Still Around!

So, it’s been a long time folks! New domain, new site, new jobs…lions, tigers, and bears..oh my! So many things have happened since my last blog and why not just give you all the fast recap!

2019 – Dad passes away at the end of January causing alot of internal feelings to be processed. Still working at RDX, but things begin taking a turn towards the worse there. In mid-May, a friend gets my foot in the door with a referral to Microsoft. A few weeks later and I am an official blue badge as a PFE in Data and AI! I couldnt believe it… it felt like being called up into the big leagues! Things were going great, but we all started hearing about Covid overseas. In October, my Mother suffered a health crisis that would lead to a months long stay in the hospital. We almost lost her, and it required alot of emotions to get pushed down to continue moving forward. Alot of family strife between myself and other family members while my Sister and I decided on what we would be doing going forward with Moms care. Covid strikes the US and lockdowns are imminent at the end of the year.

2020 – Mom gets to come home in January, a week before lockdowns started for Covid in Pennsylvania. I make arrangements to begin working from my Sisters home to take care of my Mother while my Sister and brother in law work during the day. My manager at Microsoft was amazing in allowing me some time to make this transition and asked for updates on things. A few months later, my Wife had her annual exam with her lady doctor. She almost rescheduled her exam due to Covid, but read an article that said she shouldn’t. Her Doctor finds a lump and we go through the motions and have all of the tests done and yep…cancer. Thankfully, it was caught super early, but still surgery would be required. During Covid…my Wife went for surgery for the first time in her life. All I could do was drop her off at the door, give her a kiss and tell her I love her, I wasn’t allowed in due to Covid precautions. Surgery goes great, she comes home and we take it easy for a few days. My Sister’s doctors office moved to remote telehealth so she was staying home with my Mother during the day. I still called Mom every day using Amazon Show devices so we could see each other and talk. My Wife then undergoes a month of radiation treatments. Again, during this time, my manager at Microsoft has been great in accomodating my schedule needs. The rest of the year is a blur as work/caretaking takes over.

2021 – I am reorged at Microsoft onto the Retail Data and AI team. I immediately love the shift. I am getting steady engagements, have assigned clients and really finding my way. Mom is doing good. Still requires round the clock care as she is not able to take care of herself. I am working from my Sisters home, and providing care for Mom and working full time at Microsoft. Then I come home to take care of my Wife who is still recovering from her radiation treatments. They really sapped her energy for a long time. She could barely walk up the stairs without finding herself wiped out. During all of this, I had been neglecting alot of my own emotional well being by doing what I felt needed to be done, care and provide for my family and make sure they all have what they need.

2022 – At the end of 2021, my Mothers health began to nosedive. We employed hospice and made sure she was comfortable and well taken care of during this time. We got to be at her bedside, hold her hand, tell her we loved her and that we would be ok when she was gone. That she taught us everything she needed to, and made us the people we are today. She would squeeze our hands, and smile every now and then. She passed mid-January, just shy of my 39th birthday. The rest of the year I took some time for myself in reorganizing my feelings, sorting through emotions and trying to get myself in a state of mind to return to almost normal. My Wife was my rock through all of this. She always has been, and still is.

2023 – We start hearing rumblings of layoffs coming at Microsoft. Sure enough, midway through the year the first of the 10k layoffs start. We are told to just keep working, focus on keeping our numbers up. The whole time we thought we were going to be safe since we had a high performing team. My numbers were amazing, I was exceeding all of my goals and I thought I was doing a great job. In July, I am told my position was being eliminated. My manager hated the call, he fought for me(still is) but in the end, my final working day at Microsoft was July 8th. They kept us on salary until September to help us during the transition. I was able to secure employment with 3Cloud as a Data Architect. They were doing things I wasn’t super familiar with, but I thought I was catching on just fine. Then on December 8th, out of the blue, I get into a call where I am being told that I am laid off. The second time in six months! The tech sector has been rough…so many layoffs. This one really stung though. A few weeks before Christmas, a call that sounded like it was being performed by automatons. No sympathy, no remorse…but I digress. I won’t bash this company on my blog, they did what they thought they needed to do.

2024 – The job search begins! I begin applying everywhere I could. I am collecting unemployment from Pennsylvania which is a joke. Did you know that the amount you make in unemployment is *NOT* enough to qualify for ANY assistance with healthcare benefits? Tell me how that makes sense…. I have done countless interviews, made it to 4th and 5th rounds and nothing ever pans out. Friends are doing everything they can for me and I cannot express how grateful I am for each and every one of them. It looks like I am being hired on at a company that has great opportunities for me to excel there. More updates to follow on that.

That’s it folks! Stay tuned here as I *hope* to start blogging more and talking about the work I will be doing and asking for help, or showing some cool stuff that I did.