Time flies, job search's urgency grows

It's hard to believe that it's been 2½ months since I was laid off. I was too busy with the blizzard during the first week of February to really notice Feb. 2, and by the 7th, my middle son's 19th birthday, my mind was again on other things. But starting about Tuesday, the 8th, I noticed the passage of time as I filled out my certification online for unemployment benefits.

It's been more than two months, and the realization dawned on me that that time has flown by so swiftly -- too swiftly. Roughly, I have about four months of unemployment left. And then what?