"Times are tough" -- I've heard that phrase ten thousand times in the past few months.  I am so sick of hearing about the economy and how bad everything is.  I feel like much of it is a self-fulfilling prophecy -  a vicious feedback cycle that is perpetuated by how much everyone talks about it all-the-freaking-time.

Anyway, I was pulling into the parking lot at work this morning, and somebody on the radio said something to the effect of "I know times are tough, but..." and I shut the radio off right there.  STFUMF - is what I thought to myself.  Maybe a little harsh, but hey, its my thoughts and I can get as angry as I want in my head.  I am just desperately tired of hearing about the economy - especially that one phrase - "times are tough".  Are times really that tough?  My wife and I have not lived our lives any differently since the start of this recession.  We still go out to eat, go see movies, and generally do what we want to do.  I feel like I have been largely unaffected by this recession.  These were my thoughts as I got out my car and headed into work.

At 10:30, I'm walking back to my desk from the bathroom and I happen to pass my boss's office.  The HR rep for the company is in there with him.  "Chad, come see a sec."  I walk in, they close the door behind me.  Oh shit, what did I do?

"We've been forced to make budget cuts and I need to cut two salaries from IT.  I tried to fight it, but they told me who to cut."

Long story short, I ended up getting laid off along with 16 other people today (2 from IT).  My boss looked like he was getting teary-eyed as he told me the news.  He made sure to stress it had nothing to do with performance and it was simply because I made too much money.  I also learned that they are getting rid of the building I work in and consolidating everyone to one building (we had 2 buildings before).  Damn, I guess times really are tough.

They gave me a severance package and my wife and I have enough saved up to get us by for a while.  I also think I will not have too much trouble finding another job (knock on wood).  So, I am not sweating it too much.  That being said, anyone out there have any leads for a .Net developer focusing on Domain-Driven Design and Test-Driven Development?  :)

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