Well, life certainly has a way of kicking you in the teeth. First, I got Cancer and now I was just laid-off from work. After 8 years and being the most senior person in my department, they canned me. I was supervised while I cleared out my desk and I wasn't allowed to go back onto my computer. Boy are they gonna be shocked when they go through my personal folder and find a bunch of images of half dressed Vickies that I hadn't finished clothing. That company is on its last legs anyway. They went from $8M in billing down to just $1.5M in 3 years. This year really sucks for me. C'est la vie

I am sorry things look so bleak for you right now. But I am sure they will improve.

Sorry to hear your bad news. As me and my music buddies would say, Mojo to you; you'll be in my thoughts.

Supervised while you cleared out your desk. What insanity. I'm glad you had the guts to share. There can't be a much better reason for being mad as hell in America. I hope one of those Vicki's was giving a one finger wave good-bye. Poly-Mva has helped many. May be worth a look. http://www.polymva.com/

Gosh, I am so very sorry to hear what happened to you, DID, happen.....but you are not the only one that this has happened to. I just don't think that you, leaving a "bunch of images of half dressed "Vickies" was a good way to prove your point? What did that say "about" you? Yeah...your company is on it's "Last Legs", as you put it, but somehow.....I have a feeling that...maybe.....it's on it's last legs because you and your co-workers did not do anything to improve the work conditions or at least "Help" out to help "YOUR" company make it thru the crisis? I also work for a company that is IN Bankrupsy, and has been since 2001.........and I have got "21" years and found myself....BACK ON MIDNIGHT SHIFT! I can see where the "waste" is,but that's only because I am a "Lead" NOT MANAGEMENT, and I am the ONE who has to "DEAL" with all the problems and complaints......First Hand! What I would like to ask of you is.............what did you do to save your "company????" Spend your time making "Half Naked Pictures of Vicky?"

Are you sure that they didn't fire you to try to get you and your cancer off of thier insurance premiums ??? I am not sure how you are set up there with your insurance, but if you are in the US you can keep your insurance even after they fired you and you can even transfer to another one if you need to as long as you don't let the other one drop/lapse. Anyway, take care of yourself and I wish only the best for you and your family. --Rebekah--

@ genny

First off, I didn't leave half naked vickies in my personal folder (which we were told we could use as we wished) on purpose. I wanted to delete everything but wasn't permitted back on my computer.

As for helping my company. I cannot begin to describe the sacrifices I made to help my former company. When I was first hired they had no procedures in the art department. No job bag, no trafficking procedures, no client contact sheets, no briefing documents. I created all that for them, an I was only hired as a Graphic Designer. Furthermore, I made purchasing recommendation for equipment and found the best places to buy them.

The problem with that company is SALES. I'm not in sales. In fact I'm not permitted to speak to clients.

When you're sitting at your desk doing nothing because the Sales staff is too inept or lazy to go get work, I occupied my time doing other things. One of the many things I did was practice using several 3D apps, Flash, Director, Adobe Premier etc, etc. Skills I acquired were later used to the company's benefit when I helped create stimulating and visually exciting pitch presentations.

What did I do to help the company. A S**T load.

Thanks for raining on my parade, genny, but its already been cancelled. I'm Canadian. Health Care is, lousy but, free here. Thanks for your concern.

Message edited on: 10/27/2005 12:35

Wow. Sorry to hear that. The supervision over cleaning out your desk is commonplace in corporate America though. It would be silly to let you get on your computer, just so you spread the I Love You virus throughout the company. I agree in some of the point genny makes, but that is just a bit harsh. Making Vicki renders on work time is a good way to look for trouble. I can't complain much though, I am at work typing this message. Genny, how exactly are common employees supposed to help corporations make money? That is the whole reason companies have executives and salespeople. To expect the common worker to somehow help is unfair at best. Unfortunately, this is the sad state of corporate America. We have grown to big, and the slimming has to happen. It just bites when it is you... P.S. I am REALLY sorry to hear about the cancer. I hope and pray you recover. Take care!

My SINCEREST APOLIGIES, to you, bandolin.....I really didn't mean to "rain on your parade." It's was just what you happened to mention, struck a chord with me, as I have seen "Hundreds" of people that I worked and dealt with everyday......LOSE their jobs, Layed off.....didn't matter what they contributed to the company, didn't matter how good of a worker you were.....etc...etc.....all that mattered was "Seniority!" I won't continue right now because I really need to get to bed right now......so......pls.......feel free to post again or IM me. I know your have your opinions, and so do I........but....I would really like to know........what were you looking for in your post?

Genny, bandolin was simply sharing an experience. We all tend to do that in the bad times. People have posted about losing everything in the hurricanes, family members passing away, members getting sick. We share our experiences, usually just to get that "off my chest" feeling. It is an added benefit if we actually receive sympathy. I understand your frustration. The thing is, if someone has seniority, they should be the last to go. Hell, 8 years in the economy of the past two decades is a full lifetime of work. Loyalty should be rewarded. No, a senior person who sits on their tail and does nothing all day shouldn't keep their job over someone with less time served who works hard, but if two people give a good effort, and one has significant experience over the other, then the senior should stay. That's called loyalty, and it is sorely lacking these days in the business world.

Hope things get better for you on both fronts. Sometimes, corporations like that aren't worth your loyalty. Just keep plugging, you'll put it all behind you. Luck, Q

Sorry to hear of your unfortunate situation, hope things work out for the better for you!

I always find that when one door closes another will open. Just keep the faith in your work and your health and all will work out! Best wishes!

Bandolin, you have my sympathy! I worked for a company for 11 years - I wasn't in sales, but at the "front end" of media info gathering. Sales were down - despite mine and other colleagues' efforts to get salespersons' backsides into gear - result - 25% of us made redundant - needless to say said salespersons weren't affected. Luckily, those of us who'd had a lengthy work record and were above mid 40s in age qualified for higher than average redundancy pay. However, that didn't last too long and 4 years later I still can't get a job - experience is often little valued nowadays. I do hope you overcome your health and employment problems and best wishes for the future

Of COURSE they let the senior people go first! They make the most per hour, week or whatever. The fact that they take the corporate memory with them when they go doesn't seem to register until Mr. Gotbucks can't find that file he so desperately needs to make his next sale. Then it's "Oh, Joe always took care of that, sir, and I have no idea where he kept them". I once worked for an aerospace company which shall remain nameless except to say that its founder didn't look all that much like Leonardo DeCaprio. When the firm was bought by the Very Large Motor Corporation, payroll had to be reduced, so long-term highly-paid employees were "induced" (i.e., threatened) to take early retirement. This cost them nearly all of their senior scientists and engineers. Nobody left knew from nothing as to ongoing projects, file locations and the like. The company floundered for a few years and finally died the death, its component parts sold off to its erstwhile competitors. (Not sour grapes - I was long gone to a better outfit.) So hang in there, bandolin - you may yet get to gloat while enjoying a better job! (There's NO Freude like Schadenfreude...)

Its a shame what happended to you, if you could have known you could have had vicky either throwning the bird or bent over and telling them to kiss her ass when they turned the computer on.

"Gosh, I am so very sorry to hear what happened to you, DID, happen.....but you are not the only one that this has happened to. I just don't think that you, leaving a "bunch of images of half dressed "Vickies" was a good way to prove your point? What did that say "about" you? Yeah...your company is on it's "Last Legs", as you put it, but somehow.....I have a feeling that...maybe.....it's on it's last legs because you and your co-workers did not do anything to improve the work conditions or at least "Help" out to help "YOUR" company make it thru the crisis? I also work for a company that is IN Bankrupsy, and has been since 2001.........and I have got "21" years and found myself....BACK ON MIDNIGHT SHIFT! I can see where the "waste" is,but that's only because I am a "Lead" NOT MANAGEMENT, and I am the ONE who has to "DEAL" with all the problems and complaints......First Hand! What I would like to ask of you is.............what did you do to save your "company????" Spend your time making "Half Naked Pictures of Vicky?" " Wow, classy reply. :/

Really sorry to hear about this bandolin. Talk about the old one-two. I'll be thinking of you and hoping your health vastly improves and that you land a more satisying, better-paid job where you are treated as a valued colleague, rather than a waste of resource :-

It's best for me not to get started on corporate greed (LOL) ... I'll just add my sympathies and understanding for how rotten it feels. Best of luck to you in your time of great need for healing and friends.

Thanks for all your encouragement. You may not think it, but it does help to know that 1) you're not alone and 2) the extra validation doesn't hurt either. It was time for me to move on really. I've been in the ad business for 18 years. I've been meaning to try something new. Any ideas on some cool level entry jobs I should try? Does Dr. Geep have a tut on finding a new career? ;-)

Ad business ... ah, that explains it. When times are tough, it's one of the first things to get cut from a budget. And, ironically, when times are tough it's when you need to advertise the MOST. Doesn't make sense, does it? After I was let go under similar conditions (after having disc surgery and having resulting physical limitations), I was on long term disability for a year and a half. During that time I did a complete turnaround, and went from an engineering career to a work at home art and writing career. Having art and graphic experience under your belt, you may be in a good position to start a home-based business of your own. If you do what you love, the rest follows. I wasn't crazy about being a well paid engineer ... but I'm very content as a starving artist and writer. 8-) Another good idea? Read stuff like "What Color Is Your Parachute" and "The Best Home Businesses for the 21st Century." Stuff like that really helped me get some ideas of directions to pursue.

This year I was hospitalized then I was also laid off while out on disability. My company was bought by a international and reduced to a serve your self internet site that the former customers realy wanted nothing to do with. So your not alone. There are a lot of us these days I think. Good things can come from stuff like this. I've seen new doors opened when old ones were close on people. I know this can work out. Best wishes.

Yup, stuff like this usually works out for the best. It takes a while for the wounds to heal, but follow your heart. 8-)

Left you about 5 paragraphs of stuff in the Bryce forum..so I'll skip all that.
Yeah, there's something called Cobra in the US, and you can continute your insurance, it's just that you pay for all the insurance..so that it goes from say $150/mo to $550/mo..but it's cheaper than cancer drugs (they used something on me back in the 80's called platinol..which I swear was made from platinum..cost $18,000 before they were through) Some companies will continue your insurance for a short time; that might be worth looking into.
I do know that the treatments will knock you for a loop; it may be hard to get through the day (think of it as old age in an IV).
If I knew of anything in the RTP NC area, I'd drop ya a line, but I heard on the way home from work today that my company is one of the ones inditcted in the 'oil for food' program. Good luck, and hang in there..

I am sorry for you bandolin. I hope you find something else that will be even better than what you had. ;o) France

Bandolin, things look bad now, but everything in life happens for a reason. Perhaps the job loss is a sign that you are meant to do bigger and better things with your life. Have you considered going back to school? I was in my 30's when I went back to school. I will keep you in my thoughts.

Bandolin, I'm glad also that you had the guts to share your story. And I'll pray for you...

Well that just sucks! Sorry to hear your news and i hope you find a job you love. As well as your health. I'm Canadian to, I just hope you get the treatment you need when you need it. Best wishes to you! p.s wouldn't it be funny to see their faces if they view those files of nekid vickies?? :0

I'm putting you on the list kid, hang in there and don't let it drive you. I guess life has to suck sometimes to make us appreciate the good parts. Hoping something better comes along for you. Marque

My gratuities to you bandolin! I am sure things will get better for you. And getting sucker punched by multiple turns that life has in store for us seems to be quite common for many of us. Gone are the days we can relax back in chairs and enjoy the long days of comfort really, as the (industry) is much more competitive than yesteryears, and the average lifespan of a job seems to becoming less and less. Multi Billion dollar companies being ultimately ran by corrupt and impompetant and greedy (board members/stock holders) is a major problem in the world and I fear things will only get worse. But as for you. My prayers to you and I hope youll find your enlightenment soon. Chris~

Hang in there, Bandolin! Things WILL get better. Look at this as an opportunity to start the new life that you really want (excluding cancer). While making the cancer battle your #1 priority, definitely spend some of that time thinking seriously about what it is that you really want for your future. I know this sounds redundant but, sometimes the bad things in life can easily distort your focus on what's important. Wish you all the best!

Thanks for all the encouragement. I really appreciate it. :-)

Im a lil late on mail ((((((((((hugs)))))))))) hope things pick up for you :O)

Im a lil late on mail ((((((((((hugs)))))))))) hope things pick up for you :O)

I've been laid off in the past, too. Caught in corporate buyouts and downsizing. It can hit hard at the time. But life goes on.

Oddly -- I am now working for my former company on a contract basis. I am now doing at home -- and for higher per hour pay -- what I used to do for them in the office. The irony of the situation.....gives me a little smile. Now I get to have my current set-my-own-hours day job, plus contract work for my former employer. Neat, huh?

You never know where the path might ultimately lead. And you never know what a day might bring. Good or bad.

Over the years, I've seen top people that were "riding high" brought low. And I've seen "lowriders" who derived more satisfaction from their own little piece of life than you could buy with a million dollars.

That's too bad, man. :( It certainly stinks when your hard work goes unappreciated or unrewarded. But, you sound like you've got some valuable experience. Hopefully, you'll be able to find a decent job before too long. I hope that you can recover from your cancer without too many problems, as well.