The Plan

When I first moved to California the goals were:

1) Make enough money at a start-up to provide a cushion for lulls in employment.
2) Have wife get a job to provide benefits.
3) Transition to working as a contract engineer (or temporary employee).

Four years ago I went through another company shutdown, had a mortgage but got 8 weeks severance and took the 1st job I was offered. I had played basketball and fantasy football with new boss, 50 of my co-workers were also going to Tellabs, my commute was only going to increase by a mile, it really was a no-brainer to take job because there were really only 3 companies hiring in Petaluma at time.

Working at Tellabs was very frustrating and I did not last a year. I liked all my bosses on a personal level. Tellabs had only recently acquired AFC so there were a lot of integration pains. At this point less than 10 of the 50 remain so it was not just me that could not cope.

The Sam Adams commercial says it all: "Enjoy what you are doing and you'll never work another day in your life".

Shockingly during my 1st month of unemployment my online poker play decreased. I remembered an old post (maybe 2 blog's ago) where Chad talked about playing poker all day had gotten him fat and out of shape. Would hate for that to happen to me.

It is a sad statement of American fitness that I am not obese enough to compete on The Biggest Loser but have decided to follow their lead and focus on getting fit during this period of unemployment. Right now given a choice I would rather lose 50 pounds by June than find a job.

Yesterday rather than going to apartment gym I went to 24 Hour fitness where there are leg press machines and squat racks. Yesterday legs were too hot for long pants and there is still a nice burn today. But it feels good.

Now I will head out for my walk and spend time contemplating what kind of job I really want next. Lot of parameters to work through with regards to company size/age, full-time or contractor, or even design vs. applications engineering.

All I am sure of in job search is I would not turn down Google.