A Quick Update

Here a few items from the Lake Gonebelow news desk to update my few remaining readers:

I’ve been playing Mr. Mom: cooking, baking, dusting, vacuuming, washing clothes. They were already part of my Family resume, but I thought I’d just note it to any interested parties.

The job search is bleak, not surprisingly. I did have an inquiry from a recruiter about an “academic” position, but it would have meant relocating to a different state. Given that there was no relocation assistance, the salary was not that great, and the local real estate market is the pits, it was just not a benefit to do so given my age. Beyond that, I found a grand total of two positions to which I applied.

I’ve ordered some software to update some skills in an attempt to make myself more marketable. If nothing else, I can have fun playing in these programming languages while waiting for the dryer to go off. (See first item.)

I vacillate between hope and despair from day to day. Monday of this past week I discovered that (not surprisingly) the non-profit for who I worked in my past is screwing me with regard to my 403B. We are working on economic alternatives, should I not find a job. None of them are pretty, but I hope at least one path will lead to survival. I should soon start to receive some unemployment. I must soon make some decisions as to whether I want to go the early social security route.

The Wedgwood blue shutters arrived rather quickly a week ago and I surprised myself with my Tim-the-Toolman-Taylor abilities. They look sharp. Of course, yesterday at a local bargain store (“good stuff cheap”), I was surprised to find a whole display of shutters that they had obtained in a buy out: half price of what I paid. Darn! I never thought of that store. I’ll have to explain that to the Society.

I took one of the fasteners to my favorite paint store in our old neighborhood on Thursday. It is a local store and they guys there are the greatest!! I will not buy paint from anybody else. They matched the color perfectly and I walked out with paint for the exterior doors that will cover a hideous, hideous color with one that will match the shutters.

Yesterday I took off the front and side doors, sanded them down, and painted them with the new paint. Even though they are old doors (the originals), they look stunning and, combined with the coordinated color of the new roof and the shutters, they really up the class factor of the curb appeal.

This morning I am feeling all of my macho efforts from yesterday in my back!

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That’s a wrap.

Sending HUGS to all!

VT

The news out of Vermont yesterday – that both the state House and Senate overrode the promised veto of the governor – was cheer to my heart in at least two ways.

First, the news itself was good. As others noted this was not the action of a court to assure equal rights as an override of an unjust law, but rather it was the actions of a legislature, duly elected by the people, to assure those equal rights.

Secondly, and very personally to me, I know (or more properly ‘knew’) one of the major players in the efforts to come to this moment. One of the legislators was a friend of mine when we were teenagers. We have lost contact over the years, but I have watched his career in public service over the years with a sense of pride in my being able to say “I knew him ‘when’”.

Congratulations, my friend! It has been a long journey for you to come to this day. You and your peers have worked diligently for this moment. You will understand what I am about to say: You (and those around you) have made the rough places a plain. You have prepared in the desert a highway. Well done, good and faithful servant!

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That’s a wrap.

Sending HUGS to all (especially those in Vermont)!

And the Answers Are?

3A + 4B – C + D = 15
A – 3B + 2C – 5D = 32
(A – 1) + B + 4C + 2D = 31
5A + 2B – 3C + D = 3

Solve for A, B, C, and D.

* * *

The problem above (an example of simultaneous linear equations with multiple unknowns, solved traditionally by what is sometime known as matrix algebra) is about the most appropriate metaphor for my waking hours since late Friday afternoon. And most of my hours since then have been waking hours. My world is filled with multiple unknowns and we are currently attempting to juggle the multitude of possible scenarios.

I do want to express my sincere appreciation for your many kind thoughts and wishes. You will never know the positive impact each one of your comments has had.

I am indeed sure that I will survive. Of the end I am confident. The journey will not be without its pain and its adjustments, but it is not a journey that is totally unknown to me. I made a very similar journey in 1988 when I quit my job without another job to go to and made a drastic switch in careers. (Yes, the old one was *that* bad!) I survived and I will survive again.

The decisions that will determine this journey includes some new variables. Do I seek a new position? How soon? Early, reduced Social Security is an option in the near future. What kind of position? What kind of work? There are a number of possibilities (although not all are probable). How do I handle my current debt and mortgage? How do my retirement investments figure into all of this? Do I apply for unemployment? When do/can I do any of these to the best advantage? I am still working on the solution to the equations.

In the midst of all of this I have a calm and a peace that is almost uncanny. (It was also that way in 1988.) This past Friday my position was eliminated and my employment terminated “without cause”. The termination documents clearly state that truth. That means that I was not fired for slacking, or for embezzlement, or for inappropriate conduct, … The company is trying to say that we had to cut somebody because of the economic climate. We cut you, but we still like you.

Even so, as any who have been so terminated can attest, there is a deeply seated voice that asks “why me? why not him/her?” That can easily and quickly translate into destructive feelings of self unworth and self doubt. I will not deny that such feelings have welled up within me, but I have been quick to dispel them. The many kinds words, thoughts, and specific actions of friends are powerful weapons of the spirit to “still the enemy and the avenger”. The words of a mentor when I was a teenager came to mind with regard to these thoughts: “You cannot stop a bird from flying over your head, but you do not need to let it make a nest in your hair.”

In the midst of all that went down on Friday, life presented yet another metaphor. There were some very strong storms move through the area as this termination was happening to me. When I arrived at my home, I discovered that the storm had blown off one of the old wooden, mustard-colored, louvered shutters from one of the front windows. (Recall that recently a storm blew shingles from our roof and we had to have the roof shingles replaced.) My first reaction was “what next?!”

The loss of the shutter like the termination of my position presents an opportunity for something new.

This morning I was on line scoping out new shutters for the windows. I think raised panel shutters would look nice. Wedgwood blue against the brick would be awesome, I think. Don’t you?

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That’s a wrap.

Sending HUGS to all!

Go, Be Successful Elsewhere!

“Sacked!”
“Given the boxes!”
“Shown the door!”
“Eliminated!”
“Laid off!”
“Terminated!”
“Tossed out with the garbage!”

At 3:30 pm this afternoon, I was called into the conference room and told that my position was eliminated by my employer and that my employment was terminated effective immediately. I had worked for them for over eleven years (this round – a year and a half nearly two decades ago) with excellent annual reviews each year. The reason given was the economy, and by the way I was not alone. Many others were let go at the same time.

Please send any large cardboard boxes to Lake Gonebelow and long with directions to any sightings of vacant, unclaimed steamy grates.

* * *

That’s a wrap.

Sending HUGS to all!

Iowa?

Vermont? Not a total surprise.

But Iowa!

Hold on, my friends. The backlash is coming. The ride’s not over yet.

* * *

That’s a wrap

Sending HUGS to all!