Hello Good Circle friends,

 

I thought I would give you an update on life as we head towards the big holiday. I finally got over my cold after 6 weeks. I guess I'm officially old. My wife is doing fine and busy with work.

 

Some sad news to report. I was laid off  from my recent job on December 6th. Me and 5 other people. The company I work for is actually a pretty good company but they lost some business recently. They do retirement coverage for some BIG companies and when the big companies cut back so do they. Thyseen Krupp went bankrupt and Guardian Industries was sold. You can google them if you wish. We had a company Christmas lunch yesterday. The owner was very kind and forthcoming. He said it was a sad day for him. His first layoffs in 20 years. he was sincere. He said they had hired a firm to bring in new business in 2016 and that firm failed. We have no sales team currently. He said they have hired a new firm for 2017 to generate new business. They will see what happens. Its a tough business and its just big companies buying other big companies(his words). And the little guy starves.

 

They agreed to keep me and the other laid off people on board until December 29th. A decent gesture as to not totally ruin our Christmas. I was told I will also get a severance package but after working here 3 months  it aint gonna be much. There is a small chance I could be brought back but it wouldnt be for quite a while. So it will be back on the job trail in January.

 

It is becoming exhausting. This job may not have been for me anyway. It is a 10-11 hour day door to door. My body is capable realistically of doing 5 hours days and I push to do 8 hours. 10-11 hour days is just not what my body is capable of.

I did learn some things in this short journey. I was able to pick up some pretty complicated duties and tasks thru one on one training. So I suppose I can still do it. However, I was asked to complete some online training that I had trouble learning. I had to complete three long HIPPA courses and take a test. I took notes and went over it several times. You have 3 chances to pass the test with a 70% score. It took me 3 times. I failed the first two. That has me having serious doubts as to whether my brain can learn a online or taught related class with a lot of info to take in without doing it.

 

There are times I wonder if I should just give up on working. But I will press on.

Wife was very mad for a few days about this but has been fine lately. She knows this case was not MY fault. I was in the right place at the wrong time.I dont know if she pities me or loves me. Some of both I guess.

So I cant say it will be a great Christmas in this year.  A great deal of uncertainty. All I can do is keep going and keep believing.

I hope all have a good Christmas with their families. I will be resting up for the next mountain climb.

Any feedback and support would be much appreciated.

 

Martin