I quit my progressively crappier job and got a dream job

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

TL;DR: My old job was going to shit, so I got a job as a carpenter.

So my old job (gosh, I love typing that) was ok for a while. I worked for the state government, in a regulatory position for an industry. Investigating violations etc. It was getting progressively worse though; one thing I liked about it was being able to go out and see people, and obviously that’s not a thing anymore. And I was getting really tired of babysitting “customers” who were not cooperative. Used to be I could just show up at their place of business, but now it’s all basically through e-mail so I’d have to badger 4 out of 5 of them and it was a huge pain in the ass.

And THEN my boss’s boss changed, and the guy that got that position must have read a Pinterest post about Scientific Management or something, and our workload was on track to double from what it was when I started there almost 4 years ago.

Really, the only reason I stuck around for so long is because the state retirement is awesome. I could have stuck around 9 more years and retired at 54 and covered my house payment with my retirement pay.

But I decided that doing something I didn’t like for another 9 years sucks. So I quit. With a plan, mostly.

You may know from previous posts that I worked as a general carpenter for a few years back in the day,. and that I still do a lot of projects on my own. I love that stuff, it wasn’t uncommon for me to tell my wife or whomever that this is what I need to be doing every day.

So I made that happen. I put my info out on Indeed a couple Thursdays ago, started applying to things that looked interesting and paid enough to make up a decent portion of my previous income, and by Friday at noon had started getting interviews. By the following Wednesday, I had a job offer. A decent offer with a reputable small company, just doing door and window replacements. Not fancy, but lots of fresh air, exercise, and no asshole “customers”. Or Soviet Supervisors.

Then last Thursday I got a call from a company I hadn’t applied to, who had found me on Indeed and they were intrigued by my resume and interested and wanted to meet me. So I went and met the owner, project manager, and a lead carpenter at one of their job sites on Friday. One thing you’re supposed to before an interview is check out a company’s website, and usually I do. I got busy though and dropped the ball on that so I hadn’t looked at it before I met them. But I knew the area they were working in, which is really nice (nice enough that people are tearing down houses worth 250-300k and building new ones on the lot) and figured that I could learn a lot by walking one of their sites and talking to them.

The visit went really well; they were kind of intrigued by a guy who was leaving the office world to work in the sun and sawdust again. But I told them basically what I told you above: I’m at a point where I have the choice to do something I have to do for the next 9 years, or do something I want to do. And I’m fortunate that I’m in a position to be able to do so.

Well I got home and looked at their website later that night, and goddamn y’all. They do the NICE stuff. Not mansions, but definitely the high end of homes around here. And the BEST thing is, it’s NOT McMANSIONS! They do modern-style architecture, which I looove. Google image “modern home design” and that’s pretty much what they’re in to.

So I thought damn, I would give my left nut, take $10/hr, and sleep in a box on the jobsite to work on projects like that.

Well turns out I don’t have to do that, because they gave me an offer this evening which I accepted while trying to sound cool about it while actually squeeing like a 9 year-old girl on the inside.

I get to start Monday. I’ll give it a while before I seriously call it a “dream job”, but I am so freaking stoked to be able to go out and work.

2

Wow, that it wonderful to read in these dreary times. Congratulations! May this job be all that you dream of and more.

3

Soviet supervisors?

4

That’s wonderful news. I have often thought, if I didn’t write grants for a living, I would love to do carpentry or some other job working with my hands. It’s kinda silly because I have no skills or experience, but I fantasize about it sometimes.

So I can very much see how this could be a dream job!

5

Excellent!

6

Good idea.

7

It’s totally awesome to hear good news once in a while, even if it is from a random online stranger.

(If you are vested in your state retirement, I highly recommend leaving your money it in the retirement system until you are looking to retire for real.)

8

Oh absolutely! The thing is though that I have my run-of-the-mill tax-deferred 457 plan, but that’s peanuts because I actually have a pension, and who has those any more? I can still collect it, but not until I’m 65(4)?? UNLESS my total time with the state plus my age equals 80. I mathed a little, and since I’ve been with the state since 2003, if I go back at 57 and get any state job, I’ll hit my magic ‘80’ and be able to collect it at 60. If I so choose, that is.

Come to think of it, I should maybe look rolling my 457 in to my wife’s plan for the sake of simplicity?

9

I used to haaaate hearing/reading people say “Life’s too short to do something you don’t love!”. I’m still kind of in disbelief that I’m in the process of doing that…

10

Congrats! Here’s to workin’ outside, makin’ bucks, and never having to hear about those TPS reports cover sheets ever again.

11

Fuckin’ A, man. Fuckin’ A. :rofl: :rofl:

12

Congratulations! Most of us have to earn a living, but that doesn’t mean it has to be a drag all day every day. Good on ya!

13

Congratulations!

14

Congratulations! I wonder sometimes how often a change in upper management actually improves the worker-bee’s lives. It seems pretty rare.

15

Good to hear. I remember you were very unhappy about something right about the time the board switched over, and I’m hoping that this was it, and you fixed it! Congratulations!

16

As a semi-crippled 53YO carpenter/contractor, congrats! It is a very rewarding career. This is an exciting time in building technology and design as well. But be careful. Use all available lifting devices! If something looks too heavy, get help. Don’t end up like me, arthritic and 3 herniated disks!

17

This is great to hear! While I enjoy my current office job enough to stay at it until retirement in <2 years, I’ve often wished I’d learned carpentry in my youth. Of course, those were the days when women did not do that. But I love the craft. I hope the new job is everything (and more) that you hope it will be.

18

Congrats, Sicks_Ate, I’m so happy for you! I did something similar several years ago, and there’s no looking back.

19

Rolling one plan into another isn’t always so easy. I tried to roll one over and couldn’t, even though it was with the same company. So one grows very slowly, or can even shrink, while the other that I pay into keeps growing (mostly) quickly. I’m waiting for 60/20 in 4 years, so I can at least just work half time. I like my job most of the time, but it tires me out. Anyway, congrats on your new gig. I wish I were good at more than one thing that I can get paid to do.

20

Congratulations!