And here we go

It wasn't until I was 22 and had enough credits to graduate from Northern Illinois University that I settled on a career. I was a political science major simply because I wanted an easy degree and really what careers are out there for political science majors?

In high school, I'd written for a small weekly newspaper and that was fun so Eureka, that's what I'll do. I went back to NIU for a summer of writing for the school newspaper, took a bunch of journalism classes in the fall for a minor -- which I fell short of anyway because of a dispute with a professor -- and then jumped into the working world.

It took me a year to get a full-time sports reporting job in Beloit, Wis. After nearly four years there I was hired by a much larger newspaper in Rockford, Illinois -- and that's where I stayed for nearly 18 years. Then I was terminated this past Thursday.

The first 12 years there were great. The last six were a struggle. I know the industry isn't done contracting.

I can go over that stuff again later depending upon how long this blog lasts. Now, it's time to find a new career.

It's Sunday morning and I'm sitting here realizing I've spent almost zero time by myself the past couple of years. To keep my income up as the years of no raises rolled on I've worked at running races putting up barricades, donated gallons and gallons of plasma, wrote a water quality blog and done the books for my sister's small business in Minnesota, ran the scoreboard for Jefferson High School football and basketball, umpired hundreds of baseball games, worked the grave yard shift at UPS and even tried to run a basketball league.

So now there's a little time to clean and get organized. I'll have mornings to go to spin class -- no basketball though, insurance ends at end of month.

I can't do this long. Unemployment starts Monday. I still have child support to pay. There will be expenses.

I hope I don't have to do this long. I have informal meetings set up with people in the banking industry on Tuesday and Wednesday. I've always been good with numbers. Banking is an industry that won't be eliminated -- for the most part -- by technology.

Friday, I posted on my FaceBook page that my career at the Register Star was over and more than 115 people posted well wishes and shock and outrage. It means I did do some good work and I kept the work place, especially before the recession, fun.

Saturday, I didn't do much. A little shopping. Visited my daughter at work. I did get a phone call from one of the people I want to talk to about changing careers. He called me from New York City, where he's visiting his son. The fact he would take time out from a trip to NYC to call me is encouraging.

Today, I updated my LinkedIn profile and accepted a bunch of invitations and sent more out. Honestly, I've been very neglectful with LinkedIn. Since I wasn't going anywhere I didn't really pay attention. Now, I need some help.

I'm 45 years old and I'm not scared about changing careers. I should have done it in 2011 or 2012 when the newspaper laid off Gary Covell. Gary was a "do everything" guy for us and we paid him well below what he was worth. For me, Gary collected all of the public records I needed to do my job well. He made perhaps one error in the six or seven years he was there. Because of Gary, I would have mountains of data to sort through, looking for interesting nuggets that could make good stories.

I have three meetings this week and I'm excited about what they could lead to. I have calls to make on a couple of other opportunities as well. I'm much luckier than many of my past colleagues who were cut during the recession. Back then there were large numbers of people being tossed aside at a time no one was hiring. I'm just one person now unemployed in an expanding economy.

The possibilities are endless.