Tough Day at Work

[Scrapr]

As a business owner it is nice to be able to pick your battles. If a contractor verbally abuses our employees they get fired. The contractor, not the employee. Stress level goes way down. Typically it is an emergency on the contractor's part as they forgot to get us in before their next trade in. Prior poor planning is not an emergency on my part

We do not work for the National builders in our market. They have emergencies every week because they are not organized and don't plan. It's part of their culture. Then they yell at our employees and our dispatch. No employee deserves that treatment

 

[Chuckanut]

OP... How do you think that stress is affecting your health? That is reallhy the big question, IMHO.

 

[ImThinkin2019]

OP... How do you think that stress is affecting your health? That is reallhy the big question, IMHO.

Hmm. I have to think about that. I do like many things about my job - mostly interaction with people. But the stress is a factor.

Makes me recall many postings where newly retired people report "lost weight, slept better"....

 

[scrabbler1]

I have been retired for nearly 10 years and I don't miss it at all. Overall, I did like my job, though. What killed me was the dang commute on the trains, even as little as 2 days a week in the last 17 months of my 23 year career (I worked part-time for at most 20 hours a week for the last 7 years). In the last 10 years, I have ridden the LIRR exactly 3 times (round-trips), never during the rush hour.


My contact with former coworkers has been mostly limited to one friend/coworker I speak with a few times a year. The last time we spoke, he told me he plans to retire later this year at age 60, as he has become sick and tired of the growing BS he has had to put up with.


Some of the job skills I learned in my 23-year career I have been able to carry into my nonwork life, mainly computer skills and writing skills. What I learned about auto insurance (I worked in the actuarial profession), has been useful at times over the years.


But what has interested me less and less in my 10 years of retirement is having to listen to workplace woes from other people such as my ladyfriend and my best (male) friend. I just smile and nod and say, "That sucks" while thinking to myself, "I am sooooooo glad I don't have to deal with that crappola any more."


Similarly, whenever I see a transit report on the news about the LIRR's latest problems, I think to myself, :"I am soooooo glad I don't have to deal with that crappola any more!"

 

[Amethyst]

My last year of work before retiring, I was doing a weird-hours job with a day supervisor who was really starting to get my goat (meanwhile, I got along great with my weird-hours boss and co-workers).

I mean, I dreaded seeing the woman lumber into the room because I knew I was in for some kind of criticism, and she was also fond of sending passive-aggressive emails that I would see when I logged in for my night shift.

Then the light went on. "You'll be retiring soon, while she's still stuck paying off her house and bucking for her last promotion. She has NO power over you, except what you choose to give her just b/c your stupid upbringing makes you want to please everybody." After that, it was like water off a duck's back.

 

[bclover]

LOL, actually even though I'm working p/t. it's a different mentality when your FI. I simply smile and know that any time I want to I can skip happily out the door. I long gave up being stressed.

My youngest just graduated from College so I'll probably be leaving soon

 

[GalaxyBoy]

A classmate and colleague died on Wednesday at 60. She had worked the day before and died in the early morning hours. She was a gentle soul. Sad for her and thankful to be FIREd.

After I FIREd a coworker and friend had an aneurysm while working at home on a Sunday night, slipped into a coma, and died within 24 hours. She was in her mid to late 50s. It certainly reinforced to me that I did the right thing by retiring while I still had my health. I was extremely overworked with unreasonable deadlines and excessive travel, and DW was concerned I might drop dead at any moment.

 

[UnrealizedPotential]

The memories of work and all its problems fade with time. The letting go of people you used to work with, all the headaches, all the people who you didn't get along with, all those memories fade.


It's been two years for me and not all the memories are gone , but they are fading more and more and I try not to think about work anymore. There just isn't a reason to remember, I know I'm not ever going back again.

 

[WestUniversity]

I’m now on blood pressure medication. GP and Cardiologist attribute it to stress. Thanks MegaCorp

[emoji856]

 

[Walt34]

LOL, actually even though I'm working p/t. it's a different mentality when your FI. I simply smile and know that any time I want to I can skip happily out the door. I long gave up being stressed.

That's about where I was when I took a job after retirement. It was full time, but had a three mile commute with one traffic light and the job was very low stress. Eventually things did go south there and I and 19 others had the luxury of quitting. A few months later I came across one of the guys I worked with there and he had some horror stories to tell. I would have lasted at most two days before quitting if I had stayed.

 

[MRG]

Hmm. I have to think about that. I do like many things about my job - mostly interaction with people. But the stress is a factor.

Makes me recall many postings where newly retired people report "lost weight, slept better"....

Stress hurts those around us to. DW has anxiety and while she can still have an occasional panic attack they're nothing like what she used to have. Takes less meds too.

My last VP did me a favor. He made things so miserable for everyone under him, I left. My manager was a nice guy, if he only had a spine. He was responsible for the stupidity too. He insisted that all 7 people on our team received every hardware page, especially the ones that didn't matter! So a blip on a disk unit that RAID was going to handle and we'd get hundreds of pages all night.

My best, last great time having him dress me down(he was a former Marine) at 3AM was because I missed a page from an individual during one of the mass page attacks. When I found the page it said "call me"! No idea who I was supposed to call. He ripped me a new butt over that, never apologized.

I was going to do another OMY, after a couple of those stupid things happened I changed my mind.

 

[ImThinkin2019]

Stress hurts those around us to. DW has anxiety and while she can still have an occasional panic attack they're nothing like what she used to have. Takes less meds too.

My last VP did me a favor. He made things so miserable for everyone under him, I left. My manager was a nice guy, if he only had a spine. He was responsible for the stupidity too. He insisted that all 7 people on our team received every hardware page, especially the ones that didn't matter! So a blip on a disk unit that RAID was going to handle and we'd get hundreds of pages all night.

My best, last great time having him dress me down(he was a former Marine) at 3AM was because I missed a page from an individual during one of the mass page attacks. When I found the page it said "call me"! No idea who I was supposed to call. He ripped me a new butt over that, never apologized.

I was going to do another OMY, after a couple of those stupid things happened I changed my mind.

Thanks for this. We have improved management so the atmosphere in general is better than before. Someone like a former Marine would help clarify things.

 

[Redbugdave]

As others have said, at some point that will no longer be the case. I had lunch last week with a buddy who still works for my old employer and when he told me about some of the problems he was having at work he might as well have been speaking in a foreign language.

I also have lunch sometimes with my retired work friends and some still working. Some of my retired friends won't let go, (they still identify with their position and not who they really are inside). I really do feel sorry for the ones still working, (I was once one of them). I can see the stress and how wrapped up they are in that foolishness. Listening to the work blather is like a foreign language to me now, as well. I will probably quit going to the lunches since it is living in the past. I have a new life now and am unplugged from all that stuff. It was just a job. "I'm glad I did it, partly because it was worth doing, but mostly because I'll never have to do it again."....Mark Twain

 

[Pellice]

I’m now on blood pressure medication. GP and Cardiologist attribute it to stress. Thanks MegaCorp

[emoji856]

I am now 99.8% out, but wanted to comment that this happened to me also, in my last 6 or 7 months on the job. I developed high blood pressure for the first time and am on medication. Not quite quick enough in departing.

My sympathy to the OP. That you have the resources to FIRE has to be your great comfort! So many don't.

I will just add, that the FIRE water is fine - no, it's wonderful! I have a couple more days to go into the office and am monitoring projects I have handed off. Watching them start to wander off track and be thankful I don't have to fix the issues. And multiple mailings on efforts to fix tech systems urging everyone to watch video (re)training on processes that management broke. I forward them to my temporary replacement.

 

[harley]

I also have lunch sometimes with my retired work friends and some still working. Some of my retired friends won't let go, (they still identify with their position and not who they really are inside). I really do feel sorry for the ones still working, (I was once one of them). I can see the stress and how wrapped up they are in that foolishness. Listening to the work blather is like a foreign language to me now, as well. I will probably quit going to the lunches since it is living in the past. I have a new life now and am unplugged from all that stuff. It was just a job. "I'm glad I did it, partly because it was worth doing, but mostly because I'll never have to do it again."....Mark Twain

Same here. I have a close friend who is still (but not for long) working for our Megacorp. Often when talking on the phone he tells me about the job he is doing and problems he is having to resolve. When I first FIREd (12 years ago next month) I would listen, be interested, try to help if I could. Over the years the work aspect of our conversations became less interesting, something I just couldn't bring myself to care about. Now it's the Charlie Brown's Teacher sound effect. Luckily that's a very small part of our conversations, and he's retiring in a few months himself. I'm sure he'll go through the same process over time if he stays in touch with former coworkers.

 

[Souschef]

Well, I stood on the train platform with my final check in one hand, the remnants of my retirement cake in the other.
I got on the train, and as it pulled out, there was this little "pop" in my head, and that was the last time I thought about w@rk
P.S. I w@rked there 20 years, and lost count of the number of presidents that cycled through there.

 

[Bigdawg]

LOL, actually even though I'm working p/t. it's a different mentality when your FI. I simply smile and know that any time I want to I can skip happily out the door. I long gave up being stressed.

Same boat. FI but still working. Had a few assignments over the years that sucked like I read some of the posters on here. Current situation is awesome. Easy commute. No micro manage. Respected for my expertise and experience. Get to lead when I want/need to with bosses backing us up. Pretty good coworkers. Hanging on at least until end of contract (October 2019). At that time we will be in the newly built beach house for 7 months. If the new contract looks good I will likely go down to 75% for 6-12 months then 50% for another 6-12 months. In the last 3 months I have lost 31 pounds and no high blood pressure meds. Currently working projects on the F/A-18C, MQ-8B, P-8 and MH-60S. DS is an active duty Marine working with F/A-18's on the west coast. We actually had a work chat this morning. Pretty cool I thought. Good luck OP.

 

[Scuba]

I’ve found that for me, it’s better not to keep in touch much with people I worked with at my last company. While I keep in touch with many people at my previous Megacorp, most of us have been gone from there for a long time and it’s nice to just catch up and hear about their lives post-Megacorp. When I talk with people from my last employer, they’re all still there and start talking about corporate politics, frustrations, etc. that I happily left behind and don’t enjoy hearing about. While there were some people there I really liked while I was there, I’ve realized post-ER that they were “work friends” rather than “real friends.” We don’t have much in common any more.

 

[street]

I’ve found that for me, it’s better not to keep in touch much with people I worked with at my last company. While I keep in touch with many people at my previous Megacorp, most of us have been gone from there for a long time and it’s nice to just catch up and hear about their lives post-Megacorp. When I talk with people from my last employer, they’re all still there and start talking about corporate politics, frustrations, etc. that I happily left behind and don’t enjoy hearing about. While there were some people there I really liked while I was there, I’ve realized post-ER that they were “work friends” rather than “real friends.” We don’t have much in common any more.

This is my thinking and doings as well.

 

[Koolau]

I stayed long after I reached FI because I still enjoyed what I was doing. That all changed very quickly and I left the next week. Now, 13 years later, I rarely think of the "bad" times. I miss a few folks and stay in touch with a couple. Other than that, w*rk is a rapidly fading memory. YMMV

 

[tomc5179]

Work? Ewwwwwwww........ It's been several years since I retired and I have not had any trouble forgetting about it. I must say that life is just all around much more pleasant now.

 

[Kim451]

I've only been gone 6 months but glad to put the old job behind me! I may work part-time again but at Something Completely Different, and mainly to meet people and keep busy.

 

[iloveyoga]

I feel like I am a different person from when I worked.

 

[PoorOldCountryBoy]

For all of you who are FIREd already, I thought I would allow you to reminisce. Today I have customers angry because we cannot ship fast enough, plants angry because I expect delivery too fast, and a plant manager angry because I quoted something without him.

My stomach is a little twisted feeling because of the stress.

I am just over 60 and financially OK. No problem. But I keep telling myself I like work. Yet on days like today I wonder if it's worth it.

I do get lots of gratification from my job. But I thought it might bring back memories for some of you.

Retired at 50, now at 53 not missing it at all (except for the pay of course!). Enjoyed some of the interactions and the nice job but I'm glad the hobbies and friends are much more enjoyable.

Hang in there and just do what is right for you.

 

[Jamie1101]

I retired out of GM as a production worker in 2005 under the "30 years and out" policy at 53 years old. When I hired in GM was still in the dark ages. The book "The Savage Factory" is like reading my biography. Early on in my "career" I realized I did not want GM to be my life/reason for living and began to save serious money for retirement pretty much right from the start.

I developed a life and circles of friends outside of the plant so when I left that factory a whole different world was waiting for me.

The HR people at the plant I retired out of said they had never seen anyone so prepared for retirement. My last year of employment, my savings deductions were such there was not enough take home pay to cover my Union Dues. I was told that was a first! Once my IRA was maxed out the UAW got their share! I had spread sheets of every minute worked so to be able to get out the second my acquired time allowed me to leave.

One method of coping in those years was keeping a journal. I've been toying with the idea of fleshing those entries out into some form of a "vanity book". Trust me some of the tales of corporate dysfunction I can tell really border on the unbelieveable....

I witnessed fellow workers consumed by the factory. I realized that the GM Pension and health benefits were worth the sacrifice and did the best I could to survive with my sanity and health intact. I don't miss my past work life. Those early years of saving have paid off as money is the least of my problems.