We had 6.25” of rain in 2-3 days and it wrecked the gravel road but they came out and graded it a couple days ago. I think the school bus drivers complained because they sure don’t listen to the land owners’ complaints.
I was seriously worrying about the job thing and was thinking about pulling the travel trailer up here and cleaning it up to possibly head towards the city for work and to live during the week and coming home on weekends. I’ve been turned down for a dozen jobs that didn’t even require any skills. Been kinda soul crushing.
I was thanking God profusely yesterday.
This place has been hiring young guys fresh out of high school and students at Missouri Science and Tech university but they’re not reliable and/or don’t stay long.
I’m on the opposite end and it seems no one wants to hire a 59 year old who’s not far from retirement age but I guess I did really good on the math and machinist aptitude test. The guy I interviewed with seemed taken aback that I’d never been a machinist and wasn’t sure what to make of it.
I also told him I’m looking for a job for the rest of my working life and that I have no intention of retiring at 62 because the monthly amount is too small, which is true, and 68 or 70 are my other age options. They’ll get 10 years out of me or close to it. Maybe more depending on how I age in 10 years.
Seems like a pretty laid back atmosphere. They use a local bail bondsman for drug testing LOL. Said they don’t worry about alcohol or marijuana(recently legalized) on your personal time and that he likes to drink a few beers himself. The way things are out here, I’m sure it’s meth and opioids that are the concern.
Four 10 hour days and weekend shift. Can’t recall if it’s Fri-Mon or Sat-Tues but it’s a 20% shift differential for Sat/Sun. Same base hourly pay as what I ended with at the previous job and less than half as far to drive.
Literally the closest place to work, not counting the new Dollar General out here, 16 miles, 23 minutes as opposed to 37 miles, 47 minutes(2 hours to get home one snowy day). Fuel was costing $10 a day when I took the truck which was every cold day because the crappy heater in the car sucks for nearly an hour’s drive. I can handle crappy heat for 20-25 minutes. Hours at this place are 5:00 am to 3:30 pm which means some daylight time when I get home, no matter the time of year.
I haven’t done one bit of gardening because I wasn’t sure if I’d be here. Went out to the tunnel yesterday and a few lettuce plants evidently made it through winter and are growing again. Seven month old lettuce plants LOL. They didn’t look alive a during winter but I guess the roots survived.
According to the seed starting schedule, I’m a month late on the cool weather stuff and can start cucumbers, peppers and maters now. I’ll still do some tatsoi because it can handle a little heat. That and the one bok choy I like because it has wrinkled leaves that hold up in a salad and plenty of stalk to saute/steam, making it dual purpose. Yellow Heart Winter Choy
I’m sure the moisture from that rain seeped all the way through the tunnel so I ought to be able to fork it up and add goat manure. I’ve still got two bags of seed starting mix and plenty of seeds. Guess what I’ll be doing this weekend.
With three weekdays off and money coming in, I’ll be able to bring in a bunch of compost too. That and finally finish the tunnel and get more cattle panels to make a fence around the tunnel plus an area for some outdoor growing.
Paying off bills and doing some vehicle maintenance and repair comes first. Both are way behind on oil change, could use a tune up and the car needs an alternator.
You are KICKIN’ IT! So happy for you. :)
Congrats on the new gainful employment gig. Sounds like you landed in a good place. I hope it works out long-term for you.
I absolutely despise the place where I work... well, it’s not so much the place that I despise, it’s the company that holds the contract and signs my paycheck that I despise.
But, at a couple weeks shy of 62yo I’m not much in the mood to play the bullshit games that seem to be the norm on the recruiting side these days. That and the “devil you know vs. the devil you don’t” bit.
Mrs. Augie is going to take the “retire now, get paid through September” deal that the fedgov is offering. As a medical provider she’s not technically eligible for it, but they are offering waivers to folks who are eligible to retire based on age and time in service, IF their organization isn’t already terribly short on staff AND their leadership team approves. If they deny her request she can tell them to FO and retire anyway. She just won’t get the couple or three months free vacation, which doesn’t amount to a hill of beans - less than $1500/yr - in terms of her retirement income from FERS.
Once we get past that and the ripples in the cash flow have settled I’ll figure out how much more time in the salt mine I can tolerate. We’ve still got a bit to pay on the mortgage, and have a few major property improvements that we want to get done so I’ll find a way to endure it for another couple years. Or I might just say screw em and deal with a lifestyle adjustment.