Finally Got What I Wanted But It’s Bitter Sweet

In the past 7 months, I was living in limbo. I wasn’t sure if I will be staying in Canada. In my previous post I mentioned what I did to try and stay in Canada. That didn’t turn out as planned. I was left with a final option that will make or break my aviation career.

Make Or Break

With the pandemic still in full swing, immigration policies in Canada is constantly changing especially for those who are already in Canada. I decided to try my luck and apply for a work permit in order to work in other jobs while waiting for the aviation job market to open up. I prepared all the necessary documents and applied for the work permit myself.

After over a month, IRCC approved my application and I got an open work permit. Which means I can work anywhere and do whatever job I want (except certain industries).

Things Starts To Improve

Since I was idle for the longest time, I went crazy with the job hunt hoping to get a few jobs to make up for loss time. I applied for whole bunch of jobs, got a few interviews and ended up with three job offers. Chose two out of the three which doesn’t clash and started to work, work, work!

My first job was working in a Liquor Store as a cashier, serving customers, stocking the booze and cleaning the store. This job was pretty simple but I just need to get use to standing long hours, remembering where all the products are and deal with customers’ small talk. All in all, I don’t like this job but I don’t hate it. My colleagues are nice and I get to learn more about the booze. If I were to stay any longer, I think I will become a alcoholic!

My second job was a stocker at a supermarket. It was the AM shift so I have to start very early in the morning. The job is pretty straight forward. Pallets of merchandise were sent to my aisle for me to stock them. If I need more products, I just have to check if we have additional stocks on the computer and request for more. The toughest part of the job, other than waking up at 3 am, is the weight of the products. It ranges anything from insect repellent to dumbbell sets!! Although I was told to ask for help if things gets too heavy, sometimes there was just no one around to help. I felt that I gain a little muscle mass after working here.

Working two jobs was really tiring. There was once I was scheduled to work 20 hours in a 24 hours period between these two jobs. Luckily, it was only happened once. All in all, I enjoyed this experience.

All Is Loss

The pay from the each job wasn’t great but working two jobs brings in decent income. However, all is loss when I made a terrible, stupid and dumb decision that turned my life around. To add to that, my laptop is a ticking time bomb. There are signs that it could fail anytime. I was planning to change my car to beat the Winter. Now, I just hope my car and me can survive the Winter.

Nowhere To Go But Up

Did I mention I got my first flying job? Even though I finally found my first job as a pilot, it is bitter sweet. I find myself to be at the lowest point of my life right now. In some aspects, I am starting from square one. I should be excited and brag about this new job. But I am not in the mood. I just have to put myself together and keep moving forward. The only thing I can do now is to get my head and work hard. I guess there is nowhere else to go but up.

I will talk about my new job some other time.