Just lost my job!

[Ramseybella]

Yup!

After 9+ years lay offs have been talked about for almost a year and I have been for the first time in my life been axed!!
So my income has gone from good to Zero and no health insurance!
Time to pull back on the stick boys, rethink my way of life and hit the unemployment line.
Have not seen that place since before computers when I was 20 years old.
After my wheel went on my Tenere in Moab that wound up costing me $320.00 for a rental car and $270.00 in labor cost to get it fixed.
This happens.
Any advice from folks who know the drill at 55?

 

[snuffcityrider]

Sorry to hear that and hope you find something quickly. I think about that situation often as the profession I'm in, is in constant turmoil. Best of luck to you!

 

[TXTenere]

Very sorry to hear.

What I can say, however, is that when one door closes, another one opens.

Stuff like this happens, but then in the end, we are always grateful because it leads us to bigger and better...

Good luck in your search.

 

[WJBertrand]

Yeah, my industry (medical devices) has been pretty beat up by the new healthcare laws and the medical device tax. Lots of consolidation, canceled development products across the industry. Med-Tech has been put in the slow lane, if not the shoulder, for new products and technologies. So far I've survived and hope to hold on another 2 and half years until retirement at 65. Not sure what industry you're in but hopefully it's one that is doing better overall than where I'm at.

 

[Slugo65]

I was laid off and it is not fun. My only advice is to hit the ground running and consider any and all possibilities that may work for you and your situation. Good luck!

 

[Bappo]

Sorry to hear that Ramsey. Any chance you can go up the hill and see what Los Alamos has to offer? I know they are hiring. Or Sandia in ALB, or WIPP in Carlsbad?

Those are places in my nuc world near you.

Sucks that you weren't given a retirement option considering you are 55. I have to survive for 2 more months till 55 and retiring starts beckoning.

Good luck!

 

[Ramseybella]

I live now in Los Alamos from Santa Fe since April.
Go figure, I thought moving closer after 8 years of 80+ miles RT would save money it did.
I worked as a sub contractor NDA work for the WIPP Contractor CCP on LA, you guessed it government work DOE.
Carlsbad cost of living has hit the roof with the oil going on in that God forsaken place, I know they need help nobody wants to live there.
But if push comes to shove I will pull the trigger.

I have some feelers out to some old friends..

Thanks guys no time to cry in my Beer!! ::008::

 

[jimmy z]

Sorry about your lost job.Im 58 and have been laid off due to lack of work with no call back so many times I cant number them.I am a tool and die maker.The persistent survive.I hit the streets runnin looking for work.Many of my coworkers viewed this as an opertunity to go out on unemployment. For most of them it did not turn out for the better.I grabbed a job for less pay but stayed relative to my field.Then I looked for better work.Sooner or later something better came around and I took that job.This scenario played out all my 40 years in this trade.I now have the best job of my life in my trade and that's how I stumbled onto it.Our area just took a huge hit in manufacturing,last couple of weeks.joy global(p+h) shutting down.G.E.(Waukesha engine) moving to Canada,I worked there couple of years,catepillar(bucirys erie) cutting 10k jobs total and last Thursday Johnson controls laid off 3k.My heart goes out to each and every one of these people. Best of luck to you,Jim

 

[Madhatter]

not a fun place to be. don't panic , it wont help. I was fired from a job 2 years ago (was a manager), first month I did nothing but try to relax, then I started to look for work. I was down to my last 200.00 dollars in my account when I got a call... I am now a peon employee making about the same as I was and none of the issues or pressures that went with management. every one I see is my boss now and its great. I have not even come close to losing my temper in the last 2yrs, my wife is marveling at how relaxed and stress free I am. the former job had me on about 24 hr 6 day schedual (would be at work 15hrs out of any 24 day) now its 7 to 5 Monday through Friday. and if there is Saturday work, they ask if I want it... wow, best thing to happen to me in a long time. I show up to work every morning with a big smile on my face, they think I'm crazy.... peace to you.

 

[Ramseybella]

I actually slept relatively dream/nightmare free last night in a long time.
That job was no way physically demanding but was a mental car crusher.
Along with my Micromanaging calculating manipulative boss that has everyone on edge with control due to this over a year shutdown we have been going through.
One of those guys that you would like to hang out with when you first meet him until I found out he go's to those Dale Carnegie seminar courses and then it all adds up. >
My wife has to have Cancer screening for the rest of her life kept the job this long for the insurance, but that changed not for the better after Obama care hit the streets.
Hell she looks better than I do for what she has gone through.

So as she says this may be a blessing... :-\

I do get severance pay if I sign the paperwork from the Spanish inquisition the usual legal stuff, so I have no choice come out of my mouse hole bow down and take the cheese.
The feeling of being rushed and out of the office after that long made me feel cheap, I was like "What no going away lunch like the other guys before me"?
Time to move on for sure just need to get that institutionalized prisoner feel out of my system..

 

[Dogdaze]

Hey Ramseybella, I wish you lots of sleep filled nights and good luck with your job hunting ::008:: As you say, at least you get severance pay, sometimes they try to get rid of you for some kind of BS like misconduct and you get zip! My wife says I'm lucky that I have a 'job for life'....... or until the kids get old enough not to need me, the pay sucks though and I don't get severance ::025::

 

[Ramseybella]

Just to make things short my name is Pete!!
My user name has been with me for years just made it up out of frustration trying to think of a password, and it just stuck.
Thanks guys..

 

[Vanderwho]

BTDT. 2002, IIRC. I survived four rounds of layoffs, then my turn came. I spent nine months working in my "backup field" -- police dispatching, which I did a fair amount of when younger -- before getting back into IT.

Persistence and a sense of humor, difficult though it may be, are your friends...

Good luck!

 

[stutrump]

Good luck Pete. Hope you find something soon

 

[Bappo]

My old boss is the new #2 big boss at WIPP and another boss is heading down in 2 weeks to be #3 boss. I can put out a feeler if you want. I know they want someone for training as my current boss talked to me today about how I liked Carlsbad. I wasn't interested though.

We are looking for QA Techs right now. Is that you? Would be Idaho though.

Bappo

 

[CentralCal]

Sorry Pete.

At 55 we've all been thru a lot. Glad to hear your wife is better. That's what's important.

The days of life time employment and solid retirement are long gone.

I don't have any good advice, just what the others have said.

Sounds like you feel guilty about spending the money on the bike repair but who can forsee the future.

But I do know that a good ride on a great bike helps me clear my head.

 

[Madhatter]

Pete, no one worked harder or was more reliable than me at my former place of work. and when this happens its like a kick in the gut.. that is normal to feel what ever you are feeling, and its ok, to a point. it acts like acid reflux, don't want that coming up. in short when things happen emotions happen. allow your self to grieve this loss. and it is a loss. we men tend to wrap our selves up in our careers and that is a lot of who we are, and you just lost part of who you are. just don't let bitterness or negative things take root. I would use the presidents name but he doesn't deserve any respect (his claim of a robust economy is crap it seems every where but in central texas) you may have to be open to relocation, Austin is very nice and lots of jobs here so far. get sleep, fatigue seems to magnify the negative stuff and feeds the stress. peace to you.

 

[Ramseybella]

You are so correct Madhatter!

I am Re wiring my brain for life on the street again after all these years of Rat in a maze procedural thinking!
It's not an easy process and I don't have much time to do it.
My two close former co workers are trying to help me find something and I don't want to fail them or myself so that is a good thing to have such friends.
I just need not to panic I have done many sorts of jobs in the past including 25 years of Culinary cooking, but the knees won't do it anymore.
It's also a job of the art, glory and self gratification to create and delighting the customer but these days not a very good income.
I do have to turn in the beggars choice paper work to get the Cheese ASAP and forget about the past and leave it up to Karma and God.
On the other hand my other Co worker that him and I had thought was going to be hitting the pavement along with me was offered a job with moving expenses included to Idaho falls after I was told nothing was available.
I guess I won't want to work for this bunch again. :

 

[Madhatter]

not working for that bunch will be the biggest blessing in time. take the cheese, its your money. when they gave me the offer of cheese, I said yes and nothing else. I wanted to scream lots of colorful invectives , but kept mouth shut. the cheese will give you some time.

 

[Checkswrecks]

I know a mid 50s woman who was suddenly facing unemployment from the hospital she worked at for 25+ years and she kept going on about how little she had, would need to work till she died, etc.
While it sounds weird for somebody going on unemployment, somebody referred her to a financial planner who helped her really sort out what she had and would need from a new job. She more than she realized, they worked out what beans to put where and how much she'd need to make. She did find a job with more income than what the planner said she needed and even though she won't be able to retire for a long time, she suddenly has a plan and target and that alone has changed her outlook.