I have good news for me and my family: I quit my job on Friday, and will be starting a new job on June 25. Yay!
It is good news not only because I've received a raise (and we might now actually be able to afford the mortgage payments on the house we just bought), but also because things are starting to get weird at my current job. A fairly large group of attorneys has recently given notice that they will be splitting off to form their own firm, and the rumor mill is raging about which associates will be leaving with them. Some associates are worried about losing their jobs, others are being coy about whether they will leave. Many members of the staff are afraid they will be laid off.
The short version of the atmosphere at my current workplace: Drama, drama, drama.
I have had many jobs over the years. Other than babysitting and mowing lawns, my first "real" job was, sadly, at McDonalds. I was sixteen and lacked parents with the resources of say, Paris Hilton, and as such was required to (can you believe it?!?!) actually work for spending money. From that point on, it's really been one job after another. I've worked at two car dealerships, painting one and stocking parts in another. I've worked at Godfather's Pizza and Arbys. I've been a janitor. I've worked in college computer labs, lunchrooms, and research laboratories. Yada yada.
After college, I worked as a research technician in a virolgy laboratory at the University of Washington. That job was the first one in which I dealt serious work drama. To put it bluntly, my boss was a serious asshole. I should have taken the hint when he asked me during the interview, "What do you think about being yelled at?" I answered, "I'm sure I wouldn't like it." Sure enough, he liked to yell. In fact, he yelled at nearly all of the staff and graduate students on a daily basis. I vividly recall one day when he screamed at me for an inarticulate answer in a lab meeting. Here is what he said: "Are you completely fucking stupid? What the fuck is wrong with you? I should fucking fire the lot of you right now!"
For some reason, I didn't quit on the spot. I suppose it was because I was only twenty four, we had a new baby, and I lacked the appropriate self-esteem. But I'm telling you, there is no way I would put up with that shit today. Anyway, I am pretty sure that was the day I decided I was going to quit. I hadn't yet determined whether I wold attend graduate school or law school, but I sure as hell knew I wasn't going to keep that job.
Back to my current job. Despite all of the goings-on and drama, I have very mixed feelings about leaving. I've only worked there for about three and a half years, but I feel like I've been there forever. Sometimes it is an exceedingly fun place to work; the atmosphere is fairly laid back and the cases can be fast-paced and exciting. Of course, fast-paced and exciting can quite frequently mean exhausting and confusing, so I suppose it's a double-edged sword. More importantly about my current place of work, the people I work with are amazing. I've met several folks who have become my best friends. Many left the firm before me, yet I still talk with them almost every day. (An aside - I have a great work-related support system in Seattle because there are quite a few former employees of my firm working around town. Since I started, more than 30 attorneys have left the firm for one reason or another).
So I start my new job on June 25. My new employer was gracious enough to allow me to keep my previous scheduled vacation during the week of the Fouth of July, so I should be able to ease into my new job fairly well. I guess we'll see how it goes.
Let's hear about your job changes tonight - the good, the bad, (and especially) the ugly.
Via OrangeClouds115:
Vetgrl discusses a "healthy" methods of drug use
joannegmurphy ruminates on Coke and hookers
Via pfiore8:
Who highly recommends BenGoshi's diary because of its substance, and because it inspired the following comments:
from FLDemJax: My Doctor Says
from Dump Terry McAuliffe: If you're near Joe Klein, don't smoke
from undercovercalico: I just cannot find an iron hat
Also, please read the whole string because the gem of the day is undercovercalico's POOTIE PIC...
Additionally, please read bumblebums' sage advice to John McCain - it's downright funny: Watching McCain on This Week
John Hopwood thinks llbear has a good idea right here.
Via noweasels:
(who apparently has the same taste as OC115) uh-oh! vetgrl comes, er, clean in OrangeClouds115's terrific diary on vitamin-enriched Coke.
Via carolita:
Plutonium Page posts National Brotherhood Week and starts a thread that turns into a Tom Lehrer discography in dNa's You People and Your Slight Differences Disgust Me
Via Light Emitting Pickle:
This comic from citizenx is too funny!
Via BentLiberal:
I'd like to nominate this great answer by dannyinla to this great question by karmafish. Extra points to dannyinla for mentioniong Dada and coining the "War on War."
I did the top mojo myself tonight, folks! Yay for me!
Without tip jars, C&J, or first comments:
With everything:
We have so many insightful and powerful diaries written here at Daily Kos. Our diaries inform, inflame, impassion, and even entertain. We Kossacks have strong voices and an even stronger will to be the change we wish to see in this country.
