Friday, July 29, 2005

Packing up

Boy, I really do not want to pack my office...

I have boxes from the last move (4+ years ago) that I haven't opened. I suppose they should be tossed straight out, but I keep thinking my office is going to get bigger someday ... :) Yeah, right.

Just emailed my boss on record retention. We went through a training class on that topic, to know what to keep and not to keep, but I'll be darned if I can remember a thing about it, except to not do what the boys at Enron did. So, do I box up pertinent files and ship them off to cold storage somewhere? Do we have a corporate deal with someone?

The technical books, the employment records and the desktop trinkets (memories of dubious achievements and of people I love) will come with me wherever the next job is, but the rest of this stuff... yuk. To the shredder or the dumpster with you!

What I really hope is that I can take my laptop with me. If I can't, I will have to dump off the bulk of the hard drive onto an external zip drive. There's just a few non-work-related items on it. Shhhh! Don't tell anyone - they might fire me. :)

Interviews

Talked with the HR person this morning about the job in the Chicago loop. She has an hour long commute into downtown from her home in Naperville, a western burb. If I use Amtrak from where I live, I could get to Union Station in the loop in 1:40, with a 20 minute drive prior to that to reach the station, and from Union Station to the office in another 15 (1/2 mile walk) ... The fare is $40 round trip, with a $5 parking fee, so roughly $225 a week and 4.5 hours a day to commute from here. Not real appealing...

But a downtown apartment or condo... now, that's living! too bad they're not afforable. :) A friend in this office is taking a job there next week and is spending $1600/mo on a one bedroom unit in a high rise with no lake view. Just a little pricey...

The HR lady said they are very extensive in their inteviewing process, using a selection method developed by Dr. Bell from North Carolina. She was warning me not to be put off by it, if we get that far. At this point, I'm more afraid of the commute and cost... The job itself has a fancy title and big responsibility, but... no staff. Which means you do all the work yourself. Yes, you have the responsbility to build a staff, and the budget to do so, but how do you find people who want to work in the loop? I don't. Still, I'll keep my hand in for a while longer and see how it goes (and how other interviews go). Maybe I'll take the train there if they want me to have a day of interviews. That might settle it. :)

Thursday, July 28, 2005

It was a dark and stormy night

Yesterday I decided to begin the novel I've always said I would write. I've had the title, outline and plot in my head for years, but never did anything with it. Now, I may actually have the time. :) So, I laid out the characters and basic structure, running it by those close to me. I'm not sure they'll like it, but... who's it for, anyway? Me! It's therapy.

Now I have to figure out how to do it. I'd like to blog it, but I also want a Word file. Hm... Maybe after I have the first couple of chapters done in Word, I'll see about putting it out on the 'net for feedback.

Ooh, a novelist! If only it paid well - instantly. :)

Off Again, On Again

Just heard today from my current company (or rather a subsidiary of theirs for which I used to work), that now they DO want to consider me for the position they have in Atlanta. They want to schedule a day for in-person interviews at their headquarters (about 3 hours from where we live) within the next two weeks. The hiring manager's secretary will call to set it up. Hm. And here I'd ruled this out completely, resigning myself to taking the severance... I guess no never really means no until it means no. Yeah.

Then, got a call from my recruiter today, and the company in New England wants me to come out for a day of interviews sometime before 8/15, so I gave several potential dates I could go. Hope I don't have to be in two places at once! But, then - it's nice to be wanted. :) At least for now...

Faxed another resume for Jenny off to Chicago today for her trip there tomorrow. She had business cards made at Kinko's. Stylish, but refined... Her title is simply "art historian." It describes her well. :)

Wednesday, July 27, 2005

Do You Feel A Draft?

I told a friend the other day, there are so many doors opening and doors closing, that it feels breezy in here... :)

The recruiters are busy, putting my qualifications out in front of companies. Four potential jobs closed this week, three more opened... Had a phone interview on Tuesday that went well, with positive feedback afterwards to the recruiter. Have another one set for Friday morning. Things look promising in a New England community we used to live in, and also in the Chicago Loop, at least for now.

Other possibilities are sitting, percolating... One of the recruiters dropped off the radar screen after shooting all two of her bullets and hitting nothing. Just as well, I didn't know her, nor her me. Another recruiter from my past called - someone I don't care for. Kind of gave him the brush, after hearing that his opportunities were roughly the same list as my regular recruiter has. They're circling like vultures, hoping to snatch something useful from this still twitching casualty... ;)

A friend mentioned to me yesterday after reading a previous post of mine, that he didn't think it's all about money, or that deciding things based in large part on money necessarily means materialism or shallowness. Rather, money is about freedom and choices. An example is - if I won $5MM in a lottery yesterday, would I necessarily have more material possessions today? Not unless I chose to spend it that way. But what I would have is - more choices, and more freedom to choose what I do. I get that, I guess.

It's just that a job search where money is a big criterion is forcing me to narrow my choices (in terms of career options and communities) in order to maintain freedom for other choices (like lifestyle, charitable giving, legacy for children, retirement, etc.). It's not quite the same as winning the lottery, where you don't have to move to and work in a certain place to win. You just have to be lucky. Here, luck has little to do with it - you just want to make good choices. So - what are they, anyway?

Faxed a resume' and cover letter to a museum in Chicago today for Jenny. They have a position that might make some sense for her. She and Deb may also make a trip there this week to knock on doors and drop off resumes and look at neighborhoods. Hopefully she can get in to see some people. She's getting ready to move, but still mulling over where, exactly. Chicago works for me, especially since she can share a house with a family friend (in her mid-20s), for $100/mo plus expenses... beat that anywhere else! So the neighborhood's a little dicey... just be sure you work days, and park in the attached garage at night.

Had a great evening out with friends last night - at a concert with an oldies band. A little before my era, but still knew all the music. It was great to sing along and relax a little - could smile freely and laugh, and it felt really good. I need those kind of experiences, smiling, laughing, being with people I love. More, please!

Monday, July 25, 2005

Non-profit motive and pay cuts?

I've been growing increasingly frustrated in recent years with the lust for profit and growth that has become an insatiable urge in the corporate world these days. So, I've toyed with the idea of going into the non-profit sector (foundation, religious organization, schools, etc.) which I've mentioned in previous posts. As noted before, the pay scale is decidedly different, and although I'd enjoy the career change, could I afford it?

Just did a little modeling to see what we could realistically live on if I were offered a lower-paying non-profit job that would allow me to stay in town. Assuming we downsized into a smaller, older home that would allow us to cut our mortgage payments in half, and our charitable giving dropped proportionately with our income, and Deb went to work full time at her (currently seasonal) job, it looks like I could survive a 40% pay cut and still make it work out. That doesn't include college expenses, but it might bring the needed salary within range of the kind of job I could get here without using my professional credentialing, based only on experience and skills.

So the question is, what's it worth to stay here? Even if we moved, we would downsize anyway, given that we are empty nesting soon, but maybe not do a step down in quality like this would have to be. I didn't model change in lifestyle, either, but just expenses that would change to reflect a smaller house. I suppose there could be additional savings there, but enough to handle college payments? I doubt it. So there's an impact on J & J as well. Is it fair of me to cut support out from under them to soothe my injured feelings about working in the corporate world? Sounds pretty selfish to me. Or is that just an excuse to avoid sacrificing, scrimping, saving, making do on a lower salary? That sounds cowardly and self-indulgent.

I recall something from the Old Testament book of Jeremish that says "the human heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked - who can know it?" Boy, that's the truth. I don't even know my own heart or understand my own motives. How do I make a decision that affects others if I don't even know what I want?

Sunday, July 24, 2005

Is it all about money?

I hate to think so, but it's starting to seem that way. :(

Had an interesting conversation over dinner Friday night with a couple we enjoy and respect. They have 3 kids from 19 - 25, and what we discussed was the difference in our generations, in terms of how we categorize people demographically, and what it is that we value in others. When we got home we checked our conclusions with Jenny, and she agreed.

It seems that the generation coming up - the one we helped raise - are collectively seeing things differently than we do, and in a good way, mostly. For instance, on the subject of categorizing people, my generation tries hard - sometimes too hard - to be non-judgmental of those who are different that us. Yet we still label and categorize them.

Our parents labeled and categorized, too, but they also had very ingrained prejudices and stereotypes, against which we react very strongly. We try to back away from those, repudiate those, but still put people in the same (or even more complex) groupings that our parents did. We see in color, though we insist it should make no difference.

The next generation - whatever they are called, "Xers", "Gen Y", baby busters, millenials... I can't remember (I'm trying not to use labels anymore... ;) ) - don't see color nearly as much as baby boomers do. And that's real progress. I speculated Friday night that when the boomers are out, and the current 16-26 year olds are in power, that the desired results of the Civil Rights movement will be just the way things are in our culture, unremarkable normalcy. There will be no need for the NAACP then, my dinner companion speculated... and wouldn't that be cool? I hope so. I hope that next generation succeeds in replacing a "movement" with simply "conversation" around what then becomes a normal way of life between people of any race.

And that was another discussion - how the 20ish crowd values "conversation" and "being real" more than "movements" or "causes", which were our big drivers. How, to them, the highest compliment one can pay another is "he really cares about people", not "he's really successful/popular/well-regarded". And, more to the point of this post, how they also value work, money and material accumulation less than we do.

Now, that last may be because of the age difference. When someone who is now 22 becomes 42, and is married (maybe) with 2 school-age children (maybe), will she want "the nicer things in life" for her kids and herself? Will she want a lifestyle like that of her Mom? Or will she be content to be Bohemian, modern, and broke? (and you know who you are... ;) ) I think that baby boomers are definitely accumulators and materialistic - but I'm not sure about the generation coming up. They might be... when they get into their 40's.

So, what's my point? As I look at the various alternatives for employment that are buzzing around me like gnats, I find myself focusing on what they will do to my lifestyle. And it seems so ridiculously shallow that I am revolted by it. Yet - with kids at college age, and retirement in the distance (but looming larger every year), I have bills to pay and saving I need to do.

But, crap! I want to do something meaningful with the rest of my life, something that has a profound impact on the lives of others. I want to give something back to society around me - something more than helping shareholders increase the value of their holdings by helping my company beat Wall Street's earnings estimates this quarter. Arghh!

The problem is - meaningful doesn't pay well. It doesn't pay squat, really. I'd love to work in the non-profit sector, for a charitable foundation, for a religious organization, for an educational facility, teaching or adminstrating, but... I can't afford to! I could stay right here, in town, with people I know and love - and do work I love as well, and find emotionally rewarding, but I'd have to take a 50% cut in pay to do it!

Does everything come down to money? It seems to, but I don't want it to! I want to do what rewards the spirit, but I seem to be making decisions based on what rewards the pocketbook... What is it that the Apostle Paul says? "Oh, wretched man that I am!..." I feel pretty wretched about the whole business. I didn't realize I was so shallow. :(

Thursday, July 21, 2005

Empty Nesting

When Jenny actually finds that first job, or decides to move to where the prospects are, which is likely to be about when Jonny heads off to college, it will be empty nesting time for Deb & me.

Hm. I've always looked forward to this - in theory, anyway. Now it will be out of the realm of theory and into practice, and how will I feel about it? Free? Relieved? Lonely? Anxious? I don't know yet. This is another age thing, I guess. I don't know, either, how I will feel about growing older at the same time, even though this is the season for it. I told a friend the other day that I felt like the last bits of my youth were about to leave, and when that happens I would truly grow old. It's not just because of the job change - there's much more to it than that.

One of the things I fear most is my vitality, my enjoyment of life, slipping away because of all that's going on. And as empty nesters, I think I am going to need that joie de vivre, so as not to be a drain but a help. How awful it will be if I am down in the dumps about all I'm losing right now, including what I'm losing to youth and time, when what I need to do is bring some vitality into the house to make up for what's leaving it. I'm worried. I need to heal up from loss - and quick. But I don't know how I can do it alone, without bringing others I love down with me. :(

Misery Loves Company

Jenny is also job hunting at the same time as I am. It's really strange...

She graduated from an East Coast school with a BA in Art History and has been looking for work in her field since March. I think she is the only one surprised that it's taking so long, poor girl. Part of the wait is that she has walled off certain segments of the job market because she doesn't really want to work for museums, but would rather work in art appraisal or protection (e.g. insurance), a smaller slice of the market.

But, she has been very diligent in building a network of contacts, and some of these have turned into interviews and correspondences and further leads. No use of recruiters yet, but then - they're not often involved in entry-level job searches. Monster.com is more like it...

She's contemplating moving to cities with an active fine art community, sort of on spec, and working at what she can find (to meet expenses) while still pursuing work in her field. So now she is looking at possible apartment and roommate situations in Boston, NYC & Chicago, the latter being the least expensive by far, but with the smallest arts community of the three. Tradeoffs...

The interesting part of all this is that we wind up comparing notes, giving advice, encouraging each other. Never thought this would happen - father and daughter in parallel job searches. She may land something before I do. :) And, in the meantime, we can still support her for a few more months while she decides. That's a nice thing!

Jonny is grinding away at a factory job over the summer. He works 12 hour shifts 3-4 days a week, and had an amazing revelation the other day. He says "I've learned something. It's easier to work all day long when I've gotten more than 4 hours of sleep the night before." Hey! There's an idea whose time has come... ;)

Wednesday, July 20, 2005

Thinking Outside The Box

A friend of mine suggested to me yesterday that I get more creative in looking for work locally, that maybe I'm giving up too soon on the local market. It was a good challenge to my thinking and made me wonder...

I responded that my skills and professional qualifications are pretty specialized, which limits the job market for me to only a few kinds of employers, unless I was willing to change careers quite a bit.

That, then, becomes an issue of lifestyle. My income is based in large part on those professional qualifications. Take away those qualifications from the job market and I go back in salary a lot - maybe as much as half. With mortgage payments and college bills, that's hard to do right now.

But, to be honest, I haven't really looked that hard for positions outside my field here that still might pay really well. Nor have we really considered trying to cut back the kind of home we live in and the way we live, for the express purpose of staying in town. So, D. and I talked about it seriously last night for the first time. No resolution yet, but we agreed that I will at least look at the classifieds starting this week to see what's there.

Plus, I just applied to be the executive director of a charitable foundation here in town, who just lost their leader. I've been associated with them through both volunteering time and giving donations, and would love to do that kind of work. But what they pay - who knows? I have a friend who's on the board, though, and will call him today to see what I can find out.

In a previous post I referred to all kinds of plans I had that will now not come to pass. What I meant by that in part was that I had been thinking of making a career change eventually, to go and do something I consider more "meaningful", like teach, or work in the non-profit sector. To do this, I would need a Masters, and had planned on getting one during the evenings over the next 5 years, and then taking early retirement at 55 (locking in retiree health benefits) so as to have a floor of income available if needed. But by that time, college would be done, and hopefully a downsizing move would reduce expenses further, and allow us to live on a lot less.

None of this seems possible now, since to get to early retirement with Bell Ins. means I would have to work for them somewhere for 5 more years, and to date no such opportunity exists. If I go work for someone else, I will probably have to work until 65 to get any chance at decent retirement insurance benefits with them. Should I consider taking a year off starting in Fall, get that Masters in one year of full time schooling, and then making the career change early? I think financially it would be pretty hard, but it might be doable...

Outside the box thinking. Is it really outside the box thinking, or being foolhardy? Maybe it's off the dial thinking instead... or am I just gutless in my old age? Do I need to use a walker already because I'm afraid I'll fall down? Metaphorically speaking, that is... ;)

Severance

Got the official letter today... about 3/4 of a year of salary as severance. Oh boy!

Pfui. I mean it's nice and all, but couldn't I just have the darn job instead?

Still, it's a chunk of change and will help with college bills for J & J. I'll take it.

But, now the question is: if there is a job with another company, and it comes up soon, and it's time-sensitive... do I take it and pass up the severance? Or do I resolve firmly to stay through the next 3 months and take my chances that there will be a job for me then? I could enter every interview situation saying "I'll be available to start as of mm/dd/2005", and pick a date say, 2 weeks after my official termination date, whatever they eventuaily tell me that is.

Is the "bird in the hand" in this situation the 3/4 year of pay, or is it a job offer in hand? I don't know. Right now I'm leaning toward working through the severance period and taking the money, one) because there are people living in this community that I still want to be near for as long as I can be, two) because the longer we wait to move, the more likely it is that Jonny will be able to come home from Freshman year at college to his old room over Christmas break, and three) because I still hope that something will change between now and the severance date that will allow me to stay put. Wishful and sentimental thinking all, I know - but I'm a sentimental guy, which is why this all hurts so much in the first place.

Severance. You get more of it the longer you have been with the firm. It's in theory a reward for being a loyal long-term employee. So, why doesn't it feel like a reward?

Tuesday, July 19, 2005

Going Up? or Going Down?

Everyone, even Bill Gates or George Bush, gets to the point where they realize their career is no longer on the "up escalator". When you're "on the way up", and remain there for years, you tend to see the first lateral job as a blip - just the short walk between escalators when you get to a landing. But, then the second lateral in a row... and now you start to wonder. And if the next one isn't a lateral move, but a step back... Uh, oh... you may have peaked and are on the way down.

I used to look at guys older than me, or even younger sometimes, who I could see were not going to rise any further in the organization, and say to myself "How can you stand it? You have years to go yet until retirement. How can you take just sitting there doing the same old job and knowing it won't get any better?" Now, I'm starting to ask myself the same questions. Have I peaked and started to come down? Or, maybe not going down, but on the same floor for the duration? My answer may only come after I find my next job, outside Bell Insurance. Will it be an equivalent job to what I'm doing now, a step back, or a step up?

There's an old saying that "two points don't make a trend", but three do. My last two jobs have been laterals, or slightly down. The next one will tell the tale, and if it's also down, then I know - I've reached that peak (it was back in 1999 in my early 40's) and have begun to decline.

This will be about as hard to take as it was finding my first grey hairs (though I still don't have many), or as it was finding myself stiff in the joints when I first got up in the morning and descended the stairs, or as it was realizing that it's taking me a second or two longer to find the right word to put in a sentence than it used to take. Well, at least I don't require Viagra... much ;) It's highly situational, and certain situations... ahem... don't require it at all. :)

I don't like to think about aging, but I have to, I guess. Not only is the mirror telling me it's happening, but so is my body, my mind, and ... maybe ... my career. So, rather than going lower in the same career path, maybe I should think about embarking on a new and different career. That might just put the age thing in its place for a while. Or maybe I should just accept it like those "old guys" did who I used to pity. Then maybe some young hot shots will pity me! Ha! Just wait, snot-nose... you'll see - you'll get yours someday.

Monday, July 18, 2005

Recruiters

Why is it that recruiters feel so much more excited and positive about my situation than I do? ;) Some of them must be nearly terminal with skin cancer because with them the sun is always shining...

Over the years I have come to trust a couple of recruiters and view with skepticism the rest of the lot. So, when this latest job crisis hit, I only called one, the person who has placed me the last two times I moved, both times when I was in the midst of a crisis of one sort or another. She's honest, tells me where I wouldn't fit, and what I'm "worth" in the marketplace. Occasionally she misses, but they are honest misses.

She sent me a loooonnnggg list of current openings in my profession, and has referred me to another recruiter she works with who is a more general executive placement type. She trusts him, and I will too - at least until I talk to him.

So, anyway, there's lots of opportunity apparently, and many wonderful companies out there who are going begging for talent... wonder why that is? If they're so wonderful...

Well, let's not start that line of thinking just yet. Remember, Bob, it's a business deal between a seller and a buyer of services... :)

So, eliminating both coasts because of the horrid cost of living compared to the Midwest, the many opportunities become fewer, but still more than a handful. The hardest part of all this becomes the interviewing. First one or two by phone, then wait. Then maybe another in person, then wait. And you do this with multiple companies at once, so as to maximize your chances. Fortunately, I have time. I've got about 3 months before I have to leave, and to receive any severance from Bell Ins., I would have to stay until then anyway. So, there's no rush at least, and there should be ample opportunity to work a variety of positions and companies.

As I'm typing, the other executive recruiter is calling and I have him on speakerphone while I type... I have great respect for the guy already... ha! He's a little brusque, maybe even gruff, but who knows what he'll produce - the first position description he says he'll send me is for a service center manager in a neighboring state, in a reasonably similar city to mine. We'll see...

I'm tired of all this already. Maybe it's an age thing. More on that in the next post.

Do you feel loved? Did you expect to?

So, what do you do when you first hear the news that your company doesn't want you anymore? I suppose everyone reacts differently... but in many ways it's like being told by your spouse/partner/lover that they're leaving you. They can say it as nicely as they can, but...

For me, it was the "punch in the gut" sensation - an unexpected blow knocking the wind out of you, so you can't breathe. Shocked, stunned, and even though you had an inkling something was wrong, it was so sudden in coming - you had all these plans that now will never come to pass.

You wonder, what did I do wrong? It must be my fault... I must be in the wrong here somewhere. You replay every conversation, looking for where you messed up. You panic, you get desperate and try to salvage the relationship. What can I do to get them to change their mind? What words can I say? Can I promise to do better, or to make things easier for them, do more, take less? Then you realize - it's too late for that. They've decided and there's no patching things up.

They say it's not my fault, that it's not about me - it's a decision they didn't ever want to have to make, wished there was some other way, but they had to do this for their own long-term viability, to protect their options, not to mention all the other people who are involved and important and affected by this. In the long run, they say, it's the best thing for everyone. And maybe they're right. Maybe it is best.

But it feels like it's about me, like I've failed them, I've fallen short, I didn't measure up, I've not given them what it is they really wanted from me. And, as I look back, I'm not sure I ever could have. I think that maybe I was wrong for them from the start... even though I thought I was making them happy - happy enough anyway to have me stay with them for a while longer.

You can understand these kind of thoughts about the breakup of a love relationship, right? But about a job relationship? Why is it that we personify our corporate employer, and expect somehow that they will have feelings for us?

If I've learned anything about the business world over this long career, it's that a corporation does not love you. You can give it all the effort and energy and dedication and loyalty you like, but in the end - it doesn't love you at all. There may be people in the organization who do - if you're lucky. And you'll see it in the expressions of sympathy you receive from them when they hear your bad news. But they may not be in a position to do anything to help save your job. The corporation does not - cannot - love you, and will never, ever return the affection you give it.

So, why give it any at all? Yet we do. (Or, I should say - some of us do...) It's a huge mistake to assign to a business the emotions and values that only individuals can experience and live out in practice. You only leave yourself open to heartache to assume the corporation will conduct itself in a kind and loving way toward you. Only people will do that, and even then, the people who will do this are the ones who are truly committed to you, unwilling to leave you when it gets hard, and when trouble comes will not allow you to flounder on your own - they won't let you hurt alone. Who are these people for you? Do you know? It's a good exercise to list them, and if you're truly honest, you might be surprised at who might be on your list, at who will never abandon you...

As for your employer, better to view the relationship between the company and you as a business deal, a contract - in exchange for $X and benefits of Y, you will give them a certain amount of work. If you don't give them their money's worth, they can end the contract. If they ask for more value from you than they are willing to pay, or if you find someone who will give you more for the same work, you can exit. Leave the emotions out of it, and see it as nothing more than a negotiation between a seller and buyer of services, because at the moment of crisis, that's all it is. They will either decide to continue buying or not, based on the utility they see in you versus their other options.

You would bristle if your love interest viewed you that way, because you expect some degree of human kindness to be present, and you'd be right to think so. But for a corporation, no human kindness exists - only policies and procedures and decisions. If you're very lucky, the executives in charge of your destiny may choose to act kindly toward you and try to sell that choice up the ladder above them, but even then, it may not work out. Don't count on kindness, count on logic and expediency ruling the day.

The other thing to expect from a corporation is... short-term thinking at the detail level, which is the level of individual people decisions (who stays, who goes). Senior managers seldom think strategically about the selection of front-line workers and supervisors, leaving that to the middle managers to handle. Mergers and acquisitions are often pushed to conclusion far too fast for the decision makers to have all the information they need to make the best decisions. They commit to "letting people know as early as possible" what their options are and who will be selected to "go forward" with the organization. But what happens is that the people decisions are made too fast, often expeditiously to fill slots, and with a tendency to err on the side of familiarity, leaving the acquiree with a natural but unspoken bias against the staff of the acquired.

In sum, then, I suppose you should always be ready to have your business deal with your employer cancelled unexpectedly, and when it happens, not take it personally. Yes, that's easier said than done, especially for those of us who give our hearts easily, but the clue for you should be this: when there's no sacrificial committment in a relationship, and there never is with a corporation, there will be no guarantee or even reasonable hope of them doing anything for you, other than what they perceive is currently in their own best interest. So, why entrust your heart to a corporation, who serves their own interests exclusively, who only serves yours when it serves them to do so?

By way of introduction

Here's a summary to get you started.

While the names are fictitious, the situation is not. I'm Bob, a white-collar financial professional, aged about... oh, let's say 50 for round numbers. Worked in the same industry (insurance) for 30 years. Married the same length of time to wife Debra. Have 2 kids, Jennifer (22) & Jonathon (18), and a dog, Inferno (aptly named.) Many outside interests, some far too intimate to share here, so we'll stick to the job situation primarily. Suffice it to say that the loss of my job has effects that ripple out to others beyond the circle of my immediate family.

Home right now is a midwestern city, not unlike St. Louis, Des Moines or Milwaukee - that type. Moving around is a common thing for us, seems like every 3-5 years or so, we're off again. And I've worked here now about that long. We have a comfortable home in a nice suburb, college debts (Jenny - just finished), and more to come (Jonny - just starting). So, life's been good. Then came the news that our office is closing and my job is being eliminated. This came about 2 weeks ago, and the shock is still palpable.

From a business perspective, it was a good decision, and I would've done the same thing had it been my call, I suppose. But, the result is still devastating to many people. Over the last 2 weeks I've been exploring options of staying local, both with the company (call them Bell Insurance), and outside the company. No options available that would preserve my salary, and with mortgage payments and college expenses, that's pretty important. Finally, no options with Bell Ins. anywhere in the country that would allow me to stay whole financially. So, it looks like I'll be leaving the organization after 16 years, 5 years short of early retirement, plus moving to some other community - which, at this point, is who knows where?

More to come...
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