Octopus Overlords

LordMortis wrote: ↑Thu Nov 11, 2021 11:26 am

Drazzil wrote: ↑Thu Nov 11, 2021 10:51 am Its like bad relationships. Once you get loose of them you will wonder how and why you stayed so long.

Or I'll get all passive aggressive and never want to hear their name again...

Really, I have no love for the company but I do care about many of the people I work with and they will have a really bad time for quite some time if I check out without having a replacement settled and in place. At the same time, I can't wait forever. March is not the deadline they want to hear but it's the one they are going to get. It's not a good time to work on replacing me but quite frankly with the way the shop is run, it will never be a good time.

Mortis we don't agree on much if memory serves, that said. I've freed myself from a LOT of toxic relationships, Long lasting, permanently detrimental ones that I bear the scars from to this day and to the end of my life. If these people knew and loved you like you apparently do them, they *WOULD have *REPLACED* you ages ago. Your employers are underpaying you and will have to split your position into two or three when you leave.

They are hanging onto you for as long as their bony fingers can grip ye.

Get out man!

My October MIT paycheck is three weeks late. November's is due by the end of this week, and I'll be shocked if it shows up -- every check since June has been late. The Institute is closed from xmas to new years and nearly everyone is already on vacation, so there's nobody to bitch to. Such are the joys of being a contractor.

Fortunately NVIDIA just paid me for my fall job, so I can pay off my credit card and stay liquid for another month. And there'll be a nice surge of back pay when I finally get MIT straightened out. It's just a cash flow nuisance; they're always good for the money...eventually.

However, revenue gets booked when the invoice is created, not when the check arrives. Since I can't issue the paychecks that make that revenue go away, I'm showing a significant phantom profit right now, and as the sole shareholder of an S Corp I'm going to have to pay taxes on it. Ordinarily I'm good at keeping my profit near or a little below zero, but this year is going to finish firmly in the black.

Go old school and issue a paper paycheck that you (the person not the S-corp) don't cash until the MIT money arrives?

Drazzil wrote: ↑Mon Dec 20, 2021 10:15 pm

LordMortis wrote: ↑Thu Nov 11, 2021 11:26 am

Drazzil wrote: ↑Thu Nov 11, 2021 10:51 am Its like bad relationships. Once you get loose of them you will wonder how and why you stayed so long.

Or I'll get all passive aggressive and never want to hear their name again...

Really, I have no love for the company but I do care about many of the people I work with and they will have a really bad time for quite some time if I check out without having a replacement settled and in place. At the same time, I can't wait forever. March is not the deadline they want to hear but it's the one they are going to get. It's not a good time to work on replacing me but quite frankly with the way the shop is run, it will never be a good time.

Mortis we don't agree on much if memory serves, that said. I've freed myself from a LOT of toxic relationships, Long lasting, permanently detrimental ones that I bear the scars from to this day and to the end of my life. If these people knew and loved you like you apparently do them, they *WOULD have *REPLACED* you ages ago. Your employers are underpaying you and will have to split your position into two or three when you leave.

They are hanging onto you for as long as their bony fingers can grip ye.

Get out man!

March. It's going to be interesting because it's always something. I am dead weight right now and my past dues are stacking up and their is no replacement in sight. The company is too lean to properly prepare and they haven't even started. They haven't even talked to the other IT teams. There is always something delaying their search and prep. And when March gets here, it will have been six months and my position will be an absolute nightmare, with me doing nothing but saying "so fire me." That said, they don't underpay me. The under value me and do need at least two people performing responsibilities and have probably since 2015 but they pay me well. Enough that I should be able to retire a pauper at 50. It's really going to depend largely on inflation, the market, and the cost of health care. Any one of those three go out of control and my post employment dreams could be short lived.

For all intents and purposes they have two months to hire someone and get them up to speed on everything I do while also not letting everything sink in the interim. I don't think they're going to make it and I've been beyond reasonable.

... I haven't thought about agreement as such. You're seemingly quicker to frustration than I am but then I seem to be closing that gap in the last six years or so.

Looks like it's time to update the old resumé.

I was already cheesed over the company's bogus gift card/phishing bullshit (see previous page) but today they announced that we will be losing a customer contract in March.

This particular customer makes up about 60-70% of my typical work day.

Sure, they talk about making efforts to "fully utilize our potential and skill sets" moving forward but this job is already getting to be a bit too physically demanding for an out-of-shape 55 year old.

Maybe it's time to consider becoming a burden on my children.

Madmarcus wrote: ↑Tue Dec 21, 2021 9:51 am Go old school and issue a paper paycheck that you (the person not the S-corp) don't cash until the MIT money arrives?

Nah, I'll fudge the dates. If the money arrives within a few days of the 1st I can just backdate the paycheck. It's not like my CPA's going to check my bank statements against my QuickBooks file.

Brian wrote: ↑Tue Dec 21, 2021 11:45 am Looks like it's time to update the old resumé.

I was already cheesed over the company's bogus gift card/phishing bullshit (see previous page) but today they announced that we will be losing a customer contract in March.

This particular customer makes up about 60-70% of my typical work day.

Sure, they talk about making efforts to "fully utilize our potential and skill sets" moving forward but this job is already getting to be a bit too physically demanding for an out-of-shape 55 year old.

Maybe it's time to consider becoming a burden on my children.

Ugh that sucks. The gift card thing was infuriating, but when you need work you deal with that sort of corporate BS (and resent them for it). Seeing the writing on the wall for your long term longevity, however, is a spur to action.

Good luck.

I hear there's plenty of money to be made as a part time bank note withdrawal employee.

...and the wayward October paycheck finally came today. It's actually only three weeks late, but with the holidays upon us I had given up hope.

Brian wrote: ↑Sat Dec 18, 2021 8:24 pm Got an email from corporate thanking everybody for their hard work this year. As a reward for your efforts, please accept this $25 Costco Gift Card.

Fuck me, are you serious?

Turns out, no, they weren't serious. In a state of disgusted disbelief, I clicked on the link and, "Hey! This was a phishing test and you just failed!
You have been enrolled in mandatory cyber-security training!" Merry Christmas!

Fuck me with a humbug.

Clicking a link isn't the same at entering data. You don't get phished automatically by clicking a link.

EvilHomer3k wrote: ↑Tue Dec 21, 2021 4:26 pm

Brian wrote: ↑Sat Dec 18, 2021 8:24 pm Got an email from corporate thanking everybody for their hard work this year. As a reward for your efforts, please accept this $25 Costco Gift Card.

Fuck me, are you serious?

Turns out, no, they weren't serious. In a state of disgusted disbelief, I clicked on the link and, "Hey! This was a phishing test and you just failed!
You have been enrolled in mandatory cyber-security training!" Merry Christmas!

Fuck me with a humbug.

Clicking a link isn't the same at entering data. You don't get phished automatically by clicking a link.

You can but it's much lower risk. It'd require a browser vuln.

We run tests like that several times a year. That mandatory "class" is a ten slide presentation of "should you click on this link?" As much as we review this stuff, I'm amazed at % of failure we get every time.

LordMortis wrote: ↑Tue Dec 21, 2021 4:53 pm We run tests like that several times a year. That mandatory "class" is a ten slide presentation of "should you click on this link?" As much as we review this stuff, I'm amazed at % of failure we get every time.

We get subjected to the Kevin Mitnick training every year.

Yeah, that's the same one I have to sit through now.

Though now that I found out my job is going away in March, I don't really have much in the way of motivation to complete my mandatory training now.

LordMortis wrote: ↑Tue Dec 21, 2021 4:53 pm We run tests like that several times a year. That mandatory "class" is a ten slide presentation of "should you click on this link?" As much as we review this stuff, I'm amazed at % of failure we get every time.

I click on them just to see what it is. Usually on my phone. There's always a small chance that it's a browser vulnerability attack but the chances of that are pretty minor. Those links are always phishing for passwords or other identity theft type of things.

Found out last week the private equity buy up fell through at the last minute due to the PE trying to change things at the 11th hour in the contract. Thankfully, the owners aren’t desperate and just walked away. They’ll probably begin the process again though. Still, it pushes things further out. I know they can’t close the doors as they’re wrapping up a multi million dollar project with 5 years assured tied to it.

Hopefully this means I can retire closer to my preferred point at 60 instead of earlier. But as I noted earlier, I’m in a situation where I can do it at any point really.

LordMortis wrote: ↑Tue Dec 21, 2021 10:06 am

Drazzil wrote: ↑Mon Dec 20, 2021 10:15 pm

LordMortis wrote: ↑Thu Nov 11, 2021 11:26 am

Drazzil wrote: ↑Thu Nov 11, 2021 10:51 am Its like bad relationships. Once you get loose of them you will wonder how and why you stayed so long.

Or I'll get all passive aggressive and never want to hear their name again...

Really, I have no love for the company but I do care about many of the people I work with and they will have a really bad time for quite some time if I check out without having a replacement settled and in place. At the same time, I can't wait forever. March is not the deadline they want to hear but it's the one they are going to get. It's not a good time to work on replacing me but quite frankly with the way the shop is run, it will never be a good time.

Mortis we don't agree on much if memory serves, that said. I've freed myself from a LOT of toxic relationships, Long lasting, permanently detrimental ones that I bear the scars from to this day and to the end of my life. If these people knew and loved you like you apparently do them, they *WOULD have *REPLACED* you ages ago. Your employers are underpaying you and will have to split your position into two or three when you leave.

They are hanging onto you for as long as their bony fingers can grip ye.

Get out man!

....but then I seem to be closing that gap in the last six years or so.

You've been trying to leave your position for six years now or you've been employed there six years?

If the former then smh man.

Never mind. I'm in no shape to criticize you. I work as a sales clerk for 7-11. Don't get me wrong, its the first job in my life I haven't hated. I'm good at it, so that's helpful, you do you.

I think there's enough chaos going on at my 7-11 to feed my apparent addiction. heh heh.

Drazzil wrote: ↑Wed Dec 22, 2021 8:15 pm
You've been trying to leave your position for six years now or you've been employed there six years?

If the former then smh man.

Six years of me growing quicker to frustration, generally in life. Probably not so coincidentally it's been about 7 years growing for which the work I do has become more stressful and I've become less competent at doing it effectively, wherein I started preparing as best I can for an "early" exit. I've only been trying to leave since September. That was where I just passed my point of no return, I guess. It's also possibly the first time I looked at what I've accumulated in life and said "It's probably not going to be easy, but I think I have enough to keep on keeping on."

Saw my boss in person for the first time since early December. Said we really need to get moving on a plan and action. "I have like 40 work days until I'm done" and she's like "I know, end of March" and I'm like "Quitting in March means I'm done in March not after March." I feel badly for the shit storm she is constantly in but by not having me inform my contacts and not putting a plan together that shit storm is just going to get worse from my front.

I'ma hate to burn bridges but six months is six friggen months.

Though as the reality closes in, the concerns for making ends meet become more real. I really wish there was a way to understanding how the ACA works before you need it. Technically, I can apply now. 60 days before not being employed, but the reality is they might con me into staying longer and my concern living on a budget could allow me to cave and I believe I have 25 days of vacation to cash in after my last day which should keep me covered for another month +.

LordMortis wrote: ↑Tue Jan 04, 2022 10:12 am I really wish there was a way to understanding how the ACA works before you need it.

I can put you in touch with my insurance broker. She got us a BCBS bronze family plan for $500 per month (it's way better than what my wife's employer offers for twice the price). She will ask your estimated income for the year, with that she'll search the marketplace and let you know what subsidies are available.

We are on our third plan through her, very happy with her so far.

Jeff V wrote: ↑Tue Jan 04, 2022 7:16 pm

LordMortis wrote: ↑Tue Jan 04, 2022 10:12 am I really wish there was a way to understanding how the ACA works before you need it.

I can put you in touch with my insurance broker. She got us a BCBS bronze family plan for $500 per month (it's way better than what my wife's employer offers for twice the price). She will ask your estimated income for the year, with that she'll search the marketplace and let you know what subsidies are available.

We are on our third plan through her, very happy with her so far.

I think I'll need silver. Most places around here are OfN for bronze but that's all stuff I need to learn. I won't know my estimated income until I'm unemployed. I'm assumming I won't get any subsidies at all at this point. If your broker for only Illinois?

Well, she lives in Washington State, so I assume she's not tied to IL. And she could probably quote you a silver plan just as well. Other plans she got for us were Aetna and UHC.

We tried the exchange ourselves, but it always asks for our AGI on the last tax year (so 2020). Despite not working over half that year, we still managed to make more than we ever did before, and were getting no subsidies. Now that I'm not getting anything at all, we submitted my wife's base salary (she'll do more than that with OT, but it was what we could project). That got us a rate subsidized by more than $1000. We can adjust the income estimate if I happen to find work (and don't have a better healthcare option) or to better align with her actual income, but she said the additional amount would be small.

Jeff V wrote: ↑Tue Jan 04, 2022 7:55 pm Well, she lives in Washington State, so I assume she's not tied to IL.

Then yeah, I'll take a contact. I still won't use it until I have an idea of my exit date but yeah, that'd be great!

Started new job today, it was interesting, as they never mentioned that lunch is free through ZeroCater, and drinks are all on the house. And they got St. Croix, Bubbly, and Coconut water, protein drinks, plus fancy coffee machines.

My November check supposedly mailed on 12/20. It only has to travel 12 miles, so three weeks seems excessive. An investigation has been launched. Every email that I send gets slightly more displeased...I'm approaching Susan Collins territory.

Kasey Chang wrote: ↑Tue Jan 11, 2022 1:53 am Started new job today, it was interesting, as they never mentioned that lunch is free through ZeroCater, and drinks are all on the house. And they got St. Croix, Bubbly, and Coconut water, protein drinks, plus fancy coffee machines.

Congrats on the new gig. Now don't talk about sensitive details on the Internet.

I did not get promoted, but there is hope that it could happen at some point in the future. A hope I have not entertained in approx a decade. Last year I passed the midpoint of the salary range for my current position. This year they moved the midpoint up almost 30% (!!!). I am at ~80% of the midpoint. Our target range is 90-110%. I hope they decide I need to be pushed into that target range sooner. We all got a 6-12% adjustment this summer due to market pressures and merit raises this year are targeted around double what they normally target. I may keep up with inflation after all.

I'm at a theoretical 5 weeks until I'm out the door. We had a good interview yesterday. The company is conceding no one person is going to work in my place and that makes finding a replacement easier, even if it took nearly five months to come to that decision. Watching "the market" turn sour is going to make things a bit less comforting but I'm still good. I have about a year's living expenses in cash and equivalents, I think. It's crazy hard to budget until I can figure out how health care is going to work.

I know the company would be happy to keep me on way more than 5 weeks but I'm so done. I'm trying to figure out if I'm willing to help them more than 5 weeks out.

Health care, health care, health care. It's all about health care.

I'm too tired to continue working but I'm anxious about what it means to live off a savings that is far from abundant.

You want me to drive up in five weeks and bring the "Last Day on the Job!" kit? I think I'm out of the industrial strength whoopie cushions and I'm low on the "Love Ewe" blow up dolls, but I'm sure I can find some online.

I remember getting someone a Love Ewe as wedding present but I'll be damned if I can remember who. Stupid aging.

i get to travel for work FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER !!

ofc, the destination is... Atlantic City, NJ

ughhhhh

By online, he means his bedroom closet.

...behind my Golden Girls boxers.

Zarathud wrote: ↑Tue Jan 25, 2022 5:17 pm By online, he means his bedroom closet.

At least you didn't say living room table.

LordMortis wrote: ↑Tue Jan 25, 2022 5:19 pm

Zarathud wrote: ↑Tue Jan 25, 2022 5:17 pm By online, he means his bedroom closet.

At least you didn't say living room table.

At least he didn't say off his bed.

hepcat wrote:...behind my Golden Girls boxers.

Ooh, we need to make that a photo.

Now that I am less than five weeks out, all the questions are coming in. "Have you done x to prepare for your exit? Maybe if you spend 10 minutes a night." Nope. Nope. Nope.

If you want this stuff done now because you are in a panic then I can do that or I can do my job. There is no both/and. The idea that I'm going to put in 50/60 hours a week so I can leave isn't negotiable. I've been very up front that I am not the man for the job they need anymore. I am doing a poor job. I am not going to get better or give more than I do. I sure hope we're not headed for an ugly divorce. I really don't want it to be an ugly divorce. Six months and now you want to start worrying by putting extra work on me. Nope. Nope. Nope. (Coincidentally six months of my ex- stalling only start laying down shit was when my actual divorce turned from reasonable to bad)

I am jobless again.

Apparently in the intervening years, my sleep apnea had crept up on me again, as my CPAP was without adjustment for 10 years. And I run out of mental acuity right about 2:30 to 3pm.

According to my training crew, I closed my eyes for about 5 seconds during training. Unfortunately, that's a firing offense. I lasted exactly 2 weeks.