What's been going on?
In our last vocation-related episode, Our Hero was engaged, for six weeks, as a contractor.
A bit more than 18 months later, the supervisor took him aside, called him a Damfool, and told him, "You've done all the work! I have to roll you off the project because you left nothing to do." That was June 1911. He went on unemployment and waited for a phone call.
Fast-forward to March 2012 (and a change from third- to first-person). One morning I received a call from an old friend, with whom I had worked well with before. He had a position in which he thought I would do very well. Several hours later, I received a call from my head-hunter/agent, giving me the details of another opportunity. Nothing for nine months, then two in one day. I thought it over; which one should I take? Each offered attractive work; I could use public transportation to get there; the money recognized that I had spent around 30 years honing my skills.
When I got up the next morning, I made four phone calls. One to my old friend, with a grateful and - hopefully - graceful message declining the position. The next one was to my head-hunter/agent, whom I had known since 1968, giving her the same news. Over the course of the evening and night, I realized I really did not want to go back to work, regardless of the fact of two interesting, well-paying opportunities. My financial advisor had been telling me for three years that I did not have to work if I didn't want to.
Four phone calls; two accounted for. The third call was to the Department of Labor, asking that I be taken off the unemployment list. I look at it this way: unemployment benefits are designed to keep you and your family afloat while you look for work. I was no longer looking for work. I no longer qualified.
The fourth call: Social Security. I was 65; I'd been making my Social Security payments since 1964. Now it's my turn to receive return on investment. Entitlement? I think not! I've paid for this, and now I presented the invoice.
To quote Donovan, "So here I sit, the retired writer in the sun."
To quote MacDonald's (no, I do not eat there; it's been over a decade - and that was under duress), "I'm lovin' it!"
More to come --- sometime. Perhaps soon. Thanks for the comments.
A bit more than 18 months later, the supervisor took him aside, called him a Damfool, and told him, "You've done all the work! I have to roll you off the project because you left nothing to do." That was June 1911. He went on unemployment and waited for a phone call.
Fast-forward to March 2012 (and a change from third- to first-person). One morning I received a call from an old friend, with whom I had worked well with before. He had a position in which he thought I would do very well. Several hours later, I received a call from my head-hunter/agent, giving me the details of another opportunity. Nothing for nine months, then two in one day. I thought it over; which one should I take? Each offered attractive work; I could use public transportation to get there; the money recognized that I had spent around 30 years honing my skills.
When I got up the next morning, I made four phone calls. One to my old friend, with a grateful and - hopefully - graceful message declining the position. The next one was to my head-hunter/agent, whom I had known since 1968, giving her the same news. Over the course of the evening and night, I realized I really did not want to go back to work, regardless of the fact of two interesting, well-paying opportunities. My financial advisor had been telling me for three years that I did not have to work if I didn't want to.
Four phone calls; two accounted for. The third call was to the Department of Labor, asking that I be taken off the unemployment list. I look at it this way: unemployment benefits are designed to keep you and your family afloat while you look for work. I was no longer looking for work. I no longer qualified.
The fourth call: Social Security. I was 65; I'd been making my Social Security payments since 1964. Now it's my turn to receive return on investment. Entitlement? I think not! I've paid for this, and now I presented the invoice.
To quote Donovan, "So here I sit, the retired writer in the sun."
To quote MacDonald's (no, I do not eat there; it's been over a decade - and that was under duress), "I'm lovin' it!"
More to come --- sometime. Perhaps soon. Thanks for the comments.