Ranting to /dev/null

Macroeconomics strikes home

In an odd twist of fate relating to yesterday's post on telemarketing, it seems that the current economic downturn has affected me personally. I've been laid off. Despite my best efforts, there has not been sufficient business for my employer to keep me on after this week. The weather has been brutal on us, and John said that small business owners - especially contractors - all over town are reporting slower business than usual: Brandt with TrueShine, landscapers, even Luciano's. It's hard to say whether it's just the awful weather - for those of you not living in/around Chattanooga, there hasn't been a three day stretch without rain since early June - or whether the national slowdown in spending is at fault, but it's kind of moot at this point.

What this means for me isn't entirely clear. There are six weeks left until the semester begins. Finding a job that pays well enough to support me down here does not sound like it's going to happen: no one hires an employee at >$10/hr for six weeks. So unless something absolutely fantastic turns up in the next few days, I'll probably be going home.

Right now I'm thinking that I'll stay for most of July, seeing as I've already paid for it. I won't have nearly as much money at the end of the summer as I had hoped, but I suppose that's the way the cookie gets smashed into little bits, eh? At the moment, I have enough to be comfortable until the end of the year, my expenses after August promising to be quite minimal. Yes, there are a few advantages to still being a college student, and not having to pay for rent, utilities, or food is one of them. But I certainly won't have the buffer I had wanted to bridge me between graduation in December and finding gainful employment thereafter.

On the upside, this should give me the time I need to finish my SIP. I was supposed to have it finished last semester, but I ran into a problem with the project that prevented me from concluding it. Holding down a full time job has meant that I've been able to spend little time on it so far this summer, and things have progressed very slowly. With any luck, a full two weeks of study and writing should give me the burst I need to get this sucker done.

I don't really know what's going to happen though. Prayers are appreciated.