Monthly Archives: September 2014

Major change is almost here

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I had my exit interview with HR today. I wish I could bottle up all the great things the wonderful woman said about my time at the company, especially that I’m welcome back anytime. It was a nice way to exit, but emotional. And it made me question my decision to leave.

But leave I must. And change I need. And growth in my profession.

Maybe I will return one day. I’ll be better and more knowledgeable if I do.

So, two more days to go.

I plan on starting my new job on Thursday, which I didn’t think was odd, but others have asked why I’m not taking time off. It’s not because I’m the super employee. I’m just excited to get started and to prove myself as soon as possible.

I’ll probably have to get Cobra for a month. If I don’t there could be a period of 5 to 6 days where I don’t have insurance. Hmm, in the worst season for me, Autumn, would I want to be uninsured? I think not. I can guarantee that would be the week I go to the hospital.

To be continued . . .

And the decision is . . .

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I stepped off the cliff and quit my job Wednesday. It’s the first major decision I’ve made that I didn’t second guess.

I’m all in.

It’s a risk, but I took it. Two weeks to go at my current job and a great 15-year chapter of my life closes.

What is there to say? © ArtFamily - Fotolia.com

What is there to say?
© ArtFamily – Fotolia.com

After I told some of my work friends, it’s been a draining experience. First, telling them was hard. Then hearing the very nice things they had to say about me – well, some tears and choking up.

The part that surprised me most was the respect people had for me jumping ship at this stage in my life to improve my skills and try something new. It caught me off guard. I work for a great company with fantastic people, but it’s full of processes to be followed and is rigid. For some, I believe they would like to escape and do something else too.

Again, I’m grateful for my luck in life.

So that’s it for tonight. I’m tired because I haven’t been sleeping well. The stress of this situation keeps me up late and wakes me up early.

I am so lucky. Thank you, Universe, for my good fortune.

 

One of the biggest decisions of my life

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I’m stressing. I have to decide whether to change jobs. My answer is due Tuesday.

I’ve been with the same company for 15 years. It’s a large global company and one of the most recognized brands in the world. And it’s been great to me. I’ve worked out of my house and the pay and benefits have been fantastic. With cystic fibrosis, it has been the perfect job.

In return, I’ve worked hard for the company. It’s been beneficial for both of us.

But . . .

After 15 years in the same position, and because the headquarters is located on the east coast, and I’m on the west, the work has become tedious. And the process to innovate is painful. Creativity grinds to a halt. That’s the downside. It’s also not much of a challenge.

A few months ago, one of the smaller companies we hire to help us with large projects, approached me to work for them. As I was working on a major event at the time, and didn’t want to leave and hurt my current team, I postponed the conversation.

Well the project ended and they made me a formal offer this week. I have until Tuesday to decide. The pay is better and I get a nice signing bonus. And I can work out of my home. And the work is exciting and envelope-pushing. And they want me for my creativity, which appeals to me a great deal.

Yes, I have a tiny bit of ego in my head, I guess.

If it weren’t for cystic fibrosis, I’d jump ship right now. Take the risk. But the overall benefits are not as good as I have now. I still need to check out the health care in detail this weekend, but I do know the prescriptions will cost twice as much. And I have a possible pension I’m giving up by leaving now.

Will I really live to see that pension? Can I grind out the years it would take to get to retirement?

I’ll stop there. I like change. I hate big decisions.

To be continued . . .

My Daughter, version 12.5

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Strategy.

That’s the word my wife and I use most these days when discussing our 12-year-old daughter. We read parenting articles and strategize how best to deal with angry responses and other “tweenerisms.”

We do our best to stay calm when she ramps up and relives her toddler days, but with a greater mastery of the English language.

She is a missile. And we, at best, have a slim chance here and there to nudge her and redirect her flight path, helping her miss buildings and mountains – and us.

Gone in the explosion is my fantasy of having control over her direction – of logical father/daughter talks and sharing any wisdom of life I think I might have.

Nature vs. Nurture? Nature is winning. And hormones.

Don’t get me wrong, we love her and feel grateful to have her. But for me this stage has been the hardest.

As I’m an idiot, I thought it would be different – smooth – we’d talk out things. I underestimated the emotion of youth, her brain still forming, resulting in firecracker responses and logic crushed to death.

Delusional, I was, that we would get a pass on this stage.

Worst of all, she’s more like me than my wife. That scares me. All of the mistakes I made in my youth. I hope she can steer clear of the same behavior.

Oh, Universe, don’t let her be the same. Let her be smarter.

Despite the more challenging moments, there are the ones that remind me that it’s all worth it. For those, I’m grateful. Because without them, we’d let the wolves raise her – I’m kidding. Wolves would eat her. Kidding again.

One day, she might read this and I’m going to get my ass kicked. Oh, well, I’m used to it.