Thank you all for the support. I have bad news and good news. I did wind up relapsing, then got in an accident and totalled my car. So now I'm starting over with sobriety too.

The good news is I was able to negotiate a much better severance package than they'd originally offered. They'd originally offered me exactly what was spelled out in my contract 4 weeks pay in lieu of notice and 2 month's severance.

Now here's the twist, I did their payroll so I knew the detail of every single severence package paid out in the last 2 years, so I pulled the best bits of all of them together.

I wound up getting the 4 weeks pay in lieu, 5 months severance, benefits continuation until Dec. 31. 50% of my annual bonus, and up to $2,000 for outplacement assistance. This buys me a lot more time to get back on my feet and find another job. 3 months would have been tights especially since it's summer, but 6 months is definitely doable.

The best news is financially it carries me through to Dec. when I have some investments coming due that I can cash in, if I have to. Once my severence runs out, I'll be eligible for unemployment but it's not much so I'd have to supplement it with my savings, all of which are locked up until Dec.

I'm still really scared, but I feel a lot better now.

--splitimage