This is the kind of research to be doing:
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=070425164048.jxev9w4o&show_article=1&catnum=9
Mmmm....beer.
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Saturday, April 21, 2007
He who laughs last, thinks slowest? -or- "Funny, you don't smell like you fell in shit."
Ok, now that the last of the severance payments has been received and deposited, all ties back to the hell where I spent 7.5 mostly miserable years are now cut. As far as I'm concerned, me, and the assholes who fired me, are now completely through with each other. And good riddance to them.
So now I'm working at the ol' atom mill about 2 hours drive north of here, renting out a room and coming home on weekends. And I'm happy to report that I am enjoying this job a hell of a lot more. Actually, occasionally I feel I can look back at my previous employers and laugh, imagining that they expected my career to nose dive after this. Well, the trick was to dump a career that I hated. Perhaps the new job isn't engineering, but so what?; I'm not out the thrill anyone with titles. So I am now a "Radiation Protection Technician", or more commonly, "Rad Tech". That's ok with me.
So let's look at some of the advantages of this new vocation:
1. I am starting out at a base pay rate of about 85% of what I was making at my peak in the old job. And things are starting to look like this will go up rapidly. The potential is to earn up to 30 or 40% more than I was at! This doesn't include the annual bonus paid to everyone, dependant on company performance (last year it was $1500!), and overtime. Overtime is 2x. Sweet.
2. The benefits are top notch. My sister in law works for the benefits provider, and she says the package is one of the best around.
3. Straight day shift, except for overtime and such.
4. I'm in the union. Yep, that's right, this long time, white-collared, raise anti-unionist is now a card carrying brother worker, with a definite bluish tinge around the neck. At least I now have some defense against the whims of upper management.
5. Coolness factor is high. I'm working in a nuclear power plant! To me, that is a major tweaking of my inner tech geek side.
6. Related to the coolness factor, I'm learning tons of stuff about nuclear physics, various gizmos, and the like. Beats hell out of learning to meet the latest idiotic demand from some knob at GM or Ford.
7. I can relax a bit. The expectations are much more realistic. No more being responsible for things I have no control over.
8. A beautiful place to live, on the western shore of a large lake. The winters can be brutal, but I'm told the rest of the year more than compensates.
9. Working with some good folks. For the most part, all the folks in my department are very cool. Lots of joking around and good-natured ribbing, but also making sure the job gets done.
10. Lots of exercise. The size of the place, and the nature of the job result in lots of walking and stair climbing. I'm feeling better already.
So there it is. Last summer I fell in a pile of manure, and this spring I'm coming out smelling sweet. And I can now think of my previous employer and laugh.
So now I'm working at the ol' atom mill about 2 hours drive north of here, renting out a room and coming home on weekends. And I'm happy to report that I am enjoying this job a hell of a lot more. Actually, occasionally I feel I can look back at my previous employers and laugh, imagining that they expected my career to nose dive after this. Well, the trick was to dump a career that I hated. Perhaps the new job isn't engineering, but so what?; I'm not out the thrill anyone with titles. So I am now a "Radiation Protection Technician", or more commonly, "Rad Tech". That's ok with me.
So let's look at some of the advantages of this new vocation:
1. I am starting out at a base pay rate of about 85% of what I was making at my peak in the old job. And things are starting to look like this will go up rapidly. The potential is to earn up to 30 or 40% more than I was at! This doesn't include the annual bonus paid to everyone, dependant on company performance (last year it was $1500!), and overtime. Overtime is 2x. Sweet.
2. The benefits are top notch. My sister in law works for the benefits provider, and she says the package is one of the best around.
3. Straight day shift, except for overtime and such.
4. I'm in the union. Yep, that's right, this long time, white-collared, raise anti-unionist is now a card carrying brother worker, with a definite bluish tinge around the neck. At least I now have some defense against the whims of upper management.
5. Coolness factor is high. I'm working in a nuclear power plant! To me, that is a major tweaking of my inner tech geek side.
6. Related to the coolness factor, I'm learning tons of stuff about nuclear physics, various gizmos, and the like. Beats hell out of learning to meet the latest idiotic demand from some knob at GM or Ford.
7. I can relax a bit. The expectations are much more realistic. No more being responsible for things I have no control over.
8. A beautiful place to live, on the western shore of a large lake. The winters can be brutal, but I'm told the rest of the year more than compensates.
9. Working with some good folks. For the most part, all the folks in my department are very cool. Lots of joking around and good-natured ribbing, but also making sure the job gets done.
10. Lots of exercise. The size of the place, and the nature of the job result in lots of walking and stair climbing. I'm feeling better already.
So there it is. Last summer I fell in a pile of manure, and this spring I'm coming out smelling sweet. And I can now think of my previous employer and laugh.
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