Things are fixing to change dramatically for KYLady come
January. She was offered a full-time
position, and she accepted. Heck, why
not? Classified as full time she will earn
a mucho larger paycheck (like really, no comparison), and she will not be
working very many more hours at all...at least that is her expectation...we will
see. In the background, KYLady has been
mulling over whether or not this is really a good idea given that her dream-job
scenario was to work full time fully online so that she would not be tied to a
specific workplace and worktime. She
has decided to move that goal to the back-burner for now.
 |
| Life is... |
With all the mental background angst floating around about
this favorable opportunity and decision to grab it up, I conjured a nightmare
in my sleep last night. I dreamed I was
back working at Big Oil in our little cubicles (before the last remodel while I
was there). The big room where the cubes
were set up was much dimmer and dirtier than it had been in reality. The cubicle walls had spray-painted graffiti
on them. Boxes were stacked up
everywhere inside and outside the cubicles, there was trash and pop cans laying
all around on the floor, and I had to step over a sea of keyboards to get to my
cubicle. I walked into the room and
heard my phone ringing (don’t ask me how I knew it was my phone, I just knew). As I was rushing to get to my cube, Steve (a
former co-worker) barked at me to be careful not to step on his keyboards. Fortunately, I woke up before I could see
inside my cubicle...I didn’t want to see it.
I don’t know what PTSD is like for somebody who has it, but
it’s very unpleasant for me to think about going back to that time and place. It was very stressful work environment in the
cubes. Before our company was taken over
by the “Other Company”, we had offices in that space with floor-to-ceiling
walls, and doors that could be shut. The
“Other Company” supervisors came down for a visit and declared that our work
environments (offices) were not appropriate.
Our space was being leased, so they instructed the building managers to
move us to another floor and remodel our area to be more like the spaces at the
“Other Company’” headquarters – Cubicle City.
“Other Company” even moved used cubicle walls and office furniture to our place
so that we could be EXACTLY like them...only worse because we got their old
stuff left over from their last remodel.
The cubicle walls and chairs reeked of cigarette smoke.
As if that weren’t bad enough, they set up the cubicles in
the center of the giant room, far away from the windows which were marvelous floor-to-ceiling
windows that overlooked a lake and woods.
They were also placed with very-narrow aisles between the cubicles...tight
and cozy. If you talked while standing
up, your voice echoed in this big area. The
noise level from phones ringing, conference calls, and people talking was
insufferable...it puts a knot in my stomach to just write about it!
After corporate managers visited and blessed our new
workspace, we moved the cubicles over toward the window so that some of us
could have a view, and we put more space between the aisles. It was still very noisy, but a bit more
tolerable. About two years before I retired,
an engineering group wanted to move in with us.
They completely remodeled the entire floor, giving us offices
again. Thank the Lord!
I am looking forward to a better paycheck. It’s not that I’m hurting for money since retiring,
but more that it’s been a self-imposed austerity program for me since summer of
2016 (until I start collecting Social Security and my pensions). As soon as I was offered the job, I began
thinking of things to buy – a new phone, a new laptop, and a new used-car. (The
dealers always refer to those as pre-owned).
I see no reason to buy a brand-new car ever again...it’s kind of a waste
of money considering how quickly they depreciate, not the mention the insurance
and property tax on them.
University #1 is winding down for the semester...just a few
weeks to go. University #2 is currently suffering
from low enrollment. The work I’m doing
for them just now is negligible. At some
point, I may have to decide to cut the cord with them (so to speak). For now, I’ll linger and see what
happens.
