Update with work/layoff

[carolina-rig-01]

I posted a while back about the possibility of me getting laid off at work. Well over the past week a lot of things have happened and in the end Britney and I were left with a big decision to make. I had already come to the conclusion that I was going to be laid off and we were making plans on where we would go from there as far as me going back to school or finding out what I would enjoy doing as a career. Well they called me in the office last week and gave me a job offer on nights. Britney and I already decided if that offer was given to me that I would just take the layoff because night shift just wouldn't work for us and I didn't want to miss time away from her and Lake. So the next day I went in and told them I would take my severance package and the plant manager asked me if it would make a difference if he offered me a job on days and I told him it would make my decision a lot tougher. Turns out they offered me a job on the same shift I am working now, only thing is that the job is one level below what I am doing now. It is a significant cut in pay but I would still be making a lot more money that I have been making in the last year because I would be going back to a full work schedule. The decision was tough because I am really not happy with my job and I was looking at the layoff as a second chance to figure out what job would make me happy and with the severance package I would still be making money while I was trying to figure it out and then if it took long enough I would still make money on unemployment which would allow me more time for a decision. In the end we decided that I would stay at work and take the pay cut because I will still be making more money than most people in our area and who knows when the economy will come back and I will be able to find another job. In the mean time while I am at work I can still do some soul searching and figure out what I would like to do and work towards a career change at my own pace. The biggest problem I had with my job is working every other weekend, it always seems like when I wanted to do something it was on the weekends I had to work. However that is no longer a problem because since they did away with 30% of their employees they also rearranged the shifts so that I will be off every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday as well as every other Monday. The bottom line is that although I am not crazy about my job, I am glad to have one. Jobs aren't easy to find right now and a smart monkey doesn't let go of a limb until he has a firm grip on another one.