June 10, 2007 | Filed under: Because They Pay Me, Good Things Come to Those Who Are Impatient Whiners, The California Adventure
Well, this was supposed to be more thoughtful and much less slapdash, write-something-before-I-fall-asleep-like, but Lori e-mailed me a question about wine and I had to write back a tome with more disclaimers than actual recommendations, but my gosh I feel it is my duty to counteract the unfortunate damage done to Merlot’s reputation, thanks to that horrid, horrid (though thoroughly entertaining) movie. Merlot is lovely! There are some terrific merlots out there! Find one! Love one!
Anyway.
Five years ago today, I began my first Real Job. One with a salary and a health plan and paid vacation days and everything. I was thinking this would be a two-year gig. They made me an offer requiring a three year commitment. OK, three years it is! I’d been planning on taking a leisurely vacation between school and starting work, because when would I ever have the time again? They pushed to get me in the door ASAP, so in less than three weeks I found an apartment to sublet, landed a roommate to look for a permanent place with, packed up and moved halfway across the country. I didn’t do any real work until August, and I still haven’t made it to Puerto Rico for two weeks on the beach. Let that be a lesson: Forget work; take the damn vacation.
Obviously, my three years have turned into five, and every day I worry that 25 years from now I’ll be telling you about the lovely plaque they gave me at my retirement party, along with the touching tributes and the congratulatory sheet cake from Costco. That, I fear, is The Inevitable. Or one of the potential inevitables in my life.
And, in a move that does absolutely nothing to prevent that inevitability from occurring, nor does it further my goal of returning to the East Coast, they just offered me a promotion. And I accepted. Because when it comes to managing my career, I have a mantra, and that mantra is: If Someone Hands You a Promotion and Throws More Money at You for Doing Essentially the Same Amount of Work, Take It. I think I picked that one up from Dale Carnegie, but you’re welcome to it.
The long and short of it, then, is that despite all of my efforts to change things, The Universe has spoken: I am apparently doing what I am supposed to be doing right now. And I’m OK with that pretending to be OK with that. I don’t have time for Puerto Rico these days, but a case of Merlot should help the cause.
Posted by Daily Tragedies @ 9:43 pm | Make a Comment
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Congrats on the promotion!! Now at least you can save more money for that vacation you’ll SOMEDAY TAKE (self-fulfilling prophecy, baby…think of it as so and it will come, or something like that).
Maybe enough to take one of your grateful girlfriends with you?
June 10th, 2007 at 11:31 pmCongratulations! Given how hard you work, the promotion is well-deserved. The way I look at it is, the more promotions you get (the higher the responsibility, rank) the better the outlook for qualifying for your “dream” job. Well, hopefully anyway.
June 11th, 2007 at 5:12 amI’d say that 75% of my wine consumption is merlot. I love merlot. And “Sideways” had the effect of lowering the price of merlot …
Congratulations on the promotion.
June 11th, 2007 at 6:18 amI’m five years into my job too. Unlike you I have plenty of time off to take a vacation. I just don’t make the kind of money that sets you up in Puerto Rico for two weeks!!!
June 11th, 2007 at 7:21 amCongrats on the promotion!
But…when they throw that money at you, insist on an added week of vacation, so you can hit those beaches in Puerto Rico!
Just had that fight with the US Government, sort of. They offered me a contract, I refused, because the contract specified a specific number of hours each week, but they’re hiring me to do specific things. I blew their tiny minds, but they finally believed me when I said it wasn’t worth it to me if the money was based on hours worked. Now, I get my money in chunks as I complete each goal. I can work as many or as few hours as it takes, and no one is gonna make me file stuff on a Friday afternoon just to reach some arbitrary hours quota.
Stand up to them…get the time you need NOW, so you aren’t using your walker to get to those tropical beaches!
June 11th, 2007 at 10:26 amCostco cake is really good. Just something to consider.
June 11th, 2007 at 3:07 pmboy, Superfantastic, you really know how to hurt a guy …
June 11th, 2007 at 6:20 pmWell, by “cake” I of course mean “frosting” and by “really good” I mean “really plentiful”. Does that ease your wounded baker’s sensibilities at all?
June 12th, 2007 at 11:18 amK. 25 years? Run. Run very far away very fast!! Do not pass go. Do not collect 200 dollars. In fact. Run directly to Puerto Rico (find a way, you’re creative) and sit on that beach and enjoy the Merlot. or the Mojito. Or both!!
June 14th, 2007 at 8:50 amdo we get a five year pin? if so, we’ll have to wear them out sometime together!!!
June 17th, 2007 at 10:38 am[...] First, let’s quickly cover That Which We Do Not Talk About. Do not worry, Tracy, I didn’t quit my job in a blaze of I Hate You All glory. I love my job and I mostly love the people I work with, even the creepy old guys who probably have inappropriate thoughts about me while they’re with their wives. (Yes, really. No one looks at you like that on the elevator and thinks only innocent thoughts about you.) But, I’ve been there for five and a half years and it is time for me to try my hand at something new, lest I turn into a lifer there. (I believe we’ve talked about this before.) [...]
January 27th, 2008 at 1:14 pm