Looks like my last day at work is going to be 12/9 (which is a Saturday, so likely the 8th). And as far as prospects go, there are none.
My lead at Microsoft dried up, though there is still a lead, it's likely that there will be no updates until next year sometime. In the meantime, I have started applying for jobs and it's the same depressing task as it was earlier in the year. I'm a middle-of-the-road, > 50-year-old worker looking for a job that can just pay the bills. Trouble is, what I can do and what I have "on paper" are not enough to get a job that pays what I need to get. At this point, I am making $10/hr less than I made last year, but it is still a decent living. However, with that ending, I understand that I likely won't find that magic number right away, if at all.
I scrolled through Indeed.com and found some gigs, including one for a seasonal driver for UPS. Basically, deliver packages with my car, couple hours a day. The listing indicated a $23-$35 hourly rate. I was thinking of seeing if I could get in at $35 or so, but after applying online, the automated system offered $23/hr. So there's that, but it's not super exciting, to be honest. The reality is, accepting something like that would be a long game, getting my foot in the door and seeing if I could grow and/or turn it into something more higher paying.
I've applied to a few other jobs as well but have heard nothing back. None of them are super high paying, more like $75-85k, so I'm hoping to get some sort of callback. I'd really like to get out of tech, get into a smaller company, but that's been tough as well. My network is willing to help, but even they can only do so much.
Going back to do the Red Door thing is there, but man, I'm not 100% sold on that. I have to give it some more thought. Maybe I'm just being lazy; I think there's a market for what I can do: better-than-average tech support for everyday problems provided by a regular dude. Maybe market it as appointments lasting no longer than 2 hours for a flat rate of, say, $125. And then subsequent visits are $100 every 2 hours? Who knows?
At this point, I'd rather pursue music and at least enjoy myself, try to eek out a minimalistic living that way. But we all know that's not gonna happen in the most expensive place to live in the USA. Maybe if I was living in a garbage can in the middle of nowhere. But then there'd be no gigs to play; at least here, there are some gigs. I just gotta put myself out there.
I'm just so annoyed and disgruntled. I am a good worker, mentor, person, and it seems like I have to solve a Rubik's Cube before I can even get anyone to reply to me. I have helped plenty of people in the past, and though they owe me nothing, I can't seem to get the same kind of help, outside of someone who reposted some template that tried to pump me up. Admittedly, I didn't put a lot of effort into that.
I've got about 3 working weeks left before my paychecks dry up and then I have to be back on unemployement. Maybe at that point, I'll sign up with UPS, so there's at least something. Heck, maybe I reach out to Jon and see about the Uber thing; he seems to like it a lot and has made a few bucks doing it.
All I can do is shake my head; my lack of planning coming up in the ranks has led me to this point. I only have myself to blame.
