Just a quick one… December 11, 2007
Posted by Keiran in : Work , add a commentFinally got more info. My last day here will be February 8th. That works out nicely — I'll have work for the next 2 months, then one week after I'm laid off is time for my vacation to LA. That week before going out of town, I can file for unemployment, so I'll have some kind of income while I look for a new job and try to go through vocational rehab. And, since the layoff date is so close to the vacation date, I don't have to worry about trying to get time off at a new job. I should get a severance package including having 3 weeks of vacation time paid out, so I'll be fine on money for the vacation. (Plus, I'll be getting my tax refund shortly thereafter. Whee!)
Still a little grumpy at the idea of having to find a new job, but I'm glad that I finally know when it happens. And I"m glad that it worked out perfectly that I don't have to cancel my vacation. 
ETA @ 11am – I am starting to get incredibly pissy. I'm finding out that because we were notified prior to 60 days that we were being laid off .. we likely will not get any kind of severance package. And, because there is no written policy in place (that I'm aware of) they very likely can get away with not paying out our vacation time, either. Since the layoffs at the beginning of the year, lots of people jumped ship. But I was a loyal employee, staying with the company, having faith it could be turned around. And I get screwed because of that. Gee. Thanks a lot.
ETA again @ 4:15pm – Apparently enough people have been asking questions about whether or not we will get severance packages, that they are supposed to be sending a mass email about them (and hopefully vacation time payout) either later today or some time tomorrow. Cross your fingers for me, please!!!
There's no way to know when I'll live my last tomorrow December 10, 2007
Posted by Keiran in : Work , add a commentThe weather sets the mood perfectly today. It's dark and grey, a nasty misty haze everywhere. The cold front finally moved in, so that extra chill in the air just puts the cap on the depressing mood of the weather. To make it even more fitting, that mist was beginning to turn into rain as I pulled into the parking garage at work, waiting to find out how much longer I'm here for.
That's the part I'm hating most — the freaking waiting. I've been here for 5 hours now, and I still don't know any more than I did when I left on Friday. Consensus seems to be that we won't find anything out until closer to the end of the week, and that makes me crazier. I just want to know how much longer I have my job, so I can make doctor appointments, and make sure I've got the medication I need, or am off stuff that's not as needed; since I won't be able to afford most of it when I'm unemployed. Most of the stores know how much longer they'll be open, so they are more informed than those of us here at corporate!
One of the amusing things though — the old head honcho of my department is actually back here as a consultant for the company that bought us/is closing us down. He popped in to see us earlier, just to say hi. It's nice to get to see him again, even if it's under these circumstances.
I'm pretty good, though, other than all the depressing unemployment crap. That MRI I had on my knees a while back came out ok – nothing torn/broken/etc. There was a lot of fluid on the knees, and the doc was pointing that out to me in the scans, as well as the arthritis. Final diagnosis was that I managed to severely wrench my knee. It's pretty much better now, most of the problems I'm having with it are my normal arthritis ones. I'm still having issues with my heart, they haven't been able to get the extra beats under control. I'm headed back in there this afternoon for a check up. While I'm in there, I need to let him know I don't know how much longer I'll have insurance, so we need to come up with a long term plan, since I won't be able to go in every few weeks like I am now. Ugh.
Mom's citizenship test is this coming Saturday. She's getting more and more nervous the closer it gets. We've been over all her documentation a few times now, making sure she has everything she needs to take with her.
The owners of the building our offices are in are having their annual Christmas treat for the tennants today. They've got tons of cookies and sweets set up, different drinks, and a violinist playing. Someone in line joked that we had our very own violinist to play as the ship sunk. haha. It is ironically fitting, though.
The rumor's true, I got the news, they're closing up the doors December 7, 2007
Posted by Keiran in : Work , 1 comment so farIt's finally happening. We are officially closing up shop. It was announced today at 4:45pm that the company has been purchased by Gordon Brothers, who will liquidate the corporation.
I have no idea how much longer I will have a job — I assume I will find all that out on Monday morning. (My guess, I could be out of work as soon as Monday, or as long as 2 months from now.) The company & stores will stay open through the holiday season, but there is the possibility of immediate layoffs, since some departments won't be needed any longer (for example, I would assume that we would not need buyers any longer, since we won't be buying new products).
I've been with Comp for over 9 years now. I'm hoping the severance package is halfway decent… if we even get severance packages at all. I have absolutely no idea what I'm going to do once I'm officially out of work. Thanks to recurring tendonitis in my arm, I cannot type as fast as I used to be able to, so I can't really get another data-entry based job. I have no clue what I want to do, since I can't do that. And since I don't know what I want to do — that makes it a little difficult to start looking for a new job. haha. 
I do have a wonderful friend who is going to help me update my resume, once I find it. I can't say I'm sure I know where it is — after all, I haven't needed a resume in 9+ years. haha. I am more than likely going to go on unemployment for a little bit while I look for work. I'm also going to look into Vocational Rehabiliation to see if I qualify for that. If I do, they can hopefully retrain me/find me new areas of work I'd be qualified for, since I can no longer 10-key. That would at least help me figure out what lines of work to look into.
I'm in a fairly mellow mood at the moment. Since I got confirmation that the rumors were true, I've gone through a few cycles of emotions — surprise, relief, disappointment, shock, depression, etc. Even though I've known for quite a while now that this was on the horizon — it still stings now that it's actually going to happen.
Ugh. I am SO not looking forward to the whole process of applying and interviewing and crap.