It's hard to believe that I got the call back in February this year: "we are not going to renew your contract." That's never great news to hear; in my case, though, it wasn't for lack of funds but ... well, I still don't know, honestly. I do know that I had a stellar performer, receiving kudos from national figures on the word I'd done. They told me I was a bad manager (not true)/I was a bad copyediter (true, but not what I'd been hired to do)/I had a bad attitude (only true periodically).
But really, that's immaterial now. What matters is that it's nine months later, and I'm still out of a job. My UI benefits will run out in January unless the lame duck Congress wakes up and does something about it. I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do if they don't. Sell my house ? (Where would I live?) Divorce my husband and find a richer one? (He's rich in every way but money). Break into the 401k and 20% penalty be damned?
It's almost 2am on Friday/Saturday, and I'm up typing because it's another sleepless night spent worrying about what's going to happen to me. I'm 46; not too late to retrain, but in what? What funds would pay for this magical retraining? I don't want to spend the next five to seven years in graduate school, a temporary fix at a low RA's wage that ends with no promise of a job when I get out. (I already have two graduate degrees, so I know the drill). There's no rich relatives to bail me out.
I'm wondering how folks on DailyKos have coped/are coping with similar situations. What support(s) get you through this? Has the experience changed you, and if so, in what way? Thank you in advance for your non-snarky comments.