athena53
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
- Joined
- May 11, 2014
- Messages
- 7,403
Two non-COLA pensions of $900/month each, one from a job I left in 1995, one I left in 2006. Generous 401(k) matches. The insurance business still takes decent care of its employees, although I suspect the first company no longer has a DB plan and I know the second company ended its plan when it was acquired.
Travel. Ah. Sometimes undistinguished domestic destinations, but my first meeting as a member of my professional society was in San Juan, PR. (I studied darn hard to pass the exam that would get me inducted as a member at that meeting.) First time I'd ever seen palm trees. Typically the Society meets in a major city or some glamorous resort (e.g. the Boca Raton Resort, the Del Coronado in San Diego) so I got to a lot of nice destinations for meetings and usually got in a little sightseeing. Joined an international company early on and after that got a decent amount of trips to various places in Europe and to India. Post-2006, transatlantics were in Business Class. Lots of FF miles and hotel points I could use for personal travel with DH.
I wanted to talk about the Good Old Days, though. Dad was in management at a steel mill when I was in HS/college. It was back when companies could send gifts to managers of customer companies and Christmas was always fun. Lots of booze (I was too young to partake), some delicious prosciutto and other yummy foods, Bing and Grondhal Christmas plates, etc. The only genuine miss was a set of stainless steel tableware- made in Korea. Dad sent it back.
I should add that Dad was an honorable man and I doubt very much that his purchasing decisions for the company were influenced by these gifts. Most companies have strict rules against such gifts anymore, but it made for a fun December.
Travel. Ah. Sometimes undistinguished domestic destinations, but my first meeting as a member of my professional society was in San Juan, PR. (I studied darn hard to pass the exam that would get me inducted as a member at that meeting.) First time I'd ever seen palm trees. Typically the Society meets in a major city or some glamorous resort (e.g. the Boca Raton Resort, the Del Coronado in San Diego) so I got to a lot of nice destinations for meetings and usually got in a little sightseeing. Joined an international company early on and after that got a decent amount of trips to various places in Europe and to India. Post-2006, transatlantics were in Business Class. Lots of FF miles and hotel points I could use for personal travel with DH.
I wanted to talk about the Good Old Days, though. Dad was in management at a steel mill when I was in HS/college. It was back when companies could send gifts to managers of customer companies and Christmas was always fun. Lots of booze (I was too young to partake), some delicious prosciutto and other yummy foods, Bing and Grondhal Christmas plates, etc. The only genuine miss was a set of stainless steel tableware- made in Korea. Dad sent it back.
I should add that Dad was an honorable man and I doubt very much that his purchasing decisions for the company were influenced by these gifts. Most companies have strict rules against such gifts anymore, but it made for a fun December.
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