Officially unemployed
Well, I brought home my meager belongings from work today. As a contractor you learn not to bring too many personal effects to work as you never know exactly when or how you’ll be leaving. I’ve seen some contractors escorted out the door without a chance to go near their workspace and, as in my case this time, get 2 weeks notice. Everything I brought home would easily have fit in a shoebox. A small hologen lamp, my personal mouse, a small Geomag set, and some hand sanitizer. That’s it. When we moved offices last month my officemate and I, another contrator who was also laid off this week, were able to fit our entire office minus computer and monitor into one standard moving box. Some regulars needed as many as 10-12 boxes to move all their stuff.
You also learn to not keep anything there that is irreplacable to you. No photos, nothing too personal because you may not get time to retrieve your belongings before you’re escorted to the door. It makes for a really fun work environment. All the regulars have photos and toys and such all over their desk. We have a monitor, keyboard, and mouse plus maybe a coffee cup and one small toy we aren’t too attached to. Also, you never know when the hammer will fall. My office mate and I were feeling pretty good about our positions. At the begining of December we were told that our positions were fully funded and approved through the end of next year. Three weeks later we’re told our positions were cut in the semi-annual re-org they seem to do.
On the bright side, I did have a second interview today with a company I really want a position with. I interviewed with them before and was upset not to get the job. They brought me back for another round of interviews this week so that’s a good sign. The only problem is that I have a bad cold this week. I had to do a technical interview on the phone yesterday and I was high on DayQuil and Robitussin. Same with today’s face-to-face. I didn’t give the best showing through the drug-induced fog and stumbled for some answers. When asked what I’d use to schedule jobs in Unix I couldn’t come up with the word cron. I mean, geez, it doesn’t get much more basic than that. I hope they understood. Without the meds there was no way I was even getting out of bed between coughing fits. They are in a big hurry to fill the position by the end of next week so I hope to hear something Tuesday or Wednesday. I’m keeping my fingers crossed.
Seeing as I have a bit of free time on my hands next week, I’m going to start re-tiling our entry way and then move on to remodelling my son’s bathroom. Luckily we have most of the supplies so it’s going to be pretty inexpensive. Without a job I can’t afford too much.