What's this all about?

My second attempt at blogging should be better than the first. Not that the first blog is dead, I just haven't had a chance to blog much on it (see The Mouse and More at themouseandmore.blogspot.com). This attempt, Fumbling through my forties, comes from the situation I find myself in as of yesterday. After five years at the corporate headquarters of a national retailer, I find myself unemployed. Not an uncommon occurrence, I know, but daunting all the same. Let me explain, and please understand that I am not trying to elicit sympathy or pathos, but to explain the circumstances that led to the creation of this blog.

The short version is this: I'm 43 years old and I have a Ph.D. in history. The job I lost yesterday was in property management. This is a bit of a skill set disconnect, to say the least. Five years ago, I did work at a state historical society, doing history no less. However, the project I was working on ended and there was no new funding for my position. So, for the first time in my adult life, I found myself unemployed and not sure what to do. I ended up at this national retailer in the property management group. For five years. With no much hope of moving on from the group easily. About three weeks ago, I reached an endgame with my position and needed to be prepared to leave. The departure would be quick when it came, however, I was able to interview for another position within the organization. I came in second and found out yesterday, my last day of work. So if I had gotten this position, I would have started that job today and wouldn't be blogging now.

To add to this situation, my wife also works at a national retailer and found out three weeks ago that her position would be eliminated July 1. So she has been networking like crazy internally and externally to find a new job.

So we find ourselves in an unfortunately all-too-common situation today. We're a solidly middle-class family with a 2-year-old son and facing potentially difficult situations that we have not faced before.

This blog will be my journal of our job searches, the trials and tribulations of looking for a job with a interesting skill set and work experience, and how we're dealing with the search. I won't be maudlin (not purposely) and I hope to be humorous. We'll see if anyone else thinks I'm funny (I may have to let everyone know when I'm being funny).

Today, my first day out of work and I spent a little time doing job search stuff, but I wanted to relax a bit, too. Surfed the web, listened to podcasts, saw the new Indiana Jones movie, mowed the yard, and started this blog. A full day in my book. We'll see how things go over time.