Unemployed in New Beginnings

Last Friday was my final day at work. I know my manager’s manager said they’d like me to stay through the November close, but my replacement she felt comfortable to handle things on her own, so they set my final date for Friday, the 17th. For my going away celebration, they
organized a Thanksgiving Potluck. Unfortunately, many of my coworkers had already begun taking their Thanksgiving vacation by that time, so my going away party was a bit bare. I tried to finish of the last of my responsibilities, mostly audit items and some off balance sheet liabilities reporting I handle every November, but the day was finished before I was.

About 4:00pm, the HR manager called me into her office to sign my separation papers. I was slightly put off when she asked me how I felt about things. I felt fine, but when people ask me that question, my instincts tell me they’re more interested in getting a particular
answer than my genuine feelings on the subject. Was I supposed to apologize for not being their ideal employee for the past couple of years? I told her that I was glad to have worked with everyone for as long as I did, but my time with the company had come to an end, and it was time for me to move on. Things ended amicably, nearest I can tell.

I got a new phone. I had been using my IPhone from work as my personal phone. The only people I ever talk to on the phone are my siblings, and we don’t chat enough to be anywhere near considered abuse of company privileges. Even if we did, my company plan had unlimited talk and text, so I doubt talking to my brother or sister for a half hour a week would be an issue. Nonetheless, I had to turn it in on my last day, so I got a moto G4. I set myself up with an AT&T prepaid plan. I was just going to get talk and text until I found a new job. I spend 99% of my time in places with wifi access (my home, the gym, my Jiu Jitsu school), so I thought I would add data once I found a new position. Apparently, Moto/Lenovo phones must have data plans to receive texts, so I had to upgrade again.

I feel especially behind the learning curve on topics like this one. The is my first time ever purchasing my own phone plan. Up until my mom died, I was on my parent’s family plan. My mom had a devious plan to make sure she and I always had the same phone. That way, whenever she couldn’t figure out how to do something with her phone, she could just ask me. Shortly after she passed and I finished school, I expected I would get my own phone, but my dad insisted I get a land line. I mean, he would not call me on my mobile phone. We kind of came to an unspoken agreement that I would get a land line I didn’t need or want, and he would let me stay on the family plan. When he passed away, I had my work phone. Now, I have my own. I guess I like my new phone all right. I don’t have much to compare it to? I’m not in love with the camera. It has more megapixels than the IPhone 5S I was using, but the IPhone took better pictures in low light. If I’m not in broad day light or if ceiling lights aren’t on indoors, the photos have a grainy resolution.

Speaking of my new phone, I wasn’t able to port over my old number. The explanation they gave me escapes me, but it had something to do with my work phone plan being a business line and this phone plan being a personal plan. Not that it matters much. I don’t have a lot of phone contacts, so notifying people of my new number won’t be an ordeal. I’ve already memorized it. However, as I was moving over my phone contacts, I was confronted with a dilemma I had been postponing. I’m unsure whether I should let Hollie know of my number update. We haven’t had contact since June or so. She would initiate a text conversation every few weeks as she did during our previous break, but those have petered out. I’m torn whether I should notify her of my new number. I miss her, but I stand by my concerns. How she handles her money bothers me. The fact that she and her mom are a package deal and her mom has a hoarding problem bothers me. Her expectation that she will “lose her mind” when her mom dies bothers me. I don’t want to contact her and make her relive painful memories, but I also don’t want to hurt her should she send me a random text and discover I didn’t give her my new number. I really regret trying my hand at dating. If this is the kind of guilt that accompanies a failed relationship, I think I’d rather just spend the rest of my life alone.

Last updated November 23, 2017