Branding

When one is without work, one is without an easy label. And because I am now an "empty nester," I can't even really claim to be a "stay at home mom." This really hit me when I went to the local storage place to rent some space and the guy behind the counter asked me: "What do you do?"

I struggled a bit...and said something like..."Oh, I'm uh...I'm uh in marketing and do stuff, you know consulting and projects...and stuff." It was a totally off the cuff answer. As I walked away, I replayed the question in my mind: "What do you do?" And my answer..."Oh, I'm a bestselling novelist. Just home now between book tours." or...."I'm with the secret service. I know...can you imagine? I don't look the part, do I?" or... "I'm a stay at home mom. My kid is in Vegas while I stay at home."

While I hope not to actually use it, I also encountered a similar reality filling out the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services Office of Unemployment Compensation forms. Especially the part where they ask for your Reasons for Unemployment. The options were:

1) Lack of Work
2) Voluntarily quit or left your job
3) Discharged or fired

Seriously. I looked at this a very long time before I could figure out which one to select. I knew the answer had to lie in number 1, but based on my "to do" list when I was laid-off, it just didn't register.

For a blog about being laid-off, you may be wondering....is this woman ever going to start looking for some work? Shouldn't she be writing about all the resumes she's sending out, and all the people she's meeting at interviews....and...and....what her next means of income will be?

I've realized over the past few weeks, that when someone asks me that same question again, "What do you do?" I want to offer up an intriguing response...and better yet, I'd like to rattle off several things that I do. I will work to be many brands in one. A renaissance woman so to speak. Diversified. And the term "Lack of Work" will certainly never apply. Now, the key will be to get that work to support my newly downsized lifestyle.

Beer and chainsaws

There have been a lot of both since hurricane Ike hit the Miami Valley, and I don't mean separately. I mean beer drinking, chainsaw toting folks - ready to conquer the many fallen tree limbs strewn all around the area. It starts out as neighbors helping neighbors and it turns into a full out yard party complete with bonfire.

There are also many drivers who appear not to understand the etiquette of a four-way stop.

At first, I thought our power may have gone out because I failed to properly install the new wall outlets in my house. (yes, i have become an electrician since i've been laid-off...it's not harvesting corn, but it's pretty darn close). Thankfully, that was not the case or I would have never heard the end of it.

My father-in-law came to visit about the same time Ike did. He's a true storyteller. While he does tell many of them over and over and over again, occasionally there's a new one mixed in the bunch. We sat in the dark for three nights, listening to him and to a piece of crap weather radio I bought a few years ago - and to an AM station I would never listen to normally. It was our only contact with the outside world (except for when we drove around in our car, or went to my mom's to watch cable or go online).

So, perhaps I exaggerated the isolation part a bit...but nonetheless, being without power for a few days is a lesson in patience. It's also a lesson in how much I utterly and completely depend on electricity. Thank goodness I now know how to install a small piece of it in my home.

Now I've got my eye on that chainsaw in the shed.

Lotto Zen

My staff hosted a very nice Happy Hour for me last week. They are the BEST! It was so nice to see many faces that I didn't get a chance to see in my last few days at work - and several additional ex-"Company X" employees. I now hold court with that group, and hope to do 'em proud.


One of my going away presents was a cup full of lottery tickets and gift certificates to help break the monotony of moving. I promised myself that I would not scratch off those lotto tickets until I was done moving every last item out of our current house. I am happy to say that with the exception of a 1 ton art work table in the basement, everything is completely out.

So. I sat down to scratch off my tickets and ended up winning $36.

Cost of tickets? $36.

The thrill of scratching them off? You got it.

Still on vacation.....

but I've not worked so physically hard in such a very long time! It feels great (and even better when the humidity is not at 100%). And as I sweat (something I never really did in my cube unless .... actually, there is no "unless" - I never broke a sweat in my cubicle) I wonder to myself...should I perhaps pursue a line of work that involves physical activity? I could lay bricks, or put on shingles, or make something with my hands.

OK. So everyone probably has these types of thoughts when they're laid off, or downsized, or fired or reorganized and restructured. FREE. It's a loud word. But I am completely free to take a step into something totally different from anything I've known. Or...I can take a step into comfort.

I won't know the answer until I get all my boxes moved, put every drawer and cupboard in order, hang some art around the house, make some visits to a few friends out of town, do some chores for my mom.......lay a few bricks, and harvest some corn.