The Unemployment Chronicles Chapter 1: The Strife of Brian

Since my weight loss blogs are nearing an end, what a perfect time to get laid off so I can start a new blog series - The Unemployment Chronicles! And what better a first chapter name than this - The Strife of Brian!

No Longer The Warming Voicemail of the Company

Reality hasn't set in yet, but I'm sure it will Monday when I haven't woke up from my 7:45 am alarm. Just to make sure that does not happen, that particular alarm was just deleted from my phone.

Or maybe it will be when I send my computer back to the IT folks via FedEx. I spent a part of my week making sure to email all those fun excel sheets that I used in this very blog space.

Or quite possibly,  it will be when I file for unemployment to start the hopefully short process of collecting those checks. I'm hoping that I won't have to receive more than a few.

One thing I almost forgot to do was change my voicemail to a more generic one. With my cell having been the phone number connected to Tango2s website,  I needed to have a company-detailed voicemail.  My warming voice lent itself to the voicemails of my old company.

The Next Steps

The past 12 days have shown that I have a great group of people around me that don't want me to be on the ground for long. Family and friends have been messaging me, asking me to provide my resume so they can send it to their networks. For this, I am forever grateful. Hell, there's even a few Facebook friends who I never met in person who are helping in my search.

I have had the pleasure of speaking with a couple of recruiters from unrelated fields,  and while neither call led me directly to a job, they both led me to the same conclusion: I need to have a clue of what I'm looking for before going all out in this search. There's no sense in rushing right away into something if it's not what I really want. 

Within reason, regardless, I will need a job of some kind,  but at this juncture, assessing my next steps is the way to go.

If any of you have your own unemployment stories, I'd be glad to hear them. I've gone through this before but I always welcome a good story or advice as it relates to the process (more so the success of escaping unemployment or how you may have coped with an extended layoff). 

If you would like to potentially help with my search,  I would be glad to send you my resume for you to send to your networks or even just constructively edit. Thanks in advance for your help.

This is the strife of yours truly. At least for now. Until next time, peace.

Looney Junes: My Crazy Busy Month from A to Z

It's been a hell of a month for yours truly. A little bit of everything has happened. A tour of the alphabet is in order....

Awesome girlfriend and cat family. I'm loving the new set-up and loving it even more with the loving g/f and cats that inexplicably entertain me on a daily basis. We've all adjusted to the new neighborhood quite well.

Bowling this summer. Our team has sucked so far this year. However, to start the second half of the year, we swept our first series. Let's see if this carries over into July & August.

Cell Dwelling at US Cellular Field. I've gone to a few games there this June, both unique in their own ways. I experienced my first-ever fog delay on a Monday night game when the White Sox faced the Blue Jays. I also attended the second game of a doubleheader on June 28th as the White Sox blew a 9th inning lead against the Indians.

Donations. Thanks to a last-minute pledge for money in my St. Jude/Warrior Dash efforts, I was able to gather a total of $1070 from my network of family and friends. I know those kids at St. Jude appreciate every single dollar donated. Thank you to everyone who donated.

Exercise. I need to find a gym soon or find new workouts to do. I don't want to regress to what I was before January 1st.

Fit Happens Champion. Over 30 pounds lost. Still have about 20-25 pounds to go before I'll be completely happy.

Game 6 - in both NBA & NHL Finals. Watched both in different venues (NBA at home, NHL at a bar). Each viewing experience left me shocked and reaffirmed why I love watching sports - the unexpected, unscripted drama that you can't get anywhere else.

Holding pattern. I had big plans coming up (trip to Seattle, new bowling league in Fall) that may need to be put on hold with the layoff. Hoping that I can find work quicker than the three months it took between jobs last time.

Ink for my computer. Yep, need some more ink. I had no idea what to write for the I portion of this blog, as you can tell.

Job search in progress. Yep, out of a job starting the end of day, July 5th. Any help would be much appreciated.

(5)K runs. I did my first one in quite a while on June 2nd. Fittingly enough with one of the guys who helped get me into shape. Thanks Chris. Going to try making them a monthly thing. Might hold off on this, depending on cost of 5K. Me needs to save some dough, yo.

Logan Square - love the new neighborhood feel. Moved here June 1. Love it here so far.

Mohawk. It may be short-lived, especially if I start to get interviews soon. I got it in dedication to my cousin Marilyn and the Warrior Dash run. Plus I look awesome with it.

Networking. It's the key that got me my last two jobs. It's exactly where I picked up when I heard the news of being laid off. So far, it has not produced results, but I have faith that my networks will be what gets me employed again.

Olivers. This remains my go-to suburban bar, particularly after bowling on Wednesdays before heading back to the burbs. I caught most of Stanley Cup Game 1 there, the end of Game 4, and always share good stories and good times with my friends there.

Pizza places. My favorite part of moving into a new Chicago neighborhood is to try new pizza places. I do miss Pat's Pizza, but there's a few good joints around here that I'm sure we'll enjoy just as much.

Quarterback Keeper. In less serious news (or more serious, depending on your level of fantasy football interest), trying to decide who to keep in my fantasy football league. Earlier in June, I was thinking Kaepernick. Now, I'm thinking Peyton Manning. I'm not sure how much longer Peyton has. I can keep either one of these guys for the next three seasons. Who would you choose?

Rear ended on June 14th. It was my second accident in a row where my car was not in motion when I got hit. Luckily, it was only a few minor bumps on the bumper. The guy who hit me offered to pay for my troubles, but I was not about to bother with that.

Stanley Cup Playoffs. Definitely the most active I've been involved with hockey in my life (from betting it to watching it). While I give bandwagon people a hard time, I have no problem with them. Bandwagons breed new fans of a sport, and that's never a bad thing - as long as people take the time to learn the sports they follow.

Trans mount. I needed a new one of these for my car (I couldn't tell you what a trans mount is or where it is in my car). I was about to get a new one and pay $400 last month at Firestone, but they didn't have one for my model car. Luckily they didn't - totally forgot about what was covered by CarMax and the warrant. Just got it fixed by CarMax for the low price of free.99.

Uncle Brian. Still is awesome to say. Will always be awesome. Every moment I've had to hold my nephew Brayden has been a fantastic moment. The last two times I saw him this month, he has been looking around and soaking in his environment. Can't believe he's already six weeks old.

Victory parade. I debated whether to attend the Blackhawks parade, but my parade experience in 2010 was all I really needed. Millions of people, with even just 5 or 10 percent of them drunk and an even higher percentage annoying, was not my cup of tea for this year's celebration.

Warrior Dash completed on June 16th. It was much tougher than when I did it three years ago. Glad to be a part of Team Carter.

eXcel Spreadsheets. As I was transferring files to my personal email before my work computer is taken away, I forgot how many excel spreadsheets I've worked with over the years. Many of my blogs had data stored in excels.

Year is half over. The year has flown, but it feels like this month has lasted longer than 30 days, as you can see by this blog.

Zombie Seinfeld. I caught this production on June 14th, right after the rear-ending. It was an excellent adaptation of Seinfeld that does not require one to love zombies (I can't stand zombie stuff) or even Seinfeld. Great job by Jeremy & Dan Eden, as always.

Time of Your Life...Me? Ehhh, Not So Much: The Contrast of Emotions While Watching the Hawks Win the Cup

It's a surreal experience. Everyone around you - all your friends having the time of their life, the best day of their year. Within a couple minute span in real time, Blackhawks fans went from pondering their Game 7 plans to figuring out who they are going to the parade with on Wednesday.

It's awesome to see all these happy faces. And yet, at the same time, you can't fully enjoy the moment. Not when you've had one of the shittiest days of your year.

It didn't start shitty, and by no means did I plan on having it end shitty. But the news I received mid-afternoon, that I swore to keep to myself as long as I could to risk changing the mood around me, could only be buried under so much cheap beer (22 oz cups my ass).

After surviving cuts at work at the end of April, I thought I might be in the clear for a little while. A little while turned out to be a couple months. I received "The Call" about my job being no longer once July 5th reaches its end. At this point, unless I am able to find a job, I will be without work.

I leave with no ill feelings - in fact, I still love the company and love the people that I worked with for my entire 35 months there. At this point in my life, it has been the best company I've worked for in my brief professional career.

Going back to Monday...I debated whether I was going to meet up with Jen's co-workers as planned for the game or if I was going to lay back and likely sulk/drown my sorrows with Summer Shandys. I flipped a few times (nah, the walk there ain't worth it >>> don't let this stuff bring you down, go out >>> you just bought beer, stay home >>> how often do you get to go out with people during the week?)

So yeah, I went out. And I'm glad I did, despite the microburst that hit right before I reached the bar. I had to run the last mile of the planned walk in my flip flops due to the pending storms, with the last couple blocks being completely aided by the unreal winds and storm that I had no idea were coming.

I spent the entire time at the West End (blocks away from the United Center) standing up, taking different shifts at the TVs that surrounded me. I shared my sob story with one other friend before the game (thanks Ruthie), but otherwise kept it to myself as to avoid ruining the mood. I didn't sob, but call it a sob story for the simple fact that it sure as hell ain't a laugh story.

Several people in the group saw my empty stare towards the end of the game, at which point I could no longer really hide the weight of my day. Once the game ended and there was plenty of time to celebrate, I told a few of them what happened. I appreciated their well wishes, as I did with the initial wave of people that I told earlier in the evening before going to the bar.

The striking moods - about as 180 degrees as there could be between a person and a group of people - was present in my mind most of the night, especially as the spurt of goals led to a sudden Stanley Cup win for the Blackhawks. It was fantastic seeing the people who I've known a short while and suspect very little to be bandwagoners to have such joy on their faces. A fan's sports team winning a championship never gets old, even if it's the second time in four years, so to see that joy is fun to see.

On the other side, there's this bum of a guy who just got some bad news, trying to enjoy the moment of his friends while burying the bone of the bad. If anyone has been in a situation like this, where you've tried to keep a happy face on a great situation with a group of people around you while masking something that pains you, I'm sure you know my ordeal.

Life goes on - I'll get on my feet quick. I have the right attitude and will get through this situation just fine.

For that hour or so at the bar, the contrast of my friends' euphoria and my brief realization of my fate (which hit just as the game was winding down) was quite the mental spectacle.

Thanks for reading and thanks to everyone around me for your future help (and current help).

Now What: Filling a 20 Hour Weekly Void

If they only had a Brain. Now- he's gone from the Center of Illinois Broadcasting and looking for stuff to do.

What a great past couple of days to wrap up my time at school. Social events with my classmates bookended between a graduation where the school's dyslexia was in full display in the above picture (name and internship both messed up). Today was a good recovery/rest day from all of the excitement and madness that has ensued from the past week/month. But when Tuesday comes around, what will I do with the 20+ hours that I will now have to myself?

Sports: There's been some amazing basketball being played right now, which should fill some of the void. I've missed out on the majority of weekday sports since starting school. Luckily, during that time, I did pick up a CrackBerry, which allowed me to follow the scores of the games I was most interested in (i.e. the games I bet on). I had a brief early season buzz with the White Sox, but I am more interested in the NBA playoffs at this point. I'm sure I'll go to close to a dozen ball games this summer with my friends. I thought about doing the Ozzie Plan with the partial season ticket plan, but I don't like the idea of going to a baseball game with one other person for 13 games (I'd rather go to 13 games with 3-4 people). However, I don't have the cash to throw down on 39-52 tickets with the risk that I can't sell some of the tickets. Hopefully, sports will fill some of the void.

Bars/Drinks: To watch sports, I will likely go out every now and then to watch the big games and just to get out of the house. I already know of one bar having Summer Shandy on tap (Olivers), so that may be my bar for the summer. I need to go to Wild Wings more. My boneless wing craving has not been met enough this year. The question with the bars/drinks option is: Will I be able to get anyone to go out with me on a somewhat regular basis? That is the $20K question.

Bowling Leagues: More bowling leagues you say? Yes- much needed in my summer life. Last year's summer league was the highlight of what was otherwise a dull/depressing summer. And with the main league about to end in a few weeks, I'll need to keep sharp in the summer. I may look to bowl two summer leagues.

Job Searching: With school now over, it's time to put this education to use better than I did with my previous degree. I have been given some websites to use for job leads in the video editing field. I'm gonna take a week or two to myself before I start looking.  Then it'll be time to start cranking out resumes and sending out my video editing demo in hopes of securing a gig. I'd like to get a part-time video editing gig to start if possible so I can keep my current job- which I do enjoy. If I do secure a part-time gig, I could see myself being a video editor at home- which means I'll need to score me a Mac and the new Final Cut program, which comes out in June.

Trips: A trip to Vegas is already set in stone, with a trip to Minnesota and Nashville, among others, on the horizon of being planned. These trips will help fill some of this downtime that comes from the ending of school.

I'm sure there's other things I'm forgetting, but luckily, it seems like I'll have a lot of potential outlets to kill the 20+ hours I will gain from not having school any more.

While it is bittersweet that we had to say goodbye to each other, it will be worth it for all of us ICBers in the end for the experience we went through together. It will make the future "Hellos" all the more sweet.