The New And Improved Unofficial R65 Forum V2
General Category => Totally Off-Topic Discussions, Rants, Tire & Oil Threads, Etc. => Topic started by: Rob Valdez 79 R65 on November 15, 2006, 01:30:57 AM
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I have been given an opportunity. I was told Monday that my job with the State has 6-12 months to live. :-/ The only bitterness lies in who they choose to keep. After all, my taxes pay my slacker co-worker's salaries, as well! Oh well, someone else can profit from my dedication.
Mainframe computer operations has been good to me over the last 25 years or so. Pay is pretty good for on-the-job training. But the nights and weekends are getting old. And while it feeds my bank account, it really does nothing for my soul.
Also, I am a fairly free agent, in that I am currently living with my sister and her husband, and would not mind finding myself a little further south, for whatever kind of work finds me. I have absolutely no idea what would make me happy.
I have discovered the adjective "caretaker" fits my personality, and I found I actually enjoy the time I have spent on the Help Desk phone, resetting peoples passwords for them, and hearing the joy in their voices when they get on the computer. But the same work is really frustrating when I can't help them (our 'training' for help desk issues is nonexistent). And I am not a real fan of computers, anyway. I have fun on the internet, and I would miss it dearly if the WWW suddenly crashed somehow, but I don't think these boxes are the last word in making me happy in my labors.
So that is the big news here. You all are the first to hear it. Hope you don't think it is inappropriate, but you never know who might read this and offer me a job!
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Sorry to hear that Rob, but there may be plenty of opportunities within the next 6 - 12 months.
I too get extremely frustrated when I see total wastes of space getting paid the same as me, but those of us with a sense of pride in our work will continue to do our best. It really does get annoying when those wastes of space very occasionally do a little more than normal, and still not as much as the rest of us do all the time, and get commended for it!!!! However, if other peoples commendation was my sole desire to do well, I'd have given up years ago. I have plenty of amunition to feed my Grumpy Old Man status these days though.
I love my work, but am getting increasingly cranky with the BS that surrounds actually being able to do it these days. I just want to get out and fix things, and pass on my knowledge along the way to anyone silly enough to listen. I envy your free agent status, and daresay that if I hadn't married again 8 years ago, I'd be looking for a small fixit type employment that maybe wouldn't pay as much, but feed my soul. (watch out, another post midlife crisis coming up!! LOL)
If I had a job to offer I would, and we would sit in Freo and discuss the world over coffee.
Bill..........................;-)
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Sorry to hear that, Rob, and I know where you are coming from. Unlike you, though, I have found that over the years I like helping people less-and-less every day and these past three years on the "Hell-Desk" has pretty much made up my mind that I don't like doing it but have no choice if I want to eat! :-/ I have found myself starting to look at want ads for entry level positions that are totally unrelated to what I have done for the past 30 years.
I guess I still haven't decided what I want to do when I grow up!
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Hey, Rob...
Man, that does indeed blow about the job. However, I have always been a firm believer in the old adage that "when one door closes, another one opens". I'm confident that you WILL find employment that satisfies both the soul and the grounded-in-reality body we inhabit.
I also had decided to make a change and get out of the career that no longer "did it" for me, after 20 years as a Human Resources Manager for various companies. I still enjoyed the interaction with employees and the times I was able to provide counseling that may have helped, but it seemed that what I found myself more and more was terminating employees. I absolutely HATED firing someone, even if they truly deserved it.
I decided that I still had time to learn a new gig to make money at, and since I always enjoyed editing and publishing the various employee newsletters over the years, I enrolled back in school to get my degree in graphic design. Of course, I need to add right now that this would have been MUCH more difficult had I not had the support and backing of my wife, Pattimarie. She told me to get back in school full time, and she would handle the income earning and bill paying until I graduated.
Well, it's been nearly three years since I went back to school, and although it's been very trying at times, I'm about to graduate in the spring. (Then, all I have to do is find a job!) ::)
I would consider moving south, if I were you. The overall job market is strong in the south, particularly in the Atlanta or Charlotte area. (And you ain't too far from good roads and mountains to ride and play in!) ;) Plus, the weather here in the south is more condusive to year-round riding, too. And once you get used to the hillbillies like me, life is pretty sweet! ;D
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Opportunity knocks - What my wife did here in Atlanta when she went job searching was to work for a Temporary Employment Agency and tried out a couple of companies. Eventually she found one she liked and worked there for about 10 years. Atlanta has many pluses and a few minuses. The local economy is good ( for the time being), night life is excellent, and on the BMW side there are two local dealers and Boxerworks is only an hour away. There are a couple of good technical schools if you want to go back to school. Minuses are massive urban sprawl with a minimal mass transit and an short sighted ethnic local government that need to grow-up and stop living in the past. Commuting can be a nightmare if you are not properly located. I suspect that it is getting expensive to live close in but then I haven't tried in 15 years. 8-)
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Thanks for your thoughts!
airhead - there is this lady on one of my singles sites that keeps popping up...from Fremantle...
semper - Indianapolis is the only large metro area I would even think about living in, and that is only because I grew up here. These people (crammed together as we are) drive me nuts! [smiley=shocked.gif] No Atlanta for me, I am sure. It could be the "nearest metro area", though.
I REALLY don't want to end up in another data processing shop...
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For what it's worth, and this is coming from a person that lived in Chicago for 37 years, move to a milder climate! From a motorcycling viewpoint, once you have the opportunity to ride all yearlong, you'll wonder why you didn't do it 20 years ago.
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Thank you for that, Bob.
I have a couple of friends in Johnson City, TN (of the non-motorcycling persuasion ;)) , so that area is attractive to me for several reasons, and a old and valued friend located in the heart of Appalachia (in a moderate sized job market) makes it that much better.
I am looking at prioritizing my cash flow to eliminate some nagging debt, so I can exist at a lower income level, later. No more eBay or free money to the motorcycle for a while...
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Hey Rob,
That's a beautiful area to relocate to! Man, I would LOVE to move to the Appalachias/Blue Ridge Parkway area. Here in and around the Raleigh, NC area there are TOO many people moving in. I'm a bit partial to Meadows of Dan in VA (Willville is drawing me...) as they have a great motorcycling perspective to go along with the spectacular roads.
You'll be surprised how living a 'simpler' life with lower cash flow needs can free your spirit! We're out of debt and still prioritize our spending, but it's not a struggle and can enjoy the things that really mean something to us. Hope you have success finding employment in an area that makes you happy. [smiley=cool.gif]
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Last June, I was made aware of a job opening in the Phoenix area for a motorcycle test rider for Harley- Davidson. I had to post a resume on Monster.com, and while I didn't get a call on the test rider job, about 10 job offers came along, that if I was in your position, I would have persued at least 5 of them. Get some resumes out there on the internet, you just never know what opportunities are out there. Losing my last job due to the company that I worked for went out of business, was the best thing that ever happened to me in my employment career. Found a better job that paid more and got me out of the midwest to a more user friendly environment for my motorcycling addiction. You've got the 'luxury' of a 6-12 months notice, make the best of it.
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Matt, Nathans' head guy at Boxerworks-the-store, did the H-D test rider gig for a while. Best part of a year as I remember it. I also remember him saying it got pretty boring (tedious?) after a while.
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...I couldn't find a "reply" button, then realized I wasn't logged in.
Anyway, I just wanted to wish you luck, Rob, what ever you end up doing.
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I have recently had my spirits lifted by my first exploration into Monster.com. There are some interesting prospects out there, where I might use my help desk experience and combine that with a technology I am interested in (motorcycles?).
There are other online job sites, but I have not checked them yet.
:)
edit: and everyday that I work at my current job makes this look like a [size=22]VERY[/size]good thing...
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That's the spirit, Rob! [smiley=thumbsup.gif]
I see some very good things on the horizon for you! The future looks brighter than you may realize right now! 8-)
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HI John,
Did you get a flikr account?
Bill
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Yeah, Bill, I got myself signed up the other day. I haven't put anything on it yet, but at least it's there and ready to be used! ::)
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I have a new job! It is still in information technology, but it is a nice, quaint little computer room, and I WILL BE WORKING BY MYSELF! :D
Still 2nd shift, which is too bad for the social life, but NO weekends, which is unheard of these days for what I do. It is for the Indianapolis water company, which is managed these days by the French company, Veloia. I start Monday. ;D
And no "hell(p) desk" phone, Justin!
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Congrats Rob! Too bad you didn't get the chance to relocate down here where the weather's fine (mostly!) :(
Hope you like your new endeavor with your own little space in the world! Don't get lonely in that quaint little computer room all by yourself. And take advantage of those free weekends!!!
[smiley=2vrolijk_08.gif]
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Congrats, Rob!! I'm sure that a big load off your mind!
Hope the new job works out extremely well, but if not, keep the option of some local govt. jobs down here in the back of your mind, and holla if I can help.
Steve
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Congratulations for getting away from the phone! I envy you and really miss my old "hole-in-the-wall" where I could hide...
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My first thought, Justin, was I would take some photos of my new hole-in-the-wall, but I just remembered a sign by the entryway - "No cameras or recording devices past this point"!. Post-911 trauma. And it is the city's water supply, after all. Probably higher security than where I was before!
A friend of mine worked there this year as a contractor operator. When I said to him "the computer room even has windows!", he replied, "and they even open!". Needless to say, it is an old building!
To give you an idea how old this system is, they still run VSE on a couple of machines (which is where my resume came in handy). And they only have 3 impact printers!
(For those of you outside the loop, I just found out that Justin and I work in similar fields.)
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Congratulations Rob! I hope this is a good change for you as far as better money too. If it's for the water dept. I'm sure you are getting good health benefits too. That makes up for lots of other stuff I've found.
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Actually it is a cut in pay (during the contract period, anyway), but if you had asked me the day I was fired from my old job, I would have told you I had just received the biggest "pay raise" I had ever gotten! Yes, it was that bad. And the funny thing is (compared to Justin), the Help (Hell, as Justin calls it) Desk phone was the least of my worries at the old job. It was some of the co-workers (that didn't do anything) that drove me nuts. It was fun telling the people that interviewed me why I got fired from the State. It made me look even better!
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Great news, Rob, although I was hoping you might end up moving south! But as long as you're happy, then everyone's happy! A toast!! [smiley=beer.gif]
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To Rob's new job, congratulations!
[smiley=1drink.gif]
Don't worry, Rob, it's Pepsi!
[smiley=puke2.gif]
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Yeah!! But is it Diet or sugar??
Congrats Rob, hope it's all plain sailing from here.
Bill..................;-)
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Congrats! Do they have motorcycle parking?
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Today is my first day, I don't even know where the vending machines are!
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I'm so sorry Rob...I have chimed in my congratulations way too late it would seem. I wasn't reading all the posts on the forum and missed the "welcome" change in your life. I sure hope it works for you. Good luck! :)
Boy, Maybe I should try and find a place down in NC or SC to rent and I'll trailer the bike down in February. Anyone want to trade for a month and try skiing?????? No anyone honest who is retired and wants a change of venue for a month??
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It would be tempting along about August! [smiley=1drink.gif]
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So Rob, after about a month in the new job. What's your viewpoint, compared to your old job?
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[smiley=ROTFLMAO.gif]
(I love it!)
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C'mon Rob , don't hold back. How do you really feel?
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His boss(s) must monitor this forum.
Glad you like the job, Rob!
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Of course, no job is perfect, but this one has the MAJOR bonus of working all by myself :exclamation
I am not social enough to get along with others on-the-job.
It is kind of like hiking.
If I go hiking with tobacco users, I do great.
If I go hiking with hikers, I suck.
At the state job, I was a dim bulb compared to the hot shots, but I had too much integrity to put up with the co-workers that worked harder at doing nothing than if they would just pitch in and do their best.
When I work by myself there are none of those issues.
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[size=24]WOO-FRIGGING-HOO!!![/size]
After 4 months of contract work, I am finally getting hired on here at the water company!
Next Friday will be my first day!
$2/hour more than I was getting at the State!
I am happy, to say the least. There is even a 24/7 pee lab that I can go to after I get off work tonight! (https://bmwr65.org/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.freecell.net%2Fchat%2Fi%2Ficonpee.gif&hash=78f464510f94c0f9300aab06c78c9f70e49e3ec3)
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Congrats. I have started going back to school and will be turning in my notice next week. ;D Hope I don't starve, but it got to the point where I had to fight with myself every morning in order to leave the house. :-/
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Uh, thank god you've got all those bikes and tools to sell when the time comes, right Justin?? ;)
PS: Congrats. Rob!!!
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Sell?
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When you turn in your notice?
And don't want to starve??
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He can always beg for scraps from the missus' plate!
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but it got to the point where I had to fight with myself every morning in order to leave the house. :-/
For me, here, it is amazing how quickly the weekends come around again!
Oh, yeah, and it is a $5/hr increase from what the contractor was paying me! I might even do something wild and move out of my sister's place! [smiley=1drink.gif]
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WOW! Congrats on the new job! [had to read entire thread to catch up] This is most fantastic news! And weekends off, too!
HOOOORAAAAAAH!
[smiley=2vrolijk_08.gif] <---happy dancing for Rob
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Good one Rob, integrity pays off eventually...........just that it seems like eternity when you're in the middle of it.
Sharing a coffee with me in Freo is now just a little bit closer!!!
Bill................;-)