How's your week going? Sept 11, 2023

[ProudTVJunkie]

Hi All,

Last week was busy and I'm still playing catch up, including reading posts here at PFJ.

larryholmes, it sounds like you had quite an adventure in Canada. I'm happy to hear all went well and that you plan to do it again next year.

We got some bad news last week. My husband is being laid off from work. He's worked for the company for 26 years. They are closing his entire office and giving only 30 days notice. There is supposed to be some sort of severance package but rumor has it that it is minimal, and they haven't sent us the details yet. I'm hoping that in the end, he'll find a new job and this will turn out well, but as of right now, it is unnerving.

I hope you are all having a more stress-free week. Please check in and let us know.

[RG]

Christine, I am so sorry to hear that!  We will keep you in prayer that all works out for the best.

This happened to my Dad, his entire department except one was let go and he only got two weeks severance.  But it worked out because he was able to get a better job.  We hope that this is what you will experience. 

[ProudTVJunkie]

Thanks, RG. Yeah, it's been a roller coaster of emotions, especially after being with a company that long. I am hoping this all works out for the best.

We were actually more worried about my job. Working for a website that specializes in TV during a writers/actors strike puts everyone on edge. We are scrambling for content and have a lot of brainstorming sessions to try and draw in readers who would normally look for TV reviews and spoilers/promos.

But I know life is like this sometimes and just hope everything stabilizes soon.

[geezer2008]

That really stinks, Christine. You would think, after 26 years, that they would offer him a different(better) job within the company at a different site. Thoughts and prayers for your family.

We are well and enjoying our "sabbatical" from games for a while. We are going on a small getaway for 4 days up North. It's a resort that we used to vacation at when we were younger. It should be fun to visit our old haunts if they are even still there, LOL.

My beloved had her annual visit to her cancer doc last week. Tests went well and the doc was very happy with her. We are very happy for every day we get at our age  

I wish all of y6ou a nice week!!

[DrvrTrnr]

Sept 12, 2023 12:46:59 GMT -5 geezer2008 said:

That really stinks, Christine. You would think, after 26 years, that they would offer him a different(better) job within the company at a different site. Thoughts and prayers for your family.


My thoughts exactly! Is there a union contract in force that may have provisions for a situation like this?  I'm also wondering if there are a lot of long-time employees at that office and the company is trying to save money on retirement benefits. Large companies do that all the time. My husband worked for
Safeway for 33 1/2 years before retiring several years ago. He was one of the oldest workers at the store and was getting a lot of grief from the manager for no legitimate reason. One day when he came home he said he was going to retire before they fire him.  That would've meant he'd lose his pension. This was a time when managers were getting big bonuses for getting rid of older workers and it's the best decision he ever made. 

[tycho657]

Christine that is always hard news. It seems like things were finally going your way. I remember soon after we had our house built my husband got laid off. It was a struggle on my teachers salary but we hung in there and the new job was the best thing for him. He went to work for the company he had interned for back in college in Omaha for the summer. He ended up retiring in Phoenix for that company. They gave him a beautiful retirement party and all.
DrvrTmr Safeway has been pulling that crap for years. I remember back in the 70’s they did the same thing with firing employees within a year of retirement so they didn’t have to pay them.

On a more pleasant note…I am finally at the coast near Newport. I am hoping to get the beach tomorrow and get my feet wet. The ocean is too cold to go swimming. I find such peace just listening to the waves. I grew up on Puget Sound and would spend everyday I could at the beach or fishing with my Dad. My soul needs the water and it’s been too long.

[ProudTVJunkie]

geezer2008, so happy to hear that all the medical stuff went well. That’s always a huge relief. I hope you both enjoy your mini vacation.

DrvrTrnr, He works for FedEx, which has always been anti-union. Back in the late 90s/early 2000, it was very pro-worker with lots of benefits. But year by year, things have slowly gotten worse and now that founder Fred Smith has retired, it's all about cutting back so that the stock price will go up.

They’re shutting down his entire office, in which the majority of people have 20+ years with the company, so yeah, this is definitely a money saver. Right now, he’s seeing if there’s anything else in the company he can put in for but with all the cutbacks, there isn’t much out there.

I’m hoping this all works out for the best in the end, but right now I’m scrambling to get dentist/doctors appointments for us before we likely loose our health insurance in early October!

@tycho, I’m not much of a nature lover, but I love the beach. I could just sit and listen to the waves for days on end. But the Pacific Ocean always seems much colder than the Atlantic. But if I won the lottery tomorrow, one of the first things I’d do is go buy myself a beach house.

[ibmjas]

Wow, PTVJ, I really hate to hear that. My entire department at Bristol Myers was outsourced after I worked there for 25 years. I was lucky to have made that milestone because I could still get full retirement when the time came and had a better severance. I was fortunate to get picked up by IBM but every year I was worried I would lose my job since they did everything in their power to get rid of employees over 50 and they always laid off a lot every year. Bristol Myers and IBM both used to be very great places to work but all that has changed now. Almost no companies offer a pension now adays