The Advantages of not taking unemployment

One of "thought patterns" (excuse me while I go stick my finger down my throat for using such a euphemism) I began to pay attention to before I gave my notice of retirement, is that for small business owners, freelancers, contract workers, migrant farm workers a "vacation", or time spent "not working,"  = no moolah coming in.  Having been a corporate worker bee for twenty-five years, I recognized that there were certain golden handcuffs, one of them namely being taking time off without "income loss."  Even my dentist once remarked up it, wishing he, too, could take three, four, five weeks off.

This extended time off is really one of the only golden handcuffs left, and even then, there are some executives, some directors who are trying to twist that advantage to their own gains with snide comments like, "If you can be on vacation for more than two weeks, then that means the company doesn't 'need' you."  Uhm... well, the company doesn't "need" any one of us individually, now does it.  That's what lay-offs are all about, right?  And why the fuck work for a corporation if you can't leverage one of the only fuckin' benefits of being a cog within a complex wheel - namely, to take the freakin' time off you want?

Anyways... off of my rant and back to the topic of the title.  Once I got over the idea of losing that last lousy handcuff, deciding to leave was easy.  All the other handcuffs which kept me tethered were lost over each acquisition:  480 hours of sick leave, low bureaucracy, autonomy in decision making, freedom to telecommute, local offices, fun parties, swag, carpets which weren't duct-taped together, regular garbage pickup from the cubicle, plastic spoon availability in the kitchen, imitation packet creamer to offer visitors, paper cups to offer visitors a drink with.  I was left with my five weeks vacation in a corporate culture which was pressuring employees to take no more than two weeks at a time.  W. T. F.

Luckily for me, my boss knew how I felt about travelling and supported me, although I'm sure the

a la Morte Subite in Brussels, Belgium 2014

man got guff.  Poor him.  Being my boss is more akin to throwing yourself into an Eternal Flame, than a smart career step (unless you survive, many of my bosses have moved onto VP... if they weren't terminated first).  But still, staying and waiting for a package so I could get severance and unemployment never worked out for me.  People would drop like flies around me, but me, I just got sucked into another structure to do the same development and engineering work I've done since I moved into engineering.

So, we saved our pennies.  And it's turned out not to be such a bad thing.  One of the great things about not being on unemployment is that I can say, "No."  I'm not living under the swinging blade of "Must Accept or you lose your benefits."  Unemployment benefits come with a lot of strings attached. Once you decide to look for work which is a pleasure, you don't need those strings.  While the money would be nice, I am looking forward to the interview stage where I can go out on a "first date" these companies and check them out.

I know I wouldn't have worked with McCaw if I hadn't had one of the most fun interviews of my life.  That drew me in.  It was a precursor of how fun and flexible the work environment was.  So, even when I didn't have a hefty savings account, Dave 'n I still moved from Phoenix to Seattle, a city we fell in love with at first sight, without a job prospect to our names.  We've done this leap before. I even turned down a job offer (one in the hand) because they hadn't offered before we'd moved to Seattle.  We were still open to trying to work with the city. Maybe that's why it's not so frightening.  The freedom to say "no" is part of the package.