On Monday I will be celebrating the 1 year anniversary of my unemployment.
I say "celebrating", because I really do not miss working (meetings, status reports, commuting, deadlines, ego-centric a-holes, unreasonable customers, insufficent resources, striving for excellence, competition and did I mention meetings?).
I do miss the fun things (Interesting colleagues, beers at the pub, travel to user conferences in interesting places, occasionally getting something worthwhile accomplished.) And, I do miss getting paid.
The weekly unemployment check ($500) was great for 9 months. And, since it went away, I am getting pressure to fire (oops, I mean "lay-off") the cleaners who still come every two weeks. And, I have had to cut back on lottery investments and lunches with friends and the increasing headcount of unemployed former colleagues. I keep reading about the hot economy, but haven't felt the warmth yet.
So, I continue to check the job boards, and apply to any Business Systems Analyst job that looks interesting and located within a short commute. I remain calm. Sooner or later there will be opportunities to work. These cycles are immutable and I am confident that I will ultimately return to the ranks of the so-called 'gainfully employed'.
But, with gardening, reading and social activities, I really don't know how I will find the time to work at a full-time job. Life is full of such contradictions, I guess.
Hey, the sun is out, I have stuff to do.
