It finally happened yesterday. What I thought would happen within a year or two after he started with Teleplan 8.5 years ago happened yesterday. He got laid off. The company is struggling tremendously and closing two of its five buildings and laying off hundreds of employees. Eventually, more will be laid off than kept on.

How do I feel about it? Well, I’m as shocked as I am not shocked. Although I sensed change on the horizon (especially now that I’ve beaten the worst of the peri/anxiety) I’ve had no dreams or vibes suggesting a layoff, so I was blindsided. Yet at the same time, we knew it was coming. I knew the job and the money wouldn’t last forever. I’m just surprised it lasted this long. Most jobs eventually do lay you off.

But why no nightmares or bad vibes? I’m hoping that even though no psychic sees it all, it’s because there’s simply nothing to worry about. Yes, he’s older, but the economy isn’t doing bad now. There are tons of jobs that will start you at $15 or $16 an hour that he could probably get started with next week. But our savings and unemployment which I guess we’ll be getting in a week or two will give him time to look for something better. Where I have always had a noise curse on me, this man has definitely had a pay curse on him. He never seems to get paid fairly. Not even when he’s making decent money for our personal expenses at the time. As he said, this could actually be a good thing that will lead him to a better job with better pay and better insurance. He was making shitty money and our insurance was shitty because it cost us hundreds a month and didn’t cover shit. We were paying out-of-pocket for virtually everything. He should be making 55K or more in most of the country, but especially CA. Instead, he was making 40K.

Things don’t usually go well for us or turn out for the better so it’s hard to be optimistic and wonder if we could now be on the path to a slow descent into disaster like we were in 2004 and 2008. However, we’re not in the situation we were in back then. In Arizona, there was no way to get more than a few grand for the house, so we had no money. Then there was the recession. Well, if worst comes to absolute worst, we could get about 40K for this place, put in for early retirement, and go to a cheaper state. If he’s destined to make shitty money from here on out, though I’m not saying that will be the case, it’s better to make shitty money in Florida than Cali. Our golden years would be a lot tougher, but it would likely be enough to get by on. Still hoping he’ll work till he’s 66.5 so we can get more retirement money. My countdown on Up to the Sky says he’s 1403 days away from that.

I personally can’t see him ever making the nearly $19 an hour he was making ever again, but as I’ve learned, money isn’t everything. It won’t kill us to have to forget about going to Hawaii, give up Hulu, and do without the extras if need be. It’s not like we’ve never had them before. We know the most important things are good health and being able to pay for the essentials.

I’m not the least bit worried about losing the house because of the noise curse on me. Believe me, nothing’s going to be eager to kick me out of a flight path.

As much as I hate Cali for many reasons, it also has some good in it that other states don’t have. Most states don’t have Death with Dignity, for example, and will treat a dying animal better than a person. Also, Cali has its own insurance for those who are uninsured, and you pay what you can afford. It’s the law in Cali that everyone has to be insured. But the horrible catch to that is that employers that are struggling like at Teleplan can offer the worst insurance possible in order to save themselves money.

We’ve heard many say that Kaiser is the best medical group and that they have the best doctors. Well, he looked at a plan that is WAY cheaper than what we’ve got. The MRI he had that costed 2K would cost $350. The $180 we’re going to have to pay to see my PCP would be $65. A visit to the ER would be $500. Urgent Care would be $65 like a regular doctor’s appointment. It doesn’t cover dental, though, or eyes.

He would only be able to get it if he couldn’t get insurance through an employer. It looks so good, unless you have major expenses like if you’re hospitalized or something, that he almost hopes for a temp job. Oh, yes, the temp job craze. I remember that well. A great way for employers to get out of having to offer insurance. I wouldn’t be surprised if he started off as a temp. We’re hoping he can get something on graves so that at least some of the daytime during the week when things are less crowded can be used for shopping and appointments since he’s likely to get hired by an American company that doesn’t give nearly as much time off as European companies do.

Anyway, he’s going to file for unemployment today and rework his resume. His age and color aren’t good things, especially his age. He’s also partially deaf and has to wear his Hearphones and I don’t know if that could be used against him or not.

Like I said, though, no fears of losing the place. Just being trapped here by financial or medical issues. Anytime the economy is good, we can sell out once he’s at the right age, so that leaves medical issues to worry about and hope that nothing new arises in that department to hold us back.

For now, I’m going to try to look at the positives in this. He’ll be home more for a while. We don’t have to restrict our shopping to the busy weekend. In fact, he suggested we go out to Goodwill today to do some treasure hunting.

“Are you sure we should be spending the money?” I asked him. He said sure, why not, since half the time we don’t get anything, and on a “big” day at Goodwill we spend maybe twelve bucks.

I’m even going to get my hair trimmed sometime soon because I’m not ready to go long again yet and that’s not much more than 12 bucks.

Thank God we don’t have gas, oil, tune-ups, and emissions to deal with! Because we’ll have more time for a while, we might take a drive out to my old dentist and talk to them about transferring records and all that while we cancel my appointment. It’s a little tricky with dentists, but a law was passed where medical records have to be transferred electronically.

I’ll have to let my PCP know that I may not see her again, depending on what happens with us. I would have preferred to stay with her, funky Ecuadorian accent or not, but saved money, better insurance, and better doctors are more important. You know, the kind that doesn’t write off levothyroxine side effects as simply “being anxious.” An HMO would probably be better than a PPO like we had, but we don’t know yet what we’ll have.

Wow, Miss EMDR just squeezed out a couple of tears. I never miss my mom, but every once in a while, I miss dad. My parents were like night and day, and Dad was definitely more like me. I can’t imagine a single person in the world getting along better with her than with him. It would be nice to be able to call and talk with him now.

So grateful for my bestie who is always there for me. Even though I’m the older one (and bigger), in some ways I see her as wiser, mature and stronger. In fact, when he first broke the news to me, one of my first thoughts was I want Aly! I want Aly! I want Aly! But even if I was oblivious to her horrible climate, it may be cheaper to live there, but they don’t have mandated insurance which they supplement a lot.

I mentioned his layoff on Facebook. That way the Twenties will know why he’s around more all of a sudden, and if they know anyone personally or have any suggestions, they can tell me. I blocked it from Norma’s view, though, because I didn’t want her mentioning it to the drama queen so she could get a good laugh.

In other news, it’s going to be 77 degrees today. So glad I’m not in peri anymore! The house got up to 76 degrees as I was going to bed, but I was fine with the fan on. I would’ve been on fire if I were back in peri.

Boobs are still sore but I’m down a couple of pounds. Not sure if I lost fat or water but my diet doesn’t have to wait until Monday to start. We’re going grocery shopping tomorrow, so I’ll probably start the day after.

Below is a sample menu of the low-carb/healthy fats/protein diet I’m doing. There’s no way in hell I’ll touch that salsa sauce, though! Also, salmon is boring to me so I’m going to substitute it for another fatty fish which will be mackerel. I also don’t have a grill, so I’ll roast my chicken wings instead. Because I’m listed as a cardiac risk, I doubt my doctor would be too pleased with this idea, but what she doesn’t know won’t hurt her. :-)

Monday
Breakfast: Omelet with various vegetables, fried in butter or coconut oil.
Lunch: Grass-fed yogurt with blueberries and a handful of almonds.
Dinner: Bunless cheeseburger, served with vegetables and salsa sauce.

Tuesday
Breakfast: Bacon and eggs.
Lunch: Leftover burgers and veggies from the previous night.
Dinner: Salmon with butter and vegetables.

Wednesday
Breakfast: Eggs and vegetables, fried in butter or coconut oil.
Lunch: Shrimp salad with some olive oil.
Dinner: Grilled chicken with vegetables.

Thursday
Breakfast: Omelet with various vegetables, fried in butter or coconut oil.
Lunch: Smoothie with coconut milk, berries, almonds, and protein powder.
Dinner: Steak and veggies.

Friday
Breakfast: Bacon and eggs.
Lunch: Chicken salad with some olive oil.
Dinner: Pork chops with vegetables.

Saturday
Breakfast: Omelet with various veggies.
Lunch: Grass-fed yogurt with berries, coconut flakes and a handful of walnuts.
Dinner: Meatballs with vegetables.

Sunday
Breakfast: Bacon and eggs.
Lunch: Smoothie with coconut milk, a dash of heavy cream, chocolate-flavored protein powder and berries.
Dinner: Grilled chicken wings with veggies.