Transition and Flexibility - Once again, it's birthday time. And once again, it's hunt for a new job time. (And I think this is the fourth GWW season of "find a new job" or "I'm between jobs" or "I'm about to start a new job.")

Short summary: I left for lunch. I came back. There was an email from my on-the-contract boss that said "We're ending this process that we hired you for, and so your position is going away. Your last service day will be 28-Sept, please turn in your access cards and laptops by then and file all your timecards." That was about it.

Of course, writing back was funny, because I answered basically with, "Thank you very much for the information. Please note you never issued me a laptop. And as you send more details about turning in the cards, please don't forget to cc: my boss [insert name here] at my contracting company." Can you believe that? My pays-the-paycheck boss didn't know my contract was being cancelled. (It's not completely that cold -- at least my contract boss had notified my paycheck-company HR person. But still. Really.)

*sigh*

In perspective, I've gone through plenty of layoffs. And my pays-the-paycheck boss and I came up with 7 leads to try tomorrow: 4 former bosses on this contract, 2 additional contract companies who do similar work, and 1 job opening that just came through his company recently. So in the morning I need to finish updating my resume (again), and write a few cover letters.

In '98, I went through my first layoff. The software company expanded *Really* fast, and then shrunk *Really* fast, some months later.

At the next company, I survived 3 major re-organizations, and then for the 4th major reorg, they shut down our entire division. They were really thorough with the severance packages, though, giving everyone 2-weeks' pay for every year they'd been with the company, plus a 3-day career (training? searching? etc..) seminar. That also made the first time I went off to GWW without employment. (Great Western War is a large camping trip in October with my SCA friends.)

I worked a quick 4-weeks at a temp job until I got my first sub-contractor position at the Navy base up in my shire. So when that contract ran out 11 months later, it was a known thing. The whole job was *supposed* to be for a limited length of time. They gave me three weeks notice, which was certainly surprising since some people were let go with as little as an hour's notice. And voila, my 2nd GWW out of work, 3rd layoff.

On to the 2nd position on the miliary contract: I moved south from my shire to living with Dayle and Ken, and then commuted 72-miles one-way to work for 16 months. But after 16 months, there was no chance for more money or advancement, and the gas prices starting rising at astronomical rates. So I landed the job only 30-miles away, and moved on. 4th job, no extra layoff, no unemployment at GWW that year.

15 months at the private sector job, but it wasn't a good fit (their words). So 4th layoff, and now the unemployment landed on my trip to WW in July, not my trip to GWW in October. (grin)

I came back from the trip to WW ("Warlords and Warriors" in Wisconsin, with my friends from Northshield), and landed my third position on the military contract -- this time, with the ability to telecommute or work from the Navy base just 5 miles from home. And even on this job, I worked for 3 different bosses, enduring different re-organizations.

Now 13 months later, it's my 5th layoff, my 6th job, and my 3rd GWW (or my 4th major camping event/war) without secured employment. I had the days off to take for GWW, so now I think the whole thing is up in the air. I *hope* I can land something with my existing sub-contractor, because then I keep my Paid-time-off earned. And I *hope* I can land something on this military contract, where they'd be happy to have me start later, and enjoy my paid-time-off as previously scheduled. But nothing is guaranteed, so it's time to start my serious planning and job hunting.

So, wish me good luck! :) Happy birthday to me.
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Today's Blessing That I'm Thankful For: Rick. I think we're going to have some *serious* fun with Rae!