week in Japan in late September/early October. We loved it so much the first time that we just had to go back because plane tickets dropped in price significantly. We spent several days in Tokyo and Kanazawa walking around gardens, going to museums, and shopping for kitchen knives and Japanese tools and Kei truck accessories. It was a really nice way to close out a summer of relaxation, change and growth.
I don't know what the future holds, really - but who does? It's strange to be back to "gig work" and a handful of part-time jobs after so many years of working a main full-time job with some fun little things on the side, but I've been embracing it.
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