The Month That Was - July 2021

Another month of madness.  I was given the news that my day job position is (effectively) being moved out of the U.S. after nearly 28 years.  I have been given a termination date in the near future.  It sounds upsetting, but don't weep for me.  I'll get a decent severance package and there is the question of how many years I have left anyway.  More below. 

Overall I have a sense that my life is about to move to a new phase.  I'm not sure what that phase will entail or whether it will be better or worse. It is more than a little unsettling.

As much as I thought I was done with my manuscript, I didn't act like it.  I went through it one more time and found a few minor things to fix.  Then I found yet another problem; one of historical timing of events.  I have more original writing to do now. Sheesh.

And we seem to be once more on the precipice of pandemic restrictions.

Not a good month.

[Rant] Now what?

[Good Links] Steaming Pile of Links 

[TV] Loki

[Rant] Now What?

At some time in the future I may relate the entire story of my termination. In short, after 28 years my position is effectively being moved overseas.   I will say that, while my emotions run the gamut and I certainly disagree with the decision, I have to acknowledge that they had the right to make it. (Also, as a global, multinational company headquartered outside the U.S., I can't really fault them for not prioritizing U.S. jobs.)  I am not the first person in history to be laid off, and like everyone else in history my emotional response is to feel as though it's unfair, but I also know I'll get past my emotions.

And, although I am still in the negative stage emotionally, the way it was done was quite reasonable.  I have been given 9 months warning before my last day and I have a fairly generous severance package. So I am under no great duress.  The fact is, at my age (one month shy of 61), there is a question of how long I had to go anyway.

Still the question remains, what do I do now?  

One possibility is to outright retire.  I could almost certainly get a good price for my house. My 401k is doing well.  My IRA is doing well.  And if I literally didn't take a job I would start my Social Security payments before my severance ran out.  It wouldn't be a cushy life, but I wouldn't be stressed financially.  Would I be bored?  Maybe.  I would spend time writing and working out and maybe a road trip here and there.  Often over the course of my life there have been times I have said to myself that's all I really want to do. Maybe I should put my money, or lack thereof, where my mouth is.

Still, I put a certain amount of stock in conventional wisdom, and conventional wisdom says if you don't work, you wither, and while it sounds good to have a life of undirected time, you end up planning your day around your 4:30 early bird buffet special.  I also fear that my penchant for detachment would turn me into something of a hermit or possibly put me in some state of depression.  But maybe it wouldn't.  I have intentionally kept work out of my social life (such as it is) for years so maybe I would just find myself with a lot more time to focus on things I do by choice.  And truth is, writing is work.  Really.

Alternative number 2 is to hop back into the job market.  I think I could get a comparable position and perhaps an even better wage.  With my short time frame, I can take risks on unproven companies.  I might even find enthusiasm again.  I am reminded of the movie Up in the Air where the layed off folks are interviewed later and decide losing their job was a blessing after all.  And the fact is, if I try it and it doesn't work out, I can then just retire.

A 3rd option would be a compromise.  An undemanding job -- something to "keep me busy" and keep me engaged with the world.  This compromise brings to mind 30 hour per week part-time jobs to maintain health insurance.  I'm not there yet.  But there are other flavors of this -- sitting on community or charity advisory boards, investing with folks starting small businesses, etc. -- that could be promising.

The big problem I have is the same problem I have had all my life.  I don't know what I want.  (I'm beginning to realize that every problem I have is a problem I have had all my life, but that's another rant.)  At some point I will have to pick a direction and go.  It would be nice if, for once, I did that with a solid purpose in mind rather than just because I had to pick something.

Geez, I just needed 3 or 4 more years…

[Good Links] Steaming Pile of Links

 

• Intrigue and danger under the Golden Arches: They Hacked McDonald’s Ice Cream Machines—and Started a Cold War

• Twitter exchange: Best final episode of a tv series ever..  A lot of love for Newhart and MASH.  Personally, I think the endings of Deadwood and Sopranos were the best dramatically, with Boardwalk Empire being the one that added the most to the series.  A sentimental nod to Halt and Catch Fire.  Broadly speaking, those shows with an intentional arc end better than the ones that ended because of cancellation (Deadwood as the exception).

• An appreciation of my favorite author, the divine P.G. Wodehouse.

• Speaking of books, a guide to how to write a (nonfiction) book in the current age. 

[TV] Loki

Better.  Overall a much better show than its Marvel predecessors.  For the record:  Wandavision started cleverly and became a dumpster fire.  Falcon and the Winter Soldier started as a dumpster fire and became a 4-alarm conflagration.

Loki has certain benefits the earlier shows lacked.  Not the least of which is that the cast actually has star power and charisma.  Tom Hiddleston and Owen Wilson can command the screen and make you actually care about their characters.  They can do humor and deliver lines in a way that gains your affinity.  Sofie De Martino, as Silvie, does a good job of keeping up, and Jonathan Majors takes a series-stealing turn at the end as He Who Remains.

Another benefit it has is continuance.  It didn't just exist to set up future movies.  There will be a second season so there didn't have to be a mad rush to wrap it all up. It was a good balance between silly and serious. The character arcs, while certainly strained, weren't strained to the breaking point.  The plot contrivances were no worse than expected.  On the whole I would place it somewhere between mediocre and OK which, as I mentioned, makes it the best so far.

Marvel is very much in a slump.  The TV shows have been a huge disappointment.  The recent Black Widow film was universally panned.  The next TV show coming up is something called What If… which I'll skip because, with few exceptions, animation is not my thing, but it sounds way too open ended and inviting of contrivance to have much value.  I think the earliest hope to turn things around will be Spiderman: No Way Home on the movie side and Hawkeye on the TV side, now that they've announced the return of the mighty Vincent D' Onofrio as Kingpin.  Maybe they should have just stopped with Endgame.  It is the doom of things that they go on too long.

Aside: If you want to get some fun takes on pop culture I highly recommend the Critical Drinker YouTube channel.  He can be repetitive and overly negative -- some things he trashes are actually not that bad (he hated Loki) -- but the snarky jagoff in me (yeah, he's still around) finds him hilarious.