It has happened.

I suppose I saw it coming. Small company, no new projects coming in, proposals being turned down, hours being reduced. You'd have to be blind not to realize you're on a sinking ship. But I was so hopeful. We all were. We just needed 1 or 2 more projects to keep us afloat and then things would start ramping up in the Fall.
Alas, in the morning meeting, we were told that our time as a team would be coming to an end. The 1 or 2 projects we'd been hoping would act as life preservers did not quite reach us. As a researcher, I was painfully aware of our statistical probability of failure. But observer bias can become deluding when your livelihood is on the line.
So, here I am. Tomorrow will be my official last work day although my financial security will run out at the end of the month. As will my benefits. My intention for this blog is not only to keep myself accountable during what, I have no doubt will be, a brutal job-hunting endeavor but also to carry out some very non-scientific research into what it means to be unemployed in the worst economy since the Great Depression. I am still working out the kinks in my head but, as you can imagine, I've been a bit distracted.