Well its been over 2 months now. The first few weeks where great but now... I'm starting to turn into Mr. Mom. I clean, cook and take care of the dog... I'm loosing my mind !

Damn, that sucks. Sorry man.

I have a super short attention span. I need a job for structure, without it I'm like a child. The only good thing for my girl is that I'm a neat freak who likes to cook. I have this place tip top and have improved my Sunday gravy !

But in all seriousness this sucks. I thought I would be painting more, but its just the opposite. I just cant get it together.

Idle hands suck. I hear ya I only work 16 hrs a week and tomorrow begins my 3 days off. Sucks as it's Buffalo and it's supposed to snow so it nullifies going out. Thankfully my g/f lent me a old computer to get on or I would have lost it. Time off is great but sometimes it's scary if you have an abundance of it..........it can lead to purchasing way too many toys.

That last part is so true. I have made a few decisions, well, because I was in front of the computer usually when I would have been elsewhere.

Its even worse that I'm no longer in my sleep cycle. I used to hit the sheets around 10 PM and get up at 6 AM. Now forget it, I'm in bed around 12:30, 1 and the get up around 9 or so. Its gonna be so hard to get back in track when I go back.

I need to break this cycle ASAP before I become the guy on the couch.

Getting chunky yet?

Being out of work sux. Shit. I start to feel weird when I am on vacation.
Hope you find something soon LASH.

Sorry to hear about you lay-off, I know what you mean about going nutso and dragging yourself around day by day. About 2 years ago, the same happened to me. I had to enforce some structure into my life so I grabbed my computer and books and worked on professional development to get myself to the next level in my job search--spent 6 hours everyday in a coffee shop studying (they gave me free cookies! ). Went to the gym rigorously to make sure I stayed in shape physically and mentally. The hard part was going on the austerity plan--no toys or eat outs or anything. I actually landed my current job by posting on monster.com! Hope you are able to find something soon.

Rich, sad to hear about your job issues.

Well since you are free, you have so much time now you should make use of it.
Seriously when you get a job again and work like a dog...you dream of having free time again.

Go to the library, go to bookshops, read/research. Get inspiration!!
In Hong Kong there is lacking in inspiration. Shit library, no art galleries worthy to see, and no art events.

I work on my own and know that time can slip by when you have lots of free time...
Although cleaning is a good way for meditation to calm the mind, I also try and schedule my day and reward myself when I complete my agenda with some X-Box game time or just veg out watching movies.

Well, I have been wanting to buy an airbrush still but I guess I have procrastinated too long on this one...
You should use the time and also do stuff that you don't need to spend money on but help you in your art/craft.

That would be my advice as well. I remember years ago when I was out of work I knew I was in trouble when I had the whole daytime TV schedule memorized. That's when I decided to teach myself how to cook. As I'm sure you know, the hardest part is motivation (something I have trouble with even now).
Hope it all turns out for the best.

Yup, I hear you. I mainly work as a freelance corporate trainer, so depending on the season I can be either pretty busy or pretty dead. In Japan, most companies finish off their training schedules at the end of the year and start them back up again somewhere in the middle of January/February so from mid-December to mid-January it's pretty grim work-wise. If I didn't have a couple days a week where I do English at a high school I probably would have gone nuts. Thankfully things are picking up now, which also motivates me to do other things.

It's kind of strange how motivation seems to move in waves... sometimes you're super busy you just want to keep going and not even sleep, and other times you have a lot of free time but all you want to do is play Playstation and even then turning the thing on can be a chore.

Hang in there, Rich! Times like this make you really appreciate the work when it comes your way!

I spent about 6 months off in 2006... to combat boredom I built a replica Boba Fett Costume. It got my prop building skills going. =) But it does suck, being out of a job, you can get lackadaisical and you don't want to do anything. The worst is when you're out of a job, and you're hurting for money. I hope that isn't the case for you, but living off savings isn't good either. I blew through 7 grand of savings while I was unemployed. But just tell yourself this is temparary and then make the most out of it. But I've been reading you blog, and it looks like you got some fun stuff coming up to keep you busy, hell I'd give you more work, but I can't afford new toys right now.

phil

From "Die Kreuzen" to "Days of Our Lives" and "Maury" addict? I just can't picture that, man!

Hitchhike your ass out here.

I'll put you to work.

Don't joke around like that, I will be like Caine in Kung Fu, but with paint.

I check monster.com in my mail every morning. I log it in my little job search diary. That's how I know what day/time it is. Sounds sad, but it really frees up the rest of my day for general uselessness such as stripping off the paint that I put on the night before. The dog and I look like bolsters, but we are catching up on our reading. I'm starting to believe in the power ball.

Lol...that's too funny.

if you don't know about it, check out indeed.com

I got turned onto this once the impending klaxon of downsizing was heard at a previous job.

Basically it's a help wanted aggregater. Once you enter in a search term then the site cookies your search, so when you go back to the homepage it'll show, say, "graphic designer" and how many new results there were.

The cool thing is that this helps cut down on hitting a ton of different sites. I use to spend a ton of time looking around, but with Indeed I go one place, it finds all listings (even on some odd, ethnic-oriented sites) and then it's just click, click, click sending out resumes.

You can also get emails in daily with the same results. For example I normally get in stuff for "Art Director" or "Senior Designer".

good luck with that, brother!

Someone I really respect once told me if your unemployed your job now is to spend 40 hours a week looking for a job.Just a tip but it may work.

I've always applied that advice to myself and am doing so now. Still, if the hire/fire cycle in employment is constantly getting shorter as one gets older, it seems good to take the period of idleness as a time to get out of the box and try new things. Keeps the morale up, extends the network and opens new doors.

Sorry to hear about that. I know the situation will be getting better and better. Don't worry.

finally laid off architectural design job I was with for the last 15 years. Maybe It'll give me a chance to finally pursue this art thing.

Damn. Sorry to hear Lamour.
If anyone can make the art thing work, it's you.

15 years with your architectural design job, huh? It really sucks when you've been with something that long and it dries up. I'm feelin' ya on that. The job I have been with for 11 years has all but disappeared completely. Those high end luxury items really don't stand up well in this kind of economy=no work for me.

I hope this thing turns around soon. Seems like it's still gaining momentum and that big brick wall is coming up fast.

Hey LS, 15 years is a helluva long time! . . . if not the art thing why not go solo on the architectural gig (or both!) . . . even in this climate there's a market for most service industry as long as the price is right . . . good luck with whatever road you go down!

Thanks guys, funny thing is my boss was a real ass about it. In any small business, if you're not giving blood these days, then it's not enough. I just sort of been giving and giving till I had nothing left. Liberating and scary at the same time. Your well wishes are greatly appreciated.

Sucks to hear, man? Sounds like one of those disguised blessings you hear of every now and again. You got too much talent to be working for tools anyhow! Keep your chin up.