(October 12, 2017 at 9:23 pm)Whateverist Wrote: Honestly I don't know how anyone works full time any more. I used to put in long hours teaching, longer than anything else I've done. My system would just shut down or revolt nowadays.
I'm working on getting back to the shape I used to be in, 3 years before I retired. Not. I have gained some weight, 'tis true, but I was working so much overtime that I was literally bouncing off the walls when I walked around (no alcohol required). I drove 47 miles each way, worked (on a good day) 9 hours, and drove home in rush hour traffic. That generally meant I was away from home for 12+ hours. 30 miles of that drive was on the 405 freeway through the Sepulveda pass and past LAX. I've worked back-to-back shifts, 22 hour days with 4 hours in between (in fact, I snuck a sleeping bag into my office and slept there, sometimes; a definite violation of labor laws and company policy). A work month was counted as 160 hours for charging purposes. I retired in October, 3 years ago. I had 500+ hours of overtime that year, and did it in ten months. That's as though I worked 13+ months, in 10 months. Many of us has accrued 500 hours of overtime in just 6 months. It was so bad, that if you requested vacation, you had to ask to make sure you had the weekend days counted, or you caught shit if you showed up on Monday, from a vacation, instead of Saturday. I know for a fact that 3 people now do the work I used to do. Since the company can charge for each head on the job, they actually make more money. And to think, if I had gotten the next pay grade, I'd be retiring now, for a measly $25k a year bump.
One of the guys I know asked if I would come back as a consultant, for $200/hour. I told him that if they let me telecommute, I'd consider it (all the while mentally giving a flock of birds to the establishment there). Guess this ought to be in some rant somewhere. Oh, well. Here's pic of the flock of birds I was mentally imaging, 6 ways from the origin, mahfuckahs-
Hmm. They actually called me once for advice on something I worked on, about 10 months after I retired. Anyone want to guess how quickly I called back? I did consider telling them to get me rebriefed and hire me through a contractor, and have me come in and meet them to answer any questions they might have. I figure it would have been a kilobuck for the day, but I didn't bother. Fuck 'em.
If you get to thinking you’re a person of some influence, try ordering somebody else’s dog around.