The last check

First of all, let me say congrats on your new job. I'm looking forward to visiting you in the big apple.

So, I got my last paycheck from Autodesk the other day. While it was bigger than my usual check, the fact that there will be no more hastened my efforts to make sure I am all set to get some unemployment income going.
Turns out the funky social security number on my application is only temporary because there was apparently some problem with my usual one. That kinda freaked me out, but there isn't much I can do about it now aside from jump through their identity establishment loop.

My birthday was rather uneventful which ended up depressing me some, so I went to see the watchmen which cheered me right up(great movie). A few days later, my family had pisces party for my step-sister and I, so that was nice.

I lost most of my stuff after having to reinstall my computer, so I'll have to pull it all back together somehow. I think I might have some data retrieval software on a disc around here somewhere, so I might not be totally screwed, but I'm still feeling the dread anyways.
On the better side of the situation, I finally have a legit copy of XP and my machine is running much faster. :)

So, at the moment, I'm just waiting for my phone interview with unemployment and building back up my machine.

Thanks for motivating me the other day. I'd gotten into a rut and needed the kick in the pants.
Fixed my bike n took a ride to test out a way to carry my RC trucks on my back while riding, so I'll be getting out more now that the weather's getting nicer and my tires aren't flat.

I'm still not sure if I wanna travel right away or get back to work at this point, but I'm sure I'll come to a decision fairly soon.

umm. I got a job.

Ok I had tons to write here, about how to write the resume, the coolness of a cover letter & how to give your potential employers online access to your portfolio & references.

Instead my life went nutz and I got a job offer.
I have 1 week to move to NYC and start my new position with my new company.

This whole opportunity was made possible because of Facebook.
A member from the client side of a cross disciplinary team I headed as a consultant and I stayed friends after the project was over. He saw on Facebook I was unemployed and immediately got his company to snag me.
I am in shock.
I will be in shock for awhile.

Can you come here and help me pack and move?
:)

Unemployment Opportunities

Well, I got my car running a while back, although it's still sounding a little sick, so I predict another car expense in the future. At least it starts and drives n stuff. Even though I couldn't fix it myself, I was lucky to find a decent garage in my neighborhood that I can deal with, so that's another thing I had a need for which has now been filled.

Sounds like getting the old job isn't working out in the forseeable future, so at least I have some resolution there...or, rather, no more excuse to not be doing other stuff. I guess I can't just wait for the job fairy to hook a brother up. Too bad about that, eh? ;)

March is looking like it's going to be a big family activity month, so that'll be nice because I tend to need outside motivation to instigate family contact...not that I avoid my family or anything...I guess I'm just a crappy communicator.

I'll be starting the process of filing for unemployment tomorrow. I have no more excuse and in it's own little ways, the nature of the universe has been expressing that my habits need to change or I will die a lonely and miserable man.

So...next month I will be taking advantage of the career transition services which actually turns out to be a rather substantial deal after speaking to them. Multiple seminars, counseling sessions, resume workshop(s) and of course networking opportunities will abound. Apparently, they've been very busy as of late which is not surprising to me at all...yet adds to the sink-in factor of the mess we're all in right now.

Scheduled my dental thing to have the pearlies cleaned before my dental insurance runs out...woooh.

Although it's supposed to rain all week, I am really wanting to get my bike going again so I can ride. I think the excercise will help me to clear my head and it'll be good for me.

Quit my complaining

Wow and here I was jealous of your life style. I pictured you with a job lined up, just kickin back and enjoying the sunshine while socializing to the max. It made me feel like my life was far worse then I thought. Here I was trapped in a mental prison of depression and lack of motivation, than you came along and made me realize I’m not alone. Thank you dear friend!

Sure I’m broke and won’t last past April, but hey I pulled off another month at least.

In the mean time I’ve have gotten my resume out there. I have to or I lose my unemployment benefits basically. They say they will check on me, I doubt it, but better safe then sorry.

So now I have a regular schedule to keep to.

Mondays is job search day. I go to Dice.com & Monster.com only, and then send of my application to all the jobs that match my criteria. I have about 3 different resumes; each is focused on a slightly different angle of my work, UX Designer, UI Developer and generic (just for those in-between gigs you know?).

Tuesday is volunteer day. Basically I work all day like I have a paying job for ScienceCommons. Getting myself caught up, creating diagrams to explain process to non-techs and proof reading publications. It’s not a living, but it keeps me busy. Plus, to be honest, I’m really impressed with what they’re trying to do, standardization of data for the scientific community. Sexy & smart.

Wednesday is unemployment day. I make my call, do chores around the building & toss any extra stuff I don’t really need anymore. If I were smarter I’d get my ebay account up and ready so I can start selling the better stuff off. Ok I watch a lot of downloaded movies too…

Thursday I get out of the house. Doesn’t matter much where, just as long as I’m out. Been checking out museums and local spots around town mostly. I’ve been surprised at what free wi-fi spots I’ve found.

Friday is all about Ava’s house. Free gym, free food & free company, what more can I say? Honestly every other day is time at the gym too. I’m surprised at the results I’ve had already. Surprising what more exercise & less food will do for you.

The weekends are totally reserved for self-pity though. No money, so no socializing. No job, so no flirting. No self esteem, no real interest in conversation. So fret not, I may be organized, but I’m still in my little pit of despair nonetheless.

The piper must be paid

My car's alternator died on me the other day...finally. I am somewhat relieved to think that I have been able to isolate the electrical gremlin that's been haunting my ride.
Due to this, I will have to postpone my dental visit and career transition counseling sessions until I have replaced the alternator or I might end up getting stuck somewhere with only one tow left on my AAA card.
Going back to work for my old employer isn't looking so cut and dry as it had originally sounded. After talking to a friend, it sounds like the "done deal" isn't quite as "done" as people would like and that's making me skeptical that things will work out in that area, but that could be a blessing in disguise.
At the moment, my path is pretty clear to me:
1.) Fix the car.
2.) Shave.
3.) Go to the dentist.
4.) Update the resume(no I didn't get to it).
5.) See what this career transition program is all about.
6.) Get a job.

I am sure that your vacations are much better than mine are. All I did was mope around the house like an unemployed loser...with hobbies. Nothing to be proud of, but what can I say? I think I am clinically depressed.
Oh yeah, and I've stopped self-medicating. Need to get the head on straight.

Days go by…

Sorry for any delay in getting back to you but I’ve been busy throwing myself an extended pity party. It’s been very hard for me to do anything, sort of the deer in headlights syndrome. Sure I do the basics, like apply for work, eat & tidy, but not much else. I can’t even sit still to get things done, like blogging, because I’ll just go roam around the city trying to feel like there is somewhere I should be.

On the plus side I have been getting to the gym regularly. I’ve dropped a lot of weight from my traveling days and that’s keeping me oddly upbeat. Sure I still haven’t found a renter, job, or figured out how to pay my bills next month, but I can’t shake this ‘everything is gonna be ok’ feeling. The clouds are moving on, the snow is melting and I can the sun shining from my bed this morning.

So I’ve trying to pull myself out of this antisocial funk. I’ve refused to return calls to well meaning pals, can’t seem to spend more the an hour max with anyone who does get me out and let us not even speak of my romantic life as there is none. I woke up dedicated to putting this to an end Last weekend I went to see a DJ, but the DJ was arrested and never showed. This weekend I’m trying a mixer that this online social group I belong too is putting on. I can’t afford drinks, but I can go nonetheless.

My volunteer gig has started to pick up steam too, but it hurts to feel like they just want to use me as an editor for people to smart to use grammar. The over use of the comma and run on sentences hasn’t hurt them so far, why try and change it? Still tit for tat and I’ll get what I want done as well.

I’m very jealous of you treating your unemployment like a vacation. I feel so stuck here. Like everyday something small comes up and I can’t just take off. The details, the details are eating me alive…

Oh and I have yet to get health insurance even though it is required by law in my state. Blah.

Pull up

So, I like being on vacation so much, I don't feel like getting a new job. Yet, I must.
Having given myself until the end of last month to start worrying about what I am gonna do, I'm finding it hard to pull myself out of vacation mode.
So far, I've reconnected with more lost contacts than I had expected thanks to superbowl weekend and having just signed up on facebook.
I actually have a special hate for social networking sites and the super bowl for varying reasons, but I can also tend to isolate myself quite a bit, so it's important for me to engage now and again.
I haven't started mining my new/old contacts to see what opportunities await just yet because I'm a little self-conscious about spamming that I've been laid off and also partially because I just want to enjoy getting back in touch.
Since I have a bit of time, I've let my vacation period slide for a couple more weeks and then it's on like donkey kong.
Updating the resume shouldn't take me long considering I've only had one job since I last updated it, so I should have that done before the end of the weekend. I'm really banking on getting my previous job back, but I need to be ready in case that doesn't pan out for some reason.
I got some kind of letter about my stock options showing how much I spent on stocks, how much I earned etc. It's still very foreign to me.

Funny things seem to happen to me sometimes when I'm not sure what to do and then my path becomes clear to me. I can't really explain it, so I guess an analogy will have to do.
Take my remote control car incident from this last weekend.
I had some upgrades I'd bought for one of my RC cars, but hadn't installed the upgrade because the stock part was working fine and the reason for the upgrade hadn't been an issue lately.
While some friends and I were bashing around with the RC cars the other day, one of my friends ended up breaking the part I had been meaning to upgrade.
I was forced to fix the broken part, but at the same time, I was also finally doing this thing I'd been meaning to get around to doing. Serendipitous, wouldn't you say?
As punishment for breaking my RC, I made my friend help me fix it. While this may sound a little harsh or lenient depending on your point of view(considering I didn't ask him to pay for anything), it was actually pretty fun working on a project with one of my friends. He'd never wrenched on an RC, so he got to learn something new and at the same time, I got the upgrade done with half the effort.

Not everything goes this well for me, but often(knock on wood), this is how things tend to work out for me.
In any event, I've been in a freefall as of late and not caring about much of anything and it's time to start pulling back on the old control stick before I hit the deck.