[Note To Self]

I started off 2025 very quietly. I was feeling worn down. I wasn’t expecting to STILL be unemployed heading into the new year. I didn’t want to celebrate because I didn’t have anything worth celebrating.

Before I was laid off, I was feeling on top of the world. Or as close to it as you can get. I attended Ruby Kaigi 2024 in Naha, Okinawa, while I was on vacation. This was my first time as a proper attendee of the conference. My previous company, was a sponsor in 2019. I had also grown up nearby on Kadena Air Base, and this was my first time back there in… decades. So this was a working vacation/homecoming of sorts.

After the conference, I returned to work feeling inspired and revitalized. It had been tricky trying to divide my time between my duties in support and keeping up with the technical part of the job, but I had plans and ideas. Boy… was I stupid.

I wish I had known what was going to happen. If you are told that layoffs aren’t on the table, start getting your shit together. I learned that the hard way. I mean, sure… layoffs weren’t on the table at that moment, but they were enough of a concern to merit a discussion. They were considered as an option. That should have been the warning sign right there.

“I paid the price for being comfortable.” That’s not my quote. I saw someone else say it, and I haven’t stopped thinking about it since. I think about the things I would have done to prepare. I would have canceled my vacation and the conference plans. I would have paid attention to all the “little” things I let slide because I was comfortable. I got complacent and I got caught flat footed.

So what’s next? Well… we take the hard-learned lesson and move on to the next. I have no idea what “next” is, but I hope I find it soon.