I Got the Unemployment Check Blues

Well, my life changing event that occurred nineteen months ago has reached another milestone.  As of tomorrow, I will have received my final unemployment check, unless the Federal Government and the State of Mississippi grants another extension.

For those of you that have been fortunate enough to miss out on this, it has been quite an experience.  Each week you have to go online and file your weekly certification that says you are able to work, but still unemployed.  In addition to that you have to submit a minimum of three job applications that you applied for that week.  This is easily done through careerbuilder.com. Also included in this process are two free visits to the MS WIN job center office, where they verify that you are living and breathing.

Here is the kicker:  I have been counted as "unemployed" for the nineteen months.  Next month, even though I will be still unemployed, I fall out of the statistical count, neither employed or unemployed.  Government's way of counting only includes the bodies they are paying.

I'm not a whiner, I'm not a complainer, and I'm not a "poor pitiful me" person.  I have definitely made the most of my "retirement" with tag-a-logs with the spousal unit on business trips, and vacations in the timeshares we have acquired over time.

There  are both "downers and uppers that come with the territory.  These are for readers that are or  about to follow in my unemployment footsteps:

Downers:

1.  Medical insurance.  While I was employed, I had excellent medical coverage.  Some of the best I had ever seen.  Once you become unemployed, you are allowed to continue the coverage for a period of months, at the full premium, with no discount called COBRA.  My premium skyrocketed when the employer paid portion became my responsibility.  Fortunately for me, my wife's insurance plan picked us up, at a discounted rate.

2.  Life insurance.  I had very good life insurance benefits, at affordable rates.  Because it was group term insurance, the only conversion available was an individual term product, where again, the premium for the same coverage skyrocketed.  Only affordable option for me was a lot less coverage with an independent carrier.

5.  Finances.  I have been fortunate enough to have some resources for the road before me.  I had one son finish college, but unemployed, and another son just starting college.  Between scholarships, student loans, and college savings plans, the schooling is taken care of.  Please plan ahead people.  Every penny adds up.  I used to eat restaurant lunches five days a week.  Now peanut butter & jelly sandwiches and pop tarts are my two best friends. 

4.  Work friends.  You work with people for 18+ years, and you develop a kinship with them.  Not like family, but more than "just punching a clock".  Suddenly, you are alone, and very quickly those "work friends" become "former fellow employees", then just people you used to "work with".  I am a people person, and this hard been the hardest thing for me to adjust to.  I still have two dear friends that I occasionally meet for lunch, but that is about it.

Positives:

1.  I wake up everyday with a smile on my face.  Don't do a job because you are good at it, do it because you enjoy it.  After I informed my wife and oldest son of my situation, the oldest called the youngest at school and said "something is wrong with Dad".  The youngest asked if he needed to come home.  The oldest said "stay at school.  The old man is smiling"! Suddenly, I realized that  I had forgotten how to smile.  It finally occurred to me that I was depressed, for more years than I would admit!  I have not used an alarm clock in nineteen months and I am awake earlier than ever and ready to take on the world.

2.  I found a great financial planner that has consolidated all of my retirement assets under one umbrella.  Together we are working on a strategy for me that hopefully, will allow me to survive to old age.  If you haven't begun to save, shame on you.  Start now.  Make a plan and stick with it.

3.  Social media has been a life saver for me.  I have reconnected with hundreds of friends from elementary school to former co-workers.  This is a far cry from public interaction, but hey, its free and most importantly its fun!

4.  Besides taking trips, I also occupy my time doing charity work and a hobby or two.  The first summer I was cutting the front lawns of all my neighbors while they were at work.  Believe it or not, some asked me to stop, for one reason or another.  Once the heat of July and August got here, I just stuck with mine.  Pick a charity, but don't let the charity pick you.  My time is spent with my local church, Stewpot Food Pantry, and several others. 

5.  I have been able to spend time with my wife and sons.  My wife and I have become more closely connected.  We are more bonded together than at any other time of our marriage.  I live you babe.

6.  Pick up a hobby.  Me, I bucket garden, "can" the harvest, twiddle with wood working, and have cooked for  some terminally ill friends.   I even started this blog, at the encouragement of my boys and a few supportive friends. Get busy, stay busy.  Stop, and you will rust, fall apart, and die.

I have been thinking about writing this one for a long time.  The timing was never right, but with the "last check", it just felt right.  .  With a few exceptions, I don't know who you are.  It doesn't even matter, because you are there, you are reading my words, and you are thinking about what I have to say, and for that, I "thank you"!