Posted on 12/12/2008 7:00:32 PM PST by MrPiper
Conservatives thoughts on just being laid off. (I was)
I was laid off this week.Two weeks before Christmas. Am I scared, No, I have no debt and a savings account.
I have been in my trade for 15 years and have excellent skills.
I took and passed my states contractors license a few months ago and passed. Yea me!
I have about 3 years of living expenses in the bank and no debt.
I'm taking a well deserved few months off before the next year and will start my own business come spring. I'll be hunting and fishing in my spare time. Who needs the damn government! Not this family.
Good luck with everything, dude.
Outstanding work!
A word of advice.....resist all efforts to get you to leave on your own. Hang in there until they RIF you. That’s what I did and the separation package that they had to give was enough to buy me six months. They will do everything they can to avoid having to pay that money.
Based on yesterday's meeting and regurgitation of some old complaints, almost word for word of a year ago, and not a word said since until now, I think someone doesn't want me to go peaceably.
One nightmare scenario I happened to think of today came to mind. About the time I started, an old PC tower went missing in some location. It was never found. Granted I would not steal, especially that junk, I would half expect to get reamed over that. I would contact a lawyer most likely and demand proof.
In the meantime, I am looking on-line and on the ground for places to go.
If you've got a target on your back your spidey sense should tell you so. Listen to it, keep moving and stay in the shadows whenever possible. I've known guys to outlast the SOBs who tried to shove them out. Stay positive.
I opted for not carrying an issue since I don't want something else to keep up with plus I have so many minutes, I never come close to burning them up. I pay the bill and keep the phone on me always.
Unless someone hacks into my cell account or removes my phone from me physically, they have no records. Since I have nothing to hide, I will show a log if asked. I clear it sometimes though since it is mine.
The cell is given as the primary contact number for just about everything I apply for. I don't make/take many calls. Sometimes, it goes for days without activating.
The landlines are checked monthly and I make so few calls, 99% work related, the other 1% to home once in a while.
Happened to me.....I knew "they" were gunning for me...I stayed away from them as much as possible...did my work on time, was never sick, or late to work.
Covertly I worked against "them" as they were horrible mean-spirited lying cheating dirt-bags....Finally they all got fired..or asked to quit.
I outlasted them....but it still took a toll on me.
fwiw-
I was born in the real poor part of our state (West Tennessee). We always lived close to my grandparents who kept chickens and furnished us eggs. (We also kept a few chickens, and one of them chased me from the outhouse to the house one day. Embarrassing. I may have already related this tidbit.) They, and my parents, gardened and my mother canned vegetables; my grandparents were getting old when I was born and had always raised and killed hogs when it got cold weather, made sausage, cured hams, kept a cow and had fresh milk and butter. Yeah, we didn’t know anything about credit cards, wouldn’t have mattered if we had because my Daddy hated being in debt in the least. - We didn’t know what “plasic wrap” or “paper napkins or paper towels” were either. I guess I probably knew or guessed that some of the townie kids I went to school with thought I was rude, crude and totally unacceptable, but it wasn’t all that big a deal to me. I guess in retrospect a more “nutritious” diet might have spared me some dental problems I struggle with today, but we just didn’t know how Hostess cupcakes and a dime Coca Cola could possibly be bad for us. I once picked cotton for hours as a child and it only came up to a dime’s worth the day I decided picking cotton wasn’t going to be my forte. Those were the days!
Once, some neighbor kids’ daddies had made them pairs of toy crutches on which they tooled all around the neighborhood. I begged my dad to make me a pair and he told me NO WAY am I going to make you any crutches. YOU ARE NOT crippled and that would not be nice to mock a crippled person that way! - Were you in that bunch by any chance?
Yes - and to this day, I make napkins from cotton scraps, roll hemming them. Great tranquilizer and accomplishes something while watching TV.
I still use the old 'flour sack' towels for dish wipers, hand towels, to make cafe curtains, to clean with...I buy one 6 pack of paper towels a year.
LOL - you picked cotton. Up here, it was potatoes. We kids got out of school 2 weeks in the fall to help pick potatoes. Didn't we love it. Out in the fields instead of in school - and pocket money we earned ourselves! Sweet. Lots of lessons there.
But Big Daddy Gub'mint protected kids right out of that opportunity.
It’s always good to out last and out class the bastids then leave on your own terms. Good for you.
Where do you find good flour sack towels? I have to admit that I now use a lot of paper towels in cleaning, excusing the waste with the idea that they are a more sanitary solution. I do use cloth towels and terry towels, only drying my hands once or twice a day on paper towels. - I also waste toilet paper, I suppose. :O/
Wow. How did you do that? Bravo Zulu!
Nice plan, and nice plane, too. Can’t quite see all of it - is that a Saratoga? I like the paint scheme.
Your preparedness is a model for what I *should* have done, but unwisely didn’t. A divorce, a serious surgery, other family issues to deal with, and several well-intentioned but less-than-optimal choices later, it’s a struggle for me today (in my 23rd year of self-employment). I am saving your posts for my son to learn from. God bless you.
What do you do, and what kind of business are you considering starting?
You: Wow. How did you do that? Bravo Zulu!
___________________________________________
Timing is everything. God was kind to us. I found myself in the data network business at the 'dawn' of the internet. I saw the opportunity before most and moved to take advantage of it. A lot of work, a bit of luck and the money rolled in for a few years. We did not change our lifestyle (except to travel more) and invested in rental properties (again timing - this was before the run up of prices). By fifty we were debt free with steady income from the rentals.
I 'retired' to start my own company. I do what I want without the pressure of 'having' to bring in a paycheck.
I'm no genius, just smart enough to know what I don't know.
Looking for a job?
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/2136635/posts
This threat is updated on a regular basis.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.