michael_cain's Journal: First entry

There's a quotation about large companies and the side effects of the various deals they make with one another to the effect of "when the elephants are dancing, the smart mice go down their holes and stay there." This past November, I was finally squashed in the elephant dance of the ongoing telecom-and-cable merger-and-acquisition frenzy, despite doing my best to keep my head down. Comcast bought AT&T Broadband and eliminated all of the Denver headquarters positions related to technology. I found myself unemployed at age 49 after 24+ years in the industry, in a terrible job market -- seriously depressing stuff.

As a side effect of some of the deals that had been done, though, I was qualified to retire, and the retirement benefits had been beefed up. I had some assurance that I would have medical and dental insurance for the next few years. The lump sum settlement from the pension fund(s), combined with 401(k) and IRA money, looked like it would be enough for a real retirement in a few more years. There was a substantial seperation cash payment. My wife and I had paid off the mortgage a few years ago. Certainly, things were not as bad as they are for many people who get laid off. After a few months of actively seeking a new job without success, I decided that perhaps this was not a disaster, but a disguised opportunity to do something different.

I am in the process of getting ready to go back to graduate school and pursue a Ph.D. in economics. There are only two places to do that in Colorado, CU and CSU. CSU is too far to commute, so I have applied to CU and am going through all of the paperwork things that have to be done: transcripts, letters of recommendation, GREs. Part of me finds the whole process terrifying. Will CU accept me? Will the money last? Will I get started and discover that I'm not nearly the caliber of student I once was? But part of me is really excited about the opportunity to be a student again, learning new things!

I've been a Slashdot reader for quite a long time (user #66650), and for the most part, have found the site to be an interesting and useful source of information and opinion. I've never used the journal portion of the system, but I've decided to put entries here from time to time just to see what happens. I expect them all to be related to the "adventure" of being a non-traditional graduate student. You know the definition of "adventure": someone else having a really tough time of things, well seperated from you in time or space. We'll see.