Iron(y) Man

considering the fact that i've been sitting at this monitor for several years, now, and no words have come out on this page (or any other blog-like substance)... i suppose it's ironic that now, here they come.

it's like the song, "You Never Miss Your Water 'Til Your Well Goes Dry".
this particular location, upholstered in dark green fabric (and encrusted inmemorabilia, personal and otherwise) is about to go dusty.
well, dusty-er, anyway.

oh, wait. i can think of a much crappier musical paraphrase: "Don't It Make My White Collar Blue".

the fact that i'm typing this online, yet, attests that traditional printing is gasping for its last gulps of air. since i got out of school, print media has kept me fed, sheltered, reasonably clothed, married and not, hopeful and despairing. movin' on up.

how interesting when the roller coaster slows to a stop.

two weeks ago, my supervisor, who punctuates her sentences with :o) told me via e-mail to drop by her office before work. all bubbly and sorority-esque, worded in ramshackle grammar, and totally opaque in intention.

when i saw the clueless HR guy sitting in there, the floor pitched sickeningly underfoot.. much like my empty stomach. obviously, this was not going to be good.

after they'd read the required company litany from clipboards, without eye contact, i'd learned that my position had been terminated. not just mine, but several others, as well. "For your remaining time here, poor work performance and disruption to your colleague's work flow will not be tolerated".

the well done gone dry.

as options, i could reapply for a job in "manufacturing" (meaning, back to locker rooms and concrete floors), or unemployment.

gutted, i returned to my veal-fatting pen, where my paycheck awaited on the desk... the company newsletter, too, that trumpeted my "Great Catch Award" for the month.

classic irony. also, the fact that though i managed to keep busy and focused, i leave behind, still employed, the guy who leaves his TV under his workstation to play Guitar Hero, and another who watches anime all night long, is... how do they say... poignant?

Jackass still in the White House. feudalism on the return. gas at four bucks. people losing their homes.

worst case scenario.

two weeks of the blackest outlook known to man.

but, faced with churning guts and overturning my house for anything of value to sell...  if i have to choose going back to being barked at by fascists and jumping through hoops, or losing everything... i'll deal with it, for a while.

oblivion, the alternative, is unacceptable.

oh, look! like the threat of having to flex my muscles may have jogged the mental ones.

that's not ironic. that's a start.