Today is an important day....the kind of day that keeps you awake at night. I've only had to make a few big moves in life and this will be another one. I can truthfully say that I have no idea where this will go...I should have a big smile on my face when it is over, but there are at least three possible outcomes and I have no idea which one will prevail.
I will say that work was boring and cold for the first month, and then got exciting last week. It really looks like I am the expert they needed for this project and that is a good feeling after my last boss. The rule in life should be: never stick around for a bad boss, hoping that you outlast them...that trick doesn't work...
Monday, July 13, 2015
Wednesday, May 20, 2015
61 Years On The Planet!
Here it is! It is the time of life I was waiting for. I worked and saved, got hit by the layoff and then: 6 months of the best times ever. And now...I go to work Tuesday. It's not a job by my definition, it is a "Project". In my mind, contract work is a project. I think that there are recruiting folks that would say working without benefits is the new career, but I think it is just a reflection of the bad times.
My new rule? Do not become dependent upon an employer. I actually knew this a while back, but now I'm living my rule. Money that I make will be socked away for the next rainy day that is sure to come.
On the positive side, the Project sounds exciting and I'd like to put my skills to the test. The people are great and I have the Prius for the long commute. The only true unknown is what the I-4 construction will be like. The newspaper is describing the near future as hell-on-wheels, and I will be driving right through the mess...and that's why I call it a 'Project'.
Music seems to be in a holding pattern, while I am surfing, fishing, and being outdoors all that I possibly can. This morning, I am so sore from two weeks at the beach, that I am almost ready for a rainy day to recover. My surfing is reaching a level that I thought once would never happen. I just needed the right equipment and enough days of surfing in a row to hone my skills.
Crazy thing....I still cannot see 6 months into the future...and I am used to it now. I'm working at being right in the moment and just enjoying the now...pretty easy to do when your life is at the beach!
My new rule? Do not become dependent upon an employer. I actually knew this a while back, but now I'm living my rule. Money that I make will be socked away for the next rainy day that is sure to come.
On the positive side, the Project sounds exciting and I'd like to put my skills to the test. The people are great and I have the Prius for the long commute. The only true unknown is what the I-4 construction will be like. The newspaper is describing the near future as hell-on-wheels, and I will be driving right through the mess...and that's why I call it a 'Project'.
Music seems to be in a holding pattern, while I am surfing, fishing, and being outdoors all that I possibly can. This morning, I am so sore from two weeks at the beach, that I am almost ready for a rainy day to recover. My surfing is reaching a level that I thought once would never happen. I just needed the right equipment and enough days of surfing in a row to hone my skills.
Crazy thing....I still cannot see 6 months into the future...and I am used to it now. I'm working at being right in the moment and just enjoying the now...pretty easy to do when your life is at the beach!
Tuesday, April 21, 2015
6 Months In
April and plenty of April showers. This morning was to be a surfing trip, but the sky is full of moisture and it's already raining over at the beach. And the waves? They disappeared last night...but there will be many more opportunities.
The job market seems really lukewarm. If the job market is like Craiglist, then what we have right now are guys saying "I'll give you half of what you are asking for it"...without really being sure what it is that they are buying. In other words...pawnshops trying to scarf up things of possible value for resale. What I want is the market where somebody truly wants what you are selling and you come together on a price that makes you both feel satisfied. That has happened recently for me on Craigslist, I just need to see that in the job market as well. I have a funny feeling that what is being said aloud and in print differs from what is really going on. For example, I went on the 'reemployment job site' where they brag that our governor has reduced the unemployed from 551,000 to 81,000...sounds good to me! Then I call the help desk for a problem with the site and get...sorry for the 10+ minute wait time, we are very busy...and then I finally get a rude person that treats me like dirt. I know, I know, what did I really expect? I just kinda thought that with the huge dropoff in business there, I might get, I don't know, a little bit better help?
The job market seems really lukewarm. If the job market is like Craiglist, then what we have right now are guys saying "I'll give you half of what you are asking for it"...without really being sure what it is that they are buying. In other words...pawnshops trying to scarf up things of possible value for resale. What I want is the market where somebody truly wants what you are selling and you come together on a price that makes you both feel satisfied. That has happened recently for me on Craigslist, I just need to see that in the job market as well. I have a funny feeling that what is being said aloud and in print differs from what is really going on. For example, I went on the 'reemployment job site' where they brag that our governor has reduced the unemployed from 551,000 to 81,000...sounds good to me! Then I call the help desk for a problem with the site and get...sorry for the 10+ minute wait time, we are very busy...and then I finally get a rude person that treats me like dirt. I know, I know, what did I really expect? I just kinda thought that with the huge dropoff in business there, I might get, I don't know, a little bit better help?
Monday, March 30, 2015
Five Months In..
Well, it is five months after the layoff. How does it feel? Every day I get up with a list of things to do that I cannot possibly accomplish. Today is a little more relaxed and just maybe I'm starting to get an idea of what one can get done in a day. It's cold and clear out and I'm thinking running and paddleboarding are going to be in the mix. The studio is almost all the way organized and I'm finally getting rid of stuff I don't need on Craigslist. Yesterday, I built a rack to store my surfing gear the way it needs to be stored...it's not that I'm nearing completion or perfection, but I think I can finally see that I'm making a difference in the chaos that has been created by 32 years of living in this house on the run.
Jobwise and business? I now believe that it is still a much tougher time than people would have you believe. I saw a job listed yesterday for something similar to the work I did, but for someone with 3 year's experience, and it paid 36k...I know 20 something's making 70k in the same field. My feeling is that what is wrong right now is too many people fighting for the jobs and it has brought the price down and created this market that may not have a good place for me. This isn't bad though. It is creating an environment where I need to focus and what I can do, versus, "just plug me into the next open cubicle". At some point in life you need to wake up and find out what else you can do. All I can say is that I wake up happy every day, happy that I'm alive and able to enjoy this world...
Jobwise and business? I now believe that it is still a much tougher time than people would have you believe. I saw a job listed yesterday for something similar to the work I did, but for someone with 3 year's experience, and it paid 36k...I know 20 something's making 70k in the same field. My feeling is that what is wrong right now is too many people fighting for the jobs and it has brought the price down and created this market that may not have a good place for me. This isn't bad though. It is creating an environment where I need to focus and what I can do, versus, "just plug me into the next open cubicle". At some point in life you need to wake up and find out what else you can do. All I can say is that I wake up happy every day, happy that I'm alive and able to enjoy this world...
Friday, October 31, 2014
..and There It Is
Yep, it finally happened: The layoff. My company was good to me, but my boss had been telegraphing to me for a long time that if he could find a way to let me go he would. It wasn't like he was some evil guy, we were just different, and I was part of a legacy crew that he inherited when he took over our division. It is an old story, and probably the major surprise to anyone around, was that I somehow managed to stick around so long. I'm not 100% sure that is due to some strength of mine or perhaps just the willingness to endure.
But...the good news. This is my second layoff from the same company and the first time, in 1999, they caught me flat-footed with a mortgage and two teenage kids at home. Recovering from that, I vowed that no company would ever leave me like that again, and this time they caught me debt-free with a Plan B AND a Plan C. Life may not go as well I as I could like it to be but there will be some certain satisfaction, as a person with good flashlights and fresh batteries must feel when the power goes out for a long time.
I feel charged up myself and am ready for this really big adventure ahead...where do I see myself 5 years from now? Living a life of freedom that most people can only dream of...I hope!
But...the good news. This is my second layoff from the same company and the first time, in 1999, they caught me flat-footed with a mortgage and two teenage kids at home. Recovering from that, I vowed that no company would ever leave me like that again, and this time they caught me debt-free with a Plan B AND a Plan C. Life may not go as well I as I could like it to be but there will be some certain satisfaction, as a person with good flashlights and fresh batteries must feel when the power goes out for a long time.
I feel charged up myself and am ready for this really big adventure ahead...where do I see myself 5 years from now? Living a life of freedom that most people can only dream of...I hope!
Wednesday, July 2, 2014
Music Mining..
One of the greatest feelings is finding something that you thought was forever lost. I remember this really strange album from back in the 1970's and dug through my old album covers and there it was. Scratched and warped, I thought all was lost until I found that someone else liked them enough to upload videos and the songs to youtube.
The Man In The Jar
Back then I didn't understand how this music made sense but was so different than what else I was hearing at the time. I found a wiki about the Sensational Alex Harvey Band and finally I learned what I needed to know: he had spent a lot of time working with the Theater musical: Hair. When you think of Hair, Jesus Christ Superstar and other rock music theater of the time, then the band's music makes much more sense. The music was created before we had music videos, but his music needed the visual element. I then found that Alex Harvey died in 1982 at 47 years of age. Maybe this is one of those examples where your work lives on after you die and it is possible that the new fans will appreciate the music more than the people of the 1970's...
Back then I didn't understand how this music made sense but was so different than what else I was hearing at the time. I found a wiki about the Sensational Alex Harvey Band and finally I learned what I needed to know: he had spent a lot of time working with the Theater musical: Hair. When you think of Hair, Jesus Christ Superstar and other rock music theater of the time, then the band's music makes much more sense. The music was created before we had music videos, but his music needed the visual element. I then found that Alex Harvey died in 1982 at 47 years of age. Maybe this is one of those examples where your work lives on after you die and it is possible that the new fans will appreciate the music more than the people of the 1970's...
Wednesday, April 9, 2014
The Audition
As I sit here half listening to this great guy get a group job interview from some of my colleagues, it strikes me as just how hard it must be to hit just the right note in an audition process. Come on as too friendly: you're annoying, come on as too quiet: you're not a team player. How could one person in a short time, satisfy this diverse group that probably would have trouble together on a bowling outing.
I'm thinking there is no right answer, no great applicant, just lucky accidents that somebody that is cheerful and outgoing gets interviewed by a group that appreciates those qualities. We are not talking about chops, what they bring to the table or anything but looks and personality at this point....makes me think of the many band auditions when you wonder if you were good enough or if you seemed too opinionated or too boring. Truth is, from what I'm seeing and hearing today, you just can't know. There could be five people in the group that think the applicant is the best ever, and one guy thinks, "This guy might be good enough to make me look bad..".
I'm going to remember this at my next audition: that it might truly be impossible to please everyone, and how hard do you really want to try to impress the Grumpy's of this world?
I'm thinking there is no right answer, no great applicant, just lucky accidents that somebody that is cheerful and outgoing gets interviewed by a group that appreciates those qualities. We are not talking about chops, what they bring to the table or anything but looks and personality at this point....makes me think of the many band auditions when you wonder if you were good enough or if you seemed too opinionated or too boring. Truth is, from what I'm seeing and hearing today, you just can't know. There could be five people in the group that think the applicant is the best ever, and one guy thinks, "This guy might be good enough to make me look bad..".
I'm going to remember this at my next audition: that it might truly be impossible to please everyone, and how hard do you really want to try to impress the Grumpy's of this world?
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