Stress of the Unknown

STRESS

My day job is coming to an end this month. I’ve known about this for several months – just not the actual date – and this has added a little stress to my life.

Now, as the final days march by, I’m coming to terms with it – actually looking forward to the end. Ends usually portend new beginnings. Knowing the actual date allows one to plan. I’ve found that lack of knowledge in this matter produces stress all out of proportion to the event itself.

My job on the DEWLINE ended in 1992. A new system (NORTH WARNING SYSTEM) was taking over our operation, and the DEWLINE was shutting down in stages as the NWS came online. I went up at the end of June, knowing that my proposed lay-off date was three weeks later. People leaving the DEWLINE went south on a Wednesday. Those laid-off would receive word a week in advance. If you didn’t get your official lay-off notice when the plane came in on the Wednesday or Thursday, you know that you wouldn’t be going out the following Wednesday, and thus had at least two weeks left.

I didn’t get my notice the date I expected to, so I had at least two more weeks up there instead of the one. The next week, of course, I figured I’d get my notice, prepared for it, etc. But it didn’t come that week, either. And it didn’t come for another 4 or 5 weeks. But every Wednesday, I’d expect it, and be ready for the axe to fall. Let me tell you, a reprieve wasn’t much of a reprieve. The delay was worse than the notice. When I finally got the notice, I felt such a sense of relief.

Somewhat the same thing happened this year. My employer’s landlord wants to tear down our building. We received 30 days notice at the end of January. But my boss said he would fight for a longer notice, so I didn’t know if I’d lose my job at the end of February or not. At the end of February, we got the reprieve – but only one more month.

My boss may or may not reopen. He may retire. But, for now, I KNOW. My job ends at the end of the month. It’s a relief. Now, at last, I can make some solid plans, not tentative ones. Funny how becoming unemployed can actually reduce stress, eh?

For the moment, I figure I’ll have a little more time to write and be in a better mood to write.

At this time, I’ve just finished my preliminary edit of “Not With A Whimper: Destroyers”. I just need to go over it again and then do my usual 5 or 6 rereads, making sure that I’ve left no continuity errors or typos. Then it’s off to my proofer who will find about five dozen mistakes. (I think she puts them in and then ‘finds’ them in order to make herself look good. I just don’t know how she inserts them into MY copy, too. She’s probably a hacker – though it appears that I know more about computers than she does. She’s tricky, so it could all be a ploy.) See NEWS for an update on my writing.

Anyway, I thank you for your patience, and hope you take a look at “Destroyers” when it comes out.