Unemployed Day 1

Well, it is actually day 3 but it wasn't official until midnight today. I hope to give a running monologue on the feelings, thoughts and emotions behind becoming laid off. I'll get pretty vulgar to so it will not be for the faint of heart.

Listen, I understand it. I KNOW I am not guaranteed a job (unlike most PBO voters) but it is still disconcerting and one takes a very big psychological hit. I don't care who you are or your disposition in life, the psyche cannot help but be beat up a little bit. The ability to overcome that beating is what separates us from most others; we get up, dust ourselves off and fight on...or I hope I do.

Day 1 was met with some denial. (This can't be happening to me.) Some anger. (How in the hell could that idiot CEO cause all of this?) Some planning. (If I just do this...) and a lot of thought to the others like me today. It was not only me but anywhere from 75-100 of my fellow (ex) co-workers. Good and smart people who all of a sudden are outside the window looking in. If you've ever seen "Trading Places" it is the dinner scene where "Winthorp" is outside the window of the swank country club looking at "Valentine" as they dine, drink and laugh the night away.

What a difference a day makes. Yesterday I was "Valentine." Today I am "Winthorp."

Now some intemperate thoughts:

1. Friends - Are hard to come by but when you are in need your true FRIENDS (emphasis mine)show their colors. They are vibrant, energetic and supportive. To my FRIENDS, I am blessed and humbled by our friendship and I am equally as humbled by your words of support. Thank you does not seem enough but it is all I have at the moment.

2. Acquaintances - You know who these people are; the ones you thought were your friends but really are not. They are around for the good times but shrink and crawl away during the not-so-good times. I must learn to temper my expectations.

3. Job Boards - If you have posted a job opening on one of these boards...and they are mostly recruiting firms...please let the person know who has posted a resume for that job know what is happening. Do they just fall into a bit bucket somewhere? As someone sitting here looking for work, I see the openings and believe that the organization who has posted the job must have work that needs to be done...otherwise why post the job? It behooves both the employer and the recruiting firm to fill the job quickly; recruiter makes a nice commission and the employer has the person to complete the work. I find the "it doesn't work that quickly" mantra to be an excuse. I wonder how many times Bill Gates or Warren Buffet said that? Again, I must learn to temper my expectations but if I ran a business that way...like my last employer rusn thier business...I would be (and they will be) bankrupt.

4. GSA - Um, yeah. It is usual government bureaucracy at its finest. PBO and libs everywhere are INCREDIBLY proud of the dependency they have created. First of all, the online application process is confusing. You have no idea where you are in the process and then when you apply for a second job, you end up going back over the same questions you just answered for the first job you applied for. Again, government is good at one thing...well, 2 but the military doesn't count...creating and expanding bureaucracy. I want to meet someone who has actually gotten hired by applying online at the GSA website or the USAJOBS website AND I want to know how long it took them from the application to actually beginning to work. In all honesty, I can see it NEVER happening. Talk about falling into the bit bucket. Somewhere there is a server farm full of nothing but applications submitted online that has NEVER been seen by a human being. But that's government that we so duly elected in November. 2010 you say? ROTFLMAO! Do you REALLY believe an "R" can beat PBO? if you do, I have a lot of land in Florida for you. All of you "R's" and RINO'S had better settle in for a long, long, long , long winters nap because the closest you will see the White House is on the sidewalk out front. But I digress...

Day 2 begins shortly...