hetero-non-normative day. It started with my boss telling me that he is no longer my boss but he doesn't know who is...but I do have a job... just don't know with what group yet And when it comes times for evaluations for 2015 he will be the manager to fill that out.

Things we could usually count on often can no longer be counted on. The new heteronormal.

I don't think I'm having a heteronormative day. For one thing its night. And with the wife on the rag and me with a second hand flu shot I'm feeling decidedly asexual.

Can a person be aboobual? The existence of boobs is irrelevant?

Good luck Former Banker!

We reorganized so much that management stopped having rah rah meetings when "new" hires started going "wait a minute, wasn't that the same org 2 years ago?". (Maybe us "old guys" weren't so crazy.)

10 years on forced retirement is good (once I stopped trying to find work and down-sized a bit more). 10 years from now?

Mental health is important.

Remember to stay busy Bob. The TV is a murder box for retirees.

It's "kiss a ginger" day, so *smooch*.

Too hetero? not normal enough?

Definitely Ben. That and a library FULL of free books.

Throw in taking care an invalid Mother, slowing down on "drive" (afternoon naps! who knew!), adopting stray dogs/cats that LOVE me, and there are not enough hours in the day.

Now if I can just win that Powerball or find a money tree (or maybe get the kids to "lose" my address/phone number).

Yep, Good luck!

And, as you say Former Banker, at least you have a job. For the last 15 years I've been doing contract work. Trying to line things up so that one assignment ends just as another begins has never happened for me.

In fact, far too often what happens is what is happening now. One place says , yep we have an assignment for you; but, we don't have the funding lined up yet. And if you accepted you had better wait; otherwise you are burning a bridge.

In the meantime, you turn down other opportunities because you've "made the commitment" to the first place. But, they keep postponing; or, as has happened too many times, their funding falls through and you do NOT have a job. And, the other opportunities that you passed on (because you already made a commitment) have already gone to someone else.

And, that's why I am posting this comment at 1:42 PM EST (10:42 PM PST)! Lots of free time.

Lord, I cannot wait until job-killing Obama is gone! But, I also fear that things have gotten so bad that they will never turn around and this is the new normal.

And, yep, Ben, stay busy is right. Bob has it right, the library full of free books! Also, the gym and hikes (too cold right now). TV isn't a problem for me - but, damn that internet; especially YouTube. I've been watching a lot of old British TV shows - oh, wait that is TV!

And, remember, Bob, with Powerball you gotta play it to win it; and, also, you stand greater chances of being hit by a truck.

If heteronormative is a synonym for "when the cute ladies walk by," it's not happening here. And if it were, I couldn't see anything for the lake effect snow anyway.

I'm having the usual "will this be done by x" day. The answer to which is "not unless you've been promoted three times since yesterday."

Charles,

Can't you tell them 'If you don't have the money you don't have me'? I'm a contractor too. I've never been able to line up project from the same customer, much less from different customers. I often have 1-2 month gaps. Which is why I budget and forecast. And I'm always up front about, if you can't pay me we can talk but I don't work for free. So while a project may sound fun and exciting, if they aren't serious I move on to someone who is.

Another trick I use is I charge less then I am worth. This makes me the high value option in my pay tier. Which has helped increase the availability of work. I make less per hour but I have more hours and make more overall.

But that may be a young man's game. I started contracting when I was 30 about 5 years ago. Very few people have the planning and organization to do this as a single income. Almost all of my competition has a wife with a job that actually pays the bills. Such is life.