Another One Bites The Dust

**Sammac** · 15th January 09, 08:42 AM

Sorry to here about your situation. Been laid off since 2nd week of Dec. and since I am #3 in sinority it has scared my wife a bit. Hope to be back next week or the week after. We have a couple a new jobs starting so it looks a bit better than the start of last year. Good luck with everything.

**fudgeman** · 15th January 09, 08:54 AM

I hear ya! Worked for a major insurance company for over 30 years and in 2001 they came in and closed our branch. "See ya". I was lucky---I was 6 months short of 55 and they put me on unpaid leave of absence until I turned 55. So I draw some retirement. Doing nothing for a year, my wife and I came up with the current "job". We are vendors at festivals selling fudge 'n' nuts. I love it. Travel, meet people, see many of the same vendors. We are indeed "carny folks". Wish I'd done it many years ago. The point: something better will come along. Best to ya!

**cavscout** · 15th January 09, 09:55 AM

Sorry to hear that Red. May the road rise to meet you...

**Macman** · 15th January 09, 10:26 AM

I'm sorry to hear that, RR, but you've got what it takes to make the best of it.

**Retro Red** · 15th January 09, 11:17 AM

Originally Posted by castledangerous

Why would you necessarily think your career in IT is over?

Because I'm a dinosaur. My skill set is all mainframe related - COBOL, PL/I, IMS DB/DC, DB2, JCL & a bunch of other acronyms - & the only folks who use mainframe computers are big companies, which are all cutting their workforce or off-shoring. Based on what IT jobs I've seen available, I would need some major retraining & at 53, I'm not sure that'd be worth the time & effort to then compete against college grads or those who live in a country with a much lower cost of living.

Besides, I've spent 20 years developing my DJing into a nice part-time business. With absolutely no promotion on my part, I do about 30-35 gigs a year from repeat customers, referrals from satisfied customers, or folks who've attend my gigs. And it's something I really enjoy doing. Add to that the fact that we can live on my wife's income & medical benefits while I crank up the DJing into a full-time business & my course of action seems fairly obvious.

.

**Streetcar** · 15th January 09, 12:14 PM

Damn! Sorry to hear about that. But it sounds like you've got a fair parachute to work with. I don't know if there's anything I can do for you from this part of the country, but let me know if there is.