Thu. Nov 1, 2007

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It was two years ago today that the printing company I worked for announced that they were going out of business. It was a surprise announcement - nobody saw it coming. We should have - the company had been in the red for more than a year.

I was pretty sure that finding a new job at my age was not going to be simple. But there were several of the print shop's customers that requested that I be the one to handle their business, so on impulse I e-mailed each explaining that I was still available to do their layout and composition work. I figured just three or four of them could provide me with the maximum allowable income and still be able to collect early Social Security payments. That was my goal.

But two years later I've picked up many of the old printer's customers and haven't had to take any early (reduced) Social Security. I work at home and pick my own hours (usually, although sometimes that means picking 14 hours out of each day) and still have time for errands, grocery shopping, laundry - all of life's little pleasures.

So even though finding oneself suddenly unemployed can be traumatic, it can also be an opportunity.

That's usually a buncha crap, but in this case it was true.

Think positive.