Early Retirement

I officially ended my tenure at Sara Lee today. Looking forward to a couple weeks of goofing off/household chores before I get serious about finding the next paying gig.

My Dad would sure have trouble understanding today's employment world. After my Mom's funeral, my uncle (her brother) told me how she was considered to have landed quite a catch when she married Dad. In rural post-depression Iowa, Dad was unusual in that he had a regular paycheck. Most folks depended on the sale of farm goods or work for pay from one project or construction job and then wait for another to come along. Dad worked for the railroad. He went to work every day and got paid regular as clockwork. That was a privilege not all shared, and Dad recognized that himself. He was glad to have that job and performed in a series of positions for the same railroad for over 30 years. He was loyal to his company and he expected company loyalty to him in return.

Things have changed. Folks take on a job these days and more often than not they move on to another job after 2 - 4 years. Sometimes it's the employee who moves and sometimes it's the company that allows the employee the opportunity to grow elsewhere. I have never had an unfavorable employee evaluation in my career, but I have worked for 10 companies over a 33 year career. 6 times now, it was the company's idea that we part ways. It's almost as if employment with a company has taken on the form of contractor work ..."the project's done, it's time to leave."

I've gotten used to this, but Dad wouldn't understand.

Soon to be a man of leisure

.....that is unless God wants me to keep slaving away. I had another first-round interview yesterday, this time for a new position within Sara Lee. Seemed to go pretty well. No word back from the folks I talked with last week, but it's early yet.

We can't say the kitchen is entirely finished yet, but it's getting really close. Sue has gotten the cabinets stocked and organized. I installed part of the trim remaining to be completed. I still have to machine a new window sill and then trim out the window, and we need new baseboards for the areas with the new and refinished floors.

Shifting tasks at the office to others, and that transition seems to be going pretty well. I expect some quiet days the rest of the week if nothing blows up in the meantime.

Hah, I win!

Plumbing has submitted!

I had a phone interview today that seemed good. Now on to the next step.

In the last several weeks I've been hearing from old, old friends. Lots of fun. Amazing how little the essence of folks I knew at 18 years old has changed in the 35 years since.

Good morning.

Nine business days remaining until I "retire" from Sara Lee. Yesterday, when I stepped outside myself and observed, it was interesting to see how my attitude toward work there has shifted. I'm trying to organize my files in a manner that will be useful to the woman who will follow up after I'm gone. In meetings, topics that would have been of great interest are more like academic discussions. What would have been critical a week ago is only of passing interest. I found myself offering advice rather than influencing a direction.

I'm trying to wrap my head around how I will proceed with the next phase of my career. I was having a conversation with a friend last night, and we concluded that I'll likely take a couple weeks off to clear up chores around the house that have been waiting for my attention. The change of pace, the working with my hands, will give my mind a chance to acclimate to the new situation. I tease about retiring, but that's not quite in the cards just yet.

Having been through this all before, I realize that life will go on and we will be just fine....we only need to determine what shape life will take next. I'm going to be rather picky about that, I think.

Back to the day-to-day stuff. The stupid drain in the kitchen has developed a clog. It in the wall, the existing piping. I think what's going on is that the crud on the sides of the drain pipe got nice and dry during the 5 or 6 weeks of not having water run over it all day every day. Some of it sloughed off and stuck to some that did not slough off. Between my trusty snake and 'better living though modern chemistry' I will triumph, but it's really aggravating to have a clogged drain in our gorgeous new kitchen. Must be part of God's message about staying humble and not getting too big for my britches.

It's a kitchen!

OK!

The kitchen is functional!

Many, Many details to finish. Still need to organize and populate the cabinets, but we're up and running.

I finished the plumbing today. Expected that getting the water supply in would be the hard part. Wrong! Getting water in place was less than an hour and had all the right parts from the first trip to the hardware store. The drain was a nightmare! 5 trips to the hardware store, six hours, and I still have a few parts to return --- so 6 trips in all....and after that I still have one more leak to tweak.

But, we can use the kitchen. We can use the dishwasher. The ice maker is working.

The cabinets and counters are gorgeous. Will have the latest photos posted on the web soon.

Hello there

Greetings and welcome to my brand new blog. I've started getting into the Facebook thing, and decided it was also time to learn what blogging was about.

I'm home today while the brand new granite countertops get installed in the newly remodelled kitchen. This seemed like a good way to use my time while the installers do their thing.

Aside from the entertainment value of starting a blog, I also have another purpose in mind. My job at Sara Lee will be ending at the end of the month, and I think that I may be able to take advantage of Blogging to market myself. So here goes nothing.

Jim