My new full-time job

I know, I know. It's been even longer this time than normal. But I have a good excuse! For those that don't know (which is probably 90% of you since I'm apparently very bad at informing people of stuff), I got laid-off from Teradyne back in mid-November. After surviving some 15 or so lay offs, including 2 earlier in 2008, I finally ended up on the wrong project at the wrong time. So instead of spending a few hours a week trying to look for a better job and having to make up excuses as to what I'm doing on interview trips, TER is now paying me to stay home and do it full time! And as a bonus, I have plenty of time to work on projects around the house and goof off every day.
However, while it didn't really bother me at first, turns out it did. While I wanted to leave anyways, it's a bit insulting to have a company that's leeching money so quickly to tell you you're not good enough to work for them any more. Especially with some of the jerks that got kept (No, not you, Tom)! I know that this wasn't a performance-based layoff, but it still hurt. Couple that with the fact that no one is hiring in December this year, and it sucked. Tough to keep your head up when you can't even get interviews anywhere.
But like a Christmas gift from the universe, things seem to finally be turning around. Got a couple interviews and know of a few things that should be opening up in January/February. Not sure if anything is going to end up being the job I'm looking for, but at least things are happening finally.

In brighter news, we're well in the heart of bowl season. I'm watching Northwestern take on Mizzou right now. Not a power-house match up here, but it's been a pretty good game. And because Northwestern is not only a fellow BigTen school, but also the home-town college for me, I have a vested interest in the game.
And with bowl season comes my week+ of horrible eating. For dinner tonight I've so far had 8 buffalo wings, a bowl of New York Cheddar and Herb Kettle Cooked potato chips (no that isn't unnecessary detail!), and now I'm eating chips and salsa. And a "few" beers. And tomorrow I have 3 more excuses to keep doing it! Not until 4pm, so I'll have to be productive in the morning and afternoon.

Now I'm sure everyone is reading this and wondering what I got for Christmas. I am the center of y'all's universe for crap sake! While there were many awesome gifts, the cornerstone of this year's crop is Rock Band 2 for our Wii. Unfortunately I haven't quite rocked out here at home. The drums are being UPS'ed as we speak, and I had a job interview this afternoon. I pretty much knew that there was a non-zero chance of me calling to reschedule the interview if I started rocking out today. So instead I'll just wait until Hayley goes to bed shortly and set it all up. Seems to be the perfect activity to try and do quietly while getting drunk. Am I right, people?!!

So until next time I'll just be sitting here at home living off of my fairly generous severance package and unemployment insurance. Have fun at work suckers!