Wonderful World of Alex

Well, this has been a week. Don't get me wrong. It started out okay. That is to say, I had Monday off--which is always a Good Thing--and then Tuesday wasn't that bad. Sure, I was in early (as usual) and sure, I was in early Wednesday, too.

But, still, up until about 11:35 on Wednesday morning, things were pretty peachy.

Then came 11:36 (or thereabouts...but who's counting?) on Wednesday morning. At around 11:36, I was informed that I no longer was employed by the publisher that I've worked at (tirelessly) for the past three and a half years. And neither were the other employees at my company.

So, yeah, Not Very Good News.

And, as of this coming Monday, I will be just like approximately 10 percent of the people in this country. Unemployed. Yikes. I don't like the sound of that, not one bit.

But at least the way it went down was classy and professional. And, by "classy and professional," I mean we were given a day's notice. You know, so we'd have some time to get our things in order.

Oh, and we were told that this is the best move for the company, so don't worry about it. Really, this will benefit the company down the road. The company we no longer work for. And, likely, will never work for again.

I'm glad that, in the not-so-distant future, things will work out for the company. And, since Nathaniel can time travel (shh, don't tell him I told you--we're supposed to keep that under wraps), I am quite confident that not only will the company be okay, but so will I.

Apparently, I'm joining the circus.

As what? you might be asking. I dunno, and Nathaniel wouldn't tell me, so as not to "upset the space/time continuum." When he told me this, he was wearing a fancy (and shiny) Future Hat, so I really didn't want to argue with him.

I'm guessing either strongman or bearded lady, though, for those keeping score at home. Or, maybe, some combination of the two. Oooh. "Yak Wrangler."

Do circuses have Yak Wranglers?

Anyway, so...yeah. Not really sure what else to say at this point, but I felt that it was important to vent a little on the blog. Nathaniel and I have talked about how to approach personal stuff like this when it comes to posting, and we both agreed that, usually, we should hold off on such things.

But, since this is the same company that, now, the two of us have been laid off from, I think it's okay and, frankly, a neccessary thing. We're collecting each of our posts, you see, just for us to have, and if this blog is about our journies through Geekdom, it is also about our journies through life. And this is certainly one of those little defining moments along that journey.

Now, I could end this on a happy, shiny, "time to pick myslef up by the bootstraps and continue on" line, but I won't. Because I'm angry, and frustrated, and honestly, a little bit scared.

Okay, so maybe it's more than a little bit.

For better or worse, I've let my profession define me as a person these past few years, and as many of my friends know, "Alex is working late" or "Alex is working Saturday" have become about as commonly heard as the sound of clinking glasses at get-togethers.

But that's how I am. Pretty maniacal in my work ethic, and pretty dedicated to anyone willing to give me a shot. Loyal to a fault, that's me.

Getting laid off (or, in my case, having a company...um...cease to be?) is certainly not the worst thing in the world. Off the top of my head, I can think of about a million things that are worse. (Like Final Crisis. HA! Take that, DC!)

Oh, and like not having a place to retreat to, like not having a place with a roof up top and with people who care inside. I'm lucky and blessed that I have a great family, and great friends, and in that sense, I am both thankful and relieved.

(As I read this post over, my Dad just called to see how I was doing, and to tell me that things will get better. See? I told you. Great family.)

But I'm still pretty angry. And annoyed. And, maybe, a little less naive than I was just a week ago. We'll see if I learn any lessons from this experience, and if I take anything other than anger and bitterness away from it. I hope I do, but Real Life is not an after-school special.

One of the first baseball coaches I ever had used to always say to me, "you can learn way more from a guy that does everything wrong than you can from a guy that does everything right."

I just hope that, if and when my day comes, I'll treat those around me better than I was treated.