New job, lay offs and everything in between

Last few weeks have been very eventful. And seems like the next few will be more so. I got a new full-time job. Exactly what I had been looking for. Co-workers are nice and manager is even nicer. On the other hand, my husband's company is in deep trouble and about 50% employees are going to get laid off. We don't know if he will be one of the fortunate ones to stay or not. Just keeping our fingers crossed and our minds stubbornly on the day-to-day matters - strictly off the tension lying ahead.

I have been thanking God the last few days actually. For my job, for our health (my daughter is getting better) and for how much better off we are than many other people. Last year, around the same time, we were VERY tense. My husband's company was in troubled waters (the current situation is actually an extension of last year's problems) and we were in a very vulnerable position. My husbnd was on H1b visa, I didn't have a job and at that time losing his job meant we would have to pack our bags and return to India. The IT market in India wasn't exactly booming at that time. Also, returning meant tough times for our daughter. Back in India, she would have to learn to read and write a whole new language. Here she is at the top of her class, there she would be at the bottom because the learning system is VERY different in both the countries. This year, we have our Green Cards, which means we don't have to return. I have a job, which means we can still get insurance coverage. AND WE DIDN'T BUY THE ACURA MDX THAT WE WERE THINKING OF BUYING!!! I mean, I would hate to pay a car installment at this tense time of our lives :) Things are definitely much better this time......

Work is good. I still am not doing much - just getting the hang of things. I happened to walk in on an emergency on the first day. Things haven't quietened down yet. Our offices will be moving to another nearby city in a month or two - so I don't expect things to quiet down for quite some time to come.

Yesterday, I almost murdered a processor :D One of our computers just died on us. My manager called Dell and since the computer was still under warranty, they sent us a new power supply and a new mother board. My manager told me to rebuild the computer so I started working on it. Well, to make a long story short, I bent the pins on the processor badly out of shape. The best thing I did was, confess to my manager in time. And then I helped him find the right tools to fix it - a safety pin and a pair of tweezers. Poor guy spent almost an hour on straightening the pins and finally was able to put in the processor properly in its place. But has been teasing me mercilessly ever since. Said he's thinking of giving me the "Golden Hammer Award for Installing a Processor" :)) I guess there is no relief in sight until I can rebuild another computer - properly this time. Still, I am relieved that the processor was saved!