The view from my lunch table during my hour-long break from work.

Tomorrow marks one month since I’ve started my new job.  After being unemployed since the end of spring, I am quite thankful to be working full time again!

I work in Van Nuys and have an easy commute on the Metro Red Line and Orange Line.  I live 8 minutes from a Red Line stop and my office building is literally right at an Orange Line stop.  It’s a very busy area with lots of businesses, and as such, lots of fast food places.  After spending about 3 weeks eating junk and wasting money, I found a park 2 blocks away and now spend my lunch hour at a picnic table eating food I brought.

My position is basically e-commerce and website management for a small company that sells products on 3 separate websites.  Two of the sites are bicycle motors and related bicycle parts.  The other site sells outdoor advertising targeted towards business owners.  My responsibilities include managing online inventory, adding new products to the website, creating new web pages and graphics, and online marketing such as Google AdWord campaigns and email blasts.  So far, I have been extremely busy.  Except for lunch, I am basically working straight from the minute I get in at 9 until I leave at 6.

I have been adding a lot of new products to the websites, a task that includes taking and editing photos for the products. I’ve also had to go in and make updates to many of the current products.  At the same time, I’m trying to make sure inventory levels are accurate so we don’t sell something that is out of stock while monitoring affiliate emails, wholesale inquiries, AdWord campaigns and our various product feeds on sites like Shopzilla and PriceGrabber.  There are other things I have to do, such as customer newsletters, company blog, new site design, and a Black Friday campaigns that I have gotten around to yet.  Like I said - extremely busy.  I usually leave work exhausted.

To make matters worse, I leave work after 8 hours of coding, come home, walk the dogs, eat something, and then it’s back to coding on side projects I’m working on for myself. I’m currently trying to learn MySQL and get a better grasp on Javascript. I’ve noticed lately that my vision has been getting blurry and thought my prescription had change. I even went in for an eye exam.  Turns out that I’m just spending too much time staring at small text on a computer screen.  I’m trying to be more careful and give my eyes a break now and then.  Sites I use to go on all the time, like Digg, Facebook, and Twitter, are hardly on my radar anymore.  I also barely blog now as you may have noticed.

I enjoy being busy but I already feel as if I already need a vacation!  I’m going to welcome “going” to work tomorrow.  It’ll mean waking up and moving about 10 feet to my computer.  I’m designing a 2-page magazine ad for some of our products.  We don’t have Illustrator and Photoshop at work so  I get to stay home and do the work here.  Yay! I hope I’m able to get most of it done tomorrow.  The deadline is the end of the week - gulp!

Okay, that’s it for now.  I really need some sleep.

So I’m sitting around on a cold, drizzly Sunday night thinking about what I’m gonna do for dinner. Go out? Order in? Or heat up something that’s been lingering in the fridge. It’s a simple decision, but I don’t really have the energy or desire to make it.

As many of you (my friends who are readers) already know, I got laid off on Friday. I’m okay. Mainly because I had a feeling it was coming with this economy the way it is.  There had also been changes in the office that aroused my suspicions. I was one among several who had to pack our stuff and leave Friday afternoon.

I’m not upset about losing my job. I am hurt by the rejection. Rejection always stings, despite it not being something personal. I’ll get over it, sooner than later, but it still blows. I’m not in oh-my-god panic mode; I have a bit of savings that should last me 3 months if I were to stay unemployed that long, and I definitely do not plan on being unemployed that long. However, many of my friends have been laid off and the vast majority are having a hard time finding work, so perhaps I should be worried. I’m just not there yet. I have always had success finding work; I have a great set of skills, extensive experience, and I interview rather well. It’s not even that I’m a perpetually positive or optimistic person, rather, I’m just not much of a worrier. Let’s hope it stays that way.

So what are my plans? Well, I was going to hit the ground running, but on the advice of a few friends, I’m going to ease into it.  I’ll put my resume up on the major sites like Monster and Career Builder, and I will check out the listings to see what the market is like in my industry.  I also need to buy an “interview” outfit.  I can’t believe I don’t have any dressy clothes, but I guess that’s what happens when you live in Los Angeles.  But I just got laid off Friday so I need a bit of a breather before I am ready to interview, maybe a week.  Hah, I just realize how optimistic I sound, as if I expect to be interviewing next week despite the bad run of luck many have. Who knows?

Anyway, it’s taken me about 3 hours to write this blog entry. I’ve been multitasking, walking away from the computer and coming back.  I actually ate already; we called for pick up from the Peruvian seafood restaurant across the street.  I got steak, shrimp, rice and fries. It was delish. I have also been sorta watching the Grammys though it’s almost over now. I should go to bed soon. I have a dentist appointment tomorrow.  Figured I might as well get what I need done completed before my health insurance expires at the end of the month.  I also, quite reluctantly, have to go back into my old office at some point because they neglected to sign my severance check! In all the turbulence of being laid off, I didn’t even notice that it was unsigned until I got home.  What I did notice is that about 37% of the check was deducted because of taxes - how insane is that! I’m sorry Uncle Sam, I know you’re having a rough time too, but I definitely need the cash now more than you. Grrrrrrrrr!

Anyway, I’m going to check Craigslist again to see what’s out there and then it’s off to bed to dream about fun times at the dentist tomorrow.

A typical conversation I had today when I asked if an absent coworker would continue to be out for the rest of the week:

Me: “Does anybody know if — is going to be out for the rest of the week?”

XXX: “Yes. He’s out today.”

(Huh?)

Me: “Well yeah, we all know he’s out today. So you’re saying he’s out for the week?”

XXX: “I don’t know if he’s out for the week.”

Um, okay. Riiiiiiiiiiiiiight.

So what was the quick “Yes” in response to? Sadly, that happens all the time.

Some people have a very hard time admitting that they don’t know something. There is nothing wrong with not knowing an answer; admitting that you don’t know something doesn’t make you look bad. Quickly giving wrong or made-up answers just to give an answer, however, does.

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Our annual Christmas Party, this year being held at The Melting Pot.

Woohoo! A press release I wrote is live and has been picked up by industry sites:

Globat.com Gives Holiday Bonuses to Web Hosting Affiliates

It’s been a while since we’ve put out a press release. I quite enjoy writing them.

On an unrelated note (well, related to 2 or 3 posts down), I put on my gym shorts, made coffee, and am sitting here enjoying the breeze and sunshine from my open balcony door. I doubt I’ll be going to the gym. Oh well.

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