Blessing in Disguise?

Week #1 at the new job is now history, and I believe I made one hell of an impression on these people. Because I have advanced electrical, electronics, mechanical, fabrication, and all manner of shop skills there is not much they have to teach me about the basics. Unlike previous employees I was told about that had to be shown the minute details of how to do EVERYTHING! I only need to learn specific procedures particular to the machinery I am working on. But show me once and I got it as evidenced by my activities late last week when the guy I was shadowing was tied up on Thursday and off on Friday. Earlier in the week, I did get to see and help with resealing a leaking hydraulic cylinder, which I had never done before. I also got to have a couple of one-on-one conversations with my new boss as we get to know each other personally. As always, I show up 15 minutes early; put my lunch in the refrigerator, and otherwise get ready to start work. I punch in promptly at 8:00 AM and get busy and finish my morning coffee while working. Unlike the FD, I get a regular undisturbed 1/2 hour off the clock lunch break and before I know it, it's lunch time. Afterwards, I punch back in, go right back to work and the afternoon goes by fast. At 4:30 PM I punch out and don't have to be concerned with work until the next morning. My co-workers and boss have said several times how appreciative they are for what I am able to do for them, and my boss has big plans for me to be an integral part of the operation. Getting canned from the FD is turning out to be a great thing and I only needed 3 weeks unemployment so I have not depleted my potential (hopefully never needed) future benefits by running them out. I did have a good chuckle to myself, too. According to the schedule, I was supposed to be on duty yesterday at the FD with the big Nor'Easter that is hitting New England this weekend. That would have meant being held over for the storm continuing into today. I had the scanner on yesterday and was listening to them get the shit kicked out of them with tons of tree & wires down as well as the normal 911 responses in between. As I said in the previous post; FUCK `EM!! They made a decision and they are gonna live with it. The schadenfreude is absolutely delicious, although it will probably be short lived.

Part of my job requires me to be proficient with operating the different models of our machines. This is so that after we get it ready for delivery, it can be fully tested and any last minute adjustments, calibrations, or operating issues can be addressed. When I get to a pause in work for whatever reason, I am encouraged to go grab the keys and controller for a ready machine and operate it. Folks... trust me when I tell you... this is total play time! These machines are the most awesome (and expensive) R/C toys you could imagine. They are built so that they cannot "hurt themselves" relative to the machine itself. They will not operate on steep angles or in an order/manner that cause damage. Sensors and software are preset to limits and will stop the operation at that limit. That said, the machines do not know about the powerline or obstruction an idiot operator is about to contact or crash into. Overloading the personnel weight limits will also prevent the machine from operating. I had previously operated the machines outside in the open yard, but Friday I operated one inside the shop in the high bay, simulating the type of work I used to do in telecom/IT that required using these machines. I had to maneuver it up and over and around obstructions safely, and then bring it back to ground level. Believe me that was both a challenge and fun.

I have a 30 day waiting period for health insurance and a 90 day waiting period to get into the 401K. When my new 401K is opened, I will immediately CONFISCATE and rollover all the money in the FD 401K for "seed money" in the new account. My new employer actually offers a small match, but I will gladly take it! I withdrew some money already because of the delay in getting unemployment but since it all came through the money is just sitting in the bank. I have started allocating some of it to buy tools and a new roll-away tool cabinet. I went shopping yesterday just to look, but came across a deal I could not pass up. A Husky 42" wide roll-away and chest for $598. It was the floor model (so a bit dusty) from a special promotion (no longer available at that price) and in a special color of Army OD Green with black trim. The regular price of $798 is what now shows at Home Depot online. With my military discount it came to $538. Sweet!! The guys at the Pro-Desk disconnected the section joiners and helped me load it in my Highlander in two pieces.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The tools lying on the right of the top shelf are a couple of electrical tools I was getting as well. I was sick of carrying them around at that point and did buy them. This thing has lots of great features for that price, too. Hydraulic cylinders to lift the top cover, a built in powerstrip and USB/USB-C chargers, separate locks for top and bottom, and ball bearing rail soft close drawers.

I had a short term job in aviation back in 2017, and right before getting laid off (long & shitty story) I bought a smaller, less featured roll-away and chest at Harbor Freight for almost the same amount of money I paid yesterday. I never unboxed it because I was getting a bad vibe from the job. It was returned for a full refund after my fears came true. The price is I why I jumped on this deal yesterday. I will leave it in my Highlander and talk to my boss about putting in the shop empty for now, then discuss whether I fill on company time or come back after hours. He is there until 7 (sometimes 8) every night and I don't mind coming back after running home to take care of the dogs, doing it on my time if I have to. I still need to buy more all metric tools (my wife does not understand the concept of multiple sets of tools for different purposes) because these will stay at the shop locked up. She reminded me I have all this stuff in the garage roll-away why do I need duplicates? Can't you just bring the garage roll-away to work and then bring home the tools you need when you work on the cars? Ugh.😒 I will just do what I need to do and not explain it to her any further.

The hourly rate range for the posting on Indeed.com was listed at $20 to $35 per hour. They asked me what I wanted to start at. I told them I would like to get what I was getting per hour at the FD, to which they agreed. I now have the potential to make so much more way faster than I ever would at the FD. If I keep up at the level I am at now I see a pay raise coming sooner than later. 

A New Chapter of Life Has Begun

At 06:00 on Tuesday August 25th, I was handed my walking papers and told to clean out my locker at the FD and go. The underlying reason isn't important (yes, I fucked up, but IMHO it DID NOT warrant summary termination) but I was terminated anyway because without any union representation the usual contractual steps of verbal warning, written warning, suspension, THEN termination were not in existence. But I have a feeling after my booting it won't be long before the remainder of the work force thinks "there but for the Grace of God go I" and has the IAFF in there. Then the FD corporation will get their just due in forced labor rates, shift assignments, raises, REAL benefits, and all the other stuff unions force upon companies. Fuckers will get what they deserve for sure. I have purged my phone of all FD contacts which means the call blocking app I use will send everyone that might call directly to VM. I will not step foot on any FD property for any reason. I was supposed to run a training session in October and did several maintenance items that no one had yet been cross-trained on. Not my problem. The corporation made decisions that they are going to have to live with forever. 

On the other hand; I no longer have to work 24 hour shifts, I sleep in my own bed every night, no packing 3 meals for every shift, get awakened in the middle of the night, getting my ass physically kicked on structure fires, working shitty/sloppy brush fires, or have to deal with morons and dead people. My firefighting credentials belong to me and are good for life if I were to decide to use them again. My current EMT certification is still good for over a year. My CDL was recently renewed and my DOT Medical Card is good until March. 

I had already updated my resume' and profile on Indeed.com and had been casually looking for something better. I logged right on and started filling applications for jobs that I could put my non-FD skillset to good use. On Monday August 31st I got a phone call inviting me to an interview for an application I filled out on Friday the 28th. The appointment was set up for 3PM on Tuesday September 1st. The interview lasted 2+ hours and went really well. He asked me when I would be able to start and I told him the 21st since I had a couple of scheduled obligations. They told me there was one other applicant they did want to interview that had rescheduled twice before, but I was a really strong candidate. The shop manager told me he would be in touch in a couple of days.

Apparently the other candidate blew them off a third time, because on the afternoon of Wednesday September 2nd I received a phone call from the shop manager I interviewed with giving me a verbal offer that the job was mine if I still wanted it. Of course I told him yes. He told me the HR person would be in touch with the next steps and then to get together to fill out the normal employment paperwork. The woman from HR contacted me on Thursday September 3rd by email to introduce herself and that more would be forthcoming.

On Thursday September 10th I received an email from HR with a scanned copy of my offer letter to sign and scan to send back, and a few tasks to do like filling out an online application for a criminal background check and driving record inquiry. I also sent her scanned copies of my ID and I-9 documentation. She responded back with appreciation for the fact we are ahead of the game.

Today was my face to face meeting with the woman from HR. I filled out all the standard employment paperwork; I-9, W-4, CT W-4, bank direct deposit info, receipt of the company handbook, etc. I am scheduled to start on Monday the 21st at 8AM but I will be there early as usual. Also, on nice days I will get to ride "The Beast" to and from work because all I need to carry is a small cooler with my lunch, not all the crap I needed to carry for a 24 hour duty tour. The commute is about 10 miles one way.

From this whole situation came some frank discussions with my wife about our future in reference to retirement. It comes down to this; we are not selling the house and leaving the state to retire together. SHE WILL NOT GO, PERIOD. Retirement will mean collecting full SSI and continuing to work until I call it quits. Unlike firefighting, I will be able to do this particular job for a long time. However, as she already knew and I re-stated, if something happens to her, in the middle of her funeral arrangements I will hold a giant moving sale, list the house as-is, and be out of here so fast no one in town will realize it until after I am gone and no one has seen me for a while.

 

 

I blog and shit poast on X from behind a VPN using a nom de guerre. For the obvious reasons of SafeSECS I will not divulge the new company name, location, what I will be doing, or the FD I just left. The current political climate has fully half of the people that are immature little babies, total freaks, or the mentally ill that are triggered all the way to violence and murder because they don't agree with me or my views.