…in bed.
Monthly Archives: March 2015
Age Before Beauty
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It was around 3-4 weeks ago that I had a mishap at home that resulted in me breaking three ribs. Very, very painful… second worst pain I’ve ever felt after kidney stones. However, I’ve been taking it easy… following doctors orders (for the most part) by not lifting anything or being too aggressive in activity using my torso for stuff. Bottom line; I’m healing up.
I drove into work yesterday morning and arrived at the same time as James, a 71 year old fella who works in my department. It snowed overnight and no one has shovelled the stairs and concrete pad yet.
As I’m walking up, James busts out the snow shovel from just inside the door and starts shovelling his ass off.
Now, I can’t walk past and let a 71 year old man clear snow from the whole works by himself when I’m a solid 39 years of age. So I grabbed a second shovel and cleared the majority of the area so that he wouldn’t have to do much. However, with my ribs in this state… I’m paying for it now. Hello Advil and beer. I’d do the Tylenol 3’s but I can make do otherwise. I think.
Dude. That ain’t right.
Holy crap.
I’m realizing that I haven’t updated the Official NJLE™ website in over SIX MONTHS. Wow, that’s my epic failure. It’s kind of bizarre how much things can change in such a relatively short (or relatively long, depending on your perspective) period of time.
The NJLE has always been kind of sliding by; on the brink of both wild success and brutal failure. However, in the past couple of months… it’s become glaringly obvious that belts are going to have to be tightened and things are going to have to change up in this bitch. See, everything in this place… surrounding us, in Canada? So much of it is affected by the price of oil. The whole world is affected. But here’s the trend:
In the past year, the price of oil has dropped off to a staggeringly low price that affects the entire world.
Anyway, the main source of income for the NJLE is related to the price of oil. “On the outside” your highness is an engineering desk jockey for a company servicing the oil and gas sector. With this downturn, the NJLE GDP is taking a forced 10% hack-and-slash and a deep, deep round of layoffs that’s going on at my place of employ as a reaction to the global economy.
So, I have to look at my options. I think I’m relatively ok for the next month or two from a layoff perspective…. maybe. After that? All bets are off. I’m looking at possible opportunities elsewhere however, given that layoffs are rampant in my industry right now, I think it’s unlikely that I’ll find something after I get punted. So… I’ll have my five figure layoff payout. Low five figures, let’s be clear. Very low.
And then? If I don’t find another job? It’s EI for yours truly… and that’s something that I know very little about at this point. It’s terrifying to me to not have a job. To not be able to provide.
Terrifying.
Anyway, the future is not known to me. Maybe shit will turn itself out just fine. Maybe not. I am not Nostradamus of some wizened prognosticator. I’m clinging on to this moment, taking life day to day. Because that’s all I can do right now.
Alas, I Am Alone
For some reason, it feels more intimate to write a post on my phone than it does on my laptop. When I sit down at my laptop to write now, I feel like I need to write some kind of an epic post. Something either smart or funny or insightful… but not something sort of informal and off-the-cuff.
Stupid, I know.
I have a bizarre relationship with the written word write now when combined with public access and my own honesty. I got burned, so… once bitten, twice shy. And the bite changed me forever and stole something that I used to love so much. The ability to openly write without fear of repercussion.