Got let go from this job too.
On Thursday, 'round 11ish.
Ann, the person who was the lead of the group pulled me into a conference room to tell me.
"I think you know what this is about"
"No, I don't"
She hesitated a bit more, then told me today would be my last day there.
I asked if it was a performance issue, and she reassured me it wasn't. It was just a money issue having to do with the re-orgs and layoffs they are going through. They are not hiring anyone else, they are not looking for another consultant, it will just go back to the two of them, she had just found out from our boss that morning and he told her to tell me since he doesn't really know me and she does, and because he hates conflict and avoids it with a passion. So he made her do it. I felt bad for her, she seemed really uncomfortable, so I kept my shit together. I felt a little teary at one point but just kept talking my way through it until it passed. I asked her for a letter of recommendation and she said she would write one for me.
She said she really liked me and that's why they hired me, I was trainable and likable.

Leaving is awkward.
I didn't want to go get a box and make a big production of it. So I made three trips of as much as I could carry out to my car. The first trip was books, another guy kinda in my group was looking at me funny, I wasn't sure if he knew or not and he just said "hey" so I said "hey" back and kept walking it out. Then on another trip with my hands full I saw the boss that told Ann to let me go, he could have held the door open for me with my hands full, but he just looked uncomfortable and darted around the corner to his office without saying anything to me. Asshole.

The DBA's that sat behind were looking over at me while I was packing up my desk but no one said anything. Leaving is an awkward thing for everyone, the person leaving and the people that sit around them. I didn't want to say "Well...this is it I'm leaving" "Going now" and force awkward conversation on people that maybe didn't want it. So I just left without saying anything to anybody. Left all my work stuff at my desk, pager, badge, parking sticker, laptop etc.

The recruiters I worked for had no idea until I told them. I already updated my resume, posted it out on DICE and Monster, posted to a few jobs on both, emailed at least 20 recruiters I had talked to from before letting them know I was on the market again and sent them my updated resume. Even contacted unemployment. Already talked to a few recruiters on the phone and in email about jobs that were too far away for me.

I will post later today about the Shishaldin visit, which was nothing but wonderful, I'm glad she was here for me. Have a few pictures to post too.