Monday, August 6, 2012

So I should have started writing this blog when our company went out of business and I was laid off. But I didn't and I'm now writing this in retrospect, which probably won't be as acuurate as I would like it...  But I actually didn't realize that there were benefits to being unemployed, which at 6 months and 7 days I feel like I have a lot to say. Maybe it's just looking backward and connecting the dots to where I was then, and where I am now and how much I have changed. I like to call all of this The Real Unemployment Benefits, that have nothing to do with money, or filling out those awful employment search forms; it's just about trying new things, meeting new people and trying to help in ways that you never thought you could.

I'm going back to January 31, 2012.
At work, our partnership dissolved because of unfortunate circumstances and the company went of business. The last day at work was Jan 31st, 2012. I was working for a Film Producer and he couldn't keep me on any longer. So along with my colleagues, we packed up our offices and all applied for our Unemployment Benefits. I was very thankful to have at least that. 

February 1st:
February 1st pretty much sucked. It hits you like a rock because you realize that you don't have anywhere to go in the morning. It's weird, it's odd and then after Feb 1st goes by you say, hey.-  I finally have some time to relax and do things that YOU want to do. So I thought about that a lot.  Where haven't I been in LA that I have always wanted to go?  Well, let's do those things. And one of the rules that I set for myself was that, no matter where it was in the city, I would have to try and make everything that I was invited to or go places that sounded interesting no matter how far the drive.  Since I live on the West Side of LA, I typically turned down going to any events passed Lincoln. Yes, traffic bothered me that much.