Finally seen Inception. Instant classic and instant fave. But not as complicated as Primer.

@PIJobexperiment What about selling fishballs or balut?

Spent 2hrs outside watching the clouds. Not by choice btw.

Getting ahead of others is not my game plan. Getting ahead of myself is.

“Keep within the Compass and you shall be sure / to avoid many troubles that others endure.” #Freemasonry

Today I am celebrating my first “monthsary” as a jobless man. As much as I’d love to think that I am finally out of the rat race, signs from different directions (aka bills, mortgage, etc.) seem to indicate that I am just getting deeper and deeper in the race loop. Do I have a chance of getting out? Maybe? Maybe not.

Do I like my current situation? It’s really hard to tell. Losing a job is bittersweet. For the record I did not get fired. Well, not technically. Our team got dissolved. Big companies LOVE India. It’s a classic corporate love story that may with a burst of singing/dancing or, god forbid, a tragic comedy. But do I like my bumstacular situation now? Well, I’ve been wishing for this for a while. You know, to manage my own business and be my own boss kinda- that was my wish. The problem was not that I don’t have a backup- the real problem was I have too many backup plans I can’t decide which one to tackle head on. I’m like a dear stuck in the middle of the road fixated at the headlights of an approaching car. I have no intentions of being a roadkill. I gotta move fast.

Elbow grease

People say that I am not going to have problems looking for a job because I like a lot of things. And I have many experiences working different jobs. I have worked as a 7-11 clerk, a security guard, non-linear video editor, call-center agent, software specialist, web developer, graphics artist, marketer and craftsman. I am a jack of all trades (and a master of none) and perhaps most importantly an all-around good guy ;-)

The specific thingymajobs that I love to do other than being the family cook, house cleaner and babysitter for my youngest child  are the following:

• Affiliate marketing and e-commerce
• web and graphics design
• designing beautiful masonic neckties
• photography

I love doing all of these and doing them all at the same time is my thing. But you can’t serve multiple gods at the same time.

Musical chairs

As much as I would like to spend time playing with my different working hats, I know that when the music stops- I will have to choose which one I like the best- or maybe at least sort them in order of importance.

As a student of Freemasonry and a necktie aficionado, designing Freemason ties is definitely at the top of my list. I also love photography but it’s not a priority. Web and graphics design, too much work but it brings in the money so I am keeping that. Affiliate marketing has the potential to bring in lots and lots of money but it’s too risky so I am setting it aside for now. Can’t risk the little cash that I have especially that I got a family to feed.

The Action Plan

I will be keeping photography not as a means to make money but as a hobby. It’s a good creative steam valve for me. Designing neckties will be my long term endeavor so my approach for this one would be nice and slow. I will continue designing websites and banners for peanuts for my short term needs but I am looking forward to quitting web development for other people besides myself.

Being jobless can be a pain in the neck. It is a strike to any man’s ego but I am looking at it with a positive light. For me, jobless means being free.  Now I have time to do the things that I like, play with my kids and have a laugh with the wife. I am happy. I hope the feeling stays that way and hopefully I won’t ever update that god dang resume.

My morning started bad. I woke up around 6am and I went straight to the washroom to do my early morning rituals. I prepared my toothbrush and my face soap and then I took a leak. I pushed the flush handle but the swirling sound of water never came. I pushed it a couple times… and then a hundred times like a maniac. Gahhh!  No water. But that is just the beginning of my problems.

Our condo unit is on the 17th floor. The water pressure may be low today. So I decided to come downstairs so I can use the common washroom so I can wash my face and perhaps do the number two.  The maintenance manager and the security guy were at the lobby. Hmm… I don’t usually see these guys this early so something must be up. But I’m on a mission here so I went straight to the washroom to do my business.

As I was about to close the washroom door, I heard the maintenance manager exclaimed “Jesus, now all these people are gonna come downstairs to shit!” WTF. Why would anyone say something like that? I was gonna going to confront the guy but I have to use the washroom pretty bad so I just went in. I’ll just talk to the blabbermouth later.

I looked down into the toilet bowl and I saw that it’s full of napkins. There’s no water here either darnit! And someone tried covering their crime by flooding the bowl with napkins! Just great. Now the stupid maintenance guy is going to think it was me who did it!

Since I can’t do number two on top of another guy’s number two (eww), I just washed my face and was out of the washroom really quick. I think I was in there for 10 seconds only. I looked for the maintenance guy but he’s no longer there. I will just deal with him later. I spoke with the guard and found out that there was a road construction nearby and they turned off our water.

I went back upstairs and told the wife and our 9yr old girl what happened. No taking baths and no number two’s today.

30 minutes after the wife have gone to work and the daughter to school, my 8mo old son is now asleep in my arms. Ahhh… peace finally… And then the building fire alarm came on. And then the firetrucks came. And now my baby is crying. Oh god, when is this gonna end?!?

After what seemed like an eternity of sirens and crying and me cursing inside, silence. This must be it. This must be my time to relax. And then my cellphone rang. I picked it up. It was HR. Our entire business unit got dissolved. I am officially jobless as of today. FUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!