As some folks already know, the day before I left for India to get married my company decided to close my office and cancel my project. So as of yesterday, and for the first time in 22 years, I’m officially unemployed.
Now before anyone pities me, I actually turned down a few offers in order to take some time off. My old company gave me 12 weeks of severence and since my wife and I are planning on having kids in the next couple of years, I’m guessing this is my last chance for a long time to take an extended leave.
I’ve got a lot of tunes queued up to learn and books to read.
Still, it’s a little odd to not have any deadlines or other folks constantly asking for new features or for a bug to be fixed. This may take some getting used to.
Knowing the way things go with jobs these days you might have a more extended leave than you would like. A couple years ago my Mom had to get a new job because the old one was affected by a merger and she got a severence package but was unemployed for about a year afer that. Just thought you should know.
I know it’s none of my business, but perhaps you might want to look into adoption. There are so many millions of homeless children in the world who need parents that making more of them almost, to me, seems greedy (but not cruel, evil, or seedy) and unfair to the kids who are already here.
queued
Beautiful word.
Still, it’s a little odd to not have any deadlines or other folks constantly asking for new features or for a bug to be fixed. This may take some getting used to.
Life is best lived simply and slowly. Watch birds. Drink lemonade on hot summer nights and read to your wife. Enjoy the time off.
i was all ready with my sympathies! I was off for a year and a half, surviving with contract work etc. It turned out to be the most painful time of my life because of the uncertainty. But it sounds like you are younger so enjoy but keep some income stream flowin’ in if possible. Kids get more and more expensive as time goes on.
Yeah, taking time off may turn out not be to be the brightest move. However, I tested the waters before I made my decision and I’m fairly confident I can find a job in two months, even if it’s not the job.
If that makes any sense.
We’ll see. My wife is working and I have a bit of emergency money saved up. I’ll probably actively looking for work in April, well before the severence runs out.
In the mean time I’ve got miles to ride on my bicycle, books to read and tunes to learn. Plus the garage needs cleaning.
Thank heavens for my garage! If not for that, where would I put all the boxes of crapp that I never unpack after each move???
I was unemployed for over a year, awhile back, and it was the most anxiety-provoking time of my entire life. I am now in a job where they keep adding more responsibility while taking away benefits, and I’m too scared to make a move…
And how did it turn out for you, Fly? I’m considering leaving my job later this year to move to the UK and find work there. Might find a job before leaving, but might not…
I’m in the same situation now. The research grant that was paying me for 18 years was cancelled. I’ve been off since October, 04. I lost count of the number of interviews I’ve been to. I got some severance and I’m collecting unemployment. I have had some moments of blinding panic but generally I have been handling it better than I imagined I would. Fortunately the wife works so we won’t lose the house.
Mike
I got mad at my office manager and quit last March. Didn’t really look for anything much over the summer and I kept finding excuses not to - my daughter’s ballet recital is coming up, my cousin is coming to visit, there’s this concert out of town that I need 2 days off in the middle of the week to get to, it’s the holidays and I don’t want to work during the holidays - but now our bank account is getting a bit scant and I guess I do need to find some kind of paying job.
My husband owns a used book store and I keep thinking that we can manage on his income but it varies so much depending on how many customers come in each day and if they all just want to trade and pay 25 cents a book or if they actually will pay half the cover price for the book. And the stupid health insurance keeps going up as well as property taxes -when I do get a job most if not all of my paycheck will go towards those things.
How do I let the sweepstakes Prize Patrol know where I live???
Seriously, it’s getting to the point where I’m thinking of applying at fast food places - at 50 years old that’s a bit depressing. The job I had for the longest in Directory Assistance at the phone company is not here in town anymore so I can’t go back there. I’ve done general office work which gets so blasted boring I could scream. Then for the last 4-1/2 years I drifted into medical transcription which is the one I quit after typing for 8 to 10 hours a day and earning $0.072 per line, and getting work handed back with corrections circled in red ink. Not major things like drug names or having the wrong disease, just commas and semicolons. I finally told the office manager what she could do with her commas. The boss was not happy when I left but thought the office manager could do no wrong. She found out otherwise last month when the office manager left to start up her own transcription business taking the largest account and several other employees with her. So even if I had kept my mouth shut last year I’d probably be out of work now.
Anyway, enjoy your time off and good luck re-entering the work force when you’re ready.
