Interesting Thoughts

Following Dad's Advice.

Of course he would hate to take credit for things as they are, it's too risky, to do so might mean blame for misfortune and failures. Not that we would do that. Dad is the smartest guy we know, and he would never lead us wrong. Yes, we still turn to mom and dad on those big decisions in our life, what a shame it would be to waste the opportunity to take advantage of their hard earned wisdom. Only a fool would do otherwise.

Almost 3 years ago hubby and I found ourselves unemployed. Thirty and unemployed just sucks, but the way things are, I think it might have been worse if we were older and even less "perky". Perkiness is after all a highly sought after trait in applicants, employers like perky, they don't think old people are all that perky, or so I've heard.

Not only that, hubby had spent the previous 13 years investing in a career, which ended rather unexpectedly. He had never been anything other than a Marine, and didn't really know what else to do. Blah blah blah, I've said all this before, unfortunately I deleted the whole sordid mess in one of my episodes.

The first year was the toughest. After we found decent employment we started picking up the rest of the pieces. The thing we want is rather typical, we want a home, cable t.v. and to raise our kiddo in a nice little neighborhood, oh and matching Corsicas in the driveway wouldn't hurt either. We also realize that one day we are going to be old, and it might be a wise thing to buy a home sometime in the near future so we aren't faced with a mortgage payment at retirement age Lord willing we get there.

Hubbers went to work at a desk job here, good, no, excellent medical benefits, pretty okay job, 401k, a retirement plan, and so on, but the pay stunk. It just wasn't great. This particular spot, like most places it seems offered very little room for advancement, unless one was the bearer of a bachelor's degree in anything, which in my opinion is a bunch of malarkey, but that's for another post. We needed more than $1300/month take home to live, and advance beyond treading water.

Luckily, I found a job with a former employer, and I'm quite happy where I am, and with what I'm at. My job offers some form of benefits for full-time employees, which I'm not, but even at that my pay is pretty decent. And most of all, I'm happy there.

Oh my gosh, I'm getting to the point, don't stop now.

My husband hates when I take this long to tell a story, but the history always seems so important to me. I'm really into, how did we get there. I don't know if that makes good reading or not. I'm sorry if it doesn't.

Where was I? So, we were doing pretty well, back on our feet, treading water, making ends meet, but not advancing much at all, and a home still was not in the foreseeable future.

That's where dad came in. He spoke to husband about an opportunity he had heard about, and had been reading about. Dad just told him about it. Hubby thought and thought about it, then brought it up to me, I thought and thought about it, and encouraged him to try it if he wanted to. He did research, contacted people, and finally decided to do it. This is where his Marine Corps training came in, his guts, and courage, and believe me, what he has done takes total balls.

When the time came he gave his employer notice, packed up his belongings, and headed to out of town, where he attended a training course in his new field of choice. He started his new job almost 2 weeks ago. It's been a huge adjustment, the first few days were horrible, the work is hard. He kept going, kept trying. The last few days were much better.

Now, he has a job with great benefits AND pay. In fact, he has tripled his income, and he knows he can advance. The only thing he had to do was be in shape physically, and have the courage to try, and most of all be willing to get dirty. Really dirty. He works in the cold, the wind, the sun, rain, or snow, but he is compensated for his work, and his time.

Here we go. I was reading a post at good ole Kim du Toit's site, and found it quite interesting, along with the comments that the post stirred up. I really wanted to comment, but didn't really know what I wanted to say. I guess it is just this, a man must do what a man must do. Dad always says, find a trade someone is willing to pay for.

In this corporate age, where CEOs bring home 6-7 digits while the lowers scrimp and scrape to get by, I don't blame anyone for moving on to greener pastures. When a company brings in 100 million in profit after all of the bills are paid, but can't see fit to even give their employees more than a Chili's gift card for Christmas, I don't blame anyone for seeking better opportunities, and truthfully, what companies really offer retirement plans anymore? 401k is not a retirement plan, and all they contribute is just what they are not paying you anyway.

I'm not under the impression that companies really want folks to stick around all that long. It seems to me they would much rather infuse their work force with perky 20 year olds every few years, who ironically start at the bottom of the pay scale.

Reinventing yourself is a very American thing. And I thank goodness for it. I'm so glad I live in a country where folks can decide, this isn't working for me, and go out and find something new. It is one of the best things about our country. That a 35 year old can begin a completely new career in this country is a testament to the greatness and the freedom of this land.

What do I know? Not much really, just that if we don't look out for our own family, no one else will. I don't delude myself into thinking employers really care about anything more than the bottom line, I don't blame them for that either. I realize it is just business.

In our case, we realize that we must make as much money now in our youth, in our prime as we can. We seek out companies that offer a future, but how many really do?