Christmas Vacation?

At the end of the summer a technology lawsuit drove my employer into Chapter 11 bankruptcy. We have been operating all Fall as if we would emerge on the other side of this court approved scenario. There is a large debt with our primary vendor that must be addressed in any sale or move forward plan, or that vendor takes over the company and disposes of the assets.

As recently as last week it appeared that a “white knight” investor was interested in the company, and is still interested. The problem is that it would take him another 30 days before he can raise the capital to do the deal. And we have reached the limit on our current funding sources. The secured creditors and the court were unwilling to allow a new investment of cash in a secured manner. That means that anyone who puts up money now to fund operations through January would never recoup their investment. They would merely be another unsecured creditor.

Therefore, we have “ceased operations” and the employees have been “laid off due to lack of work.” Welcome to the world of euphemisms.

A court appointed reorganization specialist is coming in to evaluate the viability of the company and determine what level of operations should be sustained while looking for sale. If the company is not viable, they will move forward with a liquidation.

As a result, I now have an extended Christmas vacation. I filed for unemployment and will begin looking for a job, however, I have lots of things that I would like to do in the mean time. All those projects that pile up on your desk and in your mind are calling me. I could spend weeks and months just getting caught back up in my life. There are still boxes to be unpacked from our move nearly 3 years ago. I have many trips to the Thrift Shop in my future. I would love to go to the darkroom and print some pictures from our trip to Spain last year.

My charge is to look for a job, enjoy my time off, catch up on some things I’ve had to put off, and have dinner on the table by 5:30 every night. And as they say, I’ll keep you posted.