Day 30 - Travel? Yes Please!

I saw a job posting today that was for a position with 100% travel to various countries for various parts of the year. Was this a job posting for James Bond, a Hotel.com travel consultant, a teacher or a international man of mystery? No... it was for an ad salesman. Really?! Somebody who sells ad space in a newspaper gets to travel the world and all expenses paid? There must be a stipulation, I thought. And that stipulation was the fact that all of your money was commission and you better speak more than ten languages. I only speak nine languages so that put me out of the running. Oh well, craigslist does it to me again.

I am getting the denial emails pretty quickly these days. I guess the recruiting/HR departments at these companies aren't suffering any layoffs'. Well, good for them I say.

I'm not going to lie and say that I don't want to help people and have a job that actually contributes to the quality of human life, but... a man's gotta eat, ya know? And I love surf and turf.

A while back, I lived in Thailand (study abroad for Michigan State), and it was the greatest time of my life. I was thinking of going back there and living in a bungalow for $1 a night like I did at Ko Pha Ngan island. Want a picture of the good life? Ever think that when you get laid off/fired/quit you don't have time or money to go anywhere. Well, $1 a night! For that, you can cash in your 401K and live for like a hundred days (Well what's your 401K worth?). Here's a picture of the view (and yes, I actually took this picture from a 35MM camera):

So, book your tickets now and live the good life for awhile.

Alas, I cannot. Or can I? I have no car (Chicago livin), no mortgage, and am livin with a free flowing attitude. Perhaps I have already left and am writing this from Thailand. Or not. I mean, why would you ever be on a computer at a place like this?

Happy Wednesday all! Hope your Thursday is the best day of the past 2 days for you.

Deep Thoughts for Wednesday:

Do you remember the show/computer game "Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego"? Unfortunate news kids. Carmen started to abuse drugs and alcohol and is now selling Street Wise. However, she plans on making a comeback in a new show called "Where in the Sewers is Carmen Sandiego"

Day 29 - Smiling Eyes

I promised you all some details, and what better way to provide details than with bullet points? Here you are:

• Let go August 31st
• Went over to Amanda's that night to have a couple of beers
• Filed for unemployment over at her place because the unemployment site hates MAC's and I am typing on my MacBook Pro.
• Went to Kirkwood's for some beers. In attendance: Meredith, Ash, Amanda and Raj. Some people didn't even know I was let go until last night!
• Woke up the next day and checked out some jobs and then went to the gym.
• Next day, next day, next day all seemed the same.
• However, the first two weeks of September provided some nice 78 degree days. After my usual mornings, I headed to Oak St. Beach. There is nothing more relaxing for me than sitting under a transplanted palm tree with the waves of Lake Michigan and all of it's bacteria filled glory crashing in. Some days I would stop and get Jimmy Johns for lunch. Other times, I just didn't eat.
• On those days I went to the beach, I would just get on the Clark St. Bus at the corner of Clark/Division to Chicago Ave. and go from there to the gym.
• This went on for the first two weeks and the past two weeks have been spend applying for jobs that I may or may not ever ever be happy at and relaxing!
• That brings me up to the day # that I started.

Whew!! Don't you just love lists? They are needed all the time in PowerPoint Presentations and what better way to be professional on today's blog than those above?

Are you jealous of my past four weeks? Should I be sitting in front of my computer for 10 hours a day applying for jobs like some would think? Perhaps. Perhaps I should go to the corner and ask for money like some of the "fake" homeless around here. Or, perhaps I should let karma take over and show me the way. Option #3 wins!!

I believe in Karma. When I have been screwed over in my personal and professional life, I KNOW that those individuals will get it in the end. And you know, they have. Oooohhh, so don't mess with me!! Haha, just kidding... or am I?

Done for the night. It's 7:48 PM CST. How about some of you out there in "Holy Crap! I don't have a job and I can't pay for my house/apartment/car/bills/sex toys/gambling/candy/Patron/plastic surgery/smokes"? Are you doing okay? Do you need a hug? I hear there is an opening.

Deep Thoughts:

What's the deal with spaceships? I mean, they aren't really in water, so how can they be ships?

Day 28 - Mo Money, Mo Problems

Whoever said that money didn't buy happiness obviously had A LOT of money. I'd love to give that saying a try.

I slept in today, all the way to 9:30. My typical wake up call is around 8:00, but I don't usually go to sleep too late seeing that I don't go to the bar 4 times a week now that I've given up drinking during the week and cut back on the weekends too. It isn't because I don't have a job and incoming income, but more of the fact that I really don't have a reason to drink during the week. When I was let go, I did what a lot of people do on that day... I went to the bar with some friends. But my night was a "celebration" as I had let everyone know that I was excited, not worried, about what lied (?) ahead.

That night, a few of my friends came to the bar and we didn't actually discuss anything about the job or where I might go. Instead, we discussed everything else. I went home early that night actually and woke up early the next day. My previous routine consisted of getting up at 7:00 AM, taking a shower, getting lunch together (usually one of the pre-made microwave meals. Mmm, Salt!!!), and then heading to the the #8 bus to head to work. I have the unlimited CTA pass here in Chicago which I consider my car. I like to think that I have so many different "vehicles" at my disposal. Who needs Porsche's and Beamers when you can ride the wave of the El or ride on one of the many busses throughout the city? Plus, you will always seem to come off of the ride with a new story about some crazy person on that respective vehicle.

I would get to work around 8:00 and then fire up the computer. I'd wait for the log-in screen, type in my information, and then put my frozen meal in the packed fridge hoping no one would steal it (and food did get stolen). I would then take a look at my email inbox and sigh...

Have you ever looked at your email box and just wanted to hit the "Delete" key until it was ALL gone? And when somebody asks you why you didn't answer their email, you could say, "I don't know, I guess it got lost in the mail". And then you would get a strange look and that person would walk away. Well, I thought that every day. Instead, I would do what most people would do and wrote politically correct emails to everybody even if they were dicks in their emails. After awhile, I wasn't nice anymore and just wrote three word answers to some of their questions.

Around 11:00 I would hit the gym. I went at that time because it was less crowded and I could come back and get food at one of our vendors or take care of what I needed to with most of the office gone on their "official" 12-1 lunch. I've always done things differently, so going to the gym at this time was the norm for me. After lunch, I would take care of what needed to be done, be it mindless emails or conference calls to discuss the conference that we just had. I swear, some people just want to hear themselves talk so they schedule an hour long meeting that could be resolved in 5 minutes. Talk, Talk, Talk, Talk.

Around 5:00, the office exploded!!!! Everybody wanted out!!!! And I can't blame them. I mean, it is Chicago and there is always something going on so getting out of work is a really big deal. Especially when you have to catch that shuttle. There is nothing funnier than seeing a 45-60 man or women literally sprinting to catch a shuttle. That's probably the most they have run in the past 20 years! I can say one thing about public transportation though; at least you don't have to drive with the other crazies in this city.

Now that is over, and I spent my Monday packing for this weekends trip to Sonoma, applying for jobs, calling the Teleserve (only three times before I got through the busy signal!!) to certify my unemployment, and going to the gym.

I will watch MNF tonight, but after the game, TV OFF! I do realize now that I would rather be in front of a fire than watching TV, but we have wood floors... so starting a fire probably would not be the smartest thing to do. I guess I will just have to turn on my grill on the deck and pretend.

Deep Thoughts for Monday:

As far as the Midwest as a whole is concerned, the least we could have is more mountains for the avid skiers and snowboarders during our 9 months of winter. Perhaps we need to throw away more trash so we can build some new dump piles and call those mountains?

Day 27 - Sunday, Sunday, Sunday

Are you ready for some football!!!

When was the last time you spent a Sunday watching a solid 9-10 hours of TV. Productive, absolutely not! Feelings of exhilaration when your team wins, feelings of depression and anger when your team loses.

My team, the Minnesota Vikings won! I was at a "neutral" bar in Chicago which pretty much meant it was 80% Bears fans, 5% Vikings fans, 5% Packers fans and the other 10% couldn't care less how the teams were doing. They were enjoying the beautiful day outside eating by the open garage door windows at the Wrigleyville bars. Unfortunately, looking at the weather, this might have been the last nice day in this Midwest Frozen Hell.

I saw some former colleagues at the bar though. It's funny when you are let go from a company you will actually see who your real friends were. Although I know that one of the guys at the table knew who I was and we had talked every day at the office, he seemed to totally forget who I was. This could be because one of two things: either he never really liked me and this gives him the opportunity to never talk to me again, or he is one of those people that is nervous to talk to anybody that got laid off. I guess he may have thought that I had something interesting to say.

A new week starts. It's Monday, so it's time to call the Unemployment office and certify for the two weeks prior. If you are living in a city as big as Chicago, you may notice that you can't get through the first, second, third, fourth... seventy fifth time you call. You seem to get a busy signal. HOLD ON!! It's an automated system. How can you have a busy signal? What they are telling me is only one person at a time can use the automated system, which seems ridiculous. But, it gives me time to go online and look for future careers. I've decided upon three careers... underwear model, treasure hunter (aka metal detector guy on the beach), or the guy that holds the doors open at restaurants. All lucrative, all sought after jobs. You help me decide!

What is going to be accomplished in this coming week you ask? Well, I will do the whole resume dump thing on the usual sites. I have a phone interview so we shall see where that goes. And I will continue to get ready for my upcoming wedding in Sonoma, CA. Noooooo, I won't be the one getting married. Just one of my good friends. Pics will be included on those blogs.

As far as Sunday night and being unemployed, well, you don't really have a "bed time". Thus, my bed time will be 1:33 AM tonight and I will wake up at the same time that I usually do. Around 8:00 AM. And you know what? Tomorrow is one day closer to Tuesday which is when I will finally win Mega Millions and blow it all on more lottery tickets.

Deep Thoughts for Sunday:

If Jesus wanted us to spend an hour or more on Sunday's listening on how we are all going to hell and how we should give more money to the church, he would at least throw us a bone and have a choice of red OR white at communion.

Day 26 - Just Another Loss

As I sit here and write this post, you should be out celebrating your day of freedom. That is, a day without work if you work the usual 9-5 M-F. For me, it was just another loss.

Yes, I am a Michigan State Spartan and my Saturday's include watching the games with my "Chicago Family" at a respective bar. However, the past three weeks have been really tough on all of us. But you know what makes it all better? Hearing the other idiots on the street talk trash after they get nice and toasted. The best line I ever heard was between a Notre Dame and Michigan fan a couple of weekends ago. After Michigan had won, I looked upon the street to hear a drunk Michigan fan yell at a Notre Dame fan, "Oh Yeah! Well I want to have sex with your team in my mouth!!" That is up there with some of the best trash talk ever.

But as far as the post goes, it's Saturday... go out and play! I'm sure you deserve it! As for me, it's just a great day to hang out with good friends and think about what type of beer to drink at Oktoberfest. I'm thinking all of it.

Deep Thoughts for Saturday:

When life hands you a shot of booze, do it. I mean, it's rude to turn down a free shot.

Day 25 - The Long Weekend

Happy Happy All My Friends,

So, let's start from the beginning, shall we?

It all started 25 days ago when I was informed that my services were not needed anymore. Now, I know what most people will do in this situation. They will either get really pissed and yell or they will cry. Neither of these applied to me. As I sat there and listened to the 5 minute explanation of why my services were no longer needed, I was able to breath again. You see, I felt like at the age of 28 that I was going to literally have a heart attack. Now this is where America and especially corporate America might be in some trouble. In no way shape or form should a 28 year old ever feel like they are going to have to be put on a stretcher and be wheeled into an ER with a numb left arm and a heart beating (or not beating) in a crazy fashion.

I'm not to say that every job out there won't have its stressful moments, but listen followers (2 as of right now! Yay!), no career should ever do that to you. If it does, you may want to reconsider your priorities of getting that new LV handbag or that new 50 inch LCD TV as your meaning to work.

So, I was led out and went down that elevator for the last time (seeing that you need a badge to get past "security") and went outside and let out a sigh of relief. Now here's the interesting part... I still belong to the gym in the building. So you know what I did that day? No... I didn't cry, I didn't curse everybody's existence. No, I went directly to the gym. There will be more on my love of fitness in future blogs, but let's just say I had an extended work out.

In the following weeks, many thoughts and ideas have come into my head on what I would like to do with my "life" and where I will be going. These ideas will come shortly, as will the weeks preceding Day 25. However, for all those listening, my heart is once again back to normal. And you know what? Now I always take the stairs.

Deep Thoughts for Friday:

7 Day Weekend! Every Weekend! Now don't that beat all?

Day 24 - Starting

Hello World,

I stole that from Tiger Woods, perhaps you recognize it? If not, don't fret. Well, I wanted to start this blog about 24 days ago when I was let go from my previous position at my previous company. I won't name names, but my name is Aaron. That is all you need to know for now. I will begin my true adventure soon, but here is my deep thought (another steal from SNL, way back) for the day:

Deep Thoughts for Thursday:

Always remember to smile and say hello. You never know whose day you might make a little better by doing so.