Al Dente: “Yesterday, Serious Eats reported on the Hot Beef Sundae trend that’s sweeping the country. The dish can be found across the nation at state fairs from Florida to Nebraska. The Hot Beef Sundae is comprised of mashed potatoes, roast beef, more mashed potatoes, gravy, cheese, and a cherry tomato.”

click through for the hot beef action photo…

Lesson 1: Have six months salary in the bank at all times

This is lesson is easy to remember and easy to forget.  You’ve all been told for years now to keep plenty of money in the bank for emergencies and unemployment is the reason why.  I didn’t keep nearly this much and I’m paying a heavy price.

Lesson 2: Always maintain your social network.

For technology people, maintaining a local network of people both professionally and social is hard work.  Most folks like me would rather spend their off hours studying technology or working on tech gear, but working the room at a chamber of commerce mixer is worth it’s weight in gold when you’re out of a job.  Also, as people get older, the too easily dismiss modern methods of social networking.  For example, I have a [Twitter](http://twitter.com/houseofwarwick) account but most people my age wouldn’t likely know what it was, let alone how to use it effectively.  Worse, it would be dismissed as a ‘waste of time’.  That’s exactly the wrong attitude to have.  I spent 2 hours updating mutual contacts in [LinkedIn](http://linkedin.com/in/stevekirks/) and found three people in this area that have good job leads for me.

Lesson 3: Structure your time.

Each day without a job should be treated like a regular work day.  Get up on time and get to the gym like always.  Be sure to leave the house and head for a library, Barnes and Noble, Starbuck or something to keep you in the public and “be seen”.  Set appointments with friends to explain your situation and ask for ideas.  Keeping a schedule means you get to feel like you’ve accomplished something at the end of the day and that’s important because without a job, most people feel a loss of self worth.

Lesson 4: Be upfront about your job loss.

I spent a couple of days being ashamed that I lost a job.  I wondered about blame (mine? theirs? who’s?) and even tried to reconstruct events to figure out where I went wrong.  In my case, the situation was more clear than others, so it was easy to move past the “blame game” and move on to getting the word out.  Call everyone you can and let them know.  The more people that know about your job loss means better chances at finding a new job.  It also means more people to look at your resumé that can give good feedback, helping your chances with recruiters and HR staff.

That’s all for now.  I’ve got more to write, but I’ve got work to do here at the house and (hopefully) an appointment later today.

Not everyone would complain about a three week vacation, but considering the circumstances, I’m ready to call it quits and get back behind a desk.  I should know something permanent about the new job by the end of the week, so I’m filling my time with odd tasks, mainly centered around the prevention of insanity.

I mentioned in a previous post that I was starting the process of what’s after “what’s next?” and that means learning to build Mac software.  I have been through a couple of tutorials before and learned a decent amount about object-oriented programming, but I never spent enough time with it to become even remotely proficient.

This time, I’m starting with a new perspective, one that’s easier to swallow for me: infrastructure.  I know it sounds weird, but there’s logic behind this.  I need to learn to write an app, but I also need to learn how to efficiently build and sell software.  The rules for building and selling are the same no matter how big or small the app is.  So here’s what I’m thinking: build a simple test app and build all of the infrastructure around it.  That means things like help files, customer support forums, billing and serial numbers, an online store, merchant accounts and more.

Much of this can be done for free or very cheap and it will all be needed when the next app is built, something with greater value and more users.  Here’s the list of things I need–add comments if you think I missing something:

* a website for the software company that contains basic links to contact and support info, product pages and an online store

* a payment system and serial number generation system

* on online help file that mirrors the one built in to the application

* a way for people to download new apps and a method to allow replacement copies or serial number mailers

Feedback?

I used to work with a guy named Mike Mitchell, a sales and management expert. Among his many colorful phrases and amusing anecdotes were nuggets of solid gold wisdom. Here’s a favorite:

“What’s after what’s next?”

It’s supposed to mean that, once you’ve figured out what’s next, what you going to do after that? It’s a good way to keep your career moving and teach you to focus on being a professional and not an employee.

When I lost my job a couple of weeks ago, some people asked me to visualize what a job would be like if I wasn’t bound by my experience, geography or pay. The first thing I thought of was software development.

Writing good software is an art form. The medium is a computer programming language and it behaves much like granite does for a sculptor or clay does for a ceramist. Languages have rules, operating systems are environments but the software is the art form and it can express so much more than most people realize.

My “what’s next” is software. I’ll spend my nights and weekends working on writing software and prepping for the time that I can control my career instead of my employment.

Things are looking better today.  I’m in the final process of being hired at CenturyTel in Branson as a sales engineer.  It’s the perfect combination of what I did at my last two jobs–telecommunications technology consulting and network design/implementation.  I don’t have a start date yet, but once I pass the HR screening process, I’d expect it to be quick, maybe as soon as next week.

When everything is final, I’ll write up a more detailed set of notes…

Things are looking better today.  I had a two hour interview the CenturyTel in Branson.  They have a job open for a sales engineer and my old boss at daZZee sent me the email to let me know.  I made some calls, filled out the applications and headed to Branson yesterday.  There were many clues that the interview went well–two hours at the end of the day on a Friday being the most obvious–but the non-verbal ones were important.  Some of the questions I would answer would generate a positive nod and a smile while writing down notes.

In all, a good interview and a good day.  I’ll know something by Tuesday.