As a general rule there is no good time to be unemployed, however just as my last day became in stone my wife’s Asthma which had been pretty much under control flared up something horrible to the point where she ended up unable to function without multiple nebulizer treatments and a bunch of new perscriptions.
She ended up home sick for a week and it turned out I was very available to help her and keep an eye on things.
If you’re going to lose a job that’s the time to do so.
Last week I had three job interviews and a job fair. This week coming I have a 2nd interview at the job I want the most, and two other jobs that I can move to the “next step” on. I have also not double check availability on a third position that a friend clued me into.
To say that this is a huge contrast to the 13 months with only a single job interview during the Obama years is the understatement of the year.
Apparently it’s a buyers market for Job seekers, even in Massachusetts.
How good is the market? I went to one interview last week for a national company that has local warehouses. The job itself seemed pretty straightforward although requiring a bit of physical labor and the pay is very good it unfortunately is a 12 hour shift FIVE days a week.
If I was turning 43 on Monday instead of 63 I think I would have jumped at it as that would have pretty much doubled my pay and put all my debts in order in no time. It’s the type of job a young guy who wants to buy a house should rush to grab. Being an honest bloke I told the interviewer that I don’t know if at 63 I’m physically capable of a 5 day 12 hour shift that ends at 5:30 AM anymore, but if I found nothing else I’d certainly consider and would like to be kept in mind on that basis.
We shook hands and I headed to the exit and out the door into a pouring rain, when I was half way to the car he literally came running out into the rain calling me back. I presumed I had forgotten something but instead he mentioned that there is an opening on that shift for a supervisor and that while I might not be physically able to do 5 days 60 hours of serious labor I might be able to do those hours as a supervisor. He urged me to apply for that position.
That’s one hell of a boost to the ego when it comes to self worth, but it also illustrates the difference in the job market when a 63 year old guy gets chased into a rainstorm to be asked to apply for a job.
This week I’ve had a lot of time to be with DaWife, cook for DaWife and go out to eat with DaWife but due to the weather have not had time to walk and it goes without saying that the physical aspects of my previous employment are not taking place.
I found myself dreading weighing myself as I suspected I had put a bunch weight back on. I had gone into my final day down needed 2.2 pounds to complete my diet (down 51.1 out of the 53.3 goal). Today I weighed myself fully expecting to be outside of the five pound window and having to go hard, but instead found myself 3.8 pounds from completing my died (down 49.5) which is basically in the 2 pound range that I’ve been for a couple of week as those final pounds to officially end my diet just won’t go.
It was a pleasant surprise but I have to make sure I don’t get comfortable with it. That’s the danger.
Speaking of danger there has been one thing apparent over this week.
I’ve done the math & figured out that if I we work to age 70 both my wife and I can retire off of social security alone & cover all our regular bills and still go out several times a week without an issue while reserving all we’ve saved for retirement for special things, maybe a day trip or two, perhaps some season tickets to the woo-sox, maybe another quilting trip etc etc etc.
As I’ve mentioned before I’m the son of depression era parents with a father who served in World War Two and the grandchildren of a bunch of folks who were born in Sicily in the 1800’s with very little to their name who came here 120 years ago for a better future. I find a life spending the day with my wife at home, cooking for her, maybe hitting daily mass, punctuated by a few dinners or breakfasts out & shooting the breeze with strangers at a lunch or dinner counter while reading a book to be a pretty nice life.
I don’t need big flashy trips, expensive stuff or anything else much. I know enough about history to understand that a nice quiet life with a few comforts is all a person really needs.
Alas this week I’ve had a preview of that life and I REALLY like it, however I can’t have this life until I work another seven years to get it, so it’s no time to be lazy about finding work, however comfortable this time living off a severance package and unused vacation time seems.
It’s a trap & I have to make sure I don’t fall for it.
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