Simple

The morning sun rising behind the silhouettes of winter thinned trees is the perfect beginning of the last day of the year.

Running Errands is Ridiculous

First, I would like to clap my hands at all of the housewives out there who spend many days, 'running errands'.  I decided to take advantage of my first full day of unemployment by running a few errands.  You know, the things you put off doing because you don't want to take time off of work to handle them.

The plan: Drop letters in the mail, go to bank, go to Costco to fill up gas tank (I saved .30 a gallon by the way), go to Ikea to pickup additional bed linens for the guest bedroom, attend a 4PM meeting at my University to review this terms financial aid package.  Done.

The reality.  Forgot to drop letters in the mail as I drove right by the mailbox, made it to the bank, but went to the branch closest to my house rather than the one by my job and learn they are terribly understaffed and it is a Friday.  Waited in line for 30 minutes to complete my simple banking transaction.  Was surprised to run into a long line at the COSTCO gas pumps, another 20 minutes waiting to fill up the tank.  However, I was able to field a call from a recruiter and get an interview opportunity scheduled for next Tuesday which is fabulous and put a bigger smile on my face.  After gassing up I was off to Ikea, land of the cheap and oddly named thinking I'd be in and out.  I mean, it's the middle of the day on a Friday...everybody would be at work, right?  WRONG!  The parking lot looked like the tailgate section at a Georgia game.  PACKED.  I decided to stop in at the Ikea cafeteria for some inexpensive Swedish fare and waited in line again...20 minutes.  I regrouped and was off to the textile section which after weaving through large slow moving people with a habit of stopping in the middle of the walkway and managing not to tumble over free roaming sugar filled runaway children.  Arrived at my destination, snatched up my items and made like a running back towards checkout.  ONE HOUR later I made it out safely.

Just in time to make it to my 4PM appointment, right?  WRONG!  Traffic.  Why?  I thought everyone would be working still, how am I not moving and taking the sneaky side streets.  Needless to say I made it to my 4PM appointment only to find the computers were down and they were unable to do anything and I would need to come back.  WHY DIDN'T ANYONE THINK TO CALL ME before I pulled a Mario Andretti to get there on time.  I refused to let them anger me, smiled and left quickly before the lack of professional and courteous conduct from a front office got the best of me.  

In the car once again, exhausted and winding my way around traffic to get home, I was supposed to stop at the grocery store on the way home but was too tired to pull it off and straight home I went.  

And that was my adventure running errands during which I learned an important lesson.  Never assume everyone else is working.  After a quick bite to eat and some TV it's time to enjoy the relative comfort of filling out the same information over and over and over again while applying for interesting potential employment opportunities.  Each job description a possible new adventure or life phase, and it's strangely exciting.  I still haven't cried, nor felt any of the feelings I would expect to feel after being laid off.  

The journey has begun.

Do I look Unemployed?

Lucky me. It's a few days shy of a brand new year, TWO THOUSAND AND TWELVE and tomorrow will be my official first day of unemployment.  I went into the office this morning (1 hour late due to excessive wine consumption) and straightaway got busy filing important documents for future versions of me and recycling all the strange things you keep copies of for no real apparent reason.  


As a side note I will try NOT to print out anything for future reference. I stare into a blue recycling bin full of supposedly important copies of whatever seemed it required copying and I never referred back to. TREE KILLER!!! I should plant a tree somewhere in our yard to make up for my paper waste.  I mean, it's not like I won't have TIME to do it.


And that gets me to the point, I finally announced to the few employees remaining in the office that I would be departing and they all asked, "...well, what are you going to do?" and my reply was, I haven't come up with anything yet other than find some recruiters and start sending out resumes.  After the conversations concluded and it was quiet at my new desolate and no longer familiar work station that I was losing my job but gaining something I haven't had in a long time.  Time.  My mind was quickly flooded with all those strange things you see and think, 'gee, that would be cool, if I only had TIME'.  So I am creating an initial list of things to do while unemployed to keep my mind off of being unemployed until I find myself re-employed.

1. Go to a casting cattle call for local film productions just for the heck of it (who knows, they may pick me to stand in the background as an extra for a day or two).
2. Go to the gym in the middle of the day and exercise v e r y slowly.
3. Ride my motorcycle in a direction and don't stop until I get somewhere, then keep riding.
4. Enter my dog in some dog shows and try to handle him myself.
5. Finish cataloging and copyrighting my music
6. Actually REHEARSE.
1. Vocals
2. Guitar
3. Bass
4. Drums
5. Clarinet
7. Sit on the back deck and stare at the lake and write poetry
8. Paint something
9. Take advantage of the museum FREE DAYS in the middle of the week
10. Volunteer for something

That's my top 10 for now.  And with that I'm signing out.  So.  Do I look unemployed?

Adventures of the Newly Unemployed

It's 1:46AM on a Thursday morning.  Normally I would be sleeping, but tonight I'm two glasses into a bottle of red wine and wide awake as I was informed their wasn't enough work to keep me on and my last day will be Friday.  


Why didn't I cry?  I didn't cry.  I've spent the past five years working at a company I actually liked, doing work I actually was fulfilled and happy to do and in one 20 minute conference call, POOF, BANG, SURPRISE, your career here will no longer be.  My mind whisked me away to some happy place after hearing, "we're sorry to inform you..." when I snapped back into place, I wasn't crying nor was I having a panic attack or impending sense of doom.  All I could think was, I guess it's time for a change.


I walked out of our 'I'm so sorry meeting' strangely lost, numb, and still not crying.  Rustled around my desk pretending to be looking for something when in reality I was looking for my mind.  It was like I had stepped into some alternate universe without GPS.  I fielded a few phone calls, took care of some administrative tasks and began to pack up or trash the trinkets, items, and collections one ends up with after five years of employment leaving me with two large plastic bags of 'stuff' I didn't have the heart to throw away, nor do I have a place for at home.  My mind is telling me I can decorate my new desk with them whenever and wherever that may be.  I floated home to a husband looking at me cautiously for signs of a meltdown but no, no tears, no tirades, just calm and the urge for a nice glass of red wine.


So here I am.  About to be one of  'those people' the unemployed I hear so much about on the nightly news.  Starting 2012 in a situation I haven't been in for many, many, many years.  It feels like I got a divorce and now have to re-enter the dating pool.  Am I young enough?  Are my skills still needed?  Have I kept up with the latest technological advancements?  Can I still type 90+ WPM?  Should I lose weight?  

Fuggedaboudit.


I'll go to work tomorrow and savor the free coffee and super expensive ergo chair, I'm sure someone will 'borrow' it for good the second I'm gone.  And that makes me laugh.  For now, no tears.  The countdown to unemployment begins.