**Disclaimer: This is a repost from this summer. I did not get laid off again.**
Day 1
Today I filed for unemployment. Actually, I tried to file last night but apparently you have to file during regular business hours even on the internet.
To receive benefits you have sign up for Virginia Workforce Connection, which means you basically put your resume on their website and tell them what kind of job you're looking for and then... well, I don't know what then. I guess they help you find jobs. I don't know.
I also have to check in with them every Sunday with the information on at least 2 places where I applied for work that week. I can see why they might need to do that for some people. People who don't really want a job, just want to milk the system, but it's kind of insulting. Actually, I'm not so much insulted as annoyed. This is just gonna be a huge pain in my ass.
Besides applying for unemployment, I also applied for two jobs. One was working for the local distributor for Netflix. The other was for an Assistant Manager position at PetSmart. And I will say nothing more about this in case either of these employers read my blog. All I will say is that I am confidant that I would make a fine addition to either of these fine establishments.
So aside from the job-hunting, I also had to deal with the fact that Blackboard has decided to un-enroll me from my online course again for no apparent reason. The Help Desk told me to ask my professor why she dropped me, but since she didn't seem to know anything about that when I emailed her, their second guess was that it had something to do with my Financial Aid and that I should ask them. So I did. Still waiting for a response.
Other than dealing with the administrative issues involved in making my life work again, I watched three hours of 'Fringe' followed by three hours of 'Alias.' I was in a J.J. Abrams kind of mood I guess.
This might be the only entry in my 'Adventures in Unemployment' series. We'll see.
2 Weeks In
I'm really getting used to doing nothing. I've gotten a handle on the boredom problem. I'm not even sure if I'm capable of feeling bored at this point. It's like my brain is in hibernation.
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| Kinda like this. Only minus the couch. |
Yesterday I watched 4 hours of 'Tabitha's Salon Takeover.' I'm really starting to get into procedural dramas on TNT.
It helps that I've started to spend about 50% of my time sleeping. I sleep until 1 or 2 in the afternoon because I literally have nothing else that I should be doing.
I finally worked up the motivation to clean my apartment for the first time yesterday. I was out of clean dishes and the layer of shed cat hair on the floor was starting to look like a fluffy, grey carpet.
It took about 3 days of mental preparation to get there. What's the point of getting anything done when you can do it tomorrow... or the day after that... or the day after that...?
At this point, my entire world revolves around getting my Sims character to level 7 of the Athletic Skill so she can get promoted to International Super Spy and what I'm going to have for lunch.
About a Month
I'm pretty sure I've been out of work for about a month. I'm not really sure because it's starting to feel like my life has always consisted of sitting in my apartment having 'Battlestar Galactica' and 'Dollhouse' marathons and going to my parents' house every other night. I think they're getting sick of me but are just too nice to say it.
More than ever I wish my apartment had more than one room. Possibly with actual doors separating them. As things stand, I literally spend all day in bed. Because my bed is also my couch. And my dinner table. And my desk.
Furthermore, I feel like my cats and I need to go on a break. Every relationship needs some time apart. Olivia is far too needy and it becomes less and less adorable as the weeks go on.
I need time constraints in order to get anything done. I've had a basket of clean laundry sitting, unfolded, for days. I'm running out of clean dishes again. I miss the structure of having only two free days a week. One day for chores and one day for whatever I want. Back then, spending all day doing nothing was a reward for a week's worth of getting shit done, not the status quo.
Today I was proud of myself for getting out of bed before 3pm and remembering to write my rent check.
Adventures in Employment - 4 Months In
I have re-entered the world of gainful employment. I have a respectably well-paying job that challenges me mentally and comes with Health Benefits and a 401K. I'm still not quite sure what a 401K does, but I have one.
I have a desk with two lovely beige cubicle walls attached to it. And the walls come completely with two - TWO! - clips I can use to hang decoration of my choice.
I have a fine collection of multicolored post-it notes, highlighters and pens that I never use and even a shelf! Which currently holds three attempts at origami and my bobble-head Storm Trooper.
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| (not my actual cubicle) |
So, all in all, I'm feeling pretty damn grown-up these days.
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