Good luck in your search boettg33. As most have stated, you have the right attitude but if new work does not come soon, it is easy for discouragement to set it. I well remember one of our sons went through this and finally landed a new job....only to find out in a bit over a month some big changes had been made at corporate and his job was eliminated. It worked out well though and he has a wonderful job again. You will have one in your future too.
I thought that was a woman thing...selective as it may be. My bride remembers any time another woman gives me a glance, a smile or a "Hi there". Of course remembering how to start a fire oddly comes much harder. Am I close to being accurate wildwest ?
If you are as sick of corporate America as I am...consider this the best opportunity you may have to leave that life behind you. Think on it.
I am impressed by your ability to size up your situation. You will be good to go in a new position before long.
Not until we are able to eliminate the lion share of our bills. Otherwise this would be an opportune time to just give it a full on go.
This situation would be a wake-up call for me. Time to dump the bills, and get outta Dodge. Full on debt elimination onslaught. But, that's me.
For the past two days I've let this sink in and started to think about how to move forward. I really appreciate the positive feedback. Steps I have done or need to do. Get the word out to close co-workers and places I've done work at to see if there are any openings or openings coming up. So far I've contacted 8 former co-workers and 3 companies I've done work at. All of them have agreed to help me get my resume out there, and several are looking into specifics on possible openings. One of the possibilities is the company I just finished a six month residency at. They are looking for someone actively right now. Hartford is about an hour and forty five minutes away from my house. I'll need to be able to work from home two days per week at a minimum. If they can't do that, or the pay does not work (see step 3), then I will need to pass on the position. Another possibility is a support engineer position working from home. I've looked at this in the past, and came very close to joining this team. It was a timing issue. They didn't have an open position, and at the time I could not wait. Come Q1/Q2 there will be openings in this group. Which again becomes a timing issue. My close friend/co-worker nows the manager better than I do, and he's talking with him for me. This would be the best option as I'd retain my 1o years to include my vacation. Update my resume. I did this today, and sent it to my buddy to review. Once he's reviewed it and I've made changes, I'll get it out the door to the people in step 1. Budget At my age, 45, (yes that is still young) I am bound to take a pretty heavy hit in salary. Unless I can get a job with my company. To that end we need to know roughly what I can go down to in salary and still make ends meet. This is critical as I can't afford to take a job where I can't make ends meet. Luke - this is the step will determine if I can walk away from corporate America. My gut feeling is not. Daily routine Right now I spend my mornings, 9-12, combing over the different sites online looking for openings. In the afternoon I am pecking away at projects. Flooring in the bedroom will be done tomorrow. Finish the rabbit hutch after that. Then move the wood stove. CSS load of logs on the ground. Again I truly believe this happened for a reason. Just moving forward, staying positive, and keeping busy at home. Thank you all for the comments.
I am a full believer in Dave Ramsey's method of getting out of debt. We've been following it, but not as closely as I'd like. My change in job status has pushed this with the wife to make it more of a reality to follow Dave's comments and suggestions.
Thinking things through and being proactive is key, but you obviously know that. Keep it up, you'll find something.
Not sure if this interests you, but back in the day Dear Husband and I had success with the version at that time. http://www.amazon.com/Knock-Dead-2015-Ultimate-Search/dp/1440579059
One of my major concerns after being laid off revolved around moping around the house with nothing to do or procrastinating about the things I should do. Now it's only been three full days, but I can tell you that I've been doing the opposite. Call me crazy, but I actually feel more clearheaded, and more motivated to do the tasks at hand. That might change in a week or two, but for now I've found it easy to set a schedule for the day and to follow it. Each day I look back and have a strong sense of accomplishment. Something that has been missing for some time now. I think this has everything to do with being caught up in the rat race. Between work, coaching, family commitments and kids in general, I had little to no time to tackle projects and still find some time for me to relax. I enjoy wood working, and I am looking at a project for the winter. Something I can do that will help build my skill sets and produce a niece piece of furniture.
"I've found it easy to set a schedule for the day and to follow it" ... that right there is a big factor with anyone who wants to be self employed and/or work at home, should you decide to go that route. Not everyone can do that. It's a great skill to have. I wish I had it...
Good on 'ya for doing all that (I read your other post too). It helps me when I make a small list for the day(s) ahead. When I'm done with something on the list and can cross it off, there's a nice sense of accomplishment to see it in writing. Even some of the little stuff. If I wrote down everything that gets done all day, I'd be too exhausted to do any of it. Then there's the project list, which gets crossed off at a much slower pace. If you can manage even a little daily time doing some woodworking, it should help ease your mind.
