#71: Unemployed
Daytime television STILL sucked.
After the layoffs were announced, I was given a severance package and since I rarely took vacation I was compensated for all my vacation days. Combined with my savings (which was intended to pay my credit card off), I would be good for at least four months if I was thrifty. The company told the laid off employees to keep working hard and to turn over our duties as needed. Fuuuuuuck you. I spent my last two weeks working on my resume, working on my online portfolio, job hunting and goofing off on their clock. When it was all said and done and I gave my exit interview, I grabbed my things and went out the door for the last time.
It was weird having so much free time again, it was the first major long-term break I had since college over seven years ago. I managed to get some projects done around the house and spent the days scouring online job websites and personal ads and trying to drum up some freelance business. During the nights, I ate ramen noodles and sat around playing Playstation. I did even wackier stunts like ride around my community on my bicycle at 12:30AM on a Sunday night…it wasn’t like I had work the next morning. I partied hard and drank even harder to take my mind off things. In a sense, I was happy it was over as things got really bad with the company in the end, but I had also lost my purpose and I felt so useless.
I had managed to get some contract work through a talent agency for a place downtown. It was a very confusing place to say the least…project management was horrible and they often didn’t have anything for me to do…..and if I don’t work then I don’t get paid. I wasn’t getting in my full 40 hours a week, and towards the end of the tenure I was lucky if I got 10 hours in that week. Miraculously, I was still able to make all of my bills (thanks to my savings). What sucked at the time was that I was still living in a very expensive neighborhood and my lease wasn’t going to be up for a few more months.
The work I *was* getting was absolutely embarrassing for my level of talent and it was my career equivalent of Dirk Diggler jerking himself off for cash in Boogie Nights. At least he got to sing.
The Dateable Dork Says:
June 23rd, 2008 at 5:57 pm
Ugh… sounds awful. Did you see any hot chicks during those nighttime rides around the neighborhood? : )
The Virgin Says:
June 24th, 2008 at 12:19 pm
Dork: Not that late. Saw some wild animals, though.