Wow, Tempist Fugit!
Well not too much has happened since my last entry.
Still 6lbs from my goal - yeah I know "broken record".
I'm still doing some contract for for Moxie, and I have received a couple of unemployment checks, so between the two I am managing to pay bills. I have been applying for jobs from the paper, via friends and online. It's a tough market out there, but there are a few possibilities on the horizon.
I had a burst of activity with stained glass and started making terrariums. They are pretty cool, if I say so myself. I really think I need a website. There is also a woman who wants to sell some of my stuff on her website, so one day I may actually sell something. That would be nice, even if I just cover my costs it would be an achievement.

Still 6lbs from my goal, but I feel a sense of achievement as I haven't put on any weight since I was laid off at the end of June.
I have also not received any unemployment checks, nor have I received any checks from the small amount of freelance work I have done. I hoped that between the two I would have enough to pay my part of the mortgage. There are two weeks to go, I hope I get something.

I am trying to make some stained glass crafts to sell over the holidays. It's quite disheartening as it takes me about a week (probably 8 hours during the evenings) to make 4 candle holders that I could probably sell for $20 a pop; not a very lucrative business as I will have to pay to display the crafts somewhere and there is no guarantee that anyone will buy my wonderful creations.

My New Year resolution was to lose 8 lbs by my birthday or September. Well, my birthday has long gone, so the race is on to do it by September. This week I am 6 lbs from my goal...which is better than 10 lbs. It's more difficult now that I am at home most of the time and only a short walk from the kitchen fridge. I really have to make an effort, I've been bouncing between 6 and 10 lbs from my goal all year!

Life without a real job continues to be interesting and stressful. I have a a few small contracts which is good as I just found out I am not entitled to any unemployment insurance for 3 weeks because I got 11 vacation days when the company folded. I have been doing about 10 billable hours a week...which ends up taking up 30 hours of my time. I will have to be much more efficient and not go "over and above the call of duty" when I'm only being paid for adequate!

I found out today that a friend I knew in high school died. She had a brain tumor.
I knew that she was ill, but you always feel you have to think positive. This may be an aggressive tumor, but Aileen had the strength and willpower to fight it; if anyone was going to kick this Aileen was. I thought of her on July 4th, her birthday, never thinking that she she was feeling bad. I thought of high school when we were walking from one building to another; it had been snowing and someone was throwing snowballs at us. One of the science teachers took a photo of us hiding from the missiles behind an umbrella. I have that photo somewhere, it's a large black and white. I thought of the youth fellowship we used to go to and the time she got contacts and cut her hair. I remember Alan Dixon doing a double-take when he saw her. I remember meeting her at the students union; what a wild woman, full of life. In a time when I had so many insecurities, she looked like she had it all worked out. She was in control and loving it.
She died yesterday and left two children and a husband.

Hmmm

My first week of unemployment was rather busy. A lot of time was spent researching 1099 employment; I am really going for it. The way I see it, the chances of getting a job in my state are pretty minimal, so I might as well get myself ready for the long haul; some small contracts here and there could (or "should") keep me going better than unemployment. I have already invoiced Moxie for three small project management projects, not enough to make a difference to unemployment, but I have to start somewhere.

Still 8lbs to my goal :-)

Today is the last day of work. I've known this for 2 weeks and still haven't claimed unemployment.
We all have our final checks and are cleaning up final projects, I got my PTO time but it was only 11 days, I had miscalculated my anniversary date - I'm just a few days short - typical!
I think we would be sad if we weren't so busy. I have been burning CDs all day and archiving past and present projects that hopefully, I can work on as a freelance contractor.

Things I won't miss:

the drive to work and home

my dying keyboard

Things I will miss:

the people

Unemployed

So, now I'm unemployed and still 6lbs from my goal. What a difference a few days makes.

On Monday we were all told that the company I work for would cease doing business after June 30th. They are trying to close shop without claiming bankruptcy. So, after watching many of my friends get laid off, here I am in the same boat.

Work is weird at the moment, the company has been run into the ground. We're not even sure if we will get our last pay check and everybody is pretty sure there is no money for PTO - that's a shame 'cause I have 20 PTO days. I am also working on projects that won't finish before the end of the month, and the clients don't have a clue. We have no idea what will happen to their projects or the up-front money they've paid. It's just a mess. Not sure if I should bother showing up next week...

Oh well, I'm thinking positive, they say that when one door closes there is another door to open, I just have to find that damn door! :-)

Triskaidekaphobia

It's Friday the 13th and even with a little triskaidekaphobia, I'm quite positive. Well, I'm still employed, and I'm 6lbs from my goal :-) We'll just ignore the fat percentages, one mustn't be too hard on one's self!

The rumors at work are now leaning more to bankruptcy for the company. I still think if we could sign a few of the deals in the sales pipeline we'd be able to limp along a little longer. I'd even go without pay for a month if it meant that it would save the company for another 6 months; job prospects are dire and unemployment won't last long.

I'm really getting into my stained glass. I love the design side and the feeling of accomplishment when it is complete and looks good. If only I could make a living selling my glass...

The company I work for is having cash-flow problems. There is work, but no money, Rumors are flying at work. Will we get laid off, will we be furloughed, will we get hired back as contractors??? The shit will hit the fan pretty soon as the top guys have met behind closed doors all week. All factors indicate that we are probably at the bottom of this economic slump, so it will be sad if the little company I work for just couldn't hang on long enough.

My friend gets married this weekend. We met in '98 not long after her divorce, and worked together on a huge online training project for a client in Texas. She was so anti-marriage and could only partially agree with it if kids were involved. A couple of years later when we were both working for different companies she called to see if I knew of any open positions. My boyfriend at the time (now husband) had a friend he'd known for almost 10 years who was president of a big technical training company. They were looking for someone to manage/program/market their website. Bingo, my friend was in. She went for a couple of bike rides with the president, it looked as if they may date, but nothing came of it. Two years later the company was sold and the president took his share and decided to go on to other ventures. They started seeing each other, the relationship became quite intense, within a few months they were engaged. Marriage -phooey! This weekend the friends we introduced, who had such a bad taste in their mouths about matrimony, will tie the knot. She'll change her name, and they'll ride off into the sunset legally bound, again!