Esther sent me an email and I thought I'd stop by and give an update on what I've been up to, for those who care.
In July I was laid off after 18 years with that company. It was all political, I complained about my boss and one other employee and two weeks later my "postition was terminated". I'm kind of upset only because I know it was personal and political, and there are no jobs in my area so I've been unemployed since then. In a way, I'm glad I don't work there anymore because I have been unhappy for a while now, but like I said, they're childish and got rid of me only because I utilized the "open door policy" and complained.
My pond is gone, I gave the fish to a guy in LA and everything else is just dead and I still haven't cleaned everything up yet: liner, pump, skimmer, biofalls, etc., are still in place. No, not going to start another pond, I've just been too depressed to finish taking everything out, and my back yard looks like crap.
I've been collecting unemployment and doing side jobs to make ends meet, and I'll be candid with you I feel like such a loser to be 50 years old and can't find a job. Employers are taking advantage of a bad economy and they're paying half what they should be paying employees. I see jobs for someone with years of experience and a degree or two and they want to pay $9/hour, which is a joke.
I don't know what I'm going to be when I grow up, I am thinking about buying some equipment and going into my own business full time. I've revamped almost my entire web site in the past month, so if you want to check it out it's
www.mascotgraphics.com.
Sorry I'm not good company, but this is the first time in my entire life when I wasn't able to find a job and it sucks because I have a mortgage to think about, and unemployment is less than half of what I was making before.
Aren't the holidays wonderful? Bah humbug...