Wow, never thought it would come to this but today, both my wife and I, are signing off our jobs for the last time. I should clarify. Almost two years ago I published this article What will become in a year? – PTRN (jordanielptrn.com) talking about how we were going to leave our jobs last year, travel through the US. Update, that didn’t happen!
The biggest reason that didn’t happen was because we decided instead of traveling through the US, why not travel through Europe instead! More on this later, get back to the topic at hand.
Back in February, I was actually laid off from my big tech job. The event inspired me to write my 7 Things Part 1 and Part 2 post. It also inspired me to write and deliver a poem. You can see this on YouTube.
Hypocrite
I was laid off.
I woke up the other day to an email that said,
My role had been eliminated.
I say this to not ask for pity for me.
Big tech, oh how I took advantage of thee.
For 5 plus years, I’ve drank your liquor, eaten your food, worn your swag.
I did your bidding,
but now I’m free.
Released from the golden shackles that you held on me.
Released from the forced though of accomplishments for you.
From having to think of my future for you.
From having to sit in another monitizing meeting for you.
I often dreamed of this day.
Late night when I lay myself down to sleep.
To not think of my computer, nor my email, nor my manager.
Instead of how I want my life to be.
Free to write poetry.
Free to drink during the day.
Freedom from corporate,
9 to 5,
the rat race,
the fast pace,
the shoe lace to tie.
Why haven’t I done this before?
Why have I been so blind
to wake up and not use my mind
for what it was intended to be, free!
Wait, hold on. What’s that you say?
Oh you’re hiring?
Hi, my name is…
Back to Healthcare
I actually had a feeling that I was going to be part of the layoffs. After the department I was hired for, in the healthcare realm, was dismantled and the product was eliminated, I was transferred to a healthcare adjacent department in retail. Hated it. It was a position I did not like, would not have applied for, and had I applied for the manager would not have hired me. This was in November 2022 and by early 2023 I had multiple second and third interviews back in healthcare.
Be it luck or divine intervention, on the third week in January, I was offered a position in healthcare on Monday, was laid off from big tech on Wednesday, I accepted the position on Thursday.
The new group was an amazing team. The position was a dream position. Working with fellow nurses in big data, creating queries, mining and cleaning data, consulting with stakeholders of the data we had and what we could produce. 100% fully remote, all the autonomy I could have, a great manager who had my back.
So why did I leave? That isn’t the purpose of this post, more on that later. But I just did. Today was my last day. My laptop is packed up and ready to send back. It was a short five months, and I had a lot of fun.
Not working
This is the strange part. My wife and I are not working any more. Not that our marriage isn’t working, I think we are doing great! (Love you!) She may think otherwise haha. We are just not working anymore, not pulling in a paycheck. My mother called me insane, “Why would you quit in this economy?” (well in Spanish of course) and tell me that I don’t read the news and see people struggling for food and shelter.
Yes, it is insane. It has been something we’ve been getting ready for during the last two years. Financially as well as ownership of stuff. We’ve been selling, donating, giving away, abandoning, and trashing a good deal of our material goods. It’s amazing how much stuff can collect. We live in a tiny one bedroom, but we have enough for a 4-bedroom house, well not quite but it feels as if.
We’ve also been preparing mentally for this situation. Despite having a three-week break between jobs, I knew I was going to be working again. The mental awareness of the fact that I do not have any job to think about has yet to sink it. A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned this to a friend. That at least for the next five months I cannot think about work because I will not have any work to think about.
She agreed it is a strange feeling. I mean, even on vacations, it takes about a day or two to stop thinking about work and finally start relaxing. Typically, on the last day or so, you start thinking about all the work you are going to return to. I won’t have any work-related thing to think about. And that is strange. The same friend went on a vacation over the weekend to a remote island in the pacific that rhymes with Owie. Her husband posted a picture of her taking a work-related call on the second day. Talk about owie!
Are we retiring?
I’m not retiring. At least I do not think so. I also do not want to work another corporate 9 to 5er. I do feel at some point I will be driven to do something with my life and hopefully it will bring in some money some how. Or I’ll tend bar or make sandwiches (man, love me a good sammie). But do I tell people I’m retired?
I recently heard a podcast from This Week Health where someone said he had to stop telling people he was retired because people kept giving him projects. There was a Choose FI podcast episode that discussed life after leaving your corporate job. Jordan Grumet also released an Earn and Invest podcast episode where he interviewed Casey Weade the creator of the Retire with Purpose Podcast.
While we can read about it, prepare mentally for not working, we won’t know how that will affect us until we are, well, not working. I’m curious to hear from people who have stopped working. Either from retirement, not being able to find work, or because you’ve simply given up on life. How do you think about your time now? If you were working, how are you now filling the 50 hours plus a week now that once consumed your life from your job? I’d love to hear from you all.
