AUBREEVISION - Observations from the far side of the dial

Tuesday was just another day at the office - if your office is a gym, and "another day" involves your bosses popping by to say "You can go home now, we're bankrupt!"

And so, like a bolt from the blue, I find myself gainfully unemployed - not even the manager saw this one coming. In retrospect, there were minor hints - the meticulous inventory we were asked to complete, the sudden disappearance of everything associated with our fantabulous selection of cubic zirconia (yes, we were selling jewelry...at a gym....and the owners said they were carting it off for display at an unnamed "show" ). But on the whole, we had no indication that things were going badly - by all appearances, in fact, it seemed we were thriving. So it was rather shocking to emerge from my facial (yes, the gym also offered spa services...) and find the doors locked, the computer hard drives being wiped and my co-workers packing up their things. Even more surprisingly, the owners were unbelievably casual about the whole thing - "Well, our accountant did the end-of-year books and didn't really like what he saw, so yeah, we're gonna close now."

I was there 14 months despite the peanuts-pay and insane staff turnover rate, sticking it out because I loved the job and the people, not to mention the free gym membership, and truly believed in the business. But what can you do? Here's what I can do - look for a better-paying job, get caught up on writing work and run like a bitch to stay in shape.