Planning. I'm not good at it.

[Victimorthecrime]

Hola Weekend Peeps!

Hope everyone is doing well or at least ok.  

Warm day here going to 78 but major rain ☔️ tomorrow.  

I have things to do but am being lazy, drinking decaf and watching TV/radio/phone.  Have plans to see a friend for a short bit later.   

Allergies are acting up and I am just not feeling energetic ATM so just going w the flow.  Feel free to share or update what is going on w you if you care to.  

[LostBoy]

Good Morning @Victimorthecrime,

I slept in this morning (8:00am) and have plans to get a lot done today.

Yesterday was all about taxes and other appointments and today is about stuff around the house.

It's supposed to rain here today so that could limit outside activities but the temps are nice right now.

[Victimorthecrime]

How did your presentation go this week @LostBoy?  The one you were working on last weekend.  

I have gotten nothing done. But that's ok. Sometimes Saturday is my day of rest. Went back to bed after my post above. Gonna meet up a a friend for lunch so hopefully that will get the ball rolling.  

[LostBoy]

3 minutes ago, Victimorthecrime said:

How did your presentation go this week @LostBoy?  The one you were working on last weekend.

It went well. I have another than I need to finish up this weekend but I'll probably wait to do that sometime Sunday night with a bourbon in my hand.

It's perfectly OK not to get anything done. Sometimes we need to just rest and relax. There's always tomorrow and unless it's something critical then there is no reason it can't wait. I'm doing some stuff around the house but I'm not hurting myself by any means. I'll work a little while then get on the computer to shop or look stuff up and then I'll do a little more around the house.

Life is stressful enough during the week so i am a firm believer in low stress weekends!

[Victimorthecrime]

On 4/14/2018 at 1:31 PM, LostBoy said:

Life is stressful enough during the week so i am a firm believer in low stress weekends!

Totally forecasted my weekend. I just slept and watched TV and did very little.  Met up w a friend yesterday for lunch, it was fun. Today I thought I would be energetic but no dice.  Didn't even leave the house.  I did eat healthfully today so that's a plus.  Also my state of mind is decent so that is positive.  

[LostBoy]

There's no sense being stressed in your time off. I didn't do much Saturday, worked a little today but I'm now enjoying a bourbon and watching stupid comedy on tv.

[Victimorthecrime]

On 4/15/2018 at 7:49 PM, LostBoy said:

 

There's no sense being stressed in your time off

 

I should get that tattooed.  A corollary to this world be "It's all time off".  

One of the ways I survive difficult times (like on the job or dealing w house and car troubles) is by telling myself to "find a way to have fun w it".  It's sounds insane but I'm telling ya it works.  So there's yer tip for the day.  

I mowed my grass for the first time today even though the ground was soggy.  I had to move a huge branch to the back of the yard.  That was fun.  NOT!  

Hope everyone has a good weekend. I am not seeing any friends this weekend because I need to relax and get some things done.  Feel free to chime in w what your up to.  

[LostBoy]

Hi @Victimorthecrime, well I guess I shouldn't have made that comment about stress because I'm now sitting at home stressed out about work and life in general.

Without going into a lot of details, I basically reorganized myself out of a job this week. I then presented it to senior management, and they liked what they saw.

So what does this mean? It basically means I am now looking for a new position in my company because mine will likely not exist in a few months. For anyone out there that thinks being in middle management is a cushy job, you could not be more wrong. It is always high stress and you are expected to make decisions, for the shareholders, that could impact you personally. I normally enjoy the chaos and high activity very much but when I'm personally impacted it really gets to me. This is the second time, in my career, that I have eliminated my job by design. Fortunately for me, my company will go to great efforts to promote me and relocate me when this happens.

The opportunity that I will likely have will be located in the north so I have already started researching communities to live in and looking at houses. While I do not have anything personally against the north, I do not like cold weather or grey skies so this will be a major life change for me after living on the gulf coast for 10 years and in the south for my entire life.

So, what am I doing this weekend? House hunting, community hunting, looking at commute times and traffic flows, comparing cost of living, and beginning to clean up and purge junk from my house in an effort to minimize the work that has to take place later. Next week I will be updating my resume, cleaning up personal stuff in my office, designing a transition and reorganization plan and continuing to take care of personal things at home in order to prepare.

Once I get the "green light" I will be commuting between here and my new location for several months as I prepare to buy/sell houses and transition into the new role. This is also stressful, based on my past experiences,  because there just doesn't feel like there is enough hours in the day due to the heavy work load both personally and professionally.

c'est la vie

[Klingsor]

Middle management is the shit in the shit sandwich of socialist labor  unions and crony capitalism. I went through hell getting a college education for absolutely nothing. I swallowed the Big Scam hook line sinker. I didbt even compensate by smoking acres of pot, snorting buckets of coke, boozing, and fucking everything human and healthy while I was there. I lived miserably like a Puritan because I can't do anything but work. Work. That's all my shitty life has been since I was 14. Stupid, pointless, chicken shit work for absolutely nothing. 

[Victimorthecrime]

4 hours ago, LostBoy said:

For anyone out there that thinks being in middle management is a cushy job, you could not be more wrong

I certainly don't think that. Not these days. In fact middle management is an express train to the door from what I have seen.  

[Victimorthecrime]

4 hours ago, LostBoy said:

but when I'm personally impacted it really gets to me

Exactly!  All these people that favor globalism, outsourcing, and "free" trade - let them get hit then talk to me.  

Don't move north. It's hell on earth. You can't even go for coffe w/o people rioting.  I would stay in Texas even if it meant being a janitor.  

But regardless of all that or what you do I hope for the very best for you @LostBoy. 

[LostBoy]

3 minutes ago, Victimorthecrime said:

I certainly don't think that. Not these days. In fact middle management is an express train to the door from what I have seen.  

It can be an "express train" for sure. I have been very fortunate in the fact that my company has done a great job of supporting hard working employees over the years but it's still a crap shoot at times. I've eliminated my job but they will not just put me in another one. I have to interview just like anyone else would for a new job.

On top of that, they have been on a kick here lately to "hire for potential" in order to increase diversity so even if I am the most qualified for the job I may not get it due to the diversity agenda that is currently taking place.

[Victimorthecrime]

2 hours ago, Klingsor_the_Capon said:

I went through hell getting a college education for absolutely nothing. I swallowed the Big Scam hook line sinker.

Me too buddy and we got lots of company. My dream job would be a maintenance man in a trailer park. Drink beer and bang white trash.  That or just some idiotic but layoff-proof government job.  

[LostBoy]

1 minute ago, Victimorthecrime said:

Me too buddy and we got lots of company. My dream job would be a maintenance man in a trailer park. Drink beer and bang white trash.  That or just some idiotic but layoff-proof government job.  

I guess my dream job would be growing pot and distilling liquor. I've "been there done that" with the white trash so it's off my bucket list now.

[Victimorthecrime]

That's a big 10-4 @LostBoy.  It doesn't matter what we do we're fucked.  You could work night and day for the bastards. They value it less than a warm bucket of spit.  

[Victimorthecrime]

I don't know who is gonna buy shit from all these entrepreneurs when no one has a job.  Maybe the drug lords.  

Godamn I'm fuckin witty. Wish I could blow myself like Ron Jeremy.  I'm really quite taken. 

[LostBoy]

1 minute ago, Victimorthecrime said:

You could work night and day for the bastards.

The bad thing about this is I think I'm one of the bastards. A company is simply made up of people who are all fighting and scraping to stay relevant enough not to lose the security that they have. This is true for me, for my boss who is a SVP, for his boss who is a president, and for the board of directors who he reports to. We're all just trying to exist and the higher you go the less likely you are to survive long term.

Also, from what I see, the higher you go the more you hours per day you work. My boss seems to work about 15 hours a day from what I can tell.

[Victimorthecrime]

On a more positive and rational note @LostBoy it sounds like w your skill set, resume, and connections you will be ok after the dust settles. 

[LostBoy]

Just now, Victimorthecrime said:

On a more positive and rational note @LostBoy it sounds like w your skill set, resume, and connections you will be ok after the dust settles. 

Thanks @Victimorthecrime. I suppose so. I really do not want to change companies because I do enjoy the company I work for and the people in it, overall, are good people. I've heard so many nightmares about other companies.

I'm also not keen on "starting over" with a new company. That means that I would have to start over with the connections, politics, networking, systems, and processes.

I've been with my current company for most of my career so I'm afraid that I'm too old of a dog to learn new tricks.

Right now I'm venting a little but in the end nothing has happened yet. The writing is on the wall but as of right this moment nothing has physically changed so I'm going to go through the steps of preparing for the worst but I'll just wait and see what happens.

[Victimorthecrime]

Keep me posted @LostBoy.  

I know what you mean that sometimes nothing has happened yet but you just have a feeling.  That's basically my life.  Like Harry Truman said "if you are going through hell keep going".  

[Victimorthecrime]

On a different note I did done get some of the things I planned to do today.  I mowed the lawn, moved a huge fallen branch to the back,  got gas in the car and gas can, did laundry and went grocery shopping 🛒.  Also a few other random things including more planning.  Oh boy Ren! 

[Victimorthecrime]

I went w a friend to Parsippany NJ yesterday to a celebrity signing event.  I do it for my friend, he brings a packed suitcase full of picture books for them to sign.  Serious D listers, I have no idea who most of these folks are.  But it was fun, we laughed and pigged out on goodies.  

So I am in a better mood than I normally am on a Sunday and I am not going into work today. Fuck it. Going to relax and have a little fun, should have coffee in a bit w my other friend.  

[Small]

Good to see you're finding things you enjoy. Friends have a way of making certain things bearable. The friend who's father's funeral i went to called me earlier asking to come to the park to play football. I'm not into it but said okay just to go meet them. I was awful it was embarrassing. I met some of the group again though & that has made me feel warm & nostalgic. 

[Victimorthecrime]

I am starting to wonder if being philosophically minded isn't a one way street to depression because life rarely offers the neatly wrapped 🎁 answers that mind craves.  

Perhaps a better course is to take what you can get and make the best of it during our short time here.  

[IrmaJean]

Maybe we seek neatly wrapped answers because that would give us some sense of control. But life is messy and complex and we have little control.

Hooray for positive feelings..

I was in NJ yesterday too. 😊 Edgewater and West Nyack for me, though.

I hope everyone enjoys the rest of their weekend as best as they possibly can.