So, seeing how I'm laid off one of the first things I've did was file for unemployment. The cool thing is in Missouri you're able to file for unemployment online. (As I've gone through the laid-off spiel before, I knocked out all of this stuff right after my heave-ho.)

So I filed, and received all of my info in the mail.

Do you want taxes taken out? Yes.

Do you want you benefits direct-deposited (Yet another nice Missouri function)? Yes.

So two weeks later I receive another letter telling me that someone from the State will be giving me a call about my claim. Fine, this has happened before. The guy calls, one of my former employers disputed the claim, but the guy says "This won't be a problem, I'll push it through." Cool.

One week later I get another letter. Same thing, someone will be calling on 7/22/03 to ask some questions. Blah, Blah, Blah. So I get the call today.

Mr. Sweeney, we've noticed on your claim you say that you've been attending class or training. Is this correct?
Yeah, I'm taking a class, trying to make up some credits.

She asks me a whole bunch of questions about where I was going, what I was taking, when I was taking it, and then the (what I soon learned was going to be) magic question popped up:

Mr. Sweeney, if a job opportunity arrose that would conflict with your schooling would you stop or withdraw from school to take the job?

I gave a long drawn out answer that basically reminded her that my schooling was almost over and it doesn't really conflict, or would not conflict at all so I don't see how this would be a problem.

Mr. Sweeney, yes or no, sir?
Yeah, I guess I would quit.

So with a couple more questions she wraps it up. "I'm going to send this information to my supervisor and we'll get back to you within 7-10 days if your claim is approved or denied." I say, "Wait, I could be denied just because I'm going to school?" She replies, "If we feel that you'll turn down a job because of school you would be denied. But I don't think that you should have a problem."

So after 4 weeks, it sounds like I'm getting my sweet 250 dollars a week (before taxes) very shortly.

Maybe it's just me, but I just can't understand how the government wouldn't want you to improve yourself by getting more education, therefore making it easier to get a job.

Bleh.

Mike

Go buy this album.

No, I'm not fucking around, go buy it now.

Fine, if you're not going to buy it, at least listen to it. The Dismemberment Plan is kind enough to provide the whole album for your listening pleasure. Yeah, you have to use Real Player, but that's your punishement for not buying it right now.

Mike

This is my first time writing in my journal, to be honest this is my first "blog" ever. I guess way back when I used to update my website on those very infrequent occasions that could of constituted a blog, but I guess that's neither here nor there. Look at me, I'm already rambling.

So on Wednesday afternoon at my lovely job at Allen Foods I receive an email asking me if I have some time for a meeting (between 10 and 11AM) on Friday with the head of IT. So I go and talk to him face to face, and say 10:30 is fine. I forwarded the email to my good friend Bill, who also works in IT. When he saw the email the next day he told me he got basically the same request, except his meeting was today.

After he gets back, he gives me the gist of his meeting. "They basically asked if I wanted my job. (Bill is also a part-time cook. It's his real passion.) I told them yes, they then asked me if I liked my job and I told them 'no'. " He then gave them a list of reasons why.

A little back story, Bill and I have different bosses, but both of our bosses are "friends". Ben (Bill's Boss) is assistant pastor at some born-again christian church. Ben got Chuck (my boss) his job at Allen Foods because Chuck attended Ben's church. While Ben is often at work he's studying to be a full-time pastor. While Chuck is often at work he's either designing some shitty Flash for any of his side projects, or he's playing a game called PocketTanks. Bill and I aren't very religious, and during some of their christian rants we've told them off many times. They've told Bill he's going to hell on many occasions.

We hate them, with a passion.

Anyway, back to the issue at hand. Now that Bill has had his meeting I feel a little more comfortable. Mike Kyle (the director of IT) is just going to ask me some question about my job, and how to improve it. So Friday rolls around and I make a nice little list of problems, and head to Mike's office at 10:30. I tell him I'm ready, and he asks "How are you doing?" (This should of been my first clue.) I tell him "I'm fine, a little tired, but fine." So he walks out of his office and leads the way.

I overhear him say, we're going to Jerry's (the HR director) office, and I say "Oh, it's going to be one of those kind of meetings." To which he replies "What?" and I say "Nothing."

And then that was it, I got the same old story "We're making cutback, things have been slow" and then I got the boot. No severance, no two weeks, nothing. So for the second time in three years I got laid off.

The best part of all of it is I scheduled my own lay-off. All and all, it was the most fitting way to end my employment at Allen Foods.