Feeling the pinch.

Work has been busy for a while so I haven't been feeling the economic pinch at work. Now the big job we were working on is just about done. That coupled with the fact I thought I had a new job, I'm now feeling the pinch. The new job fell through and work is getting slower. Couple reasons for work being slow. 1) As I said I thought I had a new job and they stopped looking extra hard for work to keep me busy. 2) The economy as a whole. and 3) Its getting near the holiday season and nobody wants to mess up their house with a remodel over the holidays. About the only thing now to keep me busy is new construction. Lucky for me there is a lot of it going on around here, but then again; We need to win the bids to get the work. So for now, I'm down to 3 or 4 days a week of work. At first it will be kinda nice. Sleep in watch some TV. Enjoy some time with the dogs.. maybe even get some training in. Guess we'll see how it goes. If I get too much free time with this I might have to go back to playing Warcraft for a little while. That or find a new or part time gig somewhere. That would probably be the wiser of the choices but I'm not sure I want a night job. It would have to be nights because I never know week to week how many days they need me. My schedule doesn't work like that. Well guess that's it for now. Tune in next time for another exciting post by...

"Z"

And Another Thing!!!

WARNING: This post has some venting.

OK, Lets start with work. Normally I like my job. (for the most part) Today on the other hand not so much. I am the only employee and have 2 bosses. Lets call them Bill and Joe. Joe is on vacation this week and Bill and I are working on finishing up a fairly good size job. As I said normally my job is fine, but there are some things that really chap my ass. Apparently Bill and Joe had 2 different cutting lists they were going by when they had me cut out parts for this job. Nothing fit the way it should. There are 13 different rooms on this job. Each have similar parts, some with close measurements. I was given the task today of trying to figure out where everything went. I hate that. Its not that hard to label which room each part goes to. I know for a fact some rooms have the wrong parts but they still fit. They just don't fit the way I would want them to fit if I were the boss. Not only was I left to figure out the bullshit. Bill left me out there on the job to do it myself. He helped with a few things in the morning and then left shortly before lunch for a meeting or something. Then came back shortly after lunch and that's fine. He helped out some more and then got tired of being out there so he left and went back to the shop. Leaving me out there again to finish things up. Oh, and we're going back out again tomorrow morning after I finish cutting out shelves. Lucky for me I made the shelf list so I know what I'm doing and where everything goes. If something doesn't fit, It's my own damn fault and I'm cool with that. So there! (Rant 1 Done!)

Next up, The Jerk and the School Bus.
First of all I have to say there are levels of assholeness. Yes that's a word I just looked it up. Anyway, you have your typical asshole driver. Then you have this guy. On my way home today I was behind a school bus. It stopped and let some kids out and then took off again. The driver of the school bus immidietly turned on his blinker so he could change lanes to make the next left. Then the driver next to me didn't want the school bus in front of him so he sped up to get next to the bus. Nope not in front of it so he could pull in behind him. Next to it, so he couldn't change lanes. Now I have to ask. What the Hell dose that prove?! You wanna be a dick with other drivers on the road fine. But to be like that to a school bus? Here's to you Mr. Assholeness (insert finger).

And finally a more gentle note. Gas today was $2.53 a gallon at the QT. Maybe by Friday it will be at that $2.50 mark or less.

A fork in the road...

I've suddenly found myself in a position where I have 2 possible opportunities in front of me. So I need to do some serious thinking on which path I am going to choose. First let me say I am working towards owning my own business again. Not cabinets or anything to do with woodworking this time. Nope, I want to run my own Hot Dog cart. Second, I've been trying to find a way out of the cabinet business. This brings me to my first option.

I was recently offered a possible position as the Maintenance Manager at a new hotel. This opportunity offers many new doors for future opportunities. I would learn a lot of new things. The money to start is not a whole lot better than what I make now but it could and very likely would be more in the near future. It is also close to home. About a 15 minute commute. The down side to this is that I would be working for a good friend and neighbor. While I don't see this being an issue, it is certainly something to think very seriously about. It also may put a hold on my self employment gig.

Then there is the newest possibility. One of my other neighbors hooked me up with a new cabinet position. I would be building cabinetry for airplanes. Not sure if its just personal or if I would be doing anything on commercial airplanes as well. The pay for this job is almost double what I make now. However the pay is based on per diem. Basically (from what I understand) this means I have to work at least 50 miles from my home to qualify. I don't think I do. So I'm not sure how the pay works out after that. I returned their call today to fill them in on my position. When I first spoke to them I let them know it would be at least a month before I could possibly work for them because I have things I need to finish up at work. They completely understand and respect that. All they asked is that I keep in touch and let them know of any changes. Today when I was talking to them, I was told they really like my experience and that they would love to have me. They also informed me that its a well maintained, clean shop with a/c. Big plus right there.

So this is my fork in the road. Like I stated above. I do want out of the cabinet business. But, this is a lot of money which would help out tremendously with paying down our debt and socking away for savings as well as my hot dog cart. Its not that I dislike the cabinet business. I'm just finding that I'm on the road to get burned out on it. I want to enjoy doing it as a hobby when its all said and done. As for the other job. I think I would enjoy it. It would open so many new possibilities for the future that maybe I would have something else other than cabinets to fall back on if something doesn't work out. Of course neither of these are guaranteed. Also, in the end I just want my own business.

I'm sure I forgot some stuff but this is the jist of whats going on in my world. Any thoughts and advice are welcome. Thanks!