Thread Drift

[ny biker]

Thanks ladies. The project manager came to to my office a little while ago and I thought, here it comes, but he was just letting me know that he had finished meeting with everyone who was being let go. So I am safe. For now at least -- I won't be surprised if there are more cuts in a few months.

The good news is that there is another project with open positions, and many of the people who were cut can interview there with a good chance of being able to transfer. And due to office space constraints they might even end up staying at the same building where we work now.

I actually had been meaning to mention here that we had some reorganization over the summer and I've been working with a good group of people since then -- so things have been much better for me. Of course now we will reorganize again. We seem to do that more often than we used to so good or bad, nothing lasts for very long. And honestly we might end up with more budget cuts in three or six months. In the meantime I just need to focus on honing my technical skills so I will be in as good a position as possible when the time comes to move on.

[Pax]

Glad you're not on the cut list, NY. What a crappy situation for all involved.

[emily_in_nc]

Glad you were safe this time, NY. I lived through years of downsizing, "rightsizing" (horrible corporate-speak) and just plain layoffs at my company, and it takes a toll. So many of my friends and even my DH got downsized out of a job. Lots of people much smarter than me who just happened to be on a project that got cut. Somehow I survived 10 years of cuts and managed to resign when I was ready instead of when they decided to walk me out the door. Eight months after I resigned and moved to Belize, my manager and about half my department was laid off, so I feel sure that would have been me too. I am so glad I got to leave on my own terms. I hope that you are able to stay as long as you want as well -- but not a moment longer.

[ny biker]

Arrived home tonight to find a notice from the post office about a certified letter they attempted to deliver. Now who is sending me a certified letter? Looked up the tracking number, I can see that it's from NYC but no details about the sender. I don't think this is going to make me happy...

[ny biker]

...and the post office has lost the certified letter. The incompetence at my local post office is breathtaking.

[Crankin]

Oy! This is very disconcerting.

[Catrin]

YIKES! Hope they find it and, yes, it's disconcerting...

BTW, the last certified letter I received was related to a mechanic's lien to someone who used to life at my address - years ago. Hopefully it's something like that, nothing that has a direct impact on you.

[emily_in_nc]

Wow, that is crazy, NY! I hope it was nothing important. I can't even imagine!

[Pax]

...and the post office has lost the certified letter. The incompetence at my local post office is breathtaking.

Not surprising at all. In Chicago I only got mail about two days a week. My dad once called me and said "honey, did you move?" because he had a letter returned stamped "Moved, Left No Forwarding Address".

[ny biker]

For my neighborhood we have a regular retail post office and a separate warehouse where the mail is sorted for our zip code. Mostly I have to deal with the people at the warehouse, for vacation holds and stuff like that. And they have been consistently awful for the entire 12 years that I have lived here. In my two most recent encounters with them before this one they were downright hostile. I dread having to deal with them.

So yesterday afternoon the supervisor at the warehouse called and left a message that he had the letter and I could pick it up or he could deliver it. But of course by this time I was 25 miles away, at work. And by this time I had called their 800 number (help desk) to report a lost certified letter; the person I spoke with opened a ticket to look for the letter and said it could take several days for someone to get back to me. I did not have time to deal with picking up the letter today or sitting home waiting for it to be delivered. For now I am not calling the supervisor back and I'm not calling the help desk back to update them. I want the issue to be open in their system, for someone outside of this local facility to see that there is a problem. I think one reason the problems continue is that the supervisor tries to smooth things over, which means no one outside his facility finds out about them. So from now on I will call the help desk whenever there is a problem, so there will be a record of it.

As for the letter, my best guess is that I am being sued related to a 3-car crash that I was totally not responsible for. One of the other drivers' insurance companies took full responsibility, paid the entire cost to fix my car and sent me a check for pain and suffering. But a passenger in the other car (not driven by the person at fault) was injured and is suing. My insurance company has already sent them a letter explaining that I was completely not at fault but I fear it has been ignored. If I'm right, it will just be a waste of time and money. Whatever it is, it's already been a waste of my time and energy trying to get the stupid letter. So I'll worry about it next week.

[ny biker]

Omg omg omg. The stomping loud upstairs neighbor with no rugs got a dog. I'm literally sick to my stomach. I can't live like this. I just can't.

[Pax]

That sucks, NY! I hope you can move on to a more peaceful place at some point.

[emily_in_nc]

Omg omg omg. The stomping loud upstairs neighbor with no rugs got a dog. I'm literally sick to my stomach. I can't live like this. I just can't.

Oh no! I know you've invested so much in your place with the new floors, etc., so you can't move. I just feel so bad for you as I would hate it every bit as much. Been there, done that, and could never do it again.

[Crankin]

So, I have not brought this up since late last winter/early spring, but after a nice summer and early fall having lots of free time, DH is employed again. It was quite a journey for him. He started out applying for similar exec level jobs like he had, and then figured out he really did not want to be in charge of anyone for awhile. He even applied for one job working on alternative transportation (which got him to buy a new, hybrid car, albeit, one with AWD). After a few disappointing rounds of interviews, he will be working as a customer success manager for some of the biggest pharmaceutical clients of a company that makes software to meet upcoming world wide compliance regs for these companies and all users to make sure they are not buying/using fake medicine. One of the things he ran into was that a lot of people did not really believe he was looking to downsize and was fine with a lot less money. He developed a good "speech" to explain this, as you definitely can't say outright that you have enough money to do this, as people just see you as a rich azzhole. And a few thought he would leave if something better came along. It seems as if you did what I did, go back to school to do something totally different, that people get that, but no one gets downsizing in a related field, which actually makes sense when you are nearing retirement.
He will only be working with these large customers of his company, making sure things go smoothly. No sales and no managing for now. He did tell his boss he would consider managing a small team, once he learns the business. Just not 300 people all over the world. So, in 6 months, we have downsized everything, and now I can get back to planning for our next cycling trip, which is really all I want to be able to do (travel) before it's too late.

[Pax]

Hope he enjoys the new position, but I'll bet you money he ends up back in charge of a bunch of people... once a company knows you can do that successfully, they want that skill.