An Offer I Had To Refuse

[scrabbler1]

A few days ago, a friend and former coworker called me and after we were done talking about stuff other than what was going on at my old company, he told me they needed someone to do some conversion of my old programs into a new language they were going to use. He told me if I wanted, I could work from home to do the work. I told him emphatically, "NOT interested!"

I like being retired, and I'm not convinced I would be able to avoid ever having to make the long, tiring, expensive trip to my old office had I accepted, which I wasn't going to do because I am NOT interested!

 

[Jerry1]

A couple days after I left my company, a company they do business with contacted me about a contract work opportunity. Given how early I am in this retirement gig, I tried not to burn any bridges/close any doors, but I did say that I wasn't currently interested in doing anything other than absorbing my current situation. Worse part is, I would be honored to work for them, but I want them days to be over and I realize it's likely that urge/twitch will go away with time.

 

[Scuba]

I just got asked if I wanted a consulting gig. No thanks! ER is more fun!,

 

[njhowie]

Ditto - I recently received a feeler from an old manager and flat out refused...almost laughing that life is too good and I'd never consider employment with any megacorp again.

Five years out and life is stress free, no ridiculous commuting, waking up at 5AM and getting home at 8PM or later, being on 24 hour call, placating demands of idiot managers, etc. Sheesh, my blood pressure is beginning to escalate just discussing it!

 

[braumeister]

It took about two years before I stopped getting offers of consulting gigs.

I actually discussed a couple of them before it emerged that they weren't willing to pay the exorbitant rates I wanted. I think most such offers are mainly because they can't believe you actually wanted to retire.

 

[Car-Guy]

My Ex Mega corp made some comments before I retired that I could come back as a part time consultant, but I made it very clear that I would have no interest in that. I got a couple of calls from others in "the business" but rejected those too. Looking back, my only regret about retiring, was not retiring sooner.

 

[Mdlerth]

Beats me what they're thinking

It's a curious thing, this eagerness to return to w*rk when you don't need to. Over the past decade or so I've watched a bunch of engineers do it. They retire from Megacorps at >60, with their kids grown, no debt, a mattress full of Benjamins and a pension. Then they go back to w*rk for four, five, maybe even ten years as contractors doing the same things they were doing before.

I'm talking about people who were fully FI, for whom the extra dough wasn't going to make a whisker's worth of difference in their lifestyle other than consume a bunch of free time that would have been far better spent playing.

Sure, they earn a good buck, but it's decent money not fabulous money. It isn't like it will boost their nest egg from a handful of millions to 50 millions.

So why would they do it? That trip to Italy or New Zealand? They already could afford to go; now they'll fly first class but only stay half as long. Upgrade their cars? Doesn't look like it since they keep driving the same Lexus/Mercedes. Fancier crib? Nope; they never end up moving.

When I push the button, I want it to be permanent. Of course, it's easy for me to say this as I count down what should be my final year in the sweatshop. I only hope I keep feeling this way as Freedom Day draws nearer.

 

[CaptTom]

Funny, I left the door open to returning as a project-bound consultant. It seemed appealing to work on one thing, and only one thing, after a career as more of a generalist. In other words, to NOT get sucked into a hundred side projects sounded pretty enticing.

No calls yet, and I doubt there will be. That's just the way this department works. I've thought about reaching out to my old bosses, and I'm pretty sure they'd jump at the chance. Obviously, I'm not really interested any more.

 

[Bamaman]

There is nothing more nerve racking than transposing a computer to operate in a completely different language and switching over to 100% new generation computers. It is enough to give someone a heart attack.

My cousin lived with me, and he didn't come home for 10 days switching a bank's computers. The second he got it right, a huge storm hit and erased the work he had just completed.

 

[Chuckanut]

@Mr scrabbler1 - IMHO, you dodged a bullet. Good thinking!

Edited to add: I just saw today's Dilbert cartoon. It is very appropriate to this discussion.

http://dilbert.com/strip/2018-01-22

 

[Clone]

Different strokes for different folks.

I talked about this with several folks that had retired and returned on contract. Most of them said they enjoyed the work, and being on contract eliminated all of the corporate management goofiness. They worked on what they enjoyed doing, and the toxic managers had no claim to them. None of the stupid corporate overhead. Plus, the money was good.

Some of the folks on this board hated their jobs, hated everything about it. Of course they should never consider returning. Many of them can not understand that some folks enjoyed elements of their jobs.

I have had offers to do some consulting work. At this point, the money is not enough incentive to get me to sign up for the expectations and obligations. There was an opportunity that drifted across the email last week that I considered. Not because of the money, but because of the experience. A pure adrenaline rush of engineering, build, test, and competition. Unfortunately, I had other obligations that were in conflict.

 

[Texas Proud]

I am with Clone....

Doing something new has some appeal.... and being able to fix a problem a company has is like a puzzle IMO.... and getting paid to solve a puzzle is kinda nice...

Also having the ability to tell them to screw it has advantages... if they make it hard for you to do what you want you can just walk away... FI makes some of the bad parts of a job just disappear....


I do not get any calls anymore... the mgmt of the local office of the firm I was with all got let go.... I also refused to work at a few places were the commute was too long for me so I guess they just stopped....

 

[CoolRich59]

Five years out and life is stress free, no ridiculous commuting, waking up at 5AM and getting home at 8PM or later, being on 24 hour call, placating demands of idiot managers, etc. Sheesh, my blood pressure is beginning to escalate just discussing it!

How about those Sunday afternoons/evenings when that sinking feeling would descend on you like a dark cloud as you started to think about Monday morning?

Good times!

 

[Ready]

Scrabbler,

Just curious, if they could have guaranteed you that you would never be required to leave your home no matter what, would that have impacted your decision in any way?

 

[W2R]

A few days ago, a friend and former coworker called me and after we were done talking about stuff other than what was going on at my old company, he told me they needed someone to do some conversion of my old programs into a new language they were going to use. He told me if I wanted, I could work from home to do the work. I told him emphatically, "NOT interested!"

I like being retired, and I'm not convinced I would be able to avoid ever having to make the long, tiring, expensive trip to my old office had I accepted, which I wasn't going to do because I am NOT interested!

Good for you!!!! I am glad that you were not swayed by them. I know that resuming that commute, if necessary, would be such a nightmare to you. And really, you seem to be doing fine without working.

 

[scrabbler1]

Scrabbler,

Just curious, if they could have guaranteed you that you would never be required to leave your home no matter what, would that have impacted your decision in any way?

That's a good question. I told my friend/former-coworker that I needed two things to be met if I were to entertain an offer not to leave back in 2008. The first was to rarely or never have to make the trip to the office, at most once a month. (The company had ended all open-ended telecommuting arrangements back in 2003, 2 years after I had begun mostly telecommuting and going to the office once a week.) The second was for them to allow me to buy into their group health insurance program, paying 100% of the premiums. Both were non-starters at the time, citing "company policy."

Now that I am buying my own HI, being able to buy into theirs would be moot. As for the telecommuting, it's more that I simply didn't want anything more to do with my old work, even from home. Simply put, that ship has sailed. They needed to make an offer like this one back in 2008 (with the HI), before I began enjoying full ER.

 

[copyright1997reloaded]

Different strokes for different folks.

I talked about this with several folks that had retired and returned on contract. Most of them said they enjoyed the work, and being on contract eliminated all of the corporate management goofiness. They worked on what they enjoyed doing, and the toxic managers had no claim to them. None of the stupid corporate overhead. Plus, the money was good.

Some of the folks on this board hated their jobs, hated everything about it. Of course they should never consider returning. Many of them can not understand that some folks enjoyed elements of their jobs.

I have had offers to do some consulting work. At this point, the money is not enough incentive to get me to sign up for the expectations and obligations. There was an opportunity that drifted across the email last week that I considered. Not because of the money, but because of the experience. A pure adrenaline rush of engineering, build, test, and competition. Unfortunately, I had other obligations that were in conflict.

I'm also with clone. It all depends on the situation. I did some consulting for megacorp (through a third party so I could continue to collect my pension) because my old client made my participation a prerequisite to signing a deal with megacorp. It also allowed me to dictate the terms - part time only - one trip to a certain client location per month, etc. I had fun doing the work, but even with that was happy to leave it behind.

Instead I moved on to teaching college level computer science. At first it was part time (adjunct), but for the last few years has been full time. Yes, I have to go to W**k, but the hours are good, most of my time is very flexible (a lot of students take on-line courses these days so there is limited physical class time required), and I get a lot of days off including the summers. While I am ok collecting the paycheck and am appreciative of health care benefits (which is one of the reasons I went for full time), I mostly do it for the mental stimulation. I get to teach things (at least some of the students want to learn ha ha) and learn new things that interest me, while at the same time I get to hike, ski, etc on a frequent basis.

 

[Teacher Terry]

2 years after I retired the state asked me to come back when the person doing my position quit. I had to go in one day/week to test clients and I did the work from home. I did it for 6 months. I presently teach an online class and c an do it from anywhere with internet so have done it from a cruise ship and while in Europe. I have been doing it for 5 years and have no plans to quit. The pay is excellent too which is nice.

 

[socca]

I received a software engineering team manager offer out of the blue around 6 months ago via Meetup.com. This also included an equity participation opportunity. I felt sorry for the guy - he sounded desperate. I googled his company and his local house - neither suggested great wealth or prosperity. Maybe he is extreme LBYM or, more likely, in some kind of trouble and looking for a savior. Nope - not me!

 

[Red Badger]

How about those Sunday afternoons/evenings when that sinking feeling would descend on you like a dark cloud as you started to think about Monday morning?

Good times!

+1 and more! I was a road warrior the last dozen years. I often flew out late Sunday afternoon as it just sucked less than getting up at 3 AM to catch a 5 - something flight. My dark cloud appeared on the horizon after breakfast and would fully saturate my soul by lunch time.