Well, sometimes fate takes care of things for you

[dr4b]

I was laid off today! woo!

Well, on the plus side, I don't have to go to Utah next week.

On the minus side, I have to go find another job for real now.

They laid off like 8 people from the east office and 22 from the west or something. Kinda wacky stuff, that.

Eli came to WB and helped me pack up everything and now I am home.

Hmm... now what? Blah.

It was a funny thing, I was really chipper during the announcement meeting and all, and even in the part for an hour afterwards where they made us sit in a room because they didn't want us "wandering around the company destroying things". And i had a good attitude about packing up the office with Kristie watching, and Eli was so nice to come help me pack up and all, and then I went to say goodbye to a few people, and Fred and Avi were out to lunch and I saw Josh and said how I'd miss him and we'd have to get together and play video games sometime and he gave me a big hug and told me he'd miss me and asked for my email address and all, and then I just started crying on the way out of the office. I didn't realize I'd actually miss anyone, but I feel really sad that I couldn't say goodbye to Avi and Fred. I guess I already kind of said goodbye to Cat the other day when I told her I was thinking of leaving and all, but... sad sad. Hopefully I will catch Avi and Fred on AIM sometime.

Well, shrug. So are any of you in the position to hire an XML/Perl/Java geek any time soon?

Comments

[mh75.livejournal.com]

Hey,

i'm sorry to hear you got layed off. That sucks.

I am, however, thrilled for you that you don't have to go to Utah. Plus, this means that you don't have to be bothered with questions like 'should i quit?'. Yay!

I hope you're next job is better.

feel free to send resumes to Seattle. If you get an interview, i'll give you a place to stay. and Eli too.

[chite.livejournal.com]

Sorry to hear it *hug* I hope you get to keep in touch with some people

[ralphmelton.livejournal.com]

As I said on zephyr, I'm not sure whether I should offer condolences or congratulations for your layoff. I hope you find a happy job soon.

[madbard.livejournal.com]

Laid off, schmaid off. Think of it as a looooooooong weekend.

Seriously, sorry to hear that, of course. But: If you were unhappy with your job, then perhaps getting that nudge will be a good thing in the long run. Sounds like you have a valuable skillset that should make it reasonably easy to find gainful employment elsewhere.

[cellio]

Argh. Well, at least that ends the "should I quit?" debate for you. And you don't have to go to Utah. :-)

Ironically, just last night I told Dani that he should try to recruit you. (He doesn't read LJ as far as I know, so he doesn't have all the up-to-the-minute information.) I'll nudge him a little harder now.

I'm still bummed about the answer from MV, myself. :-( Working with you again would be way cool!

[indigodove.livejournal.com]

Sympathies and congrats all at once. Good luck -- I am sure you will find something quickly :-)

[ssaiscps.livejournal.com]

Ack, that sucks. That building is cursed, I say, cursed!

[seanmcguire.livejournal.com]

I understand somewhat - when I was laid off at esgear, it was actually a huge relief in a lot of ways.

I'll look in Seattle to see if I can find anything for you, though I imagine you'd prefer to stick with Eli until he's done there...

[dr4b]

oh, that would be cool. thanks.
It would have been cooler to work with you again at MV, but it sounds like Dani's company does somewhat interesting stuff, at least.

[dr4b]

yeah, it is.
I feel worse for the people laid off who have been there since JPRC. They've even had the same exact offices for years now, didn't even move when JPRC went under.

[dr4b]

I could work remotely in Seattle from Pittsburgh and you could work remotely in Pittsburgh from Seattle and... :)

no, I would love to hear about Seattle openings, and I bet Eli would too - then we could come visit there together and look for jobs (since he'll have to do that soon anyway).

This is the reply to Megan's remark up there too.

Hey, cool. I have time and a travel voucher. I should go to Seattle anyway...

[dr4b]

yeah... one of the guys in question actually sent me an AIM while I was gone this evening like "hey, we'll have to hang out and get a drink for a 'this sucks' party, I was really sad to hear you left". that also made me feel better.

it's funny, like I said, I really only cared about a few people, but like any friends, it is sad to leave them.

[happysteve.livejournal.com]

I couldn't decide whether to offer condolences or give congratulations. So take whichever one one you want.

Feel free to send my company a resume if you want. Although I think I remember you shooting down that idea many years ago.

[dr4b]

well, it is more that I am very unlikely to ever move to Chicago...

Re:

[chite.livejournal.com]

Yeah, when I got laid off, many of my friends were too, and the crappy thing is I didn't have email addresses for any of them! It's taken me months to find some of them, too.

[jcreed.livejournal.com]

Who besides Huan was an element of that set?

[dr4b]

Huan, and Matt...

[fiannaharpar.livejournal.com]

Well, at least it's over. Hopefully, this just means that something better will be coming along soon :-)

[tesposit.livejournal.com]

Sorry to hear about the layoff. I dodged that bullet a week ago. I don't see anything here for you, especially since you are more technical than the tech writers here. But there may be something in the Ed Systems division for you. They are currently expanding. But that would mean that you have to 1. learn how to drive. b. move here. Let me know if you are interested.

Good luck!