A Hard Day’s Week
Sorry I haven’t been around this week to post. But I have a good excuse. Really, I do.
Though details haven’t been finalized yet, looks like I may soon be back amongst the ranks of the employed.
I’ve been working at a print shop on a trial basis all week. Two people went on vacation and they had a massive backlog of work they needed to catch up on. They want me to come in Monday as well.
I’m going to Arkansas to see my wife’s wonderfully dysfunctional family the week after next. (grandson may be coming too. Yay!) Final decision will likely be made by then, but owner has made it all but obvious that he’s impressed with my work and my willingness to start early in the morning (apparently that’s been an issue with others, and many orders need to be done by noon), and has pretty much implied he wants to keep me.
Cons? (of course there always will be some) Pay is notably less than what I was making before, and there are no benefits to speak of. My commute is 50 miles each way, through some of Atlanta’s most brutal traffic. Morning is not an issue, I leave early enough that traffic is smooth sailing unless there’s an accident along the way. Return trip is a different story, depending on what time I get out. Luckily, overtime seems to be plentiful so that helps with the pay issue, though not the traffic issue.
And I need to seriously get back into shape. My feet have been absolutely killing me at work, to the point that I’m having difficulty walking and have to consciously grit my teeth and ignore the pain. My wife told me, tongue-in-cheek, that my feet are now complaining after being so coddled and lazy for six months living the easy life. May be some truth in that.
So it’s not a total lock yet, but as close as I can get it. And despite my complaining footsies and long commute, I’m actually enjoying just being a productive member of society during hard economic times. Even though I literally passed out on the bed last night with the TV and all my clothes on and woke up at 2am with no memory of how I got that way.
And the commute, while challenging, is still shorter (by 12 miles), and slightly more traffic friendly (for Atlanta traffic), than it would’ve been had I kept my previous job and followed their move across town. And done the same thing, for the same people, that I had done for them the past 11 years.
I talk periodically to an ex-coworker that tells me how lucky I am that I don’t work there anymore. That the micromanagement has gotten far worse after the move. That nothing has changed, other than the location, and the same BS is still ever-present.
And to think that I was starting to consider the possibility that I might have to ask for my old job back. That I might have to go back in the box.
Hope that I don’t have to come back here in two or three weeks with a post about eating today’s words. But I think it’s for real this time. And it’s something I can deal with for the time being.
Congrats on the almost-a-sure-thing job!
I hear you about being out of shape… it’s just soooo easy to sit.
Fingers crossed for you!!!
I hope this works out for you. Good luck!
I used to have a long commute in Atlanta traffic, too. I can feel your pain!
Hope-hope-hope it goes well. Was just in Alpharetta dropping off a kid, then picking her back up. Traffic is a bear!
Shoes, my friend, you need better shoes! Seriously. After age 40, your feet will scream if you don’t wear the right shoes and you’re on your feet a lot. Consider investing in a good pair of New Balance tennis shoes to work in. All the nurses wear them now. Eventually, you may need orthotics, but what you really need is a lot of support. (My apologies if you’re already wearing good shoes and orthotics, but me, with my feet problems… shoes make or break me.)
I realize this is a very sick and twisted thing to do but… send me your info on FB so we can do MW together…i’ll confess, i’m addicted too.
jayzapiper at cableone dot net
How did the week go? And when will you know for certain?
By the way, YAY! for you.
For the moment, they have me on temp status until work picks up some more. I’m going out of town next week, they told me to check with them when I come back. For now, until things get busy enough to put me on full time, I’m sort of a relief pitcher to go in when they get backed up, like they did last week. We’ll see how it goes. In the meantime the search continues, just in case.