>>13457225Engineerfag here
I got salaried, and subsequently fired for political reasons late 2018 only days away from closing on a house that cut my commute from 1.25h to 15 minutes with traffic. Devastated my trust and my spirits for a long time. I took a pharmacy tech job while waiting for call backs from places I applied. Had two flats I aired up each time I drove and refilled religiously every 30 minutes on the road. Skid plate ripped off my car, flooding in our apartment, fleas from the unattended cat infestation around our building. It was the cheapest option second only to homelessness, and no one can afford that.
Got a call for software dev from a well-known aviation gov't contractor. Passed interviews, failed sec. clearance, they chose to REWRITE the exact offer minus the sec. clearance for my benefit. Signed a lease and moved in once I got my start date. Two days later, they call and rescind the offer because they just had their own budget revoked for that department. Jobless again, take a job working lathes for machine factory (making spec-limit testing 20mm casings for weapon systems). Covid hits, unrest is in everyone's eyes. George Floyd happened, then ensuing fistfights followed on the plant floor. I kept a spade handy for my own protection if they ever came to my machines with ill intent, and luckily it was not used. Then we ran out of glove PPE because the surge for medical supplies came. I sliced fingers up pretty good weekly and had machine coolant running across those wounds until I realized - if I get sick or injured while uninsured it would be better if I were actually dead. I was denied my reqeust for benefits, so I walked. Found a woodworking shop and made children's stools for a few months during the Christmas rush. Hopped back into machining at a wire company and was appointed department head in 3 months. Then got called to a tablet compression engineering firm hired as a drafter. Here I am.