Chewing On Unemployment...

Today, like a machine gun going off, I received four messages from four separate friends living in four different cities with the announcement that they were currently, devastatingly, heartbreakingly unemployed. (They were also working for four different companies in four very different industries).

And I think that is when it hit me like a ton of bricks: we are in deep, deep shit. As Wanda Sykes says, "We are deep, DEEP in debt. We are one paycheck away from moving back into Momma's house." When I sat and listened to Barack Obama's speech Tuesday night, it was full of hope and a promise of change with the warning of, "It's gonna take a LOT of hard work and it won't be overnight." And I reacted like, "Oh yeah, sure, I know, of course...!" without thinking about the real impact of what that means. But now I got a little taste of what it means. It means that my four friends who stayed at their jobs for 5+ years each are now facing unemployment and a total crap job market in the worst time of the year when budgets are spent and their severance package is lower than they hoped. It also means that people who have jobs right now are truly, incredibly lucky. It means shit is going to be really, really bad before it gets any better. Oh, and according to the news right now, it also means that California state tax is going to skyrocket to be above 10%. Awesome.

So here's my deal right now: No more spending on dumb shit. I'm going to start aggressively saving again, because this shit is fucking bananas, and at any moment, at any time, this whole thing could go to the crapper. Also, I need to get my act together and learn AS3 because dammit, if that's the one thing that's holding me back from getting this huge account, I am a dumbass for not doing it.