I Can't Live...if Living is Without T-i-i-vo

Before I start today's regularly scheduled blog - I just wanted to throw out an update from last week's post. I have selected a desk and it is none of the ones we discussed. Maven Linda said I should buy the desk that jumped out at me and said "buy me." That's what this one said. It's more expensive, but has oodles of space. It's L-shaped with a hutch and it has a junk drawer. It's supposed to arrive today via UPS. I'll spend a big chunk of my weekend putting it together, which I hate with a fiery passion, but its what must be done. Isn't she pretty? Makes me feel like a big kid.

I felt a little guilty buying it because I've been pretty anxious about work lately. I work for a government contractor. My program is winding down. Eventually, unless new tasking and funding comes through, I will have to move to another program or another company. In the meantime, they're starting the first round of layoffs. Ugh. As far as I know, I'm not on the list, but it still makes you nervous. By October, I could be down several co-workers. My department could be collapsed and folded under another area - so a new boss may be on the horizon. My job will expand as I take on the tasks of people who will be gone.

And if I do end up on the list...then what? I'd like to think that I could pick up a job somewhere else within the company, but you never know. I have a niche skill set, but I'm flexible and quick to learn. Unfortunately, you can't just fake missile trajectory programming, so it limits the options. My degrees are in political science and HR. I won't go back to my old HR job unless my babies were starving and I don't have kids, so that ain't happening. I'll sell Happy Meals at the drive through first. My brain is just clouded with weird thoughts I've never had to face. How do you file for unemployment? I have no idea. Will I be able to defer my student loans? I'm not sure. I get seven weeks of severance pay (heavily taxed) to float me for a while, but of course the new house has lots of new big expenses.

Makes me think about those stories you hear of people who lose their jobs then take every dime they have to start their own business or something. The guy that invented the spray on tan did that. He raided his retirement fund to support him and his wife while he tinkered for several years on what would become the Mystic Tan booth. Or those authors that give themselves 2 years to get published before they have to go back to work and always seem to sell with, like 3 days to spare. It always seems to pay off, (at least you don't hear the stories about people who fail) but wow...I don't know I could take that kind of pressure to deliver.

In the meantime, you'd have to seriously cut back on the lifestyle. Dial up internet instead of cable. Cell phone plans dropped to a bare minimum or even - gasp - turned off. Satellite and DVR service cancelled. Netflix unsubscribed. Makes me queasy just thinking about it. Its funny how the more money you make, the more things become a necessity in your life. I never had high speed internet or Tivo before - why can't I live without it now? Cause I just can't! I'd be hocking sausage at the Hickory Farms kiosk this Christmas to keep my Tivo service going.

So to turn this horribly depressing topic into something more interesting - what is the one thing (unnecessary to survival) that you can't live without?

SP