laidoffpersonsblog.blogspot.com
Pink-slipped: December 2009
http://laidoffpersonsblog.blogspot.com/2009_12_01_archive.html
Thursday, December 31, 2009. I was showering Wednesday evening when my wife walked into the bathroom, slapped down the toilet lid, and took a seat with the determination of an interrogator. “We have to talk,” she said in a voice that would’ve made a nun shiver. 8221; I asked. 8220;That all depends on what you have to say.”. And in any case, why did someone looking for me call my father-in-law? How could they have drawn a connection between me and him? And why not just get in touch with me? So I called th...
laidoffpersonsblog.blogspot.com
Pink-slipped: Why I'll stick with keyboards
http://laidoffpersonsblog.blogspot.com/2009/07/why-ill-stick-with-keyboards.html
Sunday, July 19, 2009. Why I'll stick with keyboards. One of the enlightening experiences of being unemployed is having to fix things, since you can’t afford professional repair work. Which is why I have a paper towel glued to the gearshift of my Jeep. It looked like a miniature Don King, the cottony tufts of Bounty flapping in the wind. I took off what I could with scissor, scrub pad and fingernail, but there's still a cap of textured white fuzz. A tiny Anderson Cooper is my co-pilot. I walked out with ...
laidoffpersonsblog.blogspot.com
Pink-slipped: A Twitter of relief amidst the tragedy
http://laidoffpersonsblog.blogspot.com/2009/06/twitter-of-relief-amidst-tragedy.html
Friday, June 26, 2009. A Twitter of relief amidst the tragedy. You’re probably wondering what the death of Michael Jackson has to do with my now-chronic state of underemployment. But this has less to do with the King of Pop than with how his death came to light. And, amid the tragedy, that surprising process provides some encouraging news about my career plans. Then, an hour after the first report, came the stunner: FLASH - LOS ANGELES - "KING OF POP" MICHAEL JACKSON HAS DIED. I didn’t know which t...
laidoffpersonsblog.blogspot.com
Pink-slipped: A year after the axe
http://laidoffpersonsblog.blogspot.com/2009/11/year-after-axe.html
Friday, November 27, 2009. A year after the axe. Monday marks exactly 54 weeks since I was pink-slipped, which means I’m reflecting nonstop this weekend about relationships. You can’t help but evaluate those relationships, as mercenary as that might sound. Actually, I wish I knew some real mercenaries who could deal with a few of the people who figured into my career efforts of the past year. Most galling of all was the former colleague who called up a source of freelance work to ask that he award the as...
laidoffpersonsblog.blogspot.com
Pink-slipped: January 2009
http://laidoffpersonsblog.blogspot.com/2009_01_01_archive.html
Saturday, January 24, 2009. Does he know who we are? I’ve pinpointed a critical flaw in President Obama’s economic recovery plan, but you wouldn’t believe how tough it is to get Tim Geithner on the phone. If it weren’t for that guard at the local IRS office, the Administration might’ve never gotten the word. Fortunately, it was all caught on security camera. The transcript was provided as part what my court-appointed attorney calls “discovery.”. M: “Check the date of birth.”. G: “1957. So? That there sho...
laidoffpersonsblog.blogspot.com
Pink-slipped: June 2009
http://laidoffpersonsblog.blogspot.com/2009_06_01_archive.html
Sunday, June 28, 2009. Listen up, dish washer. I gave my major appliances a long pep talk this morning, but I’m not sure I got through. The TV and washer seemed particularly apathetic, as if they’ve resigned themselves to a final resting place in the garage. They're not even trying, dammit. Clearly they don’t understand what a blow it can be to an unemployed person when a trusted device gives a final shudder and works no more. Best Buy had a monitor on sale for a mere $200. So far, not so bad. We managed...
laidoffpersonsblog.blogspot.com
Pink-slipped: Bah, humbug to bah, humbug
http://laidoffpersonsblog.blogspot.com/2009/12/bah-humbug-to-bah-humbug.html
Sunday, December 27, 2009. Bah, humbug to bah, humbug. A year ago, some five weeks into my unemployment, I wasn’t sure if we could keep up with our mortgage and food bills. My wife still had her job, which provided our health-care coverage, but she worked for a newspaper. ‘Nuff said. You can read it for yourself here. But let me give you at least a flavor of it with this excerpt. She told of getting the knee brace from a friend as payment for baby-sitting. She spoke of picking up free storm windows f...
laidoffpersonsblog.blogspot.com
Pink-slipped: Incredibly shrinking pay scales
http://laidoffpersonsblog.blogspot.com/2010/02/incredibly-shrinking-pay-scales.html
Saturday, February 13, 2010. Incredibly shrinking pay scales. Thirty-one years ago, a publication paid me $20 for 200 words on a ham glaze. I can’t say that first payment was particularly sweet because every assignment since has been honey poured on white sugar, right to this day. Every time I hit the SEND button on an invoice, it’s with a self-satisfying, “Holy shit, I’m a paid writer.”. Then the check comes. So much for the paid part. I discovered later that the illustrations were used for an online sl...
laidoffpersonsblog.blogspot.com
Pink-slipped: November 2009
http://laidoffpersonsblog.blogspot.com/2009_11_01_archive.html
Friday, November 27, 2009. A year after the axe. Monday marks exactly 54 weeks since I was pink-slipped, which means I’m reflecting nonstop this weekend about relationships. You can’t help but evaluate those relationships, as mercenary as that might sound. Actually, I wish I knew some real mercenaries who could deal with a few of the people who figured into my career efforts of the past year. Most galling of all was the former colleague who called up a source of freelance work to ask that he award the as...
