How is your career going?

Madmarcus · Post by **Madmarcus** » Thu Apr 06, 2017 10:44 am

I know we're getting older. And I know that many of you are in well paid fields but I didn't really expect to see multiple people that close to retiring.

I'm 14 months out from a major charge that might lead to retirement but realistically I'm 3-5 years from real retirement. Hopefully the planned change goes well and breaks me out of the burnout I can feel approaching.

pr0ner · Post by **pr0ner** » Thu Apr 06, 2017 10:46 am

coopasonic wrote:
Jaymann wrote:Counting down the days until retirement (currently stands at about 85). They want me to stay on part time - they are thinking one week per month, I am leaning towards one day per month.
Hey me too!. I am probably somewhere in the 9000 days range. Practically speaking, I am at about the midpoint of my post-college working life. I'm going to crawl off to a corner and cry now.

9000! Ha!

stessier · Post by **stessier** » Thu Apr 06, 2017 10:48 am

I'm at about 7300 days assuming I don't have to work to maintain health insurance by that point. I mean, we can totally have that figured out in the next 7300 days, right?

Max Peck · Post by **Max Peck** » Thu Apr 06, 2017 10:51 am

pr0ner wrote:
coopasonic wrote:
Jaymann wrote:Counting down the days until retirement (currently stands at about 85). They want me to stay on part time - they are thinking one week per month, I am leaning towards one day per month.
Hey me too!. I am probably somewhere in the 9000 days range. Practically speaking, I am at about the midpoint of my post-college working life. I'm going to crawl off to a corner and cry now.
9000! Ha!

-1073.

pr0ner · Post by **pr0ner** » Thu Apr 06, 2017 10:52 am

I'm at 11000 or so.

Yep, after being in the job almost 15 years, I'm only a third of the way done.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Thu Apr 06, 2017 11:05 am

10,214 until my mortgage is paid for at the full term.

My boss is retiring somewhere between Independence Day and Labor Day. Depending on how the chief wants to shuffle things, I may buck for a promotion.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Thu Apr 06, 2017 11:18 am

Still hate my new boss from last year. He's bumped up my class size from 50 to 75 and now it's at 140 for the Fall. No change in contract payment either, btw - take it or leave it. No recognition that providing a learning environment for 140 people isn't the same as 50 or even 75. I honestly don't know if I'm going to make it into 2018, but we are getting a new boss of bosses at some point over the next 8 months. I'm hopeful that there will be a reckoning because my opinion of higher education administration has taken a severe hit in the last 16 months. The program I'm part of was ranked Top 5 in the nation...so let's dilute what made the program so great by tripling the class size and see if anyone notices.

Retirement? Hilarious. 81 payments left on the house!

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Thu Apr 06, 2017 11:34 am

coopasonic wrote:
Jaymann wrote:Counting down the days until retirement (currently stands at about 85). They want me to stay on part time - they are thinking one week per month, I am leaning towards one day per month.
Hey me too!. I am probably somewhere in the 9000 days range. Practically speaking, I am at about the midpoint of my post-college working life. I'm going to crawl off to a corner and cry now.

2411 days 13 hours 28 minutes here. Not that I'm counting.

Curio City is on life support while my new business shows a promising beginning. I'm getting sporadic piecework and in discussions for two regular clients. Editing pays about 20x more than Curio City does, at nearly zero cost beyond my time. The trick is going to be turning it into reliable work.

coopasonic · Post by **coopasonic** » Thu Apr 06, 2017 11:59 am

At 20x, isn't unreliable work still an improvement?

I have no entrepreneurial spirit so I can only heckle from the sidelines. I need someone to tell me what work to do, I don't even need to know why. Just pay me.

Post by **ImLawBoy** » Thu Apr 06, 2017 12:02 pm

At this rate, it appears I will retire when they wheel my corpse out of my office.

coopasonic · Post by **coopasonic** » Thu Apr 06, 2017 12:03 pm

ImLawBoy wrote:At this rate, it appears I will retire when they wheel my corpse out of my office.

JeffV, you are on ILB's account again...

Jeff V · Post by **Jeff V** » Thu Apr 06, 2017 1:57 pm

coopasonic wrote:
ImLawBoy wrote:At this rate, it appears I will retire when they wheel my corpse out of my office.
JeffV, you are on ILB's account again...

Nah, he's lucky. I need to work an additional 10 years just to pay the funeral expenses.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Thu Apr 06, 2017 1:58 pm

Prepaid cremations are a thing.

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Thu Apr 06, 2017 2:52 pm

coopasonic wrote:At 20x, isn't unreliable work still an improvement?

That's on an hourly basis, so it only works if I get hours. But, yeah...I took a 50% pay cut to get Curio City out of debt this year. That means I make about as much from one hour of editing as I do working one week for Curio City. If I can line up even 5-10 hours a week I'll be golden. Hoping to nail that down next week.

PLW · Post by **PLW** » Thu Apr 06, 2017 4:34 pm

Professors never really retire, though some would argue we don't really work in the first place.

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

pr0ner · Post by **pr0ner** » Fri Apr 07, 2017 11:05 am

PLW wrote:Professors never really retire, though some would argue we don't really work in the first place.

I knew a few who I don't think worked when I was in college. They made for the worst teachers since they were totally disengaged from everything and only were still there thanks to tenure.

Jeff V · Post by **Jeff V** » Fri Apr 07, 2017 11:51 am

Isgrimnur wrote:Prepaid cremations are a thing.

Not if I happen to die in the Philippines, where the thing most eternal about death is the annual internment fees. Fail to pay your annual "keep me in the ground" fee and out you go, presumably to be turned into charcoal and sold to the peasants for cooking (you thought those were charred coconut husks, didn't you?) As long as there are fees to collect, however, they aren't going to torch your ass. It doesn't make good business sense.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Fri Apr 07, 2017 11:54 am

I'd expect nothing less than a funeral pyre would be acceptable for you.

Jeff V · Post by **Jeff V** » Fri Apr 07, 2017 12:09 pm

Too much effort. There has to be some sort of carcass disposal service the remains could be donated to...or maybe a roadkill processing plant.

Paingod · Post by **Paingod** » Fri Apr 07, 2017 12:32 pm

I've always told my wife to just roll me up in newspaper and/or leave me in the woods. I'm certain I won't care.

As for the career, I find myself looking again. I was laid off my last job and landed this one withing 2 weeks of that - but this isn't ideal. I wouldn't have moved here if it wasn't for the layoff. The people are great, but the business management is stagnant and there's nothing changing. I find myself thinking I could be replaced by an intern without the company caring. All of my proposals for essential systems overhauls are just sitting and gathering dust, and he business recently changed hands - with the new owners saying "Nothing will change" as a mantra while adding "No money in the bank"

I've got about $15,000 that needs to be spent this year and for the next two years in order to get ahead of Windows 7 being disconintued for support. I've got a $24,000 Disaster Recovery project that needs to pass in order to stay HIPAA compliant. I've got 80% of my servers out of warranty and past EOL with a plan to consolidate and replace them with less (but more powerful) hardware. I'm supporting an massively inefficient and fragile system that's coming up for renewal and I want to get quotes in the door for a replacement, but am getting "Nopes" across the board table. I've repeated it all over and over. No action, no change, no how. I'm tired of spinning in the mud.

Prospects have been slim, though. I think winters in Maine freeze everything in place - jobs, too.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Fri Apr 07, 2017 12:51 pm

Every day I'm not sitting in my car in the building parking lot with a handgun pressed to the roof of my mouth is a day I put in the win column.

Too dark?

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Fri Apr 07, 2017 12:58 pm

Not if you leave the door open.

Paingod · Post by **Paingod** » Wed Apr 12, 2017 3:10 pm

I'm taking another stab at getting into a well-respected, employee owned company... The job I'm trying to grab for seems to take all the parts of my job that I like - planning, pricing, analyzing, researching - and skims off all the parts that have gotten kind of old - troubleshooting for networks, desktops, printers... I like the sound of it.

Keeping my fingers crossed. The last time I interviewed, they said that while I fit the culture, they weren't sure that I'd find the job I applied for satisfying in the long term (Project Manager). This time around, I plan on really pushing that what this job entails are the parts of what I do that I find most appealing.

Sudy · Post by **Sudy** » Thu Apr 13, 2017 12:23 am

hepcat wrote:Every day I'm not sitting in my car in the building parking lot with a handgun pressed to the roof of my mouth is a day I put in the win column.

Too dark?

I wouldn't go that far, but I have real fantasies about getting into a serious but survivable accident, and living a life (or at least an extended stay) on social assistance being preferable to my current work and life situation. That's probably not healthy.

I mean this with no disrespect to those who are legitimately disabled and/or on welfare, who I'm sure would give anything to be well enough to be able to work a dead-end job in a depressing and oppressive environment. These aren't thoughts I'm proud of--I see them as a symptom of the mental health issues I'm in treatment for. I know some of it's in my power to change.... I just struggle to do it on my own (one of the challenges of mental illness).

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Fri Apr 14, 2017 10:12 am

stessier · Post by **stessier** » Fri Apr 14, 2017 10:29 am

Congrats!!

Unagi · Post by **Unagi** » Fri Apr 14, 2017 10:39 am

You enrolled as Isgrimnur? That's awesome.
Grats!

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Fri Apr 14, 2017 10:42 am

I may have anonymized the name and address block.

Default · Post by **Default** » Sun Apr 16, 2017 11:36 am

Isgrimnur wrote:I may have anonymized the name and address block.

Address:
Free Candy Van
7-11 parking lot
Out by the airport

Max Peck · Post by **Max Peck** » Sun Apr 16, 2017 2:08 pm

Default wrote:
Isgrimnur wrote:I may have anonymized the name and address block.
Address:
Free Candy Van
7-11 parking lot
Out by the airport

Was he re-accommodated? I was certain that he lived in a van down by the river.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Mon Apr 17, 2017 2:46 pm

General news on the pay raises coming down from the CEO indicates that they've incorporated the jump in asset category size from Under $1B to $1-2B as part of the new numbers.

Technically, we've been working under the new wages since last week. I won't actually know what those numbers are for myself and my minion until Wednesday at the earliest.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Mon Apr 17, 2017 2:48 pm

Max Peck wrote:
Default wrote:
Isgrimnur wrote:I may have anonymized the name and address block.
Address:
Free Candy Van
7-11 parking lot
Out by the airport
Was he re-accommodated? I was certain that he lived in a van down by the river.

I did actually use Isgrimnur as my student login ID, not realizing that it will be my student e-mail address as well.

Scuzz · Post by **Scuzz** » Mon Apr 17, 2017 3:09 pm

Kraken wrote:
coopasonic wrote:At 20x, isn't unreliable work still an improvement?
That's on an hourly basis, so it only works if I get hours. But, yeah...I took a 50% pay cut to get Curio City out of debt this year. That means I make about as much from one hour of editing as I do working one week for Curio City. If I can line up even 5-10 hours a week I'll be golden. Hoping to nail that down next week.

Well, I am currently working two jobs. The company I own 25% of hasn't paid me in almost a year. Sure, it covers my health insurance and some auto expenses but we have been on the edge of shutting down since January of 2016. I go to my company from 8am to 2:30 and then I leave to work my second job from 3-11:30pm. I will be doing this for at least another 2+ months.

Hey..you do what you have to do.

LordMortis · Post by **LordMortis** » Mon Apr 17, 2017 3:25 pm

Kraken wrote:
coopasonic wrote:
Jaymann wrote:Counting down the days until retirement (currently stands at about 85). They want me to stay on part time - they are thinking one week per month, I am leaning towards one day per month.
Hey me too!. I am probably somewhere in the 9000 days range. Practically speaking, I am at about the midpoint of my post-college working life. I'm going to crawl off to a corner and cry now.
2411 days 13 hours 28 minutes here. Not that I'm counting.

Currently projected at about 156 months. Trying to work that total down, like I would prepaying mortgage principle, hoping nothing goes crazy and extends that total.

I have no idea how I'm going to make it 156 months. My eyes, and memory, and clear thinking, and back and neck and shoulder and ability to keep up with the trends of the now are all already shot. 156 more months seems untenable and like something my company will give up on long before they pass.

And this also presupposes something akin to Obamacare will be around and within my grasp. No ACA and that's six more years (another 72 months) of work with someone who provides healthcare if I can get it.

Bakhtosh · Post by **Bakhtosh** » Mon Apr 17, 2017 4:07 pm

I'm a year away from being able to sit for my Professional Engineering license (Electrical). At that point, the game changes. There's a significant monetary incentive (about 40% significant).

Other than that, I'm just trying to keep my head above water. We're staying busy, but I'm finding motivation difficult.

Jeff V · Post by **Jeff V** » Tue Apr 18, 2017 11:51 am

My wife pointed out yesterday that I'll be 85 when our house is paid off and then I can start saving for retirement...

hentzau · Post by **hentzau** » Tue Apr 18, 2017 12:00 pm

i was up until 2:30 in the morning working on a production outage at work. I'm getting too old for this shit...

pr0ner · Post by **pr0ner** » Tue Apr 18, 2017 12:08 pm

Jeff V wrote:My wife pointed out yesterday that I'll be 85 when our house is paid off and then I can start saving for retirement...

Uhhh, it is possible to have a mortgage and save for retirement at the same time, you know.

Jeff V · Post by **Jeff V** » Tue Apr 18, 2017 12:16 pm

pr0ner wrote:
Jeff V wrote:My wife pointed out yesterday that I'll be 85 when our house is paid off and then I can start saving for retirement...
Uhhh, it is possible to have a mortgage and save for retirement at the same time, you know.

Sure, and college for the kids, too! I should have enough for a good 2 week retirement by then.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Tue Apr 18, 2017 12:24 pm

SSA 2013 Actuarial Life Table

For this table, the period life expectancy at a given age is the average remaining number of years expected prior to death for a person at that exact age, born on January 1, using the mortality rates for 2013 over the course of his or her remaining life.

Exact age	Male Life expectancy
55	25.41