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Post by Deleted on Nov 7, 2018 19:18:22 GMT
I was laid off twice in 2008 and 2010 and I've never recovered from that. When you are doing well and working your ass off and getting great reviews and it's still not enough, you don't get over that. I have a very good job that I enjoy and I'm good at, but every time I have a review or have to meet with management, my mind goes places where there is no logical reason to go. I was laid off in 2009, and one of the happiest days of my life was when I realized the fact that Gannett didn’t give a shit about quality had no bearing on the great work I did in that career. I was fortunate enough to accomplish an awful lot in my time as a journalist, and make it to a pretty high-level destination. And I worked my ass off to do so. Now, I do my job and do it well, and take advantage of whatever professional development opportunities are available, but my heart and soul goes to my family.
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Post by doctorquant on Nov 7, 2018 19:36:51 GMT
I'm tired of talking about politics, so ...
Been thinking a lot lately about my current gig and how it really hasn't turned out like I'd envisioned. The basics -- the job security, the intellectual freedom, the money -- have pretty much held up. And maybe it's just where I am in my life, what with the looming empty nest and all, but I've started to think about other things that I'd anticipated that really haven't materialized. For example, TFDQ has one of the big roles in her school's production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. Opening night is tomorrow night ... when I'm going to be teaching a class. Stuff like that ... it's starting to get old.
Do you have to teach nights? Pretty much. As the years have gone by it's almost exclusively nights. Right now it's 5:30 to 6:50 Mondays and Wednesdays, 6 to 9:20 Tuesdays and Thursdays. I wouldn't mind it so much if occasionally I'd be given a days-only schedule ... but it's been 15+ years since I've had one of those.
In a few weeks, SonOfQuant's going to be having his senior recital (it hasn't been scheduled yet), and he's also going to be playing in his last concerts as a member of a symphony. I'll be damned if I'm missing those.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 7, 2018 19:40:03 GMT
Shit, I missed my 5-year-old’s 10-minute school Halloween parade last week and I’m still pissed about it.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 7, 2018 19:45:47 GMT
Shit, I missed my 5-year-old’s 10-minute school Halloween parade last week and I’m still pissed about it. One of the biggest reasons I knew I wasn't long for my Chicago gig was when I missed trick-or-treating because I was in Indianapolis for trial preparation.
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Post by doctorquant on Nov 7, 2018 19:47:39 GMT
I've mentioned this elsewhere, but when I was a doctoral student a good friend of mine (we had the same dissertation chair) was the former Chair/CEO of a Fortune 500 company who had made his money and wanted to pursue of his long-held dream of getting a PhD. He was rich, had a good marriage (had married his childhood sweetheart) and two happy/healthy sons, but one day I mentioned having dropped one of my kids off at school. My friend was quiet for a time and then said, "You know, I don't think I ever got a chance to do that."
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Post by Deleted on Nov 7, 2018 19:53:20 GMT
Shit, I missed my 5-year-old’s 10-minute school Halloween parade last week and I’m still pissed about it. One of the biggest reasons I knew I wasn't long for my Chicago gig was when I missed trick-or-treating because I was in Indianapolis for trial preparation. One thing that always causes me to think fondly of my decision to leave the biz is the holiday sporting events. The teams I wrote about have played more than their share on Thanksgiving, Christmas and other holidays since the leagues decided those are prime viewing windows. I would have been there.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 7, 2018 19:53:48 GMT
I've mentioned this elsewhere, but when I was a doctoral student a good friend of mine (we had the same dissertation chair) was the former Chair/CEO of a Fortune 500 company who had made his money and wanted to pursue of his long-held dream of getting a PhD. He was rich, had a good marriage (had married his childhood sweetheart) and two happy/healthy sons, but one day I mentioned having dropped one of my kids off at school. My friend was quiet for a time and then said, "You know, I don't think I ever got a chance to do that." On multiple occasions, my fellow law firm associates were surprised I participated in bed time.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 7, 2018 19:54:21 GMT
I've mentioned this elsewhere, but when I was a doctoral student a good friend of mine (we had the same dissertation chair) was the former Chair/CEO of a Fortune 500 company who had made his money and wanted to pursue of his long-held dream of getting a PhD. He was rich, had a good marriage (had married his childhood sweetheart) and two happy/healthy sons, but one day I mentioned having dropped one of my kids off at school. My friend was quiet for a time and then said, "You know, I don't think I ever got a chance to do that." On multiple occasions, my fellow law firm associates were surprised I participated in bed time. Did you tell them about Sunday nights?!?!?!
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Post by Wolfenstein on Nov 7, 2018 19:54:23 GMT
I like what I do now. I still get to communicate, but not about dumb stuff like why not to serve anchovies at the Super Bowl party.
I also don't like what I do now. Too much paperwork and tedious stuff.
At some point, the dislike may outweigh the like. Or we will get new leaders who are dumb. Then I will rethink all of it.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 7, 2018 19:54:49 GMT
One of the biggest reasons I knew I wasn't long for my Chicago gig was when I missed trick-or-treating because I was in Indianapolis for trial preparation. One thing that always causes me to think fondly of my decision to leave the biz is the holiday sporting events. The teams I wrote about have played more than their share on Thanksgiving, Christmas and other holidays since the leagues decided those are prime viewing windows. I would have been there. When Notre Dame was playing Hawaii in the Hawaii Bowl on Christmas Eve, it was 49-0 in the third quarter. I looked at the Chicago Tribune beat guy and said, "You realize we are the only two assholes in America still paying attention to this shit, right?"
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Post by doctorquant on Nov 7, 2018 20:13:51 GMT
When Notre Dame was playing Hawaii in the Hawaii Bowl on Christmas Eve, it was 49-0 in the third quarter. I looked at the Chicago Tribune beat guy and said, "You realize we are the only two assholes in America still paying attention to this shit, right?" See, toward the end of my newspaper career I had gotten that way about pretty much everything I covered.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 7, 2018 20:19:09 GMT
I've mentioned this elsewhere, but when I was a doctoral student a good friend of mine (we had the same dissertation chair) was the former Chair/CEO of a Fortune 500 company who had made his money and wanted to pursue of his long-held dream of getting a PhD. He was rich, had a good marriage (had married his childhood sweetheart) and two happy/healthy sons, but one day I mentioned having dropped one of my kids off at school. My friend was quiet for a time and then said, "You know, I don't think I ever got a chance to do that." Drop your kids off every fucking morning and see how fun that is. 😃 The one truly good thing about the typical hours of flying a desk in a newsroom is that I am able to spend time with my kids every day and I rarely miss a school event. Now as for that newspaper night shift-Daddy day shift turnaround ...
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Post by doctorquant on Nov 7, 2018 20:26:17 GMT
Drop your kids off every fucking morning and see how fun that is. 😃 In the whole raising-kids-division-of-labor thing, that's pretty much been the constant ... I do the morning drop-off. Even those few times I've had an 8 a.m. class, there's still been time for me to do that. That's careening toward an end, too, as TFDQ is 17 and will probably have a car to start the spring semester.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 7, 2018 20:28:50 GMT
Drop your kids off every fucking morning and see how fun that is. 😃 In the whole raising-kids-division-of-labor thing, that's pretty much been the constant ... I do the morning drop-off. Even those few times I've had an 8 a.m. class, there's still been time for me to do that. That's careening toward an end, too, as TFDQ is 17 and will probably have a car to start the spring semester. Division of labor. LOL.
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Post by mizzougrad96 on Nov 7, 2018 20:30:44 GMT
I was laid off twice in 2008 and 2010 and I've never recovered from that. When you are doing well and working your ass off and getting great reviews and it's still not enough, you don't get over that. I have a very good job that I enjoy and I'm good at, but every time I have a review or have to meet with management, my mind goes places where there is no logical reason to go. I was laid off in 2009, and one of the happiest days of my life was when I realized the fact that Gannett didn’t give a shit about quality had no bearing on the great work I did in that career. I was fortunate enough to accomplish an awful lot in my time as a journalist, and make it to a pretty high-level destination. And I worked my ass off to do so. Now, I do my job and do it well, and take advantage of whatever professional development opportunities are available, but my heart and soul goes to my family. I listened to some bad advice when I was laid off and it may have somewhat prevented me from going back to Gannett. My cousin called up posing as my lawyer (he is a lawyer) and got me a considerably higher severance package than what they were offering. I got an extra three months of healthy care and an additional six weeks of pay. He also got them to give it all to me in a lump sum, which allowed me to collect unemployment sooner... He used my "comp time" as leverage, but I ended up getting 6 months of pay after only being there five years. What he did helped immensely financially, but it may have also prevented me getting hired back. In hindsight, I'm glad, because I would have missed so much time with my kids if I was still covering the NFL.
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