This morning as I was scraping the frost off of my car (or rather the car which I am borrowing from my parents since mine is in the shop due to a not at fault accident that occurred a few months ago) and I get a call from the insurance company to let me know that my car is totaled. Bloody hell. Ok, so aside from the inconvenience of needing to find and buy a new car it looks like I am actually going to come out ahead with the insurance money.
That being on my mind, I drove to work. I get my cubicle and my pseudo-supervisor calls me aside into a conference room and lets me know that I am being laid off (for purely financial reasons), effective immediately. Well, well well.
Looking for silver linings here. I suppose that with my car totaled and still being able to borrow the car from my parents actually saves me $300 a month in loan payments and insurance payments so the timing may actually have been a good thing. Plus, getting laid off before I am able to file for taxes means that I won’t blow my tax return on a new toy thus giving me more money to survive on while looking for work.
Any other silver linings that might come from this?
Thats right! The building I worked in blocked all forums about a year ago so I have not been able to post as often as I used to. But now that I am going to be home I can spend more time here.
A little of both actually. My job was tolerable and I liked the place where I worked, but I had no love for my company. I have been looking for a new job with the goal of finding something before this summer, but I had hoped to continue with my gainful employment until I had found one.
You’ll have plenty of time to look for that new car. No rush, no pressure or urgency. You can stroll into the dealership looking like you have all the time in the world and the car salesman won’t get a chance to run you over, knowing how desperate you are.
Every time I have left a job, I’ve found one that pays more. I usually like it more too. I don’t know what field you are in, but in my experience with office-type jobs it seems to be a lot easier getting hired at a better pay than working your way to it.
This will give you a chance to try something new, different, and hopefully better. You’ll meet new people, gain new contacts and experience, break out of the same old.
Sounds like things could be a whole lot worse. You weren’t hurt in the car accident (I assume.) You can go car shopping (hey, I think it’s fun.) You could get a job you like more than your current one. You still have both your parents alive. You might get severance pay or unemployment.
Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn’t learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn’t learn a little, at least we didn’t get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn’t die; so, let us all be thankful. --Siddhartha Gautama
I note from your location that it appears to be sunny in West Michigan today…
(If you need to vent my email’s in my profile. hugs)
Hopefully you can come away with positive feelings about all of this. You already mentioned having access to your parents’ car, along with insurance money for a new one.
Now consider this, you get to sleep in tomorrow, then you call unemployment and get going with your compensation checks. Take advantage of the career services offered by the Employment Bureau. Consider job training for something new and exciting that you’ve always been interested in.
Sleep in the next day. Get caught up on books, projects, hobbies you’ve put off because you didn’t have time. If you were planning on getting in shape this new year, get off your ass and get something going. Practice that guitar if you’ve always been meaning to, write your book. You get the idea.
You may now have the free time to start that Diablo 2 or Dungeon Siege 1 campaign we have been threatening to play.
Also, if you are collecting unemployment, you are probably still making more than me.
