Wow! I have had some serious life events since March when I last posted. April happened and now June.
Long story, short: The company that I have worked for, for 15 years, since I was 19 years old, transferred their Alaskan assets to a newly created company run by what was then our competition, now supposedly our teammates. Some of my coworkers lost their jobs outright while the rest were fortunate enough to keep what mangled wrecks were left of their jobs by transferring into the new company. Unfortunately, I was excluded from both of those groups. After 15 years of loyal and dedicated employment, I was called at 10:30am on tax day, April 15th and told that the property that I was managing was sold to a local small family business and I would be offered employment with them. So long, good luck, may we have our cell phone back, please?
All I can say is that there was NO sensitivity training of management on how to properly handle a merger, or terminations, or release of work. Harsh. Harsh is the only word I can think of that wouldn't burn your eyes reading it. Harsh.
I have worked almost two months for my new employer only to come to the conclusion that the changes are too much "not in my favor". Since Fairbanks is too small a town to burn a bridge (and I sincerely do not wish to slander their reputation), I merely have chosen not to continue my employment. 'Nuf said.
But... with that cat out of the bag. That means come August 1st, I am: 1) homeless, 2) carless, and 3) jobless. Truly a painful trifecta of lifestyle carnage.
1) I will be homeless. Right now we live on company property and are building a house (see previous posts). Said house will not be livable come the end of July. Not a chance in hell. Maybe we can live in the garage. Maybe we can buy a camper. Maybe we can live in a wall tent. All these maybe's, but one definite: we will be homeless. Renting is pretty much out of the question with 5 boys, 2 adult, and 2 dogs. A short term lease would make it so we would have no cash for building supplies. One of the boys has pretty much moved out of the house already anyway. He will be 18 in 2 weeks and has graduated from school already. So that cuts down the responsibility by one. I am totally not worried about it. We still have over 6 weeks to figure it out. The thought of living in an RV scares the hell out of me. It isn't the RV that is the scary part. The scary part is the husband LOVES the idea. Love it like he loves food, and air, and... well, shelter. He loves it as much as I hate it. I hope we can get the garage finished. Oh please, Gods of the Drywall, hear my prayer.
May your trowels be smooth, may your mud dry fast, may your skill and professionalism be a testament to your craft!
2) I will be carless. I took the management position here in 2001 and it came with the unlimited use of a company truck. I sold my 2000 Subaru Impreza Outback in 2005 because I hadn't driven it in over 4 years, after paying it completely off . I sold the Subaru, paid off my student loans, paid off a couple credit cards, and paid for a 2 week Mediterranean vacation. Rome, Greece, and Egypt were worth it. Never hearing from my stupid student loan creditors again was worth it. At the end of the month when I am riding my bike handing out resumes? Worth it? Maybe not.
3) I will be jobless. Not a stresser. It feels so damned good to be doing something new, anything new. So very, very, very damned good.
We have been working on the house every single day since the weather turned workable (over 20F above). So every day since about the end of March, we have been busting tail and have ramped up some of the construction timeline to get the ball rolling faster. Boiler is almost in. Radiant floor heating is complete. Plumbing out is done. Electrical is all installed, mapped and ends finished. I am working on the outside of the house. Ground flashing, exterior insulation, furring for siding are on my list. Siding starts in two or three weeks. Interior insulation will be blown in after we install all the cable, CAT5, phone lines, low voltage items. And then drywall. The rest is finishing that we can do after we move in. Flooring, painting, cabinetry, etc can all be done when we are living in the house. We will have a real roof over our heads, doors, windows, running water (both coming in and going out) by the end of August.
But now we are packing. Packing everything we own. Eight years I have lived here. That is longer than I have lived anywhere in my entire life! I cannot believe how much I have accumulated in eight years here. 10 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, FULL. Crap! And the best part? I didn't truly realize how much stash I have accumulated. I had to pack all of that up first so my Darling Husband wouldn't use it as packing insulation. (cause it would have made great packing insulation had I not loved each so dearly.) Seven boxes stuffed with the best fibers possible. They are all sitting securely in locked, dry storage.
I did hold back the crème de la crème for my knitting pleasure over the next 4 months. It is like the Dream Team of yarn:
Long story, short: The company that I have worked for, for 15 years, since I was 19 years old, transferred their Alaskan assets to a newly created company run by what was then our competition, now supposedly our teammates. Some of my coworkers lost their jobs outright while the rest were fortunate enough to keep what mangled wrecks were left of their jobs by transferring into the new company. Unfortunately, I was excluded from both of those groups. After 15 years of loyal and dedicated employment, I was called at 10:30am on tax day, April 15th and told that the property that I was managing was sold to a local small family business and I would be offered employment with them. So long, good luck, may we have our cell phone back, please?
All I can say is that there was NO sensitivity training of management on how to properly handle a merger, or terminations, or release of work. Harsh. Harsh is the only word I can think of that wouldn't burn your eyes reading it. Harsh.
I have worked almost two months for my new employer only to come to the conclusion that the changes are too much "not in my favor". Since Fairbanks is too small a town to burn a bridge (and I sincerely do not wish to slander their reputation), I merely have chosen not to continue my employment. 'Nuf said.
But... with that cat out of the bag. That means come August 1st, I am: 1) homeless, 2) carless, and 3) jobless. Truly a painful trifecta of lifestyle carnage.
1) I will be homeless. Right now we live on company property and are building a house (see previous posts). Said house will not be livable come the end of July. Not a chance in hell. Maybe we can live in the garage. Maybe we can buy a camper. Maybe we can live in a wall tent. All these maybe's, but one definite: we will be homeless. Renting is pretty much out of the question with 5 boys, 2 adult, and 2 dogs. A short term lease would make it so we would have no cash for building supplies. One of the boys has pretty much moved out of the house already anyway. He will be 18 in 2 weeks and has graduated from school already. So that cuts down the responsibility by one. I am totally not worried about it. We still have over 6 weeks to figure it out. The thought of living in an RV scares the hell out of me. It isn't the RV that is the scary part. The scary part is the husband LOVES the idea. Love it like he loves food, and air, and... well, shelter. He loves it as much as I hate it. I hope we can get the garage finished. Oh please, Gods of the Drywall, hear my prayer.
May your trowels be smooth, may your mud dry fast, may your skill and professionalism be a testament to your craft!
2) I will be carless. I took the management position here in 2001 and it came with the unlimited use of a company truck. I sold my 2000 Subaru Impreza Outback in 2005 because I hadn't driven it in over 4 years, after paying it completely off . I sold the Subaru, paid off my student loans, paid off a couple credit cards, and paid for a 2 week Mediterranean vacation. Rome, Greece, and Egypt were worth it. Never hearing from my stupid student loan creditors again was worth it. At the end of the month when I am riding my bike handing out resumes? Worth it? Maybe not.
3) I will be jobless. Not a stresser. It feels so damned good to be doing something new, anything new. So very, very, very damned good.
We have been working on the house every single day since the weather turned workable (over 20F above). So every day since about the end of March, we have been busting tail and have ramped up some of the construction timeline to get the ball rolling faster. Boiler is almost in. Radiant floor heating is complete. Plumbing out is done. Electrical is all installed, mapped and ends finished. I am working on the outside of the house. Ground flashing, exterior insulation, furring for siding are on my list. Siding starts in two or three weeks. Interior insulation will be blown in after we install all the cable, CAT5, phone lines, low voltage items. And then drywall. The rest is finishing that we can do after we move in. Flooring, painting, cabinetry, etc can all be done when we are living in the house. We will have a real roof over our heads, doors, windows, running water (both coming in and going out) by the end of August.
But now we are packing. Packing everything we own. Eight years I have lived here. That is longer than I have lived anywhere in my entire life! I cannot believe how much I have accumulated in eight years here. 10 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, FULL. Crap! And the best part? I didn't truly realize how much stash I have accumulated. I had to pack all of that up first so my Darling Husband wouldn't use it as packing insulation. (cause it would have made great packing insulation had I not loved each so dearly.) Seven boxes stuffed with the best fibers possible. They are all sitting securely in locked, dry storage.
I did hold back the crème de la crème for my knitting pleasure over the next 4 months. It is like the Dream Team of yarn:
#1 BMFA RSC June'09 Pepe La Plume for Fraggle socks
#2 BMFA STR Citrine
#3 malabrigo sock Lettuce
#5 Madelinetosh sock Shell from Monica "editorial goddess"
#6 Fireweed Studios Handpainted sock Gold Dust Woman for Buttercups
#7 Karabella Gossamer Brown w/Copper for Stardust, Knitty winter07
Fairbanks Fiberistas KAL Summer Sweater-a-thon
#8 Cascade Eco Alpaca Straw for FF KAL and a Loopy Ewe KAL
Girasole worsted weight blanket, my second Girasole
3 comments:
First, I AM sorry you had to leave your job, but sounds like you are looking at it as a blessing and that is good. Second, I wouldn't wish an RV on anyone for an extended period of time with FOUR boys (since the eldest is almost gone). May the drywall go up unbelievably fast!
A lot of big changes for you, but you have all the perfect yarn to knit on in all crises! (EZ) Best of luck getting the house done, soon.
"You've got a friend in me.... you've got a friend in me...." KEEP SINGING!!!
Seriously, if you need ANYTHING... shower, laundry, garage storage, a warm comfy REAL bed to sleep in. TELL ME... don't ask me... TELL ME.
Just think, I can take the 4-wheeler down to your place through the powerline with my knitting in tow, where we can sit and knit while sitting next to the chickens rotiserying on the open fire and apple pie baking in the oven, and the boys smoking cigars and playing pool in the back... ;-)
Just give it time,
g.
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