Rant #1,786: Love Is Not All Around

As could be expected, this was not a good weekend for me.

I thought, and I thought, and I thought some more, about the onslaught that is happening at work, and really, I am between a rock and a hard place right now.

As I stated in my comments on Friday, two more long-standing employees of my company were lopped off on Friday afternoon. The two of them totaled about 50 years of experience with the company, and now they are gone, just like that.

And the arrogance that the two higher ups are displaying is disgusting at best.

We have yet to have a company meeting, yet to have anything but what amounts to "Dear John" letters from them, and they are carrying on as if it was business as usual, and nothing has happened.

To add insult to injury, today we have to move from one building to another, and they have yet to provide anything to us to help us move the stuff, like boxes or a handcart.

They have truly laid the groundwork for the end, and we just have to try to put on a good face and take it.

Me, I am doing my best with this. I have a resume, I have sent it out to a few prospects, just to test the waters, which in spite of what our leaders have told us, is not good for new employment, in particular for someone who is approaching 60 years of age.

I have also checked into what I can do with my 401K and pension plans, and I still am investigating the possibilities.

But at least I still have a job, still have a paycheck, at least for the time being, so yes, I am scared, but I could be more scared if I didn't have the job.

My only contacts, really, are those I have built up during the past 20 years in the industry I currently work in, so I really can't contact them right now, because there could be a backlash if I did, which would not sit well with my current superiors.

People have given me a lot of tips on Facebook, where I posted my resume, too, as well as on professional sites.

It is glum, it really is. I honestly don't know where to turn, and this is all happening leading up to the happiest season of the year.

Yes, I can say it, and I will: woe is me!

But I have not given up, not at all, although things look pretty bad right now, and they just don't look pretty bad, they are pretty bad.

I am going to try to put on a good game face at work, I am going to try to be pleasant, but at the same time, I am going to be diligent about the process of finding another job.

The retirement age where you can obtain full benefits is 67, I do believe, so I have about at least eight more years of work in me before I can retire, but of course, like most of us, I really can't retire, because I will need the income and I will need the medical benefits.

It is rough, really rough at this point, and as I said, I don't know which way to turn or what to do next.

But I will chart a course for myself, and take that path, whether it is a good one or not.

Having been there, done that two times in the past, I truly know that I really don't have much of a choice, do I?