New Job

I made a passing reference in a recent post to having lost my job last year literally days after closing on the new to us old house. It was not a happy making experience. The reasons why I lost my job are not terribly relevant to this discussion. Having just bought a house, I really had no desire to be unemployed so shortly after obligating myself to spending an obscene amount of money over the next 30 years of my life. Suffice it to say, my former employer had a much different opinion on my continued value to the company than I did.

While they may or may not have exhibited poor judgment in their decision to send me on my way, I still know and respect most of my former colleagues there. So, I will not start flinging poo out of any sort of misguided effort to seek vengeance. I will state my personal opinion that a company that SAYS they value work/life balance should NOT terminate an employee they KNOW full well is busting their butt to stay on top of work while helping care for elderly in laws one of which had Alzheimer's.  

Call me cynical and jaded, but anyone who believes that a for profit company gives two flying flips about your work life balance needs their head examined. 

It's been over a year. I'm over it. It was painful when it happened. Unemployment sucks. I found temporary contract employment within a few months to get us off Unemployment Compensation Benefits while continuing to search for permanent employment. As a side note, staffing agencies are in business to make money and will gladly lie to your face stretch the truth in order to file a position to get paid their finders fee. I was told positions were "temp to perm" twice only to find out that such was not the case much to my dismay.

That said, as some of you who follow the blog's FaceBook page already know and the title gave away, I now have a new job. I started this morning with a new to me company. The job is nothing special or supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. I will be doing pretty much what I have been doing for the last several years for a new set of bosses. So, same stuff, different day. The pay is better which is nice. I still get to work from home at least 4 days a week. The one day a week will be to go into the office "for meetings and collaboration". It remains to be seen how things will work out. 

I am cautiously optimistic while reserving judgment. The good news is that we will have full time benefits again. I won't have to sweat missing time for work (as a contractor, you only get paid for the hours you work). That, more than anything, is what's important right now.