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"