Swing And A Miss

    I am really starting to wonder when I am going to start making the best choices in my life. I figure after a while I will get lucky and something will go completely well right? Still waiting on when that might be. I mentioned the housing debacle in my last post. That is still a debacle and will continue to be so until I am completely free of this place. At that point, I am sure a fresh batch of should-haves will come into view. The latest frustration comes in the form of a raise. Yes, I am aware that raises should not be frustrating. Well this one is. Once again, I thought maybe they would give me a nice bump and get me on track toward my earning goals. My sights were set quite lofty indeed. I was hoping for a couple bucks an hour. In six months I went from knowing nothing to being the big fish in the office. I do not think it is unreasonable to think that this would garner a decent increase in compensation. Turns out it only gets you the usual. I am now making fifty four cents an hour more. Or I will be once it goes through. I will be getting another 3% increase in another six months. That would be nice if I was not started out almost 10% below the MINIMUM I wanted to start at. I keep getting the same lines when they tell me what I will be getting. "This is the most we give anyone." "You started out higher than most." Well guess what, I am more educated and naturally smarter than everyone else here. I damn well better be making more than the slaps you hire from the employment office! What really gets me is that I probably could have been making more. When I was thinking about things this afternoon I was reminded of a job that I missed by one spot. That job started out at 40k/yr and increased to 50k/yr by the end of the first year. For all those of you who are math challenged, that is a 25% increase. This employer called me a few weeks after I started at Konecranes to tell me that the guy they did hire did not work out and to see if I could come back in for another interview. I turned the offer down thinking I would be getting a nice increase when I was hired on full time. WRONG! Next year at this time, if they don't wise up, I will be looking for new employment. With two years experience in a challenging project management setting, I will be a shoe-in for fifty K base at any company that actually values keeping driven, talented people.  

"It's called a lance, helloooo"

I Want My Money

I am trying to sell a vehicle. If you know anyone who wants a cheap truck that needs a little work, let me know. It has been getting a lot of interest so far, but no one has made an offer yet. I am likely to take the first offer that is made. I might be a little impatient about it. It has only been in the yard for like a week.
I could use that influx of cash. I could also use the raise that I have been promised. A few weeks ago the other guy who did the same job as me got demoted. This meant that I got all his work, which was all messed up because he was doing such a poor job he lost his job. I am hoping for big increases though, so I guess I can wait a few more days. Still, it is tough when the workload doubles and the frustration triples and there is nothing positive gained. Other than the respect of my superiors.
The reason I could use some extra money is that I am moving. I am breaking a lease and the property rental place are being eyeholes about the whole thing. Trying to change how the lease reads and things like that. They must think they are dealing with the usual fools who rent with them. Should be an interesting few weeks then.

"Pudge controls the weather."

Quite The Week

    This week has gone by very fast. I thought I wrote a post a few days ago, but now I see it has been almost a full week. A lot has happened since then. On Monday the other guy who does the same job as me got demoted. This was a little bit of a surprise to me. Apparently he didn’t really do much other than watch TV shows all day. One example of how bad he was doing is that we are supposed to have drawings cleaned up and released within a few days of getting them. He had some that had been sitting for almost a month. On Tuesday we realized how good of a decision it was to move him elsewhere when nearly every job of his we looked at needed something done. My workload has been increased by about 50%. I heard before this all went down that there would be some increased monetary compensation for me in the deal. I need to talk to someone next week about that because definitely think there should be. I am aiming for a three dollar an hour raise. That is about an 18% increase in pay. That may seem like a bit, but they low balled me hard when I first started with the main reason being I had no experience. Clearly they think I am good at the job if they got rid of the guy who had been here twice as long. It will really depend on if the company puts enough value on talent. Out in the factory they do not, so I have to keep my fingers crossed that things are different in the office. If not, I will stick it out for two years, then use two years of project management experience to get a job with a company that has its priorities in order. I might do that even if they do give me what I want. Who knows, two years is a long way off.

    I may be moving soon. I know a guy who is looking for a roommate and it could be a good move. He lives over toward Dayton, so there would be more people and more to do. My power went out for 24 hours from Friday evening to Saturday evening and I spent most of that time in bed because that was literally the most fun thing to do. This apartment complex I am in sucks. There is no fitness room, no furniture on the pool deck, and the pool has been closed all weekend even though it is in the 90’s. I do not like it here and am looking forward to getting out. Now if they will just respond to a damn email I will find out what it takes to get out of a lease. I am really glad the power came back on when it did. All my food was about to thaw. I was this close to eating ten hamburgers in one evening to keep from having to throw them away. I dislike wasting food.

“That smells like pure gasoline.”