My dear brother Karl,

You have my sympathies, truly. Getting fired sucks. Financially, it can range from a minor inconvenience to a full-blown disaster, but it can also be a bitter blow to one's ego.

As my Mother says, from her Growing Up in the UK During War-time Voice, "Never mind, better days ahead!" Stick around .. the company here is great, and it's wonderfully stimulating to read about the technical challenges people face, and all of the interesting solutions that are offered.

I would recommend, see what you can do to help out an open source project or two. If there's a local User's Group, stay in touch with them. Opportunities will pop up. Stay positive, and keep on trying out new things.