Thanksgiving 2018

Desktop Wallpaper Courtesy PDW (link below)

It's been an interesting runup to Thanksgiving this year. I have not posted much because much of what I feel most strongly about is political, and you are probably more sick of interacting with politics than I am by now. I have finished several books in the past few months, and those are usually good for some blog content, but somehow between the time my ideas ferment in my tiny brain and I sit down to type up the words something gets lost: motivation, relevance, value, and much else. So here we are.

I lost my job a couple weeks ago. The layoff was not a surprise; my company got acquired and I started looking for a new job several months ago in advance of any bad news from my employer. My hope was to have a new job lined up and collect a severance, but it did not work out. Got an 8 week severance, which is better than nothing but still not great. The Feds tax lump-sum severance pay like a bonus, so they get around 45% of it. So I got about 4 weeks of pay, after taxes. Glad to get the money, but it's not much to live on. Fortunately I keep my fixed costs relatively low compared to my total income, so I am not in dire straits right now. Biggest cost after rent is health insurance, which is around $700 a month. (If I had a family or dependents it would be 3x that much.) So I can keep the lights on for a while while I look for a new gig. 

The hardest part was that I have not been unemployed for over 20 years, all the way back to when I was still in college. The absence of work and a related set schedule was very demotivating. Why do anything today when I can do it tomorrow? Why get something done in the morning when you can do it in the afternoon? Rinse, repeat. Instead of handling my business in a timely fashion I push it back, over and over again. Not my usual pattern, and not one that I want to continue. 

People have been telling me to 'enjoy my time off'. That's a nice idea, but it is very difficult to 'enjoy your time off' when you do not know how long it will be, and, most especially: I'M NOT EARNING ANY FUCKING MONEY. No idea why people think that is 'enjoyable', but I have heard it so many times that I now gently remind them, 'hey, you know I don't have a job, right? And I still have bills to pay?' No doubt there are people that are very comfortable with that state of affairs. I am not one of them. 

So! Thanksgiving. Being jobless frees me up to ride my bike, and to make treats. So I have been making cookies, and banana bread, and some pies. And riding the bike. Fun for me. I hope that your Thanksgiving is abundant in foods and good company. It gets no better. 

See you out there.


Prometheus Design Werx desktop wallpaper here.