You're unemployed - Now what!

Life is full of change. One minute we are working for a paycheck, thinking that we are settled in the career we have worked so hard to develop, the next we're looking at a pink slip (which in my case wasn't even pink!). With luck we have a decent severance and some savings that we can rely on until we find our next job. With even more luck we can persuade the powers that be that we deserve to receive unemployment benefits.

In the past we could find another position or a short term contract fairly easily. I remember the days when I could end one contract, take a month or two off and head overseas, then come back and walk into another gig within a few weeks. That time has passed and may never return.

If you are like me your last job was your sole source of income. You relied on it to pay the mortgage, feed and clothe yourself and your family plus provide a little entertainment on occasion. Oh, you had some investments but those probably were not enough to allow you to quit work and maintain the life you were used to when you were working.

So what do we do? When you think about it, being unemployed gives us a certain amount of freedom. We can spend this time we have been given to explore new options, open ourselves up to new ideas, even ask ourselves if we really liked the career path we have taken - gasp!

The thing NOT to do is sit about and wait for opportunities to come to you. I have yet to meet anyone who found a new job or venture sitting at home watching TV or playing video games. When you get out of the house and make the time to meet people you are more likely to expose yourself to new ideas and opportunities.

In this vein I have started another side business. I have become a distributor for the health food drink MonaVie. If any of my readers are interested in this product I would love to talk with them, but if you aren't well, we can talk about something else.

I never again want to have just one stream of income. That position is just too risky. I continue to take on new clients in need of computing or resume development help. I have just finished creating a marketing brochure for another client. I have more skills in my repertoire than are reflected in the positions that I have held in recent years. Having multiple 'jobs' allows me to explore the scope of those skills, enables me to grow personally and ensures that if I am ever laid off again I will be in better shape financially.

Computer Slow to Start Up?

When you turn your computer on does it sit and churn? Do you keep clicking icons without getting a result until finally, after about 5 minutes, your computer pops up multiple copies of the application that you've been trying to start?

There are several reasons that this may be happening but the most common reason lies in your 'Startup' menu. On XP machines, click on Start then All Programs then Startup.

Take a look at the programs in your Startup menu. Do you have quick start applications listed for MS Office, Adobe, iTunes, etc.? These applications are a real pain. What they are doing is preparing your PC to quickly open up that application SHOULD YOU SELECT IT. In most cases you can live with MS Office or Adobe taking a little longer to open in return for your PC starting up faster. Delete these quick start apps and restart your machine.

Your Startup menu should only contain applications that you really need to startup every time you start your computer. If you don't know what the app does, leave it. Do some research to find out what the program is and whether you are using it. If you don't use the application, remove the startup menu entry.

NOTE: to remove a menu entry in XP simply right click it and select delete from the menu that appears.