Keep your Day Job
Not a popular song among Dead Heads - but I always liked it. Anyways - I know people who talk about where they work on their blogs can get into trouble. So I am going to take a big risk here. Obviously my real name is not on here and I am not going to say where I work either. People who know me know the name. What I am going to say is I have waited my whole life to have this job. I always liked my field - it allowed me to get out of the office, have some flex time with my family, drive around in an often inspiring landscape through the Sierras and the desert. Unfortunately my last company thrived on labor exploitation, pushing you to your limit, and treating you like a piece of shit that should just be thankful to have a job while the managers and big wigs thrived off your misery. They lost me - and they are possibly going to lose my replacement as well - which I would love to see happen, not out of revenge as much as he might come over and join us here too and I would like to work with him again after training him on the way out the door over THERE.
I am making more money - which does not seem to matter because I haven't saved a cent and the financial assault just keeps on coming - but that is okay because I would be even worse off on the salary I had before. A financial assault is somewhat relative - as I know some who possibly by their own choosing are in a far more challenging situation than I am - and not to judge, because whatever works for you who am I to say, but all I know is I have always been conservative financially and I try to keep the combined house balance to a minimum. So that is my choice anyways, but kind of a side track.
This company is a great company to work for, they make you feel valued, they don't try to work you to death - although obviously you are paid to get a job done, and quite frankly I am very capable of doing it. It does feel good to get compliments from my manager and other people I work with, and I do like to feel appreciated - I mean - who doesn't? Sure at the beginning it was incredibly frustrating and the first month was like one continuous Murphy's Law, but I am on my 7th month now and it is coming together. I stay in touch with a friend from my last company and every time I hear about it I just can't believe how lucky I am to not be there and to be here. I keep on thinking I am going to be waking up from a dream - I mean - something this good can't be real, can it? I keep waiting for something bad to happen, but it doesn't. This company is pretty strong financially, they aren't going anywhere, and as long as you do what they ask of you they treat you as part of the family. I am not naive - I mean I know they profit off my work - but I have no problem with that at all as long as I am treated well in the process. And they seem to know to have the good people who work for them to make them profitable, that treating them right is the way to go about it, unlike the somewhat fucked up neurotic company where I spent a good 17 years of my life working. I "did my time and paid my dues" there, but it is sure nice to have weekends free, have my driving area (no more California trips) reduced, not worry about the phone going off in the middle of the night to drive to some place freezing cold at 3 in the morning, or to have to deal with auto body shops in any way shape or form.
So maybe I am doing something right after all. Maybe I am finally hitting a wave of good karma here. Sure I am middle aged, the family continues to drain me and it is not the happily ever home situation here, but I have to count my blessings - I am not divorced, I own my house (even if I can't imagine ever paying it off), I have a great job, and I have semi-religious experiences a few times a week when there is enough warmth and sun-light out to allow me to grab my guitar and play in the backyard - which is usually about 9 months out of the year. (I am going to treat myself to a new guitar this year - if all of my paycheck is flying out the door anyways for things outside of my immediate wants, I might as well do something for myself). My health is good - all groin and shoulder strains aside (I actually strained my arm swimming at the hotel in Vegas a couple weeks back - the real sign of an old man). Sure the 220 cholesterol was a wake up call, but I am eating healthier now - really watching the cholesterol content in everything - cutting out the eggs and eating a lot less meat. Those spare 20 pounds won't go away, but I still feel good. Over all - I can't complain about too much - except for the vet bills, except for my wife wanting to move back to Chi-town, except for the all of Sara'a medical and psych bills....okay okay, I really can't complain about too much in the scheme of things. When your work situation is good, your outlook is positive and you love the place you live in, it has a way of making every other obstacle in life seem easier to take.
I am making more money - which does not seem to matter because I haven't saved a cent and the financial assault just keeps on coming - but that is okay because I would be even worse off on the salary I had before. A financial assault is somewhat relative - as I know some who possibly by their own choosing are in a far more challenging situation than I am - and not to judge, because whatever works for you who am I to say, but all I know is I have always been conservative financially and I try to keep the combined house balance to a minimum. So that is my choice anyways, but kind of a side track.
This company is a great company to work for, they make you feel valued, they don't try to work you to death - although obviously you are paid to get a job done, and quite frankly I am very capable of doing it. It does feel good to get compliments from my manager and other people I work with, and I do like to feel appreciated - I mean - who doesn't? Sure at the beginning it was incredibly frustrating and the first month was like one continuous Murphy's Law, but I am on my 7th month now and it is coming together. I stay in touch with a friend from my last company and every time I hear about it I just can't believe how lucky I am to not be there and to be here. I keep on thinking I am going to be waking up from a dream - I mean - something this good can't be real, can it? I keep waiting for something bad to happen, but it doesn't. This company is pretty strong financially, they aren't going anywhere, and as long as you do what they ask of you they treat you as part of the family. I am not naive - I mean I know they profit off my work - but I have no problem with that at all as long as I am treated well in the process. And they seem to know to have the good people who work for them to make them profitable, that treating them right is the way to go about it, unlike the somewhat fucked up neurotic company where I spent a good 17 years of my life working. I "did my time and paid my dues" there, but it is sure nice to have weekends free, have my driving area (no more California trips) reduced, not worry about the phone going off in the middle of the night to drive to some place freezing cold at 3 in the morning, or to have to deal with auto body shops in any way shape or form.
So maybe I am doing something right after all. Maybe I am finally hitting a wave of good karma here. Sure I am middle aged, the family continues to drain me and it is not the happily ever home situation here, but I have to count my blessings - I am not divorced, I own my house (even if I can't imagine ever paying it off), I have a great job, and I have semi-religious experiences a few times a week when there is enough warmth and sun-light out to allow me to grab my guitar and play in the backyard - which is usually about 9 months out of the year. (I am going to treat myself to a new guitar this year - if all of my paycheck is flying out the door anyways for things outside of my immediate wants, I might as well do something for myself). My health is good - all groin and shoulder strains aside (I actually strained my arm swimming at the hotel in Vegas a couple weeks back - the real sign of an old man). Sure the 220 cholesterol was a wake up call, but I am eating healthier now - really watching the cholesterol content in everything - cutting out the eggs and eating a lot less meat. Those spare 20 pounds won't go away, but I still feel good. Over all - I can't complain about too much - except for the vet bills, except for my wife wanting to move back to Chi-town, except for the all of Sara'a medical and psych bills....okay okay, I really can't complain about too much in the scheme of things. When your work situation is good, your outlook is positive and you love the place you live in, it has a way of making every other obstacle in life seem easier to take.
posted by Zook at 6:24 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home