Living On The Edge

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I feel like I should write something right now. There is almost so much going on (and most of it is shitty) that I don’t know where to start. 

Sadly, a lot of it is work related. My employer is laying people off like mad right now and has been for three months now with no defined end in sight. No one really knows who will be next, when will they stop, what the end game is. Everyone is on edge and morale is in the toilet… swirling, swirling, swirling away. 

The reality is that the majority of companies that have to layoff a significant portion of their employees don’t do it this way. If they have to layoff 200 people, they do it all at once. One day. It’s like tearing off a band-aid; quick pain but then it’s ok after that. The people that are left can just get on with their lives and jobs. 

In Alberta, Canada however, if you lay off 50 people or more in a month, you have to report it to the provincial government and it becomes publicly very messy. Maybe it’s like this elsewhere, I’m not sure. The law surrounding corporate layoffs isn’t my forte. 

Anyway, it’s basically been 150 people laid off so far? I haven’t been keeping a running tally, I’ll leave that to the wraiths in HR. Our office has downsized even further by opting to transfer people to other offices too work on other projects to keep from having to lay them off. And there has been some attrition from the older folks in the office saying, “fuck this shit” and deciding to retire. Also, some (not many) have found employment elsewhere and just quit. 

One might say, “Why don’t more people do that? Who needs to go through the agony of long-term protracted layoffs?” 

I’ll tell you a little story about our friend, Mr. West Texas Intermediate and how sad he is because his price on the open market is very low. The industry I work in and the entire local economy revolves around Mr. WTI and when his price is low, end user companIes lose their minds and throw the emergency brake on all spending. Have you hear the phrase, “shit rolls downhill?” Yeah, me and the company I work for? We’re downhill. Me and every other Joe Shmoe who works for a company below the end user. So there are not many jobs left to jump to and the competition is strong for the few jobs that are left.

I have no idea if I’ll have a job at the end of the day tomorrow or next week or the week after that. Frankly, I can’t even look that far into the future. I’m taking it as fact that I’m going to be laid off and that it’s just a matter of time.

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.

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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.

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

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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.

Embrace The Suck

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So I know that I need to update this more frequently. I have things that I can share. And share I will.

I put in an application for a new job this afternoon. I’m excited about it because it isn’t the chaos and insanity of my current job. I don’t mind my job; often my job is very interesting. However, I’ve grown to hate our client and that is probably not the best feeling to have when you ONLY have one client. And it is taking a personal toll, so I think I need to move on.

Can I put in an online application for a new spouse somewhere? Because I think I need one of those too. YEAH, DIVORCE MOTHERFUCKER!!

In other news, I’m sick of having to trim my nails. I’m not saying that I want to grow my nails long to defy gender stereotypes… I like having short nails. I just hate having to do the upkeep to keep them short. Constantly, I have to clip all ten of my fingers and all ten of my toes and it is a pain in the ass. (Now, I just re-read that and I think I may be admitting I’m super lazy. I’m not sure.) Maybe part of that pain in the ass that bothers me most is the hunt to find the goddamn nail clippers. Maybe.

Back to work for a second; I have to work tomorrow morning… pull some overtime. And I’m going to end up missing Man U beating the shit out of Swansea… kick off at 8:00am local time. And Arsenal kicking the shit out of Crystal Palace… at 8:00am again. And Chelsea pumping Burnley like they were the prom queen in the back seat of a rusted-out Trans Am. Just at 8:00am and in England. With bad teeth. And maybe in the ass.

 

Dogma

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All we want is a headrush
All we want is to get out of our skin for a while
We have nothing to lose because we don’t have anything
Anything we want anyway…
We used to hate people
Now we just make fun of them
It’s more effective that way
We don’t live
We just scratch on day to day
With nothing but matchbooks and sarcasm in our pockets
And all we are waiting for is for something worth waiting for
Let’s admit America gets the celebrities we deserve
Let’s stop saying “Don’t quote me” because if no one quotes you
You probably haven’t said a thing worth saying
We need something to kill the pain of all that nothing inside
We all just want to die a little bit
We fear that pop-culture is the only culture we’re ever going to have
We want to stop reading magazines
Stop watching T.V.
Stop caring about Hollywood
But we’re addicted to the things we hate
We don’t run Washington and no one really does
Ask not what you can do for your country
Ask what your country did to you
The only reason you’re still alive is because someone
Has decided to let you live
We owe so much money we’re not broke we’re broken
We’re so poor we can’t even pay attention
So what do you want?
You want to be famous and rich and happy
But you’re terrified you have nothing to offer this world
Nothing to say and no way to say it
But you can say it in three languages
You are more than the sum of what you consume
Desire is not an occupation
You are alternately thrilled and desperate
Skyhigh and fucked
Let’s stop praying for someone to save us and start saving ourselves
Let’s stop this and start over
Let’s go out – let’s keep going
This is your life – this is your fucking life
We need something to kill the pain of all that nothing inside
Quit whining you haven’t done anything wrong because frankly
You haven’t done much of anything

Someone’s writing down your mistakes

Someone’s documenting your downfall