Yank: Part 2 – Settling of the dust.

Continued from yesterday’s post:

My head was swirling. Another change. 18 months ago, I embarked on this journey, not knowing what it would entail. During those 18 months of being alone, I’ve undergone tremendous growth as a person. This is not to say that I’ve acquired any special powers, but I sure have learned a lot about myself. Solitude, not loneliness. I am so thankful for that time. You cannot imagine how valuable it has been.

Regarding that statement about the company giving us 3 or 4 weeks to look before giving us our 2 week notice, well, it turned out that what they really ‘meant’ was that we would have 3 or 4 weeks … period. So, after 1 1/2 weeks, we were given our 2 week notice, which expires on March 17th! As it turned out, we found, they were going to make the end date March 12th, but the manager was out of town, but then again, they owed us nothing. It was a nice gesture.

The week of February 22nd was a foundation week, a week of new beginnings. The four of us sat in the chilly, windowless, florescence of the aXiom lab. This large, sparsely furnished, unused lab was to be our home for the next 3 1/2 weeks. The interesting thing about the lab is its name. It was named after the very project that is currently sinking into the mire, dying. There were big hopes, now, unused space. More than likely, this lab will remain unused, desolate, except for it being used as a way station for developers on their way to other destinations. Hopefully there will not be many more to follow!

Occupying about 1/4 of the lab sat our 4 desks. Two of us on the left, two on the right. Here is where we sit trying to put the pieces back together, sending out resumes, searching job boards, helping each other, comparing resumes, trading phone numbers of recruiters, offering practice technical interviews for each other, and trying to make light of the situation. Each of us with our own situations to consider. One, his wife pregnant and due around the middle of May. Another, having just moved his family here some 4 months ago to be closer to relatives. Me, having started a life here but wanting to go back home.

We also grasped for little nuggets of information, gossip, and anything that we could piece together to make sense of non-sense. Over the week, we constructed a plausible story based on what we ‘knew’. Certainly, this would not make a bit of difference, having that knowledge, but, sometimes you just want to know. This story was later confirmed by our soon-to-be-ex-manager.

Unfortunately, and I really hate to do this, this part of the narrative must remain vague for reasons that I’ll be able to explain later, if you’re still interested. Things are working out well, but things are still in the works. I’ve got slightly less than 2 weeks remaining, charging an overhead number while I continue to look for a job However, fret not dear reader, things are looking up again. Soon, I’m sure you’ll see a post titled something like, return to the 704! (Charlotte area code). If you can’t wait to find out what happens, e-mail me! paul at paullesterphoto dot com.

Related posts:

1. Yank: Part 1
2. Settling and recovery time
3. Settling in
4. Doing my small part.