I was recently offered a buyout at work. It included cash, 6 months of health insurance and some money for training. I took it. As of August 29, 2009 I’m officially free of the phones and the cube!
The offer is enough for me to pay my bills, for five or six months, or allow me to pay off my remaining debt, and leave enough for a month or two for living expenses. I may also be able to get unemployment, as the severance package is not equal to one year’s wages and benefits.
This month, I plan on recharging and recuperating (front line tech support takes a lot out of you), looking for training and certification (it’s a little late to apply for a fall semester of college anywhere) and getting some revenue generated from this page. Someplace in there I have to fit in “fixing up the house” and finding a new job. The house hasn’t seen any real cleaning or maintenance in about 2 years, it really needs to be scraped and painted before the snow comes 
and I’ll need a new job or, look in to panhandling (I have my corner picked out in a heavy trafficked area near to both of my former jobs. Hopefully my former co-workers will take pity on me and toss a quarter to two to/at me as they drive by) before the cash runs out.
For improving the page, I’m looking at getting out to the Grand Canyon and checking out Las Vegas (You can be that close to Vegas and not go, so I’ve been told) or Traveling along the old Erie Canal checking out the Parks and Museums. If things go well, I may do both. Either way, I need to do more blogging and photography, and drive up views. More views means more potential ad-clicking, donation, selling and perhaps a chance to get sponsors for giveaways and items to bring “The Plan” closer to reality.
For revenue generation, I’m going to put some work in to my stores on ImageKind and CafePress. I’m also looking at stock image sites to see if my photos or what I’m willing to photograph are something that they will take. There’s also the Google ads and the donation buttons. Finally there’s contests. This all looks like whats listed in “The Plan” and it is the difference now is I have time and energy (well, I almost have the energy ) to get it done.
You may have notice the new “tweet” button and counter on the top right of the page. Please feel free to use it, the Google ads or the Donate buttons,every little bit helps and helps to keep me from panhandling in my Speedo on a very public street (believe me, it would be a public service ).
If you have any suggestions for the page, places to visit, print on demand swag sites, or work from home techie type jobs, please leave a comment!
