Today is a New Day

The past few months have been a little crazy, but now that things are turning around it is time to post about it.  In January, I was living my cubicle life on the 3rd floor of a building in Richardson, TX.  I was spending my time thinking about my wife being 5-6 months pregnant with a bump of a belly growing every day.  It's a Friday so things are pretty good, then my supervisor comes by and asks me to come with her.  I'm thinking maybe it's time for the yearly evaluation or something, but we're headed all the way to the first floor... that's strange.

We go into the little area just to the right of the building entrance (if you were walking into the building), which is where the local HR department lives.  At this point my very slow brain is sure something is up.  Oddly enough after sitting and waiting for a minute or so, my friend Belinda comes out of the room with her supervisor.  As I head into the room she just left, I see my boss and an HR rep.  Yup, that's right folks I've been surplused.  Looks like I've got 60 days to find a new job in Cingular or be prepared to walk out the door.

Are we having fun yet?  I had already been looking outside, so I really wasn't very inclined to spend time looking inside.  Also I had my big final capstone thing for my Master's degree to worry about.  Something I'll have more to say in a bit, but for now let's just note that it took place smack in the middle of my last 60 days.  Besides worrying about the school stuff, I started the fun process of checking job listings every day and applying like crazy to any job that looked promising.  Some days were pretty stressful, but oddly enough I stayed pretty positive.

So the final day at Cingular crept up on me.  I did enjoy my last few weeks walking around the block with the ladies on my row and going out to lunch with friends.  Those same ladies ("the girls" are what I usually refer to them as) and others were kind enough to pile packages of diapers in my cube, while Belinda (who, BTW, was being laid off too but found another position one floor down) deftly distracted me by letting me tag along to the break room.  The friends I made while working at Cingular will be what I miss most... them and the Xerox copier that prints on both sides plus staples.

By the last day I had interviewed at a couple places and put my application in at many others.  My best prospects to date had been a job with a big company where a friend worked, the corporation that my Step-Mom-In-Law is a VP at (or at least one of the sub-companies), a job right here in Grapevine just off Main Street where a friend of my sister's works, and a job for Tarrant County College (TCC).  None of these jobs worked out though, as they were all filled by other people or the openings just didn't materialize.  Not to worry though, because I still had faith that everything would be fine.

Turns out my Mom had a curious dream not too long before March 28th (my last day) that encouraged her to look up an old friend working for the City of Euless.  She went to lunch with said friend who heard that some jobs might be opening up with the City.  Strangely enough for all the City, School, and other local job listings I had been looking at, the one place not on my daily watch list was the City of Euless.  Don't know why it wasn't, but now it was.

A Computer Specialist job was the posting that intrigued me, not quite what I was looking for but it would have been a nice change of pace.  Also I was really hoping to work for a City again, as my tenure with a giant soul sucking corporation (no offense, and please send the very nice severance check :-) has left me with a desire to serve and give back to my community.  I applied about a week before time was up.

Turns out the Computer Specialist job wasn't the only job coming up.  On my last day at Cingular, I decided to check the Euless listing again (had no reason to since I already applied, but I did it anyway).  Low and behold, a new job was listed.  Web Designer, which really is a perfect fit for my skills.  I spent my final afternoon re-filling out the Euless application (as you can't save what you fill out).  A manager even stopped to ask why I was still hanging around, but I was using my time wisely... also I had to give the Xerox copier (also a printer) one more spin!

To try wrap this up, it's been just over 2 weeks now and after a couple very nice interviews I got word that I start working again next Monday.  That's right, I'll be the new Web Designer for the City of Euless.  Time to break the khakis back out and get the cat hair off my button-up shirts.  Thanks for all the support, well-wishes, good vibes, and prayers... but don't think you can stop.  A new job is nothing.  I've got a bigger challenge just around the corner... baby Katie is less than 2 months away!!!