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.
Sounds like you have about as much respect for “your betters” as I do. Games indeed and they think they’re slick but they’re fooling very few people.