Lacking Options

I promised I'd stay up to date in regards to the lay off.

It's still coming.

It hasn't been prevented.

As much as I wanted to write a letter to the CEO on how it doesn't make financial sense to lay us off, pay us severance, hire and train completely new people in the same position but in a different area of the country - I didn't.

It's just too late now. And from what I understand they've already made the selections or are in the process of hiring my replacements.

Sick.

So, I've half assed the application and interview process. And the reason being is because I haven't found a job in my "sweet spot". I haven't found something that 1) Has a good commute 2) Pays me a similar amount as to what I am earning now (or a little less) 3) Gives me a solid work life balance (meaning not working over 50 hours a week) and getting off before the sun goes down every night.

And the other reason why I haven't put my full effort in to it is the high likelihood that we'll be relocating down to Charleston during the 2nd half of this summer.

It's hard to take anything seriously when you know that in a couple months you'll probably be leaving anyway.

But the tough part is - if we do end up going to Charleston (which looks like it's 80%+ going to happen) I don't know if I'll have a job down there.

South Carolina was ranked 3rd or 2nd highest in unemployment. That doesn't bode well for an Pacific Islander from out of state. When we lived down there I'm pretty sure I counted 4 other Asian people that I saw. And I am also pretty sure that at least half of them were tourists.

It's not that I have an offer up here. Yes, I have had a few interviews. And now I'm just in the process of waiting. But anything I do get an offer on - if I do get one - I already feel luke warm about. They're jobs that I can't even feel good about - jobs that I'd only be working to pay the bills.

But that's what people like me do when we have bills. We find something that will pay them. And I can always find a way to focus on the good parts of my job too.

So that's it. That's where I stand right now. I almost don't want to get any offers on positions up here because I don't want to make the decision any tougher. Either way I know I'll be back to Seattle sometime in 2010 if we do go to Charleston, however whether or not I'll have a job is another story.

The ideal situation would be if I could find a job with the wife's company down in Charleston and when we get placed back here I could continue working for that company. However, I've also thought of the possibility of finding something up here before we leave and being able to work from here while she works in Charleston. Yes, it's not ideal but it shouldn't be longer than a year and I can take a trip every few weeks to visit her.

Everything is a bit of a mess right now. If I get to thinking about it too much it becomes a bit of a drag, especially knowing that the economy is hurting too and a lot of other people out there in much worse situations than mine are going through the same thing.

I'm sure I'll have an update for everyone over these next 6 and a half working weeks. Yes, that is the amount of time before my lay off day - July 31st. It seems like just 2 weeks ago I received the announcement. Time flies even when I'm not having that much fun.