My final severance check from my ex-yob direct-deposited itself into my life today, and it's officially the largest check I've ever seen except for the down payment on my house. And, *this* check is moving the *other* direction. :)

It's also the *very* last money I'll be getting from my former employer, my only real source of income for nine years. This was my deadline for getting hard core about finding new corporate employment. I'm not going to stop working on any of my other business ventures, but I recognize that it's unlikely they'll be paying all my bills in time to keep me from brokedom.

I still have fantastically cheap insurance coverage through the company at least until the end of march, for which I am profoundly grateful. Riding the scooter without insurance is not an option, no matter *how* broke I am.

Thanks to everyone who made the Office Space party such a success! We had almost exactly the predicted number of people, and all the food that I made was annihilated. The movie was freaking killer, and it was wonderful to see it for the first time among so many great friends. I'm glad I waited until getting laid off to see it. I really appreciate the various kinds of help I got preparing and with food and drink. I'm not a very experienced host, so I need all the help I can get. Apologies to anyone who went unintroduced. Things broke up pretty quickly after the movie was over.

When: Thursday, November 13, 8:30PM
Phone: 512-789-8768
Where: Casa Blue, 2501 Berwyn Circle
Map

In the nine layoffs I've survived as a corporate hamster, I had two talismans. One was a fortune cookie on the nametag of my cubicle saying "A cheerful message is on it's way to you." The other?

The other was Office Space.

When I heard about how good and apt it was, I vowed never to watch it until I quit my job, or my job quit me. On 2:30 PM last Thursday, my hamsterhood was terminated.

Please join me this Thursday at 8:30 PM to watch the movie about what our lives have become, on a projection screen with full surround sound. And bring some alcohol. You might need it.

Pizza and snacks will be served, along with my now infamous Green Tea ice cream.

Our entire US team got axed today. After hearing about troyisburning's recent shaft, I'm grateful for the fairly dignified treatment and decent severance I got. Now that it's over, I'm significantly less stressed than I was before. I'm sure I'll be ok, but naturally it's shocking to be without a steady paycheck for the first time in nine years.

I've always felt that large corporations' tendency to can their employees just in time for Crossmas to be grimly appropriate. I have good reason to believe my company will be laying people off in my department soon. After surviving more than 10 layoffs since working there, I'm no longer willing to head trip about whether it will happen to me or not. In my mind, I can make a good case for why it could be me every single time, and it's never the same story twice. The chips will fall where they fall.

When Office Space, filmed partially in Austin, came out, and I heard about how great it was, I decided that I *wouldn't* see it until I either got laid off or quit.

If it's time to see it, it will be time for a party.