Troll alert

[Scott Lee]

Hello everybody!

I have been trolling this forum for a long time. Please I don't mean to offend by trolling and  I don't dump emoji's, and everybody's opinion is...ok, I might not understand your opinion but it's ok. Lots of members  have provided me both entertainment and knowledge... both in guitar and life. My usual routine is to hop on at lunch during work, perusing the content, looking for my favorite posters…postee’s. Some are gone forever…I really miss Milord’s posts they were the best.

Anyway my Gibson’s and other instruments are not super high end but good for me a 89 Studio LP, a Midtown with bigsby , Tele squire that was upgraded pickups TV jones and Demarizo plus locking tuners and bigsby. I know friend don’t let friends…bigsbys but for me it’s part of the fun. And a Martin 0017 Whiskey Sunset.  I practice/play as much as I can, and play out very little but enjoy any time I can play with friends. Music tastes pretty varied…but I’m  a rocker for sure. Just find myself enjoying country more and more, and cried like a baby when we lost J. Prine. I did see him live in Memphis on his Tree of Forgiveness tour 3^rd row seats.

Hell from that paragraph you can likely tell how young I really am. My superman stood for truth justice and the American way, (could have knocked me over with a feather when he came out last month), and his friend rode a fiery white horse with a speed of light and cloud of dust yelling out Hi Ho Silver.

I have had an epiphany today, let me tell you about it.

Pandemic has been tough, lost a work friend March 2019 right in the beginning…they said it was complications of flu. Then our governor locked us down, cost a lot of people their livelihood and everything they owned. My blessing was my company called the  Red Yellow and Green company allowed us technical and engineering folk to stay home and work. I work for the green division.

We are back to the office now but the company recognizing their customers (car builders) are allowing there technical engineering folk to work from home. So to stay competitive they rolled out a plan allowing work from home days. It’s pretty nice, I like it a lot. 

So here comes the yellow division who have been growing,  all the new development has been put there, they are taking over the green division. The green division has a bad business model; combustion instead of electrical.  A yellow president is replacing the green president, the yellows have stated repeatedly changes are coming and some will lose their jobs. The yellow plan takeover is official Jan 4. I’m fairly certain my position is going.

It’s been 20 years, and I thought retirement was next year or, maybe 2023. It was my choice when, and they would let me ride out with my gold rolex and fat old pension plan. This yellow take over was announced and process started on 10/4. Since that day I have been one angry, evil thinking depressed muther. Not playing haven’t’ cracked open a case…just total despair.

Until last night…opened the case on the 89 LP Studio and spent almost 4 hours strumming, picking f-ing playing. Yes. It felt good. Slept like a baby.

Then this morning I realized…this job, that I have devoted some much of me into…its not me. I have done all the right things. I’m proud of my accomplishments, friendships developed and I’m really blessed, I don’t want for anything.  

What would I do if I had no job. Made a list and it looks good…the future is lookin brighter. 
A big list but for sure! A couple related
Two hours practice a day 
I have spent the last 20 plus years enjoying the Gibson forum lounge with no input. I’m going to get active…see what it’s like. Say thanks to those that enrich.

 

 

[jdgm]

Get as MUCH money out of them as you can.  Pension, payoff...whatever, and get out as soon as possible.   I did it and recommend it. 

You can have money or time in this life if you're most people.  And now is the time.

Many of us miss Milod - and others.  I think of him every time I log in.

Best wishes.

Edited November 5, 2021 by jdgm

[rct]

Retirement is not and can not in any way be at all over rated.  It's the only thing that isn't.  Bigsbys, yes, way over rated.  

rct

[mihcmac]

I'm diggin it...

['Scales]

man, I'm looking at February or July next year. Young to be leaving the building I guess, but freedom calls!

Much I want to do on my own terms, and to jdgm's point re time. This bloke expresses my perspective most eloquently (and played nicely too)... can't wait!

 

[merciful-evans]

Wow... thats a long time to troll (me? I would've substituted the word 'stalk'). You saved up a lot to say too. 

Anyway, hi Lee and a belated welcome. 

Bigsbys: I used to really want one (especially on a SG). They look like a substantial bit of kit and you can see exactly how they work. This was in my younger days. I've never had one, but experience of other trem systems have made me into a blanket anti-whammy-player. I never got  (nor played) a SG either. I just liked the look of them (like I used to like the look of bigsbys).

Your Midtown looks great nevertheless.

[fortyearspickn]

Welcome Aboard Scott.   Your tale, I'm sure, sounds familiar to many of us here.  It does to me in spades.  Having had the mis-fortune to pick a career in an industry that was going nowhere fast,  I experienced FOUR layoffs in my 38 years of working for a living. First was at a company I'd been at 10 years and worked my way way up.  3 kids in HS, one in college.  It helped toughen them up for their future dealings with the "it's not personal, it's business" world.   As RCT said -  Retirement is impossible to be over-rated.  The harder you worked for it, the more you appreciate it.  No one telling you what to do, no backstabbing bosses or co-workers. No HR weenies making up 'policies' that have the effect of law.    It's like when you were a kid during summer, but didn't have to get up early for your paper route.   Knock it out of the park !  

(Oh, and if your former employer contacts you a few months later, begging you to come back as a 'consultant', 'temporary' or 'part timer',   be sure to tell them you'll get back to them.  But what ever you do - do not!) 

[gdecantoo]

The only bad thing i have found about retirement is continually reminding my wife that her honey do list and my gonna do list don't match! Never goes well for me!

[kidblast]

Scott,

I'm here to tell ya, you aint alone.

I've been doing IT work since the late 70s.  I'm ready to pull the plug too, hoping next year to retire. 

I was also hoping I could ride off into the sunset with the current company I've been with since 2014 (It was a sibling company of Nokia,  - HERE Technologies.  Maps, automated driving apps, location intelligence stuff.)

The genius at the wheel of the IT org decided it would be just a great idea to out source all of IT to a company in India and the move was made at the end of March.

Hmm, out sourcing IT of an IT company,???  sure!  I like it!  lets do it!!

They thought 75% of the work force would transition to the new company.

Instead about 80% said "no thanks" and took the severance. So you can guess how that's been going.

The new company was thinking that magically, the 75% of the "talent pool" that would come with the move would train all the low pay/clueless guys in India, and then one by one, lay us off.    well, with everyone leaving like the did, there was no one to train anyone.  So that plan blew right up on them.   WUPS!

Anyway, I can relate to the anger and frustration.  Things are slowly coming around with the work for us, but it was a nightmare to get this far.  Where I'm so close to walking away, I'm trying to tuff it out.

I guess for you, it's a matter of what really happens verses what everyone assumes what will happen.   One may not = the other.

Will you loose your job?  it's possible.  It's also possible you wont.  Depends largely on what you're working on, not so much how good you are. Sadly these guys don't appreciate nor understand the benefits of experience  and "years" on the job.  They'll in the blink of an eye, eliminate the salary, and try to find some chump who has a fraction of your knowledge to do what you are doing.  In fact, they even might make you train them first,,  like these bozos I work with

talk about giving you a shovel and telling you "Dig here" 

I you can get out (Retire) do it,  ride the bus as long as you can,

and keep telling your self this....

"None of this will matter in 24 months...."

Playing music is medicinal... pick those things up, plug em in, and PLAY...

 

Good luck man!

Edited November 6, 2021 by kidblast

[Whitefang]

50 minutes ago, gdecant1 said:

The only bad thing i have found about retirement is continually reminding my wife that her honey do list and my gonna do list don't match! Never goes well for me!

I found that to be true too.  And now, with the wife gone and my health and physical issues, my "gonna do" list has become my "probably never get around to" list.   

But in my case, I never had one of those "clean" type specialty jobs, working near 30 years for GM before receiving a medical retirement.   I don't mean to gloat, but most of the guys I knew in high school, who were so proud to claim, "I'm NEVER gonna work in any filthy factory!"  are now around my age(70) and CAN'T retire since all those non factory jobs they took were in companies the closed up, moved out of the country or weren't unionized so no provisions were availed to them, so they're still working for minimum wages at jobs that may or may not be there tomorrow.  And their wives too, at an advanced age, are still working in order to afford to live.

But as far as guitar playing goes, I do think I've mentioned to all here that since a mini-stroke 7 years ago, I'm still working on my finger dexterity and endurance.  

Whitefang

 

[Sgt. Pepper]

6 hours ago, 'Scales said:

man, I'm looking at February or July next year. Young to be leaving the building I guess, but freedom calls!

Much I want to do on my own terms, and to jdgm's point re time. This bloke expresses my perspective most eloquently (and played nicely too)... can't wait!

 

He is much better with an acoustic in his hands than when he was in MAW. I love when he re-does his 80's songs on an acoustic.

Edited November 6, 2021 by Sgt. Pepper

[sparquelito]

A few days ago I gave notice (well, long notice) to my bosses and teammates. 

14 months until I quit work, and retire altogether. 
This'll be just after I get the house paid off. 

On 1 January 2023 I go on Social Security, and go to becoming a full time gardener and home repair tinkerer around the house. 
Sounds like heaven to me. 

🙂

[Sgt. Pepper]

Work is over rated. As soon as we can sell the house in VA we are moving to SC, to the house we inherited when my wife's father died 3 years back. Can't wait to go to SC, and get do nothing part time job handing out colored golf balls at a putt putt golf course, just so me and the wife are not up each others a-ss's 24/7.

Edited November 6, 2021 by Sgt. Pepper

[tx-ogre]

I highly recommend retirement to everyone.  I retired from the federal gubamint at the end of 2011 at 51 years old.   With 28 years of law enforcement service and another 3 years of military service, it made absolutely no sense to hang around and put up with the ever increasing political crapola.  
 

I still do some part-time consulting work (10-15 hours a month on average) for multiple gubamint agencies, but I can pick and choose my assignments and the number of hours I work.  Plus it has helped stave off any symptoms of total withdrawal from gubamint inefficiency, incompetence and/or insanity.  I get just enough exposure to keep  the “shakes” and other physical symptoms of withdrawal at bay.

[MissouriPicker]

Glad you’re here!  If you can retire, do it!  You won’t regret it.  You’ll be busier than ever, but most of it will be doing things you enjoy…….Don’t be a stranger on here.