So... I got fired a couple weeks ago.

[Wattsworld]

Cowracer Did you go out and buy a lotto ticket that day?

[elchilero53]

If you have to get laid off, that's the way to do it! Now you can bank the severance and move on with a smile! Such a deal!

[SailorSam20500]

You haven't mentioned what mods you are making to your rig with all that extra $$$ Or are you just going to upgrade?

Congrats on the good fortune!

[Delco Bobby]

Originally Posted by Cowracer

I guess now that it's all said and done, I can let the cat out of the bag...

Yep. Fired. Canned. Axed. Literally and figuratively "shown the door". I can't say I didn't see it coming. I was just remarking to the wife a while back how top-heavy the corporate organization was. I worked at a plant about 3/4 the size of the smelter I used to work at, but there was 3 electrical engineers, which I always said was 2 too many.

Like I said, I can't say I didn't see it coming. Which is why I had already accepted an offer from another company the week before. I was planning on going to the boss first thing in the morning on Monday the 3rd and turning in my notice, but I got called down to a problem in the plant as I was walking in. It was about 10:30 before I got up to my office to see a note on my keyboard telling me to call the plant manager. I figured he wanted an update on the problem in the plant...

He had me come to his office and the HR manager was sitting there with him. I instantly figured out what was going on. After the standard platitudes about "reduction in headcount" and "tough business climate" the dropped the bomb on me. My services were no longer needed. After giving me a few moments to come to grips with this, they dropped the other bomb on me. I was to be walked out immediately, but they would pay me thru the end of the pay cycle (two weeks), plus 6 weeks severance, plus my unused vacation.

Did I mention that I was planning on quitting that morning? LOL. I actually had my resignation letter giving 2-weeks notice in my hip pocket when they fired me. I never had a chance to go see the boss to give it to him. Have you ever been fired and had to sit through the meeting trying your hardest not to giggle like a schoolgirl the whole time?

I already had a start date for the new place, and managed to bump that up a week, but I still wound up with a week of being (as Ms. Kelly put it) "and unemployed bum". So where did I wind up? I actually went back to work at the Sand company where I was before. The Plant manager called me up a couple months ago and asked if I was interested in coming back. After some back-and-forth, they made me a very agreeable offer.

It's funny how things work out... Just because there was a problem in the control room, I didn't have a chance to quit before they fired me. Probably the only time in my life I will be happy being fired.

Sometimes, life is all in the timing.

Tim

Don't neglect to thank Heaven for arranging all that for you.

I was put out to pasture after a severe head injury and corporate downsizing. I miss the income but I was working myself into the grave. So now I thank Heaven everyday for having my brains rearranged.

Be Well.

[packrat48]

Spent 42 plus years at GM every time any salary person gave 2 week notice security was called. They were escorted back to pick up personal belongings and then out the door. Glad things worked out for you.

[Big1]

Awesome, I was lay off once but I went on a paid vacation and had a lot of fun.

[Cowracer]

Originally Posted by Delco Bobby

Don't neglect to thank Heaven for arranging all that for you.

I was put out to pasture after a severe head injury and corporate downsizing. I miss the income but I was working myself into the grave. So now I thank Heaven everyday for having my brains rearranged.

Be Well.

Don't neglect to consider that not everyone is Christian or religious.

Tim

[Cowracer]

Originally Posted by SailorSam20500

You haven't mentioned what mods you are making to your rig with all that extra $$$ Or are you just going to upgrade?

Congrats on the good fortune!

Seeing how I've only got one trip on our new camper, I might forgo upgrading from it. lol. Probably gonna put most of the money into the house. I need new carpet and siding done. But I'm planning on the Mor-ryde steps, and the Steady-fast stabilizers for the camper.

Tim

[formerFR]

good story...

once, when I was young and in one of my 'first' career jobs, I was offered a nice move with a friend to a new business he was starting. I said yes, but that I'd have to give at least 2 weeks to my current employer, though since it was around the first of December, I thought I would actually do them a 'favor' and give them FOUR weeks notice... because I was so nice, I guess.

After dropping the 'notice' on my boss, and telling him that I would gladly give them 4 weeks, instead of only 2, in order to help 'train' the next guy, he dropped the 'BOMB' on me: "No", he stated, "If you want to leave, then you'll leave right NOW, not in 4 weeks, We don't want you around if you want to leave"!....

I was out of a job for the next 4 weeks... and since I had officially 'quit', I also received no unemployment income - what a bummer.

but, it all works out in the end. It actually thrust me into a new line of work, for which I enjoyed working for myself for the next several years, and eventually gave me the confidence to start my own business, an Insurance Agency, from scratch, over 16 years ago, which I still happily operate.

Thanks, ol' boss!

[Cowracer]

Originally Posted by formerFR

I was out of a job for the next 4 weeks... and since I had officially 'quit', I also received no unemployment income - what a bummer.

First rule of Wing-Walking and employment...

NEVER let go of something till you got a hold on something else.

Many places now will walk you to the door the moment you serve notice. Its not malice or anything, its just that some places worry about people stealing secrets, documents or contacts when they leave. Always make sure you new employer can take you early if that happens. I have yet to have one say no.

Tim

[Mountndream]

let me get this straight, you were going to quit but basically walked away with an extra month of Pay?

I am not sure if you are the luckiest SOB in the world or I am jealous as hell

Either way, i will stop looking for u when i drive by your old plant. Will this effect your vacation time for Goshen or Amana?

Congratulations man

[Cowracer]

Originally Posted by Mountndream

let me get this straight, you were going to quit but basically walked away with an extra month of Pay?

I am not sure if you are the luckiest SOB in the world or I am jealous as hell

Either way, i will stop looking for u when i drive by your old plant. Will this effect your vacation time for Goshen or Amana?

Congratulations man

Lucky? You have no idea...

I have been on a 20+ year run of exceptional good luck. Nothing major like winning the lotto or that, but just a string of small, fortunate events that taken together makes me think that I have gotten way more than my fair share in life.

I lay in bed at night in fear of the universe finally balancing itself and finding out I have a hell of a bill to pay. I also wonder if I am 'using up' luck that someone else needs more. I mean, honestly... the severance pay is sweet for sure, but it's not going to impact my life as much as someone who needs a good turn of luck, like friends with serious health or financial issues. Some folks tell me "luck is what you make it", and I can see that sometime hard work put me in a position where it seems like I am being lucky, but still, I wonder...

Plans for Goshen and Amana remain intact. One of the negotiating points to return to the sand co. was vacation. Specifically how much. I also made sure they knew I had the week of Aug 6th already planned and paid for. Now worries there.

Tim

[rockfordroo]

Back in my college days, I got a "summer job" at a drafting company. I started the Monday after July 4th, along with another guy. I never used the phrase "summer job" when I applied, but my resume made it pretty obvious I was going to college.

They were gearing up for a big drafting job and they hired 2 people each week for the 7 weeks I was there. On Monday of the 7th week, I was planning to tell my project manager that I would be leaving on Friday. However, before I could do that, they gathered us all together in a room and started some kind of "training session." After it was over, I told the VP that he might not want to bother "training me" because I was leaving on Friday. He got ticked off and told me to leave at the end of the day. So I "sort of" got fired.

BUT, about an hour later, my project manager came over and told me they needed me and to stay until Friday, which I did.

[RangeMaggotBob]

Same thing happened to me. I went in on a Mon. morning with resignation in hand. Had a major problem that needed attending, and being the truly exceptional worker I am ( ), I attended to the problem. Got a call in the middle of the job from the Director who wanted to see me. Funny thing is, he told me to go ahead and finish the job. Jerk. Went to his office to hand him my resignation, and before I could pull it out of my pocket he let me go. So fine, I thought. I was moving away; that's why I was quitting. Soooo... I can play games, too. Applied for unemployment, which I originally had no plans whatsoever to do, and was denied due to circumstances. But get this- denied til I made $1300.00 dollars. Well, that took about a week or two. Then I collected my unemployment til every cent ran out. Yeah, technically they won. But so did I.

[Iwannacamp]

Not a firing adder, but a hiring one. My current job. End of Feb. 2006 I was called about an opportunity to change jobs. They had an employee retiring at the end of DECEMBER.... I never heard of that much planning. I gave my two weeks and started March 6th.

[Summit1]

I still recall When a large corporation for which I worked had its expected (every six months) "Reduction In Force". I had planned on being laid off for quite some time, and figured that, when they got to me, it was time for a career change. That job paid well and provided a company vehicle with some personal use allowed. I was told by the relatively new manager that I was being laid off, and to report to the office in NJ the following day, and to bring all my company owned stuff (but leave personal stuff at home). So off I went, arriving to a company building that was mostly empty and had only a few unhappy people present. The manager was new to me and was a young guy who appeared a tad nervous; the previous manager was laid off six months before that.

We did the necessary paperwork, and he asked me if I would be OK; I replied that I would, and asked if he would be OK. He asked why I asked that. I answered that, being a young guy with a wife and kids, he will obviously have progressively fewer people to manage over an expanding area. He got my "drift" and then appeared even more nervous. We shook hands, wished each other well, and they flew me home, after which my wife and I went out to dinner.

The following morning, I went to a nearby college to visit a lady who had been urging me to "just quit the job and go back to school for a new degree and a new career"... I walked into her office with a big grin and said, "OK, Louise, here I am... I'm all yours!" She darn near fell over. Anyway, we got the paperwork started and I was enrolled shortly afterward. Not long afterward, I graduate with a new degree and began a new job and career. My only regret is that, as much as I liked the previous job, I wish I had gone back to school for this a lot sooner.

[Delco Bobby]

Glad that worked out for you. That was a good read first thing this morning.

[glsimms]

Originally Posted by Delco Bobby

Glad that worked out for you. That was a good read first thing this morning.

I agree.....

[m35a2]

Originally Posted by Summit1

I still recall When a large corporation for which I worked had its expected (every six months) "Reduction In Force". I had planned on being laid off for quite some time, and figured that, when they got to me, it was time for a career change. That job paid well and provided a company vehicle with some personal use allowed. I was told by the relatively new manager that I was being laid off, and to report to the office in NJ the following day, and to bring all my company owned stuff (but leave personal stuff at home). So off I went, arriving to a company building that was mostly empty and had only a few unhappy people present. The manager was new to me and was a young guy who appeared a tad nervous; the previous manager was laid off six months before that.

We did the necessary paperwork, and he asked me if I would be OK; I replied that I would, and asked if he would be OK. He asked why I asked that. I answered that, being a young guy with a wife and kids, he will obviously have progressively fewer people to manage over an expanding area. He got my "drift" and then appeared even more nervous. We shook hands, wished each other well, and they flew me home, after which my wife and I went out to dinner.

The following morning, I went to a nearby college to visit a lady who had been urging me to "just quit the job and go back to school for a new degree and a new career"... I walked into her office with a big grin and said, "OK, Louise, here I am... I'm all yours!" She darn near fell over. Anyway, we got the paperwork started and I was enrolled shortly afterward. Not long afterward, I graduate with a new degree and began a new job and career. My only regret is that, as much as I liked the previous job, I wish I had gone back to school for this a lot sooner.

Sounds like GE back in the Jack Welch days. A lot of engineers I worked with at Toshiba Medical came from GE Medical due to that crazy "rank and yank" policy GE had.