I need to whine here for a minute. Please bear with me.
So the bank was too boring and I left (on good terms). My new boss, when I started, said, Oh you’ll be so busy; we’re just swamped, etc etc. Okay, here I sit…and sit…and sit…for the past 2-1/2 months. The company is busy but everything is usually done on-site and I really don’t understand how they expected to keep me busy in the first place. I’ve started looking for a new job and somehow my boss found out (he’s never in the office-always on-site at the project) and begged me to stay, telling me how things would get better soon because a certain employee, whom he felt was a bottleneck, was leaving, plus I had been “contaminated” by a couple of people with bad attitudes (true to a certain extent however, I’ve verified with 3rd parties all the negative things they’ve said and they’ve all turned out to be true) etc etc ad nauseum. I didn’t make him any promises. The more I get involved in stuff around here on an HR level, the more I realize I don’t want to work for this company. Anyone who leaves the company automatically becomes Satan and the Source of All Evil-they talk about them like all the problems in the company came from the person that left, however they provide very little training and expect them to sink or swim. The company has a very particular way of handling their clients too and they’ve just not provided the right training to the new managers. There’s more but it’d take too much time. I make decent money for a secretary - enough that it’s hard for me to find a job that’ll pay me that much coming in new to a company. I read the thread in General Questions about the resignation letter and all I could think about was that they’ll be lucky if I even give them a week’s notice much less a resignation letter! It certainly isn’t like I’ve got all these loose ends to tie up here. I literally sit on my butt surfing or reading for about 7 hours a day. I cannot stand it any longer. Anyone have any encouragement? Hey all you Michian people, know anyone in Lansing that needs a great assistant?
And can it be that in a world so full and busy, the loss
of one weak creature makes a void in any heart, so
wide and deep that nothing but the width and depth
of vast eternity can fill it up!
-Charles Dickens “Dombey and Son”
So what’s your position pay and where do I send my resume? I’me getting ready to deploy (go to sea) for the third time this month (No broads, no beer, 24-7 work hours) on Sunday 'cause of Dennis.
Wah, wah. Suck it up.
she’s got you there chief…your choice to enlist…
Bunnygirl, I feel for you…there is more to a job than money…if you dont feel like you accomplish anything, the ‘dream job’ turns to a nightmare of boredom.
This is the kind of situation that can effect/affect your health eventually…mental & physical…make a change.
If you cant/wont leave your job…maybe take some courses over the net, or on software.You can do it from work, and you are getting something out of it that will make you even more employable.
good luck,
kisses, Kelli
Does ANYONE out there actually love their job and wake up every morning going, “Oh, boy?” I’ve yet to meet such a person. Your duties, your coworkers, your paycheck, your locale, your chances for advancement–something always sucks. Depressing, huh?
I love my job. I started a small company building computer games. I am the owner and the lead game designer. I also enjoy teaching my private martial arts classes, which I don’t really classify as work.
My father is a woodcarver and enjoys his work as well.
I think a lot of people who work for themselves enjoy their jobs. Working for others is always a drag at some point or another. If you find the right job and the right company though hopefully the positives outweigh the negatives.
I know what you mean, BG. We were slow at work for about two months earlier this summer and I went about nuts. How many crosswords can a guy do? But we’re busy as heck now. The day goes much faster when you actually have something to do.
I could use an assistant, but I’m in Wixom. Straight out I96, mebbe an hour and a half. Whaddya’ think?
I love my job…the people here are the best, the job itself is challengeing, frustrating, financially rewarding sometimes, and slow other times(like today).
I have had jobs I didnt love before…but if you are accomplishing something it makes it bearable…
Dang Sly, you’ve got me tempted. 1-1/2 hours is a little bit of a commute for me though. I did the 1 hour thing before and it really sucked, worse than this job too! Thanks for the thought!!!
Kelli, I always said I wouldn’t do a job just for money - typically I love the type of work I’m in (administrative/secretarial) cause 1. I’m good at it 2. I’m an organized person and it fits me 3. I really enjoy helping people. However, I already took a $2500 pay cut when we moved back here from Tennessee and unfortunately, the cost of living isn’t that different. Any less would be truly scary. I did LOVE my job in Tennessee; it’s just been frustrating trying to find a job that can keep me busy, even with busy-work (which I do despise but I’m desperate now!) I’m am going to start taking classes next semester at the local community college; I’ve really decided that I’m not going to be able to progress any further in the world of work if I don’t get some type of degree; even if I know I can do the work, I don’t have the piece of paper that says I can. Probably go for some general type of Business Management or something. Thanks for the encouragement all!
Omni, hang in there! What do you do for a living? Your profile says “rocket scientist” but I didn’t know if you were being a smart-alek or if you’re really just smart!
Actually I graduated about a year ago with a degree in Aeronautical Engineering, so as the Dean used to introduce the grads as Rocket Scientists it is accurate. But I use it for my profile to be a smart ass. As you may have gathered from my handle.
I bartend now, but I’m despreately trying to find a job doing IT consulting. Considering I have no experience, and HR reps don’t realize that my degree gave me a lot of experience coding its been very unsuccessful.
Although being the cow god has its benefits- I have to have a supplemental income. That income comes as hard ass grunt work. I’m a brick tender for a construction company that sepcializes in brick patios and retaining walls. I now know how to dig out patios, lay the foundation, and move 3-4 tons of bricks per 200 square foot patio. (College kids always get stuck with fun and exciting jobs over the summer.) Sucky work, but the guys I work with are great.
My sister has been a summer intern at GM and has turned into a zombie- since June she’s been working 70 hour weeks on second shift with Sunday being the only day off, and its no guarantee that she gets it off. Although she does get paid nearly a $1000 a week after taxes, so she shouldn’t be bitching too much. I get to work at GM next summer, and BOY am I looking forward to it. Well, the money is what I’m really looking forward to.
“I’m not dumb. I just have a command of thoroughly useless information.”
– Calvin and Hobbes
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CowGod: Life ain’t about money, son. Believe me. At 23 I started working for a design company (GM job shop) and worked 65-75 hour weeks for 4 years or so. Yeah, the money was great but I didn’t have time to enjoy it. Next thing I knew I was pushing 30 with no social life to speak of. Unless you’re starting your own business, it just isn’t worth it. You have to take the time to enjoy life. This isn’t a drill, you know. Earn what you need and go home. That’s my motto.
Hey CowGod, what’s the going rate for a brick patio in Toledo? It’s running about $10/sq ft here. Anyway, I don’t know if I’m completely in love with my job, but on the other hand, I don’t wake up every morning thinking “Oh God, someone please kill me” which is more than I can say for some other jobs I’ve worked. I work in horticulture, and I enjoy the plants, I like the science, I like telling ignorant people what to plant where and why, and I like being outside rather than behind a desk. On the other hand, I’m not amazingly fond of the 75-85 hour weeks I put in during the busiest part of the season, or how I worked from April until the end of June without a day off. To be fair though, come January through March, there’s nothing to do, so we all work like 4 hours a day and spend 3 and a half of it sitting around, smoking and talking. The other half hour is lunch. Good thing I’m salary.
“I guess it is possible for one person to make a difference, although most of the time they probably shouldn’t.”
Cow God, I’ll support Sly and then disagree with him, sort of. (I like to keep my options open.)
70 hour week jobs just to bring home good pay are stupid. You can buy every toy in the universe–and you can’t play with any of them.
On the other hand, it sounded as though you would be taking the GM job only as a Summer intern (as your sister has).
GO FOR IT! That sort of money does wonderful things for your ability to get a degree with no (or a tiny) debt. You can do anything for sixteen weeks as long as you know it will end. You get a valuable life lesson in seeing what sort of drones your co-workers have become by accepting those positions for life. Since it is often mindless, you will be especially thrilled if you get to college and actually get to use your mind.
I had a succession of Summer jobs in college that taught me what happens to people who become drudges, earned me enough money to pay for tuition, and let me know several types of work that I would never accept for a career.
But to re-assert Sly’s point–as careers, they are simply not worth the effort. The point to life is to live it–not cast up treasures for the probate lawyers.
:::raising hand::: Me, me! I love my job! I love the work, the pay, my co-workers,and my boss. I’ve had jobs that I’ve hated, believe me, and it’s great not to wake up dreading work. My boss makes it fun. She has a retail contest going on…one of the prizes is a day off with pay. Another one is a $250 pair of shears. Too cool!
MaryAnn
Sometimes life is so great you just gotta muss up your hair and quack like a duck!
I can sympathize, Bunny – been there, done that, nearly went out of my mind … I was a secretary for a number of years, and it’s a delight in the rare job where one has enough to do. Getting things done right and out the door can be very satisfying. But I had exactly one job where I had more than four hours or so of work to do in an eight-hour day. So many offices are overstaffed; I don’t mean that people should lose their jobs, but there often isn’t enough work to go around for the clerical people.
My last secretarial job was at a publisher, where I grabbed the chance to learn to do anything and everything. Now I’m a copy editor for a magazine. But when I first got this job I had to sit around for three months until someone quit before I got any work to do, and I’m still not nearly as busy as I’d like to be. You might look into a journalism degree if editing interests you; it’s a good field for language- and detail-oriented people (like good secretaries!)
I’ve never loved a job in my life, and I’ve had an alarming number. I sat down and counted once, and including all my own ventures, part-times, etc, I’ve had nearly 30.
The very fact of having to answer to another human being for my time automatically makes it awful.
Then again, I’ve never had the jobs I’ve dreamed of having, which might make a difference:
Lecturer/speaker
Talk Radio Host
Cook Show Host
Novelist
Editor
Photographer
Perhaps if I ever hold one of the above jobs, my feelings will change.
Jophiel, I’m not very sure on what the specifics are money wise, but on the patios that I work on (which usually are 250 square foot) my boss charges $4-5000. So that makes it roughly $15-25sq/ft.
I don’t plan on working 70 hour weeks for life, just for the summer. My sister plans on raking in roughly $15k, working from June to August. How nice is THAT? I go to the University of Cincinnati and plan on becoming an engineer so I can design all the machinery for future college summer slaves… hehe. (I seem to be a bit of the Evil Cow God sometimes)
“I’m not dumb. I just have a command of thoroughly useless information.”-- Calvin and Hobbes
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Thanks for the thought!!! 
