Gamer Without Job

I don't think I've ever posted on these boards before, though I have on a few others around the various gaming-related interwebs. I didn't really have the time to, or want to devote the time after fulfilling the demands of my life. The GWJ podcast found a crack in time during my extensive commute. Other than that, I was one of those guys who hardly had time at work to visit the internet for something other than a work-related search or a quick email.

I recently took a big lateral move from a casino I'd been with for almost eight years, to a company selling software to casinos. To me, that represented a shift that might have better chances to feed a future career at a game development company, even if it was a risky move. Working with games would help me use my time better, allow me have have game-related time and work-related time somehow double up. Every job I've ever had simply wants more and more of it, year after year. I have a bad habit of getting on salary, doing a good job, and failing to keep my mouth shut, suggestion-wise. Lethal combination.

Time is indeed precious. I can't help but be susceptible to temptations of workaholism. I've been the main breadwinner for fifteen years, the only one for five or so of those. Yet as I age and see the effects of where I spend my time, I see how critical the time I spend with my family can be. My family would defend me, but nonetheless I've felt a lot of guilt over the things I've missed at home in favor of more time at the office.

And somehow still I also want selfish time, to play my games. Being a gamer has suffered more than anything else, which I suppose is to my credit. So many nights since I entered my late thirties have I tried my old trick, forgoing sleep, only to have my wife find my aging body asleep on the couch with a controller in its limp, lifeless hands. This, ladies and gentlemen, is the primary reason I have become more "casual" in my gaming. Time. Pure and simple.

The idiom "be careful what you wish for" has recurred to me so much in that last week, since my new position disappeared along with the company I joined. I am laid off. I have plenty of time.

And as I search for work and apply jobs and explore my first experience with "the dole," I have enjoyed more time with family, and to help my wife. And, yes, to game. Yet each one of these interactive experiences I've worked so hard to fit into the budget (sometimes not the best fit), looks like cash to me now, that could be in the bank. At what price to savings comes this hobby? Or would I just be spending the money on sports or cars or liquor otherwise?

Regardless of all that heavy stuff, is there some key for an unemployed father and breadwinner to gaming without guilt during the downtime? For some reason my wife feels I deserve it.

sorry to hear about your job
As for buying games: I almost never pay full price. Just wait for the deals to appear. It's hard to hear
everyone rave about this new game they just played, but well, it's got to hurt somewhere
Or you budget everything and put something aside for just you and something for just your wife.
And you spend it on whatever you want. For you: games!

Really hope you find a job soon !

Sorry to hear you lost your job man.

Imbarkus wrote:

failing to keep my mouth shut, suggestion-wise.

What do you mean by that? What kind of suggestions? Like telling the boss were he can stick it?

Imbarkus wrote:

Time is indeed precious. I can't help but be susceptible to temptations of workaholism. I've been the main breadwinner for fifteen years, the only one for five or so of those. Yet as I age and see the effects of where I spend my time, I see how critical the time I spend with my family can be. My family would defend me, but nonetheless I've felt a lot of guilt over the things I've missed at home in favor of more time at the office.

It seems like you need to find a work life balance. First off, being on salary, you're not getting overtime. So if the money is not the motivating factor of working so much, what is? Can you identify the specific reason you work so much? When you are putting in lots of hours, do you see a promotion on the horizon? A tangible goal? Do you feel like if you don't work that much, you might lose your job? You work to provide for your family but do you make the time to enjoy the fruits of those labors? Step outside yourself and identify the difference between being a husband/father and an absentee financial benefactor of your family.

Also, it's obvious that you lost your job regardless of the amount of time you put in. So have you found any benefit to being a workaholic?

Imbarkus wrote:

And somehow still I also want selfish time, to play my games. Being a gamer has suffered more than anything else, which I suppose is to my credit. So many nights since I entered my late thirties have I tried my old trick, forgoing sleep, only to have my wife find my aging body asleep on the couch with a controller in its limp, lifeless hands. This, ladies and gentlemen, is the primary reason I have become more "casual" in my gaming. Time. Pure and simple.

It's not wrong to want personal time. I'd rank it as a necessity for every human being. All things in moderation though.

Imbarkus wrote:

And as I search for work and apply jobs and explore my first experience with "the dole," I have enjoyed more time with family, and to help my wife. And, yes, to game. Yet each one of these interactive experiences I've worked so hard to fit into the budget (sometimes not the best fit), looks like cash to me now, that could be in the bank. At what price to savings comes this hobby? Or would I just be spending the money on sports or cars or liquor otherwise?

Regardless of all that heavy stuff, is there some key for an unemployed father and breadwinner to gaming without guilt during the
downtime? For some reason my wife feels I deserve it.

All things in moderation. As gamers we all know how addicting gaming can be. We can drop 6 hours into a game without thinking about it and it will seem like we've only been playing 30 minutes. If your wife feels you deserve it, then perhaps pick up a game as long as it's not taking away from necessary bills. Just be careful not to get carried away. It's in our nature as gamers to do so.

Perhaps you can make a compromise with yourself to help eliminate the guilt. Something like "Ok, if I spend 4 hours this morning making a serious effort to find a new job, then I can play a game for 4 hours. Then after the working day is over and wifey comes home, I spend the rest of the night with wife and kids." One of the easiest things to do when unemployed is lose structure to your day. Make yourself a routine with scheduled times for job seeking and gaming, and then spend the rest of the time with your family.

Good luck man. Hope you find work soon.

Thanks for the good vibes folks.

Imbarkus wrote:

failing to keep my mouth shut, suggestion-wise.

FSeven wrote:

What do you mean by that? What kind of suggestions? Like telling the boss were he can stick it?

Nah I learned that lesson in my twenties. I learned that if I didn't like a job, or a boss, I should just move on. And I'm pretty easy-going, was at my last job for years. It was perhaps the target of my moving on that I chose not-so-carefully.

What I mean about keeping my mouth shut, suggestion-wise, is that when you come up with new ideas and solutions and suggestions about how to do things, you end with more things to do as people respond with "alright then, make it so." Taking this kind of responsibility to improve things has been part of the "pursuit" of work for me, part of the appeal of work itself, and part of the reason I would do well at it, as it would, in essence, fascinate me. I've heard game designers make comments that the ulitmate game is the design process itself. Work is a game.

This led me into management, and a never-ending parade of situations needing the time and attention of a person with just such an approach. Ad infinitum, it seemed. I suppose I am disillusioned with the game. Can't quite recall what the motivation was for working so hard. When I was doing more graphic work, I had creative pride on the line, a portfolio to populate, the next job to think about. I guess those same sorts of feelings carried over to non-creative work as well.

FSeven wrote:

Perhaps you can make a compromise with yourself to help eliminate the guilt. Something like "Ok, if I spend 4 hours this morning making a serious effort to find a new job, then I can play a game for 4 hours. Then after the working day is over and wifey comes home, I spend the rest of the night with wife and kids." One of the easiest things to do when unemployed is lose structure to your day. Make yourself a routine with scheduled times for job seeking and gaming, and then spend the rest of the time with your family.

Good luck man. Hope you find work soon. :)

Good advice about the structure. The company that laid me off gave me a MacBook Pro as severance, and I have Boot Camped the thing and can get some PC time even when the family PC is in use. Yet I have spent more time installing games, resolving technical issues, connecting video capture peripherals to get some of my old creative reel spots, visiting Colorado Workforce web site, and reading Gamers With Jobs, than I have playing any games at all this week.

The depressurization from the hours I've been putting in for months and months has me facing something that feels different. To be honest, I am not really looking that hard for a job. I'm tired. I've never been "laid off" before, and my wife wants me to go on unemployment and play World of Warcraft with her (we are in a situation where we can get by on very little income for a time). Not going to be buying games, mind you--I'm good, for a while. But she wants me actually playing them, enjoying those fruits. Some part of me is resisting, but I have no direction or excuse to substitute. Why would I even want that? Is anybody in this world ever granted a reprieve from the work ethic? My dad sure didn't think so.

Sir, I am not sure what I have become, what job I should even have. I reluctantly believe I am called upon to soul-search with this time. Doesn't feel at all like the last time I lost a job, years ago. All those abandoned dreams from long ago are re-occurring to me now. I am Jack's obvious and cliched mid-life crisis. Being so industrious, I thought I'd get the jump on it at 37.

If you're worried about managing your time and you want a job soon, I recommend taking a 2 week or so break and then treat your job search as your new job. Dedicate a 5 day a week 9 - 5 schedule to your job search and spend the time you would have spent at your old job working extra hours or commuting to play games and entertainment.

A problem for many people who are unemployed is distractions and feeling like you don't have a purpose. If you set up a schedule where you will work, you'll solve most of these problems. You could also set aside time to do non job search but still productive things, for example 9 - 2 is job search time and 2 - 5 is chore / errand time.

Best luck!

Perhaps get a part time job if you can find one that will pay better than unemployment, to keep you from getting too bored. For example, we have drivers who work 20-30 hours a week and they're retired gentlemen just doing it for play money. I'm sure there's plenty of companies looking for something along those lines.

Now's your chance to recuperate, to decide exactly what you need to do to fall in love with life again, and how you can make it happen. Any reason you haven't ever struck out on your own?

General Crespin wrote:

Any reason you haven't ever struck out on your own?

I think a fear of uncertainty in income. Then again, it used to be that Work-for_hire included good medical benefits and company contributions to 401k, etc, etc--benefits that have waned and become less of a factor over the years.

Certainly I still retain a fear of invoicing and collecting!

FSeven wrote:

One of the easiest things to do when unemployed is lose structure to your day. Make yourself a routine with scheduled times for job seeking and gaming, and then spend the rest of the time with your family.

Structure is the key to not losing your mind and maintaining that feeling of having a purpose. Accomplishing something every day, I think, is the key. Take a breather if you can afford to; Sounds like you've earned it.

Good luck

The two weeks rest followed by structured time thing is working out for me pretty good. I still have more of an instinct to fix things and solve problems than to game. Even after I feel I can reward myself with relaxation, but I'm working on it. Ya know, when you're working your butt off you think that all you want is a chance to be a lump, and then you find you can't even do it!

What's also funny is I made this post and then the guys covered similar ground in a conference call already downloaded, but not yet heard, in a much more direct manner. Guess I had the answers in front of me!

Thanks again folks!

I suggest doing a google search for the terms "eagle semen" then read his blog. Once you are done with this, write something simliar to your old boss. That will teach him!!!

In an effort to assuage the guilt from how much money you spend on gaming, I've found free gaming to be suprisingly good. It's amazing how good an experience you can get from your browser. I use Kongregate as my browser-game-portal of choice.

Other cost-saving tips:

  • Ignore new releases! You're paying a premium because it's shiny and exciting. Unless there's a damned good reason to get in on day 1, wait. I'm doing this with Batman. I'm reliably informed by all and sundry is the best thing EVAR, but as a singleplayer game, the experience doesn't suffer for time. [/*]
  • Trade-in! I use Goozex as a way to keep my pile stocked with older titles that I missed first time around[/*]
  • Shop smart! Use CheapAssGamer to find deals. Use Google Shopping likewise. If you must buy a new game, research first, and buy from the outlet that gives you the biggest gift card as incentive. [/*]

Admittedly, the second and third points are only applicable to console gaming - not sure which side of that fence you sit on.

I just lost my job a couple of weeks ago myself. Was with the company for 18 years (not a huge fan of change), so was a big shock. As everyone else has said, structure is the main thing I am finding out. I am kind of taking it easy for now, adjusting to life without daily contact with friends whom I had seen everyday. But I am still keeping the same structure I had when I did have the job. Wake up early..watch some Mike and Mike in the morning, go for a 20 minute walk, come back home and take a shower. I still eat at the same time as I did before, and I go to bed at the same time. Only thing missing is the job that took up nine hours of my daily life.

What amazes me now is the procedure of filling out an application. Gone are the days of filling out a paper application, talking to someone in the company , and getting the job. All is done online now, with intense background checks. Not worried about the background checks at all, but I do think the online thing makes it less personal. Guess I am an old fart..but prefer to hand application and resume to a real person.

Anyway, money has been tight till I get my severance, so have been checking out Gog.com a lot. Just finished playing fallout for the first time in about ten years, and now oogling fallout 2. Found a great addicting game for my G! today called FarmFrenzy..and it was free. So gaming wise there are options. Main thing is to not let the darkness of the situation invade your mind. Be realistic, but don't let negative thoughts change your ways.

I wish you well. Just please don't lose hope and keep on gaming. Get your resume done right..and send it out into the cyber world. You will find something soon.

Oops..almost forgot one other option. Try DDO if you are into mmorpg games. I have lifetime to LOTRO membership, so not worried about subscription fees for that game, but I did give DDo a try, and am loving it so far. Just need to find a nice static group.

Okay guys four months and counting of no job. I've been able to be scrappy and clever in getting by, cashed out the 401k and have pulled in a few bucks here and there as freelance consultant (mostly for my old employer!).

The worry and stress of things is getting to me a bit, and although I find sometimes that gaming helps with this I also find I am gaming less overall than I was when I was employed. It's like I don't feel I deserve to or something, like once I have a secured income I can finally relax. This feeling hasn't been working out too well for me so I'm trying to veer away from it and get more gaming in my life.

One really nice benefit of having all this time off is feeling closer to my kids than I have in a long time. Gaming with my son and helping my daughter out with her gaming efforts in Sims 3 (damn you bug-ridden save-corrupting EA software!), plus helping out with all the other things like food and school has involved me a lot more in their lives. My work was pretty crazy before in terms of demands for hours, I was essentially missing out on getting to know the people my children are turning into! It's good to feel I have reconnected with that. But it's still sort of hard to relax and enjoy that when I'm wondering where our next bag of groceries is going to come from.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii is doing a lot right now to get me and my boy playing together. He bought it with his Christmas and birthday money, I think mostly so we could play it together. I cannot tell you how much that means to me.

I do have my web site up and running, showing off my skills. I would love feedback from some of you Gamers With Jobs! It's at www.danalaratta.com

Thanks!

Site looks good. As a first-time visitor, it felt a bit disconcerting that the navigation ... balls? kept changing depending on which page you look at. I understood why (only display links that are pertinent to the current page), but it was still a bit odd. And the main body content of some of your portfolio pages (Writing, Design) is rather overwhelming -- maybe reduce 4 columns to 2?

Hope things look up for you soon. I understand the weird feeling of finally having free time to game and all of a sudden it seems like the most unappealing thing in the world. While I was finishing my thesis I ran out of savings, which had the side effect of making me feel like a stereotypical basement dweller every time I sat down on the couch. Like these other guys said, finding some structured way to feel productive is a good counter for this.

Sorry to hear that you're still out of work man, but it's great that you are reconnecting with your kids like that! I still hold that events happen to us for reasons we can't necessarily grasp at the time. Maybe it was your time to get to know your family again. Bummer about the 401k though.

I dig your website and the work you've got on there. I have a feeling if we ever met we'd have much to talk about. On that note I only have a few constructive criticisms.
1. I like the main navigation page. You have good use of negative space around the central navigation menu. There is a lot of interesting stuff going on in that central area, but it almost feels too busy. I wonder if some of those sections could be combined to reduce clutter, and some of the less important stuff shrunk down to be less prominent. If you're presenting this to a potential employer, they're probably not going to care very much that you are an avid gamer/trekkie/etc. (unless they are as well, but it's less critical to the work you're going to be doing.) Which brings me to point 2...
2. Be clear about what you want your future career to be. It's awesome that you have all these varied interests and creative outlets, but if you are looking for a job programming, or in management, or whatever, they're probably not going to be important.
3. Continuity. Like I said, the main page uses negative space well, but that isn't continued to the rest of the site. You used similar art elements, but it feels different because of the layout. I would try to unify the nav page and the rest of the site a little better.
4. Just checked your source code. Did you have to use tables? Tables are sooo passé.
But seriously, there is a better way to set that up than tables. CSS is your friend.

Clemenstation wrote:

Site looks good. As a first-time visitor, it felt a bit disconcerting that the navigation ... balls? kept changing depending on which page you look at. I understood why (only display links that are pertinent to the current page), but it was still a bit odd. And the main body content of some of your portfolio pages (Writing, Design) is rather overwhelming -- maybe reduce 4 columns to 2?

Funny you should suggest the column reduction. In the latest revisions I actually went from 3 to 4, as I was trying to avoid a lot of unnecessary scrolling, and I had moved from an era where 800x600 was standard resolution out in the world, to one where 1024x768 is pretty standard.

Clemenstation wrote:

Hope things look up for you soon. I understand the weird feeling of finally having free time to game and all of a sudden it seems like the most unappealing thing in the world. While I was finishing my thesis I ran out of savings, which had the side effect of making me feel like a stereotypical basement dweller every time I sat down on the couch. Like these other guys said, finding some structured way to feel productive is a good counter for this.

I'm doing my best. I'm actually finding a lot more people who are looking for help as a service than help in the form of an employee, so I have sort of unwillingly gone the route of freelancer/contractor/consultant.

The thing is, I can get such a higher hourly rate that way, and get paid for every hour I work, rather than going salary and watch my hourly rate dwindle as my employer demands more and more time (and my children beging to wonder who that man is who just walked in like he lives here--oh yeah! Dad).

The uncertainty of it all, and the trouble managing my own time without ending up, oh, I dunno reading too much Gamers with Jobs, is tough. But with benefits being worth less and less each year and costing more and more, raises "not being viable" for years on end, and vacation time being gobbled back up under new Draconian policies even though there's not enough staff to allow one to take a vacation, I'm starting to wonder if finding another "job" is really what I want at all.

Food for thought! Where do I find "Gamers with Businesses!"

Rob_Anybody wrote:

1. I like the main navigation page. You have good use of negative space around the central navigation menu. There is a lot of interesting stuff going on in that central area, but it almost feels too busy. I wonder if some of those sections could be combined to reduce clutter, and some of the less important stuff shrunk down to be less prominent. If you're presenting this to a potential employer, they're probably not going to care very much that you are an avid gamer/trekkie/etc. (unless they are as well, but it's less critical to the work you're going to be doing.) Which brings me to point 2...
2. Be clear about what you want your future career to be. It's awesome that you have all these varied interests and creative outlets, but if you are looking for a job programming, or in management, or whatever, they're probably not going to be important.
3. Continuity. Like I said, the main page uses negative space well, but that isn't continued to the rest of the site. You used similar art elements, but it feels different because of the layout. I would try to unify the nav page and the rest of the site a little better.

Honestly I wonder if I should even have the main page. I'm fond of the layout of the thing too, with the negative space, and I think that's why I keep it, but if I'm applying for a copywriting job, for example, I'm going to link that prospective employer right to the "Writing" section, right to what they want to see, and they'll only see the rest of they start getting into my navigation "balls." That would really make the design more consistent from their viewpoint, especially if they clicked on a "ball" that lead to a related discipline instead of the "Home Ball."

Rob_Anybody wrote:

4. Just checked your source code. Did you have to use tables? Tables are sooo passé.
But seriously, there is a better way to set that up than tables. CSS is your friend.

NOOOOOO! Don't look at the source code! LOL. Honestly I need to get updated. I never learned CSS, as when it was getting big was when my web design skills went from doing-it-myself to asking-the-vendor-to-do-what-I-want, because I had moved on to having to learn hand-coded SQL (linked servers didn't play nice with the query designer in SQL 2000).

I'm sure I can learn it, I just got PHP or ASP (for web servie integreation with aforementioned SQL skills), plus some Objective-C for some iPhone dev (that game design I have to get out of my head), on my plate first. I'm using Dreamweaver 8. Anyway I can get it to just move-it-on-over for me, to your knowledge? I mean, how many damned things do I have to learn at the code-level in this lifetime!

Thanks for the feedback!

Hey I would also be curious to hear from anyone else who turned their status from "unemployed" to "freelance consultant." How'd it work out for you? Anyone else starting to feel, looking back, like working for "The Man" was for chumps anyways?

Or am I just experiencing a strong case of Sour Grapes?

Imbarkus wrote:

Hey I would also be curious to hear from anyone else who turned their status from "unemployed" to "freelance consultant." How'd it work out for you? Anyone else starting to feel, looking back, like working for "The Man" was for chumps anyways?

Or am I just experiencing a strong case of Sour Grapes?

If I had the confidence to think I could step out without taking a pay cut (I make, all told, about $60K now--but I'm a wimp when it comes to big life/family risks), I'd be right there with you.

Also bumping an old thread of mine, just to let you all know I have a job now, but it's a crazy, stressful, Director of IT job. The freelance consulting thing was very tempting, but I'm the main breadwinner for my family. Going month to month without knowing where my next dollar was coming from, and not having any health benefits for my kids, was just too much for me to deal with.

Of course, now, I barely have time to see my kids, much less play the games I would like to. I suppose I exaggerate a bit, but honestly I wish I could step back down this ladder I've climbed a bit to something a bit more reasonable.

I suppose the grass is always greener...

Thanks for the well-wishes folks, that got me through a tough time.

Congratulations, Imbarkus. That's good to hear. I mean, not the working too long hours part, the having a job part. But in this economy, having too much work is better than having not enough work.

Gratz and condolences. Yeah, being able to support the family is priority #1, but there are definitely down sides when you are lumped with a ton of responsibility.

Hope everything works out for you. You can always play tetris in your sleep!

Thanks everyone. I will say I am trying to lead a more balanced life.

I think before, when I was working so much, the main reason was because I was afraid if I didn't that I would lose my job. I didn't feel I would have opportunities to move forward in my company, and I don't feel that way now (I have actually returned to the casino I left for a different position and year ago). I don't even WANT to move further forward with this company. Those higher than me just seem even more stressed out and laden with responsibility. Very few of the executives I work beside have families. I find that very telling.

A mentor of mine has given me solid advice that I should use this position as a stepping stone to find a better one. I'm trying to move that way with it. But so many years with this company has left we with a deep seated fear that EVERY executive position is just a life-eater. But I guess there's no way to find that out without trying.

In the meantime, I am trying to both do a good job, and draw some lines--trying to say hey, that's great that you want that done, but we don't have the resources.

Another colleague once told me that the most important skill in an IT Director is the ability to say "no." Hopefully I'm learning that. Thanks again!

As someone who, over the past few years, has risen in the IT department of a small company from being a developer with a developer as a manager to being that developer manager with a developer, it's kind of amazing what higher-ups expect out of us.

I will agree that learning to say "no" is highly important, but I've also learned the following:
- When important devices start going bad, and replacing them isn't cheap, pushing for a quality replacement in a timely manner can mean the world (or in my case, when our backup power supply got real flaky, it can mean losing a server from excessive reboots due to brown outs).
- Training can be overlooked by higher-ups as unnecessary expenses, when in fact they can be some of the best ROI.
- Supporting those that work for you and standing up for them. Protecting them some times, and knowing when to step back and let them defend themselves.

- Supporting those that work for you and standing up for them. Protecting them some times, and knowing when to step back and let them defend themselves.

Le sigh... If only everyone would follow this practice, I wouldn't have lost my job last friday.

I am ready to move on. And I am pretty sure I was ready to move on before, I just got caught up in the fact that people kept telling me how great I was. Seems that is not enough to keep an IT job these days =(

trueheart78 wrote:

- When important devices start going bad, and replacing them isn't cheap, pushing for a quality replacement in a timely manner can mean the world (or in my case, when our backup power supply got real flaky, it can mean losing a server from excessive reboots due to brown outs).
- Training can be overlooked by higher-ups as unnecessary expenses, when in fact they can be some of the best ROI.
- Supporting those that work for you and standing up for them. Protecting them some times, and knowing when to step back and let them defend themselves.

All of this is good quality advice. Truthfully I am doing way better at items number 1 and 3. Need to make time for number 2.

Ummm... that didn't sound right, but you know what I mean.

Hey I just discovered the IT crowd and watched an episode of it on Netflix. Liked it. Think I'll do some more after I'm done with Parks & Recreation.

Thanks for the good advice TrueHeart, and I'm sorry to hear about your news fangblackbone. Try to bear in mind how many folks have been in your shoes lately. Apply for the uninsurance and go ahead and appeal if you get denied at first. Worth every effort if you can get it.

Then get a routine going, some exercise, time with those important to you, and scheduled time each workday to polish the resume, make different versions for different disciplines, and write up some cover letters and apply. Have faith.

Geez, Fang, good luck. I'm sorry to hear it.

So I've ended up leaving the executive IT position I had at the casino for an executive marketing position at another casino. Good increase in pay even though I'm at a smaller company. I do still think I could enjoy IT leadership, but just not for the company I left. They refused to be involved in a smart deployment of anything, and we're so busy backing themselves into a corner by "saving" money with custom developed and poorly supported solutions to problems. They were unable to afford the cost of doing business, and by the time I left most of my vendors wouldn't sell to me any more because we weren't paying up.

Three months after I leave they got sold.

But my database and BI skills make a good fit with marketing programs that rely so heavily on direct mail, and this new place needs analysis and understanding of their true costs and margins VERY badly. strangely, for being the nice guy I believe myself to be, bringing these skills into a business that has n't used them before has quickly garnered me a reputation as a vicious hatchet man. I guess we play the roles we have to.

Still trying to find that work/life balance. But I don't miss the middle-of-the-night phone calls! Most marketing emergencies can wait until the morning!

Thought I'd update you all. Thanks for the support!

fangblackbone wrote:
- Supporting those that work for you and standing up for them. Protecting them some times, and knowing when to step back and let them defend themselves.

Le sigh... If only everyone would follow this practice, I wouldn't have lost my job last friday.

I am ready to move on. And I am pretty sure I was ready to move on before, I just got caught up in the fact that people kept telling me how great I was. Seems that is not enough to keep an IT job these days =(

Fang have you landed on your feet? When you are jobless it feels like life is over. This thread can hopefully show how life goes on!