Last Day of Unemployment...

...and I wish I could say I was going out with a bang, but that's just not the case. Why, you ask? Well, largely because I didn't get around to finishing my Loyola essay earlier this week. Why, you ask? Well, kids, the best laid plans... My intention was to wrap it up yesterday afternoon. That was until John called to inform me we needed to be out of our apartment by September 30. Please note, we moved in June 1. Whaaaaaa....?

They are converting our rental building into condos, and this requires a major gut rehab. If you've seen our place, you know. I love living here (or, rather, I loved) but it's not the kind of place you buy, unless you're cool with a dishwasher circa 1979 and windows so thin the trains on the L set your schedule. But, our sweet management company did a bang-up job of under- and mis-communicating the situation to us, since we first received a notice saying the building is going condo (good luck with that), but our lease will be honored. Several more follies ensued, but I'll spare you the details.

We didn't go overboard purchasing decor for the apartment, but Home Depot got some serious cash out of us as we built a custom microwave shelf, added hanging bars to closets and assisted in preserving the structural integrity of this building. Add to that moving expenses, man-hours cleaning the place (ever seen black mop water with nail clippings in it? Yea, that bad), and an army of friends who carried our crap (Tom has a very strict one move, per friend, per year policy, as he told us already) and it's just plain annoying that MTD Management doesn't believe they owe us financial recourse. We'll see, my friends, we'll see.

Tangent aside, today, last day of unemployment, will be spent finessing an essay. Then on Monday, I return to work. I don't know where I am sitting. I'm not sure what my title is. But, I think I know to whom I report. Small victories, big dance.

In the end, I guess the joke is on the former company. They generously gave me three months' severance, laid four and half months of unemployment on top of that, and now, the prodigal daughter returns. It would have been a bit more fun for me had I known the ending, but I guess that spoils the plot, doesn't it? It's been fun. And emotional. And stressful. And educational. And I think I need to share my learnings with others. So, the plan is to try and write a short book on what to do when you're laid off. We'll see if it makes it past the idea stage.