So...... Ryan may be taking a voluntary layoff from his job of eleven years as a telecommunications engineer. Boom! Pow! Just like that. And a little knot has formed in my stomach.
It is scary, but ultimately more exciting. I cannot keep the smile off my face, so I take that as a good sign. He has been so unhappy and unfulfilled with his job for as long as I’ve known him, and has labored for years under a cloud of uncertainty as one after another of his coworkers were laid off. I do not know how he worked with that level of stress for so many years.
Ryan is one of the most creative people I have ever met and just happens to work in one of the LEAST creative jobs I have ever heard of. He went back to school last year for Graphic Design, in the hopes of getting into a career that satisfies his artistic drive, so really, this is a great time and opportunity for him. The severance package he will be getting will allow him to take some time and look for a job that suits him, that makes him happier. A job that does more than just pays the bills.
He has many contacts in the web and graphic design fields, as well as in the Baltimore creative scene in general, so I am confident that he will find a better fit. And he can pick up some paying music gigs on the side, jazz trios and whatnot, so that we can get some money socked away in savings just in case.
We are luckier than the countless others who have been laid off in the past couple years due to his experience and to the fact that my job is very secure and pays well. And while we might have to tighten our belts a bit in the future (goodbye Showtime and HBO???), we will be able to make things work out just fine. Of that I am confident.
On the plus side, this website has generated $0.18 in ad revenue in the past few weeks, so at least we got that, right???
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