Don't give up

You know what? Fuck it. Just give up.

Open and can of pork and beans and a can of Schlitz and begin a life of sloth and solitude.

 

First-hand experience?

 

What if a new boss is a big reason life sucks?

 

No, just figured I've post something different.

Though the sloth and solitude sound familiar.

 

Then you have my sincerest condolances. Or maybe he'll fall off a rollercoaster and brake all his bones.

 

Keep your self confidence up. As cheap as that sounds coming from someone outside your situation, it's important. It helps your own mental health and makes you more appealing to an employer when you land your next interview. And you will. This is just a slump. Happens to everyone. Nobody breaks out of it by sitting on their duft, either.

Put yourself out there and good things will come, eventually. And like it was said earlier, one day you'll look back on this time and smile, because you got through it, and no matter how tough shit gets in the future you'll be able to shrug it off, because you know what real struggle is.

Good luck my man.

 

Hey, I'd have never posted that if you seemed truly down about your situation.

Hang tough, something will happen, and should anything worthwhile open up at our shop I can always PM you, right?

 

Use every contact you've ever made to see what sort of opportunities -- full-time, part-time, freelance, whatever -- might be out there to get you back in the game. If all else fails, apply to Yuma, Roswell, Eau Claire, Lafayette, St. Kitts ... whatever you gotta do.

The bottom line is if you have talent, you won't stay unemployed forever. If you don't find something within a year or so, you'll get a good kick in the ass to find something you're better at. Good luck man. You know everyone here supports you.

 

i'm curious for detail. why did you venture to news? how did it blow up? you've been in newspapers for 30-plus years? can you give us more, particularly on the why and what of the news thing.

 

Why news?
First of all, we were having big problems with the SE, who fashions himself as a writer, used to come into the office at 8 pm, begin dummying 4-6 sports pages (including agate page) and expect it all to get done in two hours. He also refused to let the desk staff do any prepatory work because he'd just tear it down.
Second, I wanted a challenge, and a friend suggested that maybe it would be good to see if I could write news and news features. I could. It took about two to three months to get the nuances down, but I did pretty well. Of course, in small towns, feathers are ruffled and my stuff seemed to ruffle feathers.
Eventually, the ME caved in, told me I had made too many mistakes -- in other words, I had ruffled feathers -- and wanted me to tone down my investigative efforts, and that was something I just could not do.
Small town politics.
I don't regret doing what I did, it made me a better writer actually, I was doing a once a week sports column that just flowed and was well read.
I'm not sure I would have done it the same way. I would have preferred, say, a feature news assignment rather than taking on five cities. It was a big workload, sure to cause problems (mistakes happen) and the paper is having problems getting it all covered. It won't, either, because the best writers are the sportswriters, where the workload tends to be heavy.
If you want to move, make sure it is on your terms, and make those terms clear.

 

I got to thinking as I read this thread and it kind of made me feel bad about the time I spend bellyaching about hours/pay/people I deal with, etc. I often kid out loud about how, if I was smart, I'd move on to something else.

Moral of the story:::: Job security is greatly underrated in these times and I feel for anybody who's fighting to find something. Good luck and I hope the right thing comes along for you.