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Feb 83 min read

Adventures in Unemployment

The continuing story of an unemployed older adult


A man who is broke showing his empty pockets

It's the waiting that gets to you.


Waiting to hear back from job applications. Waiting for responses to Letters of Introduction (LOI). Most frustrating of all is waiting for the Department of Labor and Unemployment to approve my payments.


As I write this, it's almost six weeks since I filed. When I reach a representative and not a virtual assistant, they tell me approval occurs between five and seven weeks. Or eight to ten weeks. Or, since they had a burst of activity at the start of 2024, between now and infinity.


Despite the latest robust employment numbers, it seems there are a lot of unemployed people in Colorado.


I requested and received a hardship escalation, which allegedly moved approval up. We're going on three weeks with that action.


I'm not bitter. Seriously, I don't won’t go to the unemployment offices in Denver and shout my manifesto. Anyway, no one would be there. The representatives work virtually.


On the other hand, I'm frustrated. The purpose of unemployment insurance is like any other guarantee of compensation due to loss (the internet's definition, not mine). It should be available immediately, or close to it, for a cushion to help us pay for rent, groceries, etc. We shouldn't have to wait weeks or months for it to kick in.


Okay, maybe I'm a little bitter.


In the Meantime …

In the meantime, I've implemented new practices and tried to stretch my risk-taking muscles. Here are some examples.


  1. I'm anchored to hope. As Martin Luther King Jr. said, "We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope." I'm also attached to faith because you can't have one without the other. In other words, if it didn't happen today, I'm hopeful and believe it will happen tomorrow. Those two things keep my mind quiet.

  2. I write (almost) every day. I'm starting to develop a habit of writing at least one hour a day. For example, I started this blog at 6:30 a.m. Yes, that time does exist in our world. My goal is to build up to 5,000 words each day.

  3. I break down my day into smaller tasks. My neurodivergent tendencies don't mix well with uncertainty. Nevertheless, I can't think of the big picture while going through my adventures in unemployment. I'd become a sobbing pile of goo if I did. Instead, I break down my day into smaller, achievable tasks for a greater chance of completion. Checking them off my list makes me feel better.

  4. Updates galore. Thanks to Connecting Colorado and the Larimer County Small Business Development Center (SBDC), I received advice on updating my resumes and website. The former have gone out to dozens of companies. I'm still working on the latter.

  5. I've revised my LOI delivery. Last year, I mass-emailed LOIs to almost 100 companies. Most went to standard help or info addresses instead of real people. I got rid of those and started from scratch. This time, I researched the appropriate people on LinkedIn and used tools like Hunter and RocketReach to find their email information. No responses so far, but at least I have a base.

  6. Breaking my fear bindings. I'm working hard to break my fear bindings and take risks. The biggest block is sending out article pitches because few were approved in 2023. The thing is, I'm not going to bring in money as a writer if I don't do this.

What Did We Learn Today, Rich?

It's darkest before the dawn. You have to walk through the valley before you reach the sun. You have to keep going no matter how much nothingness you see.


We weren't put on this world to suffer and be in a constant survival mode. We are here to make a difference and thrive. That means using the available tools to move forward while actions happen in the background. It's the best way to keep sane. 


Yours always,

Rich Scott Keller


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