Well, it's happened. -- We are now part of "them"
Elvis lost his job on Friday.
The upside is, I've been planning for this day. We knew it would be happening, we just didn't know when. Six days before Thanksgiving.... . *UGH*
Because I am me, the Frugal Domestic Goddess, the Yule gifts are taken care of already. I made most of the gifts, or managed to get the lowest possible prices on things I can't create (like a certain book by a certain author Diva has fallen in love with). There may not be a lot of gifts under the tree this year, but the tree is little and the thought behind the gifts is immense.
Thanksgiving is set. I wasn't planning anything BIG, a 14 lb. turkey, stuffing, baby peas, cranberry sauce, croissants, and gravy for dinner with apple and pumpkin pies for dessert. I'm going to be stretching that turkey a lot farther than ever thought imaginable now.
Elvis and I are going to defrost and inventory the chest freezer, the pantry, the assorted "where on earth are you planning on storing THAT" places I have shoved the stockpile in to and see exactly where we stand on Sunday. I already knew where the finances stood and we will be okay. We have to be.
On Friday, when he walked in the door at 9:30am... I knew. I knew that there was no more preparing. We had to put in to practice everything I had been running scenarios on. If you could bottle the adrenaline I was running on, you could retire in luxury! Friday was all about pulling it all together, calling the insurance company, calling friends who may have some leads on jobs, calling unemployment.
Unemployment.
Elvis busted his backside for that company for nearly 5 years. Heat, holidays, hurricanes... Blizzards, bullsnot and bassfishes (trying to keep it PG here people). According to the Unemployment rep. Elvis has to wait to talk to an adjuster in FOUR WEEKS before they will even consider his claim. That bassfish who took over the office is a corporate puppet. Nobody has been laid-off since he took over. Nope, he worded it as if he was let go because of performance. I find it odd that only the high-level/high-pay guys were suddenly "failing" and being let go. When the first was let go, we were in shock. When the second-in line was pushed out, we started to become lemeurs. We knew there was a target on his back... he had recently gotten a promotion, and with it, a raise.
So, here we sit. An unemployed family of 3, in a recession, during the holidays when jobs are already scarce.
He's put in applications to all the competitors. He is more than qualified for everything he put in for. I'm hoping that (shhhhh) calls on Monday, so impressed with his resume that they want him to start right away and offer what he was getting at the last job.
His "fall-back" job isn't looking very promising right now. In the past, they have provided the work van... they still do, but they are all taken. I doubt anyone is going to leave anytime soon. New hires have to use their own van/truck/SUV. If you remember from my other posts... Elvis drives a Yaris.
He will call them on Monday. It's not the job dreams are made of - 6 day work week, pay for own supplies, have to buy your own tools, get paid by the job but you can also get 'charged back'. No set hours, no set pay.
It may not be perfect... but it's a paycheck, whatever the amount may be.
Keep your fingers crossed that when he calls on Monday that the listing on their site is wrong and there just so happens to be one company van in the parking lot just waiting for him.
