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Ok, so here's the long story.
I have been planning a trip to California now for nearly two years. My girlfriend and I are coming up on our 2 1/2 year anniversary, and we're an international couple...she's in Australia, I'm in the US. Due to bad timing/poor circumstances, we haven't technically met in person yet (though, I've met her parents in person...weird as that was).
Anyway, on Oct. 1st she's supposed to fly into San Diego. I'm leaving a couple days before hand to drive there and pick her up, then we're going to spend two weeks doing all the California stuff- Disneyland, Universal, Redwoods, LA, Hollywood, etc. before driving back home and spending another two weeks here locally- hang out with friends, do the tourist thing, etc. As I said, we have both been planning and saving up for this for two years now.
So everything's planned, half the trip is already paid for, and we're coming down to crunch time.
Then, on the 8th- on my day off ,no less- my boss and manager call me at home to let me know that they've just gotten word that more than HALF of my department is being laid off.
And guess who is one that got the shaft.
Yeah. Apparently they went by seniority because the four people they kept are the only four senior to me, and my productivity and performance reviews have been top of the department for the entire 12 years I've been here.
They tell us we have until Nov. 7th.
Again, I have a huge trip I'm leaving for on the 29th and I'm not returning to work until Nov. 3rd. I REALLY want to stay with the company so I've got applications in for transfer positions (my boss is really trying to advocate for those of us who got shafted and want to stay) but of course, I'm going into panic mode. I've got a physical disability (I **need** my medical insurance), not to mention Aspergers, which makes it difficult for me to do certain things and I need some amount of flexibility in my schedule.
Not to mention I have this huge trip, a mortgage, and we were **hoping** to start immigration to get her here provided this trip goes well.
So I talked to my girl and we decided we'd only do the first week in California (the expensive part that's already paid for, nonrefundable) and then come back here so I can be available for interviews and such.
Today, I decided...screw it. I'm not planning on applying for outside positions until the end of October anyway, in case I don't get an interview with one of the (now three) positions I've applied for with the company. ALL of the positions I've applied for here have out of state managers, so if I get an interview it would likely be a phone interview anyway (which I can do in Cali). Even if not, my company is very accomodating with phone interviews. I can bring my laptop and still keep an eye on/apply for internal positions the entire time I'm gone.
Financially, we're getting a bonus we just found out about in October anyway, I have more saved than I had budgeted for, I get 11 weeks of severance if I DON'T find another position by the 7th, and I qualify for unemployment after that if need be. Financially, I won't have to start panicking until the New Year and I can keep applying and interviewing even after that. Regardless, I won't end up on the streets at any rate...worst case scenario, I have to sell my house and move in with my folks temporarily. The ONLY thing I'm worried about is the medical insurance.
And we deserve this trip, damn it!
So, yeah. I've decided I'm throwing caution to the wind, and we're going to have our full trip as planned.
Here's hoping it doesn't come back to bite me in the ass!
I have been planning a trip to California now for nearly two years. My girlfriend and I are coming up on our 2 1/2 year anniversary, and we're an international couple...she's in Australia, I'm in the US. Due to bad timing/poor circumstances, we haven't technically met in person yet (though, I've met her parents in person...weird as that was).
Anyway, on Oct. 1st she's supposed to fly into San Diego. I'm leaving a couple days before hand to drive there and pick her up, then we're going to spend two weeks doing all the California stuff- Disneyland, Universal, Redwoods, LA, Hollywood, etc. before driving back home and spending another two weeks here locally- hang out with friends, do the tourist thing, etc. As I said, we have both been planning and saving up for this for two years now.
So everything's planned, half the trip is already paid for, and we're coming down to crunch time.
Then, on the 8th- on my day off ,no less- my boss and manager call me at home to let me know that they've just gotten word that more than HALF of my department is being laid off.
And guess who is one that got the shaft.
Yeah. Apparently they went by seniority because the four people they kept are the only four senior to me, and my productivity and performance reviews have been top of the department for the entire 12 years I've been here.
They tell us we have until Nov. 7th.
Again, I have a huge trip I'm leaving for on the 29th and I'm not returning to work until Nov. 3rd. I REALLY want to stay with the company so I've got applications in for transfer positions (my boss is really trying to advocate for those of us who got shafted and want to stay) but of course, I'm going into panic mode. I've got a physical disability (I **need** my medical insurance), not to mention Aspergers, which makes it difficult for me to do certain things and I need some amount of flexibility in my schedule.
Not to mention I have this huge trip, a mortgage, and we were **hoping** to start immigration to get her here provided this trip goes well.
So I talked to my girl and we decided we'd only do the first week in California (the expensive part that's already paid for, nonrefundable) and then come back here so I can be available for interviews and such.
Today, I decided...screw it. I'm not planning on applying for outside positions until the end of October anyway, in case I don't get an interview with one of the (now three) positions I've applied for with the company. ALL of the positions I've applied for here have out of state managers, so if I get an interview it would likely be a phone interview anyway (which I can do in Cali). Even if not, my company is very accomodating with phone interviews. I can bring my laptop and still keep an eye on/apply for internal positions the entire time I'm gone.
Financially, we're getting a bonus we just found out about in October anyway, I have more saved than I had budgeted for, I get 11 weeks of severance if I DON'T find another position by the 7th, and I qualify for unemployment after that if need be. Financially, I won't have to start panicking until the New Year and I can keep applying and interviewing even after that. Regardless, I won't end up on the streets at any rate...worst case scenario, I have to sell my house and move in with my folks temporarily. The ONLY thing I'm worried about is the medical insurance.
And we deserve this trip, damn it!
So, yeah. I've decided I'm throwing caution to the wind, and we're going to have our full trip as planned.
Here's hoping it doesn't come back to bite me in the ass!