I haven’t written anything in a long time, and I have time today. Bought a bike this past week and was planning on taking my first ride today, but I’m not feeling particularly well, so I’ll wait till after the Phillies game to see if I feel better.

It’s been quite a ride this past few months. In April, I had what I thought was a great job working for great people and on the 15th I had the rug pulled out from under me.

Had a routine meeting scheduled with our CRO. He made small talk about my daughter, which was typical. Usually we’d chat about non-work for 5 minutes or so and then we’d get to business.

Layoff #2 (in 30-ish years)

That morning’s business was for the head of HR to show up to our virtual meeting unannounced and then he laid me off, reading a script. No warning, no idea this was coming. Great performance reviews up to this point. Was told it was for financial reasons. When I told Michele, she thought I was kidding. I mean, she *really* thought I was joking.

I think the thing that bothered me the most was the small talk about my daughter knowing he was going to pivot and fire me five minute later. I wonder how long they knew they were going to do this – how many meetings I was in where they knew I was getting dumped. At least when I was a CMO and our company got acquired, I stayed another year before being let go AND was given substantial severance.

So I had no choice but to file for unemployment and start looking for other positions. But honestly, this layoff threw me for a loop. I am 55 years old and have worked a laundry list of different positions, including as head of marketing for a software and services company and as a sales engineer. There was no conversation about taking an open role in the company, *even as* the head of marketing was retiring at the end of the month. So it was obvious — they didn’t want me around anymore. Maybe it was my salary they didn’t want around, but there’s little difference to me and my brain.

So I took some time to recover from this, and I applied for jobs a few times a week for the first month. During this time, I started wondering if there was another path I could take. Honestly, this layoff turned my stomach against taking another corporate job.

The corporate world is an interesting combination of work and bullshit. The work part I enjoyed. The bullshit, I didn’t. Hearing our company’s “core values” every….freaking….month at a Town Hall rings hollow when they dump me right before my 2-year anniversary with the company — 2 years where I never considered they were going to eliminate my position.

I’m convinced it was the whole mindset of equity investments and the new CFO that doomed me. What felt like a place where employees were valued turned into a place where I was nothing but a line on a spreadsheet and my (pretty decent) US$ salary in a Canadian company was an easy target.

Change of direction

Anyway, one day in April I reached out to a friend of mine to see what he knew about getting a teaching license (via alternative means). He pointed me to one of his colleagues and I sent a text that wasn’t immediately answered. My text slid down the list and I had forgotten about it for a while.

Then one morning, I woke up and remembered it. This time I called and the person I texted answered the phone. We talked for a while, I told him about my background, and he encouraged me to apply for a position at *his* school.

So I spent the next day getting college transcripts, filling out an application, getting my resume, recommendations, and cover letter in place, and then completed and submitted the application.

That was a Friday morning. Monday I was called to interview on Thursday. I interviewed for about 30 minutes on Thursday morning, sweating through a blue suit. The next morning, I received a call with a job offer (he had already called my references). The formal offer (with details) came early the next week.

So in a week, I went from having no prospects to having a job offer, 59 calendar days from my layoff.

I’ve never felt better about a new opportunity. The pay is about what you’d expect — and I couldn’t possibly care less. I’ve spent almost 30 years working for companies that pretend to be loyal to you, but they never are. They want loyalty and preach their “values” until they decide to move on from you. Or decide to sell the company and cash out. I have never been let go for performance reasons, but that doesn’t matter anymore. Just look at how many layoffs large well-known companies are doing across the board. I thought I’d be better off at a smaller company where people knew each other, but I was kidding myself.

Time to turn the page. If you’ve ever thought about turning the page, just know that you can do it, too.

Moving forward…

So the fall is around the corner. School starts the 19th of August for me (new teacher orientation) and classes start right after Labor Day. I’ll keep myself busy this fall officiating football, as always. As of right now, we have 15 varsity games this fall — that’s 6 weeks with 2 games and 3 weeks with one. So many games have been moved to Thursdays and Saturdays due to the officiating shortage (and I think football will get worse before things improve). Crew’s meeting tomorrow to talk about the season and our schedule, which I’ve been working to fill with subs where needed.

I also bought a bike this week, which we picked up yesterday. It’s an electric bike — an Aventon Pace 4. I always liked riding a bike, but I’m not a biker. I want something where I can get *some* exercise while spending time with nature. Bought a bike rack as well, which will be delivered this week — that way I can drive to the trails. A friend is having one delivered tomorrow and hopefully we can find time to ride, especially in the next month or so.

This winter I have about 45 basketball games, which is about 15 more than I’ve worked the past few years. My knees are in good shape and I’m down about 40 pounds since last October. I would like to get down another 10-15, but I like where I am now. I think my knees will be fine this coming season.

When I got the call from the school offering me the position, I was teaching at a basketball officiating clinic. I was there from 8AM until about 5PM and worked with about 25 officials. I have two roles at a clinic — help the officials improve their 3-person officiating AND identify officials I can hire in the Trailways Conference. In mid-July I’ll be doing the same at a football clinic — giving a presentation to the larger group and then working with the officials on the field, mainly the Referees. Our shortages for football are greater than we are facing with basketball. With every game (ideally) scheduled on Friday nights, there are more games than crews. This is why games have been pushed to Thursdays and Saturdays.

Boston to NYC to Chicago (oh, my)…

In late July, we’re going on vacation — Boston for 3 days, New York for 4 days, and Chicago for 3 days. Going to stay at the Seaport in Boston, in Brooklyn in New York, and in the loop in Chicago. Gonna see the Phillies once at Yankee Stadium and twice in Chicago at Rate Field. I hadn’t been to Yankee Stadium in 16 years and hadn’t been to what is now Rate Field in 18. Tickets for all 3 games were reasonably priced (we got lucky in New York). Could’ve gone to six games, actually, but Michele deserves better than that. 🙂

So that’s my last 2.5 months. Went from up to way down to up again. Not sure I’ll ever think of some people or some industries the same again, but I guess that’s the reality these days.

I’ll try to drop by more often. No guarantees.