Life comes at you
So my mom died on May 1. It was after a long slow slog through congestive heart failure. My dad was her caretaker even in his advanced years. He suddenly felt like he didn't have a reason left to live. He didn't want to stay in the house with all its memories and yard upkeep. So Renee and I and her mom got him moved to a nice retirement community where my parents put in a deposit years ago as a place they thought they'd like to live together before my mom's health deteriorated. His deposit was still good which shot him to the top of the waiting list. He's all moved in now and has new reasons to live with his newfound friends there, endless activities he enjoys, and the staff there are almost scarily helpful.
My job... My workload didn't bounce back in January after the normal holiday slump. I began to churn up some business with a lot of my established contacts there, and the result was only to marginally keep things bumping along. The client had a new contract to sign in March and we were holding our breath to see if they would. They did. No cuts to equipment or the three of us, so I knew I had a year then to build up business among my regulars and keep the department healthy and needed. The next thing I knew, my employer was giving one of my printers to an account in Georgia, and then the host company proceeded to downsize by reproduction services to fit in the same space in the mail room along with the other two employees. Somehow we got everything to fit, and I continued to grow business and actually had a pretty good month in June.
The next thing I knew, my manager pulled me aside for a meeting, put her cellphone on speaker with HR on the line, and proceeded to tell me the host company had decided to end reproduction services, eliminating my job, only going to mail services. The ~good~ news, she had an account she erroneously thought would be closer for me to drive. It's not. It's 22 miles further (109 miles one way). this new position would be cutting my pay to about $6 less per hour (she always had this thing about me being paid too much) and on top of that, I'd have to pay for parking which was about $25 a week, or nearly $300 per year. It was take it or be terminated, so of course I took it, but from the onset, I knew this wasn't going to work with our mortgage, car payment, and everything else. So the host company essentially ripped up the contract they'd just signed and my employer apparently did nothing about it, except giving almost no effort into finding me a new account, which they had to have known wasn't going to work for me. I'd just gotten a Bronze award last year for exemplary work. Whatever.
So I began working at this completely non-viable account on July 1, my mom's birthday, 2 months to the day after she died. I called Dad while there because I knew he'd be having a rough time also remembering her birthday. Really, it's not a bad place to work. All the coworkers are great, and I was learning what to do on their automated package distribution and tracking. But I had something else brewing I didn't make public until it was clear it was going to happen. When they laid off my coworker last year, she found employment at a different division of our company and she told me of a job posting out where she was. I went for and got it. It's a dollar more per hour than what I'm currently getting, it's ironically the same exact 109 miles, just in a slightly different direction, and the parking is free. And I get my coworker back. Long-term, it probably still isn't going to work, but at least it buys more time to find something that will. I'll look for something maybe in Winchester. Today, they need me back at the account where they told me they no longer need me. Tomorrow is a pre-scheduled vacation day for Renee and I to help my dad with the last few details of his house which sold, for full asking price I might add. Monday, I start at the new account.
My job... My workload didn't bounce back in January after the normal holiday slump. I began to churn up some business with a lot of my established contacts there, and the result was only to marginally keep things bumping along. The client had a new contract to sign in March and we were holding our breath to see if they would. They did. No cuts to equipment or the three of us, so I knew I had a year then to build up business among my regulars and keep the department healthy and needed. The next thing I knew, my employer was giving one of my printers to an account in Georgia, and then the host company proceeded to downsize by reproduction services to fit in the same space in the mail room along with the other two employees. Somehow we got everything to fit, and I continued to grow business and actually had a pretty good month in June.
The next thing I knew, my manager pulled me aside for a meeting, put her cellphone on speaker with HR on the line, and proceeded to tell me the host company had decided to end reproduction services, eliminating my job, only going to mail services. The ~good~ news, she had an account she erroneously thought would be closer for me to drive. It's not. It's 22 miles further (109 miles one way). this new position would be cutting my pay to about $6 less per hour (she always had this thing about me being paid too much) and on top of that, I'd have to pay for parking which was about $25 a week, or nearly $300 per year. It was take it or be terminated, so of course I took it, but from the onset, I knew this wasn't going to work with our mortgage, car payment, and everything else. So the host company essentially ripped up the contract they'd just signed and my employer apparently did nothing about it, except giving almost no effort into finding me a new account, which they had to have known wasn't going to work for me. I'd just gotten a Bronze award last year for exemplary work. Whatever.
So I began working at this completely non-viable account on July 1, my mom's birthday, 2 months to the day after she died. I called Dad while there because I knew he'd be having a rough time also remembering her birthday. Really, it's not a bad place to work. All the coworkers are great, and I was learning what to do on their automated package distribution and tracking. But I had something else brewing I didn't make public until it was clear it was going to happen. When they laid off my coworker last year, she found employment at a different division of our company and she told me of a job posting out where she was. I went for and got it. It's a dollar more per hour than what I'm currently getting, it's ironically the same exact 109 miles, just in a slightly different direction, and the parking is free. And I get my coworker back. Long-term, it probably still isn't going to work, but at least it buys more time to find something that will. I'll look for something maybe in Winchester. Today, they need me back at the account where they told me they no longer need me. Tomorrow is a pre-scheduled vacation day for Renee and I to help my dad with the last few details of his house which sold, for full asking price I might add. Monday, I start at the new account.