Day 1 of unemployment

For the first time since September 30, 2001, I woke up this morning and don’t have a job to go to.  I still don’t think it’s entirely sunk in yet – it just sorta feels like a weekend at this point.  Yesterday I felt strange all day.  Even though I had wrapped up all my work, I got to the office pretty early in the morning.  I went through my email and forwarded a bunch to my personal account so I’d have people’s contact info.  Then I basically spent the day visiting with people in the office, rehashing some of the good times we’d shared and saying my goodbyes.  After turning in my laptop, I went to HR for my exit interview.  It started out normal enough, talking about what my plans were for after I left, talking about any feedback I had on my company and how it could be better (I was pretty candid here and shared the good and bad points I had experienced), and handling the administrative paperwork.  Then it took a bit of a weird turn.  Apparently the HR guy is interested in the job I had, and started asking me about the job and what he should do if he’s interested in pursuing it.  In total, the interview lasted about 30 mins, and at the end he took my corporate AMEX and my building access cards.  I think it started to hit home as I walked through the turnstiles in the lobby, and realized that even if I wanted to I couldn’t get back in the office without having someone let me in.  I know it sounds like such a small thing, but for some reason it made it more real.

So what now?  Well, I can turn my attention to starting to get ready to move and to enjoying my last month in NJ with my friends and family.  My next few weekends are already booked up with family events and going down the shore with friends.  I’m sure these next few weeks will go by pretty quickly, and before I know it I’ll be packing up my car for the drive to Evanston.