The Decision: Part Two & Poker Sunday
The Decision Continues
About two weeks ago, I wrote a post regarding a decision I had to make at work: to be or not to be "the man." I had been in charge of the department once before, but that ended 12 years ago. My previous post briefly discussed some of the issues involved.As I wrote, I declined the nomination. Only one person accepted a nomination: the person currently in charge. She made a presentation last week, and then a vote was taken. She and a few others were shocked to find that, given a choice between voting for her or no one, she did not receive a majority of votes. We have one more round of nominations. I have been nominated again. I have until Monday at noon to decide whether or not to accept. There is no doubt I will get enough votes if I choose to run. To the best of my knowledge, I would be the only candidate.
I appreciate all the thoughtful comments I received on the initial post. But now the stakes have gotten higher. I would have tons of support from the people I would supervise, but do I want to give up my situation now, which is pretty nice? I am on the clock and have 28 hours to make my decision. Tick ... tick ... tick ...
Poker in Peoria or Hammond
When faced with lfe's burdens, I often find comfort in poker. I plan to head out to the nearest poker room (Peoria) or drive a little further to my favorite Midwest room (Hammond). I am even thinking about playing in a low cost tournament tonight, but 25% vig just seems outrageous.
posted by lightning36 at 8:07 AM
15 Comments:
Let's recap:
You work in the mental/social services sector.
This is an Illinois agency.
Promotion is by caucus.
Conclusion:
The inmates are running the asylum.
All I can suggest, seeing or at least thinking there is a responsible person the person taking the job would report to, is to discuss your concerns and ongoing relationship hopes with that person.
P.S. Maybe you are due to face issues that the workplace isn't just sabbaticals and Florida meetings. ;-)
Pop Quiz:
Contrast all this with Dritzdj's workplace problems.
Yes Ken, higher education is a world quite foreign to what most people experience. Living in Illinois has nothing to do with it ... this time. : o )
I did discuss things with the person I would report to. We have a long relationship that has always been good but has some interesting twists and turns.
And yes, I guess this does sound kind of whiny considering I had a sabbatical and just got back from a conference in Florida. Thirty years of work in my field ought to get me some benefits, though, don't you think?
It is almost impossible for most people to understand the skill set one has to have to do the type of job I do.
As best I can remember, Drizz's issues are largely due to his completing his education as an adult. That is a tough task indeed. I did it when I was young.
As always, your input is appreciated. Anyone who can get Josie's goat the way you do must have insights far greater than the average schlub ...
Go to Hammond this weekend and come to my home game next weekend, duh ;)
Well, with 30 in your field, you should be able to retire if it blows up. That would let you have a state retirement and then get a job to qualify you for S.S. which might be better in the long run.
Like them dumb poker players put it, you got outs.
The spineless cowards in my state's government are still trying to devise a way to screw me and my fellow employees out of our pension deals. I held up my end of the deal for 22 years. Assholes.
Things should not get too terrible at work no matter what. Yes, I have outs and actually could declare for a nice early retirement incentive in less than a year. But I'd still have to find another job after retirement, which is certainly more difficult in the current ecomomic environment.
Maybe I should become a male prostitute? Is there a pot o' gold at the end of that rainbow for me?
I wouldn't consider the alternative work -- it is hard to make ends meet at $2 a pop. ;-)
I hadn't said, but I don't see how Illinois can retain the current program. The fund is hugely underwater to the point it might be unrecoverable from.
I don't know how state failure would work. I know that, when the same retirement package failures happened with the mills, there is a federal agency that takes over and provides a much reduced package without medical. That really affected a friend who's wife could only get COBRA for a couple of years and they couldn't relocate and keep that.
I am guessing that the best all the people who have been contributing for years can hope for is that we'll have to pay MORE money each year. Disconcerting when the state income tax went up last year.
I already have 8% of my income taken out off the top for retirement. The state increased its tax -- another 5% gone. So if I have to pay another 8%, suddenly over 20% of my pay is taken off the top? Add in the federal income tax and I might be joining Tony, carrying my sock-roll with me.
btw -- you are so wrong. I already see a definite five-figure income with my proposed "new profession" just from Josie alone...
I was trying to figure out how people who you would supervise can vote on whether or not you'd get that job. Is that how it works in state government? That's just insane. All I can say is, "ugh." It makes no sense to me.
If you do retire and take up prosititution, it will make for some great blog posts. In fact, I'd like to offer you a (non-paying) job on my blog to add to my collection of hooker stories.
"I was trying to figure out how people who you would supervise can vote on whether or not you'd get that job. Is that how it works in state government?"
Nope -- that is how it can work in public higher education in a unit that is considered a faculty unit. At least that is how it is at my workplace, which has been known for having tons of power reside in the faculty. That could be another discussion in itself.
Looks like Peoria wins today. Shorter trip and less hours on the road for me today, which seems to be more important as the day is already almost half over.
I think a man with your heart condition should not accept any management job. XD.
Good luck with your decision. Either way it does not seem like a you would be stuck with it forever if it did not work out.. it seems like you might want to just take it easy and smell the roses.. but if you did take it you could get voted out again in a few years right? and still be at your job..
Well, in that case, you should retire and not only will you have that male prostitution thing going for you, but you can also supplement that by going pro as poker player. With your success in the VJ tournament, you well on your way to your first bracelet.
GL no matter what you decide.
Does the male prostitution thing have health insurance as part of it?
lightning - in the past, were I you, I'd be tugged towards accepting the nomination. However, now that I've been out of work for 18 months, I've had time to reflect on the personal costs of giving so much of myself to work. Now, I'd work hard at staying away from the management position. But, of course, only you can decide which way to go.
Take the job man. and Good luck
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