Thank you to everyone who answered my questions (update)

I posted here 5 weeks ago when I was panicking about my layoff as a welding apprentice. I have read a lot of threads here and could not find my exact situation. Two tips made a real difference: keeping a log and asking for help early. Anyone want to swap notes?

Thanks for writing this out. I went through something close to it last year, and it got easier once I kept a simple log of every call and form.