Another job change…..sort of

Remember how I said I was getting used to my new job, the one that was causing me great stress and plenty of sleepless nights?

Yeah, about that………I gave my two-week notice on Wednesday, something that now seemed fairly inevitable, given the workload, the stress, the anxiety, the constant demands from the people in-charge and, of course, the pay.

I don’t know what it was about that one week that was fairly good as far as resetting sections of stores was concerned, but it certainly didn’t last, with last week being the most stressful and ridiculous to date.

After 13 years of working my tail off for compensation that wasn’t worth my production, I vowed (not in any sort of official way) that I would never put up with that again. But, here we are not even three years after leaving a job that I mostly loathed, and I’m putting up with it again.

I do not accept that for my life any longer, and that’s why I decided to leave this new job before it was too late. I could feel that I made a mistake right away, and even though my bosses and co-workers encouraged me to stick with it–that things would get better–enough is enough. If you want good people, you’re going to have to pay good money, and believe me, when it comes to work, I’m good people.

Where do I go from here? For the time being, Uber. I know it’s a risk to jump when you don’t have the safety net of another job lined up, but in the modern era, where ride-share services and other independent contractor customer service gigs are so prevalent and in demand, there are options available for those that simply feel trapped at their place of employment. I have a running group friend who moved here from the New England area last year (big Patriots fans, but I don’t hold that against him–totally) who left a career as a teacher and started Uber driving when he and his wife came to town. He has yet to pursue another teaching gig, and from what he tells me, he does fairly well with Uber. If he can do it–if many others can do it–why can’t I?

I did try driving Uber part-time two years ago, and even in the half-ass way I went about it (I always wanted to be somewhere, so only once or twice did I truly make a full-day of it), I realized it was an option to pursue if you don’t have any other viable options (and, in many cases, even if you do).

In any case, ride-share driving is a pursuit where you truly get out of it what you put into it. I’ve never actually done anything professionally where the work I put into it proved to be fruitful financially.

The whole lack of money thing is really starting to get old. It’s one thing to love what you do and not make any money. It’s another thing to not really enjoy what you do but make a great living at it.

Neither is ideal, but the quality of life for both is certainly a lot better than if you both hate what you do and don’t make any money at it.

I’ve never truly enjoyed any profession I’ve ever had, and why? Probably because I’ve never had a profession that I’m passionate about. That would be okay if I made money.

I’ve never made any kind of money.

There are plenty of things I’m passionate about like writing, sports, television and just the entertainment business in general. Will I try to pursue a career–an actual career–in any of those areas? I probably should.

It beats the holy heck out of living paycheck to paycheck.

Again, what I’m doing is a bit risky, but playing it safe has never gotten me anywhere.

I had the opportunity to go back to my old team at my current company, but where would that have taken me? Nowhere, and nowhere is no place to be.

At least not for me.

I’ve always talked about taking risks–I’ve written about it many times on this here blog–but I’ve never truly taken a big gamble. Even when I was unemployed for five months, I had the safety net of unemployment compensation (although, that was clearly no bargain).

I want to be somewhere, and maybe I’ll start my journey to that place in about two weeks when I make my car my office, and the people of Pittsburgh my customers.

When you aim high, you have to start by setting small goals. Right now, I want to make the money I think I’m worth. If my employers don’t want to pay me what I’m worth, I’ll have to pay myself.

 

 

Some more things about me as of late

*January tends to be a depressing month for me, and this year was no exception. In fact, it couldn’t have been any less of an exception, and it mostly had to do with my new job. I spent the majority of the month regretting my decision to take the “promotion” and switch teams at the same company I’ve been with since late 2016. As in most cases involving non-rich humans, this job involves way too much work for the money I am paid. Secondly, having to learn everything on the fly combined with the communication from the higher-ups being so spotty just made for a big old mess of a month for me. And then there’s the matter of having to get up super early and work super-long days. I will say this about the workdays:  resetting sections of stores is so darn time-consuming, before you know it, 6 a.m. turns into 10 a.m., which  turns into 1 p.m., and the next thing you know, it’s time to head home.

*Last Monday was the first day on my new job in the month of February, which may explain why last week was probably my best week since I started. It helped that I figured some things out that those higher-ups were basically badgering me and others to figure out……on our own. I’m actually sleeping better at night, once again, which has certainly helped curb my job-induced depression and anxiety.

*I will say this about my new job: the weekly three-day weekend is a hard perk to top. I mean, right now, for example, if I think back to Thursday night and hanging out with my running buddies at the Bettis Grille on the North Shore, it seriously feels like a week ago. And this is the first three-day weekend since I started where I haven’t spent the vast-majority of time counting down the hours (in a very bad way) until I had to go back to work on Monday.

*I’m glad things are starting to feel “normal” for me, again, because there was no way I was going to last, otherwise. I still don’t see myself lasting over the long-haul, but when I do change jobs (yet, again), it likely won’t involve me quitting on the spot and then becoming a full-time Uber driver until I figure something else out–that desperate plan was floating around in my cranium as recently as last weekend.

*Why have I switched jobs so many times over the past two-plus years? It’s simple: I’m still trying to figure out what I want and where I best fit in. I took a huge risk in 2016 when I decided to give my long-term notice with the people I had worked for for 13 years. As you know, with most employers in the modern era, giving such a notice is essentially assisted career suicide–it certainly turned out that way for me. But I just couldn’t deal with that job any longer (I was totally miserable), and, like with most major jumps in life, I knew I would likely have to deal with some painful scrapes and cuts before I finally settled into a career I could be happy with. I’m still suffering the scrapes and cuts, but I believe this is a test I must pass–something I must endure–before I break through in some form or fashion.

*Enough about work. I really have a hankering to try a new creative outlet, something to make me feel whole and fulfilled. Sure, I have writing, which certainly helps, but it’s so ordinary and, quite frankly, easy for me these days, it just doesn’t cut it anymore–at least in terms of fulfillment. I’ve been talking about trying acting for so long, I really need to stop writing blogs about it and just go for it and just give it a shot. It would certainly take me out of my comfort zone (although, my new job has accomplished that in spades), and it would fill a void I’ve honestly always wanted to fill.

*I spent over two weeks with a really bad cold, one that even gave me major chills two Sundays ago. Hopefully, it’s the last of the tough viruses for me for a while.

*I ran into an old girlfriend on Friday night. That was bizarre, but not because I ran into her (that kind of stuff happens all the time in life). The bizarre part was that, after I got my hair cut, I said, “Hey, I’m bored. Maybe I’ll go over to the South Hills Village area and check out some laptops and do some window shopping at the mall. I even went to the Market District Giant Eagle, where I ran into this woman two years ago, about 10 days after our rather blah first date (this is the encounter that sparked the relationship). Believe it or not, as I was walking around Giant Eagle on Friday, I actually remembered that. Wouldn’t you know it, about an hour or so later, at the Giant Eagle on Cochran Road (I spend way too much time in Giant Eagles), there I was at the one self-checkout register buying a protein cookie, while she was at the very next self-checkout register buying something with her mom. Furthermore, this particular Giant Eagle was right next door to the Starbucks where we had our rather blah first date two years ago………..on the same day. Weird, weird, weird.

*Speaking of dating, I tried Bumble again (didn’t want to, but it was suggested to me about a month ago by a couple of female friends). This woman named linddah (actual name was Linda, but she spelled it weird on the site for some reason) started messaging me last Saturday. Next thing you know, she wanted to text. The next thing you know, she wanted me to send her a picture of myself (as opposed to, you know, the half-dozen pics I already had of me on my Bumble account) with the promise that she would send me one of her in return. The second part never happened. She also took her account down right away as soon as we started talking. Long story, short, I think  this woman was full of it, which is another reason I really, really detest online/app dating.

That’s all for me. Until next time……….