Anyone who may have strolled by this poor little blog sometime ago may have remembered that in April I was informed that my position with my former company (about which more later) was to be eliminated. Despite my efforts to find another position in the company, I joined the ranks of the unemployed on August 30th.

Between the time I got the bad news and the day I handed in my badge, I worked hard to try to land a suitable situation with another company. Unfortunately, openings in my field were non-existent. Nor were my efforts to find a job outside my field immediately successful. I had two phone interviews with one company, but they decided that despite my distinguished accomplishments, they didn’t want to take a chance on someone without experience in that field.

Late in August, I got a call from another company for a position I applied for online. On September 10th I traveled to Houston for the interview, arrived at the site the next morning and found the lobby dark and everyone leaving: Ike was due to make landfall in a couple of days.

Three weeks later, another trip to the Bayou City. The interview went well, I thought, but being of a naturally pessimistic outlook, I thought that, again, they’d want someone who exactly fit the bill. By the time I got back to the airport, I got a call that they were offering me the job. Needless to say, I accepted. I started on December 8th, having spent the intervening time working to start getting our 140-year-old house on the market.

Sadly, right now I’m by myself. My lovely bride is still up in beautiful Morrow, Ohio (the garbage dump of Warren County) until she can find a position in the Houston area, which could take some months. This will be hard for both of us, but we’re mature enough to be able to handle it.

While still with my former company, some of the others whose jobs were to be eliminated were asked to stay on until the end of the year. This was more than a little annoying, since I myself would have liked to do the same. Yet it was a blessing in disguise that I left when I did. Of all those at my site to be cut, I’m the only one to land another job. And that was because I: 1) took a job well outside my primary experience and industry; 2) took a pay cut to do so, and; 3) was willing to relocate. With our delightful economy, God only knows what would have happened had I not been able to focus my energies on job-hunting!