Wow... Has it Really Been 9 Days???

To all of you who have offered your thoughts and inspiration to me as I work my way through my job search, thank you. Thank all of you so much.

Lots of rejections obviously - the automated kind - but a couple of good prospects. I've made it through the first couple of hoops in the process with about 4 places. I guess that's a good thing.

Fortunately, oh so fortunately, I've been rather frugal for a while and did a LOT of 401(k) saving. So I'm a lot less worried about retirement than a lot of my peers when it ultimately happens down the road (no, I'm nowhere close to that point yet).

I'm also the kind of person who can "check your ego at the door." What I mean by that is that - while I held a pretty high level position before, there's no reason what I HAVE to do that again. M and I are at a point where we can comfortably get by on a lot less than we could before. That one fact opens a lot of new opportunities for me.

One of the nicest things is that I can finally make a graceful exit from the industry I was supporting before, and can pretty much eliminate the travel to the places I have written so much about in my blog. That will be a welcome change... A very welcome change...

So thanks to all of you, and I'll try to do a better job of keeping you up to date!

The More Things Change, The More They Stay the Same...

Just a very short update as I continue with my job search.

There are many, oh so very many positions I've found that I would excel at. But that's not surprising given my background. The most frustrating thing is that when you submit an application or a CV, you go into a period of stasis - a period of waiting for a response. In my previous position, it was an unwritten expectation that we would respond one way or the other within a single business day - two days at most - when recruiting people. We did it because we needed the people, but more importantly because (culturally) it was the "polite thing to do." But it's pretty apparent that that kind of culture is definitely NOT the norm.

So that addresses the "The more things change" portion of the post...

And now on to the "The more they stay the same" portion...

Yesterday, M had a date with Allen.

As always, she came home later - hours and hours later - with this huge smile on her face.

He always pleases her so much better than I ever did...

Major, Major Turmoil in my Life...

But absolutely none of it is related to my being a sissy...

Right around the end of the year, I came down with that really nasty flu bug that's going around. The one that the flu vaccine doesn't really work for because the powers that be guessed incorrectly as to the strain for this year. I was pretty much bed ridden for about 5 days, and didn't really start feeling like myself until Wednesday the 3rd.

So about half the time, I was able to work from home, and the other half of the time I worked from an office. Convenient because of all my international travel. And with technology being what it is, and with the profession I'm in, I am fortunate that I can work equally well in an office or at home.

So I had a call with my boss on the 3rd, and learned that (as the Brits would say) my "position has been made redundant." That's a polite way of saying that I've been laid off.

Major bummer...

So that explains why I haven't been posting at all, and I apologize for that.

My full-time job right now is to find a full-time job! All things being said, I've been gainfully unemployed since the 9th of January, so it hasn't been so long yet, and because of my severance I've still got my pay and benefits for a couple months. But still there's this underlying stress.

Happy New Year!

And I hope it's a joyous one for everyone!

I read in the news how cold it was on New Year's Eve. As for me, I was fast asleep by 6 o'clock PM with a dire case of that nasty flu that's going around. I'm only now getting over it. Not completely better yet, but at least well enough that I can start work again - from home.