RunningBum
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
- Joined
- Jun 18, 2007
- Messages
- 13,236
Wow. Is that boss still there, and is he the one asking? Tell him to bring back his GF and see how that goes for him.
......but I don't work here anymore.
- Thread starter CO-guy
- Start date
1242Vintage
Full time employment: Posting here.
The last third of my career was spent developing a very large network of colleagues across the U.S. as part of my job of developing funding sources and plans for very large infrastructure project.
In retirement I’m getting called by former employer as a consultant on similar assignments. This is definitely a “name your price” situation! As a consultant I’m charging my former employer a commission of a 1/4 to 1 percent (depending on project size and complexity) when the funding is secured. My former employer isn’t happy with the Commission system, but they are desperate and keep throwing work my way.
It truly extremely easy consultant and sometimes I feel a little guilty (NOT!) for getting paid for this easy work.
In retirement I’m getting called by former employer as a consultant on similar assignments. This is definitely a “name your price” situation! As a consultant I’m charging my former employer a commission of a 1/4 to 1 percent (depending on project size and complexity) when the funding is secured. My former employer isn’t happy with the Commission system, but they are desperate and keep throwing work my way.
It truly extremely easy consultant and sometimes I feel a little guilty (NOT!) for getting paid for this easy work.
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No way is "dumpster fire" management going to get rid of any fuel.
After the divorce filings (4 kids between the two families), she moved thousands of miles away, he took a lateral move in the "dumpster fire" and his successor is the one who has been asking. Oh, and not surprisingly, it wasn't even the only sex scandal among "dumpster fire" management that year......small town living.
If I had to guess what happens next:
The "dumpster fire" will keep burning, and a year from now management will have no choice but to accept whatever I bid on their RFP to assist with the immediate crisis at that point, which is the emerging crisis now. Part of the reason I know the work is mine if I want it is because my rates are competitive and it's doubtful anyone else will bid. Plus, even if there is another bid, I'm sure my rate will still be lower because I already know the organization.
Also, right there with you 1242Vintage. I can't believe how easy it is to freelance consult in my field. I only wish I had seen the opportunity sooner.
CardsFan
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Do you really want to do this? For ANY amount of money? If you are FI, I think you are crazy. Can you make an amount that will SIGNIFICANTLY change your retirement?
If you are still working as a contractor, for others (and it sounds like you are) just stay with them.
Or, is your morbid curiosity aroused, and you would love to eye witness the "dumpster fire" imploding on itself?
Personally, I would keep a safe distance. No good deed goes unpunished.
MC Rider
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Nobody wants to pay me too much for a consult, but that is OK by me.
No good deed goes unpunished.
Watch out for that though.
No good deed goes unpunished.
Watch out for that though.
skyking1
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Monty Python FTW!
Perhaps some watery tart lobbed a sword at him.
Me niether. I tell them the unvarnished truth. They don't want to hear that they need the right equipment to get it done.
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MC Rider
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Monty Python FTW indeed. Best movie ever. Graham Chapman would have made a much better king than Charles.
audreyh1
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Wow, this thread has been eye opening and highly entertaining!
MC Rider
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Give them a song.
Well I get up at 7 yeah, and drink coffee til 9!
I got no time for working yeah, I'm slacking all the time.
.........
That's why they call me retired man.
I guess that's what I am.
Well I get up at 7 yeah, and drink coffee til 9!
I got no time for working yeah, I'm slacking all the time.
.........
That's why they call me retired man.
I guess that's what I am.
Chuckanut
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Order, who does he think he is? King?
That would be the end of any part time for them.
Perhaps inform them that involuntary servitude is unconstitutional.
To provide even more context, my half-time role has been entirely remote and handled mostly over email. I'm glad that it gave me a chance to slowly transition into 'RE' and helped smooth the glide-path I'm now on. Any morbid curiosity I had has waned over the past year, as predictions came to fruition, so any future projects would simply be for an easy payday.
I am contracted for projects (mostly remote) with several truly wonderful organizations. For projects involving this line of technical work, I'm typically contracted as an outside expert to review information prepared for oversight (state/federal/private). However, I'm also contracted directly by organizations in need of assistance in preparing that information for outside review. The approach I take with these types of projects has been recognized for my "transparency." So if I pick up where I left off with the "dumpster fire" next year, the project will likely entail simply changing the date and a few names..... with 50% payment upfront and 50% in escrow prior to delivery.
Perhaps inform them that involuntary servitude is unconstitutional.
Management at the "dumpster fire" simply doesn't understand or care. They're like a broken record stuck on:
"You need to do this because that's what's best for the organization."
Jeffman52
Recycles dryer sheets
Retiring at the end of May. When I had my meeting with HR and the executive of my department, they asked if I was interested in working part time or perhaps 1099.
I didn't laugh, I just said thanks for considering that and valuing my work, but no thanks. I am not interested.
I didn't laugh, I just said thanks for considering that and valuing my work, but no thanks. I am not interested.
DW & I incorporated a consulting company when we got married in the late 70s. Then, she got a job offer in her esoteric environmental field, & took it, just because she knew it would be interesting. It was, & after 25 years, she RE, giving them a year's notice, so they could hire someone who she could train. Although she reported to the president, no one got hired, until several months after her departure. By then, EPA & BATFE were threatening to close down the company, so they hired the first person who could discuss that field, & told DW that wanted her to come back, to do the long-procrastinated training.
Now, although she had been paid fairly, she sent back a contract from our corporation, which they had never heard of. It included a significant jump in her base rate, plus our standard overhead, & G&A, & they were shell-shocked! Plus, after a year, she had let one very key license lapse (no one had been paying that $5K/year), but that was okay, because I still had mine, & BATFE agreed to let me subcontract to DW. My base rate is nearly 10X what she was charging, & the company was beginning to see how badly they had screwed up!
So, they finally signed our contract, & we pulled them out of that very-deep hole. DW got her replacement training, but warned her old boss that he'd better start looking for a second replacement (R2). The first one (R1) was treating that demanding job like it was a Hawaiian vacation, & not surprisingly, R1 walked out the door, with not even the courtesy of giving notice. The company stll wasn't bright enough to let DW help to find a qualified R2, & lo-&-behold, two years later, & the idiots are looking for R3!
Still idiots, because they didn't use her help, again, & have made a job offer to an unknown R3. So DW has demanded a new contract, with nearly triple our rates, & a clause that she has turned 70, & will not be available to train an R4 (with copies to EPA & BATFE). It's a huge construction company, & will hurt the entire industry if it goes out of business, but we don't consider it our responsibility to keep that company afloat. After nearly six years since her original RE, DW would really like to just kick back, & not have to train unqualified fools!
No complaints about the money, but we didn't need it when she RE. Most of it has gone into house improvements, paying someone else to do what we used to do. New car, new toys for cats & parrots, & one very-old toy for me (I collect Japanese swords!).
Now, although she had been paid fairly, she sent back a contract from our corporation, which they had never heard of. It included a significant jump in her base rate, plus our standard overhead, & G&A, & they were shell-shocked! Plus, after a year, she had let one very key license lapse (no one had been paying that $5K/year), but that was okay, because I still had mine, & BATFE agreed to let me subcontract to DW. My base rate is nearly 10X what she was charging, & the company was beginning to see how badly they had screwed up!
So, they finally signed our contract, & we pulled them out of that very-deep hole. DW got her replacement training, but warned her old boss that he'd better start looking for a second replacement (R2). The first one (R1) was treating that demanding job like it was a Hawaiian vacation, & not surprisingly, R1 walked out the door, with not even the courtesy of giving notice. The company stll wasn't bright enough to let DW help to find a qualified R2, & lo-&-behold, two years later, & the idiots are looking for R3!
Still idiots, because they didn't use her help, again, & have made a job offer to an unknown R3. So DW has demanded a new contract, with nearly triple our rates, & a clause that she has turned 70, & will not be available to train an R4 (with copies to EPA & BATFE). It's a huge construction company, & will hurt the entire industry if it goes out of business, but we don't consider it our responsibility to keep that company afloat. After nearly six years since her original RE, DW would really like to just kick back, & not have to train unqualified fools!
No complaints about the money, but we didn't need it when she RE. Most of it has gone into house improvements, paying someone else to do what we used to do. New car, new toys for cats & parrots, & one very-old toy for me (I collect Japanese swords!).
Souschef
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
I do not have any "dumpster fire" stories, but after I retired, I heard they had to hire 3 guys to replace me.
I was a senior contract administrator with a BS and MBA, also a pilot in this aerospace company where I worked in various positions for 20 years.
I had been screwed out of raises my last two years, so I think it was karma.
Two days after I left, DW and I were on a 14 day tour of South America.
We never looked back.
I was a senior contract administrator with a BS and MBA, also a pilot in this aerospace company where I worked in various positions for 20 years.
I had been screwed out of raises my last two years, so I think it was karma.
Two days after I left, DW and I were on a 14 day tour of South America.
We never looked back.
Thanks, I can relate to your DW's situation. "Dumpster fire" management hasn't responded to my last message, and I'm out of town next week. Perhaps similar to your DW's role, organizations can't exist in my field without someone like me to complete specific tasks, regardless of whether it's in-house or outsourced, and outsourcing costs a fortune.
I felt good about resigning because I'm confident in our FI. Home improvements are done, I still clean the toilets, we barely drive our one car, we have all the skis, bikes and gear we could need, and we spoil our dogs rotten.
Maybe that half-time role has made me feel a little less uneasy about plunking down some cash for a romantic getaway or flights to visit a friend, but the added income hasn't changed much with how we live. The only thing my better-half noticed is that I've donated much more this year to rescue animals in the Four-Corners region of the Southwest than ever before.
Knowing that 8 hours of my time is sufficient to pay someone to get in a van, drive down to that area, pick up 30-35 puppies from a 100% kill shelter and give them a chance for a life, is my motivation to take on that one or two extra days of work a month.
FedRetired50
Recycles dryer sheets
Great stories here, I enjoyed every page.
Oh, come on, home improvements are never "done." Just ask my wife.
Involuntary Retiree
Recycles dryer sheets
- Joined
- Jul 29, 2018
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- 142
I don't have anything to add to this thread except to say that the thread title makes me laugh every time I read it!
Oh, come on, home improvements are never "done." Just ask my wife.
Very true, but my better-half says otherwise.
As for the email, it's worth mentioning that ChatGPT assists me in responding to all messages from "dumpster fire" management, though I do review them and edit occasionally.
Also, FWIW, as an external reviewer, I know what dumpster fires in our field look like from the outside, so I have that context when considering my inside perspective on this particular dumpster fire. It's bad, but I've seen worse.
38Chevy454
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Some funny stories and results discussed here. I guess for OP or anyone in similar situation it comes down to the trade-off of time vs money. Only you can decide at which point the time tradeoff is not worth the additional money. If the company really wants to continue in the same path as they are currently going, my only suggestion is make the co$t pain so severe that they will not call you in the future once you save them from themselves this round.
Koolau
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Unpaintedhuffhines
Recycles dryer sheets
- Joined
- Jan 14, 2013
- Messages
- 314
Order, who does he think he is? King?
That would be the end of any part time for them.
"King, eh? Well, I didn't vote for you."
Update: I received another email with another offer. The new offer is for most of what they asked for in their previous message but for 60% of my salary instead of 100%. It's roughly double the work I've been doing this past year as half-time, but for 10% more money, which is apparently their attempt to compromise.
I'm taking my better-half's advice this time and not responding.
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