As Jack Nicholson said in one of his films. I was in the same redundancy boat in March after 13 years of the same company and it hurt like hell. Men particularly are defined by their work and I loved my job. (Which probably says too much about me). I found another job, more by luck than judgement; it is not secure as most are not. There are other things to enjoy other than work, particularly in the summer. Unfortunately most of them need money! Keep the phrase " Don't let the bastards grind you down", in mind and you won't go far wrong.

I seriously cut down on buying a year ago and am still discovering gems I bought and moved on without blinking. And good luck in the job dept though at the moment a spot of down time sounds good to me...

creator of one of the best one-liners ever

Just got back from Nam.
Vietnam?
No, Cheltenam.

Firstly, sorry to hear your situation. Hope that works out.

Secondly, I recently (the past two or three years) made a conscious effort to not buy anything new (even new copies of old classics) because I looked at my iTunes library and saw the number of songs was in the region of 22000. And that's not even my full music collection. There's still shelves of CDs, and as for the stacks of old vinyl....

But approx 22000: that adds up to about two and a half months of continuous (24 hours a day) listening. Break that up into a couple of hours a day travelling with the iPod and theres no way I'll get through it all. So I'm determined not to buy anything new until I've at least gotten the best out of some of what I've already got, just like I used to back in my youth when I only owned about twenty albums.....

my Ipod was at the menders - and I took with me, on holiday, the new (at the time) Radiohead CD - and nothing else. I had no option but to listen to it - and boy did I listen to it - about 3 times a day for a fortnight. It was a revelation - and I vowed that I would discard the Ipod and go back to listening to albums in their entirety instead of continually skipping and shuffling tracks - unfortunately as soon as the Ipod was mended I relapsed - and have remained this way.

a version of the 100 CD Rule: you can only own 100 cd's. When you buy the 101st, you have to make a decision whether to keep it and, if so, which CD to sell on to make room for it.

I'm moving house and frankly, casting an eye over the cd's, records, tapes, dvd's, videos etc I've got, I'm daunted. Even though I've also cut back on purchases in the last year or so, it's a heck of a lot of stuff that rarely, if ever, gets aired.

Example: I adore "Down River" by David Ackles. It's a terrific song. But the album ("The Road to Cairo") is so-so. So (copyright laws notwithstanding) why don't I just rip my favourite song, flog the cd and have more room in the new house? Why do I feel this attachment to a cd with one song I really, really like?

My salary is half what it was at the start of the year (long story). I've got a GLW & two Ad-kids to consider. I am now cutting right back & enjoying the music I already own.
Part of a growing trend it seems.

You can borrow my Jerry Burns CD if you like. Would a duplicate copy be a Burns Burn?

A fine bit of work, very atmospheric. Jolly good for getting ladies in the mood I found. Now there's an idea for a thread.. What's your cast-iron knicker-loosener track or album? Someone else can do it. I'll get told off for being sexist.

and as a graphic designer of 28 years, I sympathise.
Frequently I dip, into my cassette collection and forgotten gems are digitised for my new iPd tOuch!

I'm the "home taper who killed the music industry" sorry

next up is FashiØn's first album

I was made redundant from Our Price/Virgin in 2004 after nearly 20 years service, at the time I was gutted. 5 years down the line and i can see that it was the best thing to happen to me. Had about a year of chilling out whilst working part time, then got a much better job than I previously had. Got out at just the right time. Probably of no comfort to you though.

And yes we all consume/buy far to much music. I've got stuff i've bought that i've only listened to once, ridiculous.

Good luck

It's the stuff which hasn't been listened to at all which bothers me. The "classic albums" one is supposed to have in the rack and which others nod at knowingly. I'll get round to it one day. I'm sure Astral Weeks and Kind Of Blue etc are both jolly good.

This is why all my classic literature gets bought in paperback from second-hand shops, saving me the effort of creasing the spines to make out I've read them.

...life isn't as good as it used to be.

...wrong post. Oops.

Ola Fergus! Mind you he probably's gone off into that ethernet-type virtual vacuum. Sorry everyone I'm pissed on Father-in-Law's parsnip wine; lost me thread..