DEFCON 2

DEFCON 5 Normal peacetime readiness
DEFCON 4 Normal, increased intelligence and strengthened security measures
DEFCON 3 Increase in force readiness above normal readiness
DEFCON 2 Further increase in force readiness, but less than maximum readiness
DEFCON 1 Maximum force readiness

I'm officially now at DEFCON 2. I had a chat with my boss today and I found out that my Judgement Day is set for Thursday. That's the day they decide if they want to keep me or trade me in for a sleeker model. Now I won't point any fingers, but I also won't accept all the blame for the way things have unfolded in the workplace. The bottomline is that I've got to find another job. Quickly.

For those of you joining the party in progress, I'll give you a quick recap. Sometime after I came back from my immersion session in Trois-Pistoles in the summer of 2004, I decided that I wanted to live in Quebec. So I started saving my nickels and plotting my escape from the tedium that is London, Ontario. I left my job in April and took back to back immersion sessions in preparation for my grand adventure in Montreal. By September, I had packed my bags, moved in with 2 hot girls and was well on my way to maxing my line of credit.

Just when I thought I was going to have to go scurrying back home to Ontario, tail between my legs, I landed my first job in Montreal. So I did what any irresponsible guy would do: I partied. HARD. After all, I had an income now. Things were looking up! It was time to really start living again! I'm in Montreal, damn it! Let's get the party started! Bad call. In retrospect, I should have held off booking the tickertape parade. And try as I might, I just can't get back the deposit on the one-man band. Note to self: get past the probation period at work before you spend money you don't have.

So what's next for ol' Al? Fortunately for me, I still had some CVs floating around out there and I managed to get a few calls for interviews. Self-preservation has taken over and I've scheduled appointments for Thursday night and Friday morning. Presuming there's some sort of "master plan" out there (and also presuming that plan doesn't include me living in a cardboard box or making a jump into exotic dancing), then one of these leads will pan out. If not, we move to DEFCON 1...