The economy strikes again

Well, loyal readers, I am once again the victim of corporate layoffs.

On Wednesday, I was involuntarily relieved of my job and given a month of severance in its place. I had to sign a bunch of confidentiality agreements to get the severance, so let's just stop there. I don't want to talk about it anyway.

But you know what? I don't even care anymore. I care very much about losing my paycheck, don't get me wrong, but that's the only thing I'll miss. I've done this before--been laid off suddenly, regrouped, etc.--and my life was better because of it. Remember the road trip? (Sigh. Good times.) So fuck 'em.

I take this as a sign from God that I'm done with corporate America. I was burned out on the business world, anyway. Instead, I'm going headfirst into the restaurant industry, to see if I can turn that into a much more intellectually stimulating way to make a living.

Yes, this means I'll be waiting tables again. (So tip your servers well, please.) But frankly I'd rather wait tables at a nice establishment (or two) than sit behind a desk all day, trying not to look bored. I've already been hired on at two upscale joints near me, one of them very upscale, with a great wine list. They were impressed with my food and wine knowledge, and impressed that I knew my way around the restaurant industry--all those previous years of waiting tables, plus dining at some of the world's finest, plus all my involvement with underground restaurants, plus the fact that I know how to cook and pair wines--meaning, I hope, that I can eventually leverage a simple serving position into a) enough money to live on, the most important thing, and b) restaurant management and/or bartending/wine buying.

It's a good thing I already had one serving job lined up when I got laid off--I was able to transistion into it right away. It'll take a month or so before I start to earn real money at both places (training, you know), so I hope that by the time the severance runs out I'll be earning enough tips to replace most of my former salary.

However, we are taking cost-cutting measures. I think we'll be moving closer to my husband's job, letting go of the house we now rent when the lease runs out in November. We're hoping to get at least a 30% rent reduction by switching cities--his city is much cheaper to rent in than Boston. I'll then wait tables there--possibly we'll even be able to get rid of one car. I fear we'll have to give up a backyard, which means I wouldn't be able to garden next summer. But then, at least I wouldn't have to worry about killing chipmunks. (I'm up to 14, by the way.)

We might also cancel the vacation to Costa Rica (which is already mostly paid for, largely with points, so keep your fingers crossed it doesn't come to that).

So, lessons learned:
1. You can't depend on anything. Life can, and will, change on a whim.
2. Every time I think I'm starting to get on top of the debt repayment situation, something like this happens. It drives me nuts.
3. But this time, I have a loving, supportive husband, and enough of an emergency fund cushion to keep me from panicking.
4. I will find a way to be successful at this, to do something I actually want to do.
5. If my back and my feet don't give out first. It's been five years since the last time I waited tables, and trust me, five years in your thirties means the next time you start waiting tables it will HURT. But it also means I'll lose 20 pounds like that, and have a firmer ass to boot.