Thursday, June 22, 2006

There's Got To Be A Morning After

Thanks to everyone who wished me well after yesterday's bad news. I guess I'm still a bit in a state of shock. Still not quite ready to move on. I think the reason the axe dropped yesterday was because our company announced its quarterly earnings yesterday and they needed something to appease the analysts. Cost-cutting always makes Wall Street smile. Wish I was Wall Street. Everyone would do what I asked.

I did not get ripped last night, instead going to my volleyball game in an upright position and playing fairly well. Went home, fiddled with Monster a bit, and incredibly found a job with my previous employer's biggest competitor that is almost exactly what I used to do. Down to the same computer systems. What the hell, I'll send 'em a resume. Even if it isn't what I want to do for the rest of my life, it's the next few months that have my attention.

Last night a big storm rolled in around 2AM. The thunder woke me up and in my stupor I thought I was late for work. Nope. Then today I drove to my brother's place to watch the US lay an ostrich egg against Ghana. Though the penalty call was merely the latest travesty from the boys with the cards, we didn't deserve to win. Especially the set-pieces at the end, they were pathetic. Oh, my point was that I had to drive past my old building, and as it zoomed past at 55MPH I couldn't help gazing at my old office. Sigh.

I made about twenty bucks playing poker today. Wait...could this finally be the right time for me to turn pro? I've been thinking about it--I mean, I do pretty well in the $5 SNGs. I think my game would translate well at the $30-$60 tables. Hell yeah!

Sigh, again. Boy I hate writing resumes. And cover letters. And here's the most depressing part--there are jobs out there I'd enjoy, and be really good at. I have no hope of getting those jobs, because I don't have experience. The jobs I DO have the requisite experience for I want no part of. A Catch-22, yes?

And if you're in the mood for some irony, there's the delightful epiphany I had last night before I fell asleep. All my life I've taken the safe, secure route. I worked jobs I hated because it was a paycheck, and I didn't want the uncertainty of not having a steady income. I did quit a job once, but I knew I'd find something fairly quick and, besides, I was horribly depressed and my job was the reason. I could've packed up and moved to a part of the country where the economy was booming instead of stagnating. I stayed in Pittsburgh. I went to grad school and got an MBA because I thought it would help me get a better job, but all it did was convince me that I didn't want a job where an MBA was a requirement.

I didn't take any risks because I didn't want to end up with nothing 15 years down the line. I carefully gathered up the crumbs and put them in a safe place and figured that was the smart move. And now it's fifteen years later and...I'm right back where I started when I graduated from college. With a pointless resume and two months of severance.

The moral of this story, kids, is that sometimes not taking risks is the riskiest move of all.

I'm gonna take my entire bankroll and play the highest SNG I can find and see what happens.

Just kidding.

Darn it.

posted by Gene @ 3:54 PM   |