Brick and Mortar Blues

I met a gentleman the other day who used to own an industrial equipment and supply company. About a year ago he decided to sell the place and took a $20K loss in the process. That $20K had to come out of his personal funds. He is now back to work as an employee of someone else and is beginning to get that old feeling of restlessness back. He works for someone he would never hire. I've worked for a few supervisors and managers that fit in that same category. I have a feeling we all have.

Since, it seems, I only know people who want to start a business, be free from the shackles of a "job", do their own thing, set their own hours... I was very curious as to why he would get out of owning his business.

No matter how sick he was, he had to come into work. He could never take a true vacation. He worked 60 to 80 hour weeks. He had to deal with payroll, payroll taxes, business taxes of every color and type, customers who would pay 60-90-120 days late, vendors who demanded cash up front, employees who didn't want to work....

The list went on.

I told him that I have no employees. All purchases are paid for before they ship so there's no possibility of a late payment. I handle no sales tax, no use tax, no business license renewals, no employee tax, no inventory tax. I only have one vendor. And once in awhile I don't feel like working, so I don't. I'm taking a week off for the 4th of July. I'm taking a week off in August to go to Nashville. I'm taking a week off in November for family Thanksgiving. Lucky thing I haven't been sick lately, so I don't care about sick days right now. If I get sick, I'll stay in bed.

It sounds to me like this guy owned a job instead of business. It also sounds like I'd be doing even better if I put a little more effort into my business. It sounds like I need to teach this guy how to relax. It also sounds like he could teach me a thing or two... what do you think?

Maybe we can help each other out and meet in the middle.

Are you thinking of a brick and mortar business? I wish you all the luck in the world!

Paper Company via Temp Agency

I heard a conversation today that was all about jobs. What was your favorite job? What was your worst job? Who was your best boss and why? So I started thinking back. This might be a great way for me to get back to this blog!

Once upon a time.... or maybe this one should begin with - One stormy night....

I worked for a pulp and paper manufacturer back in the very early 90's through a temp agency. This job was fun. It wasn't high stress, but it wasn't boring either. My boss was a toupee-wearing middle-life-crises-after-anything-in-a-skirt sort of guy, I actually thought he was good at his job. The girl I was replacing was on 6 month maternity leave. She had the option to extend to 8 months but no longer.

She decided to extend to the full 8 months (who can blame her?) and I was happy with it. It was a fun job after all! Once the 8 months was over she decided to quit and stay home with her new baby (it was a girl! And it was her first baby!). The HR dept of the paper mill decided to let me know that I would be getting the job permanently once they got the paperwork in order. This was very nice to hear since I was getting paid $12/hr for a $16/hr starting pay job. Another very nice thing to hear was that I would be getting a little more than $16/hr because they would backdate my start date.

How nice is that!!!!

So, three months later, I go into HR to see how they're doing on paperwork. I couldn't understand why it would take that long, but I gave them an opportunity to ask me anything I may have left off the paperwork. It will take a little longer.

Six months later, I approach my boss and ask what I can do to speed up the process. Oh, just be patient.

Another three months (a year after being told such nice news, and after many people telling me "you'll get the job, just wait till the paperwork is finished") I ask again. No one is willing to let me know what's going on.

I call the temp agency to see if they're holding it up. Maybe I need to buy out of a contract? Maybe I'm not allowed to take this job? Oh no, after working for this particular temp agency for a continuous 2 year period there is nothing holding me back from taking any job, there is no payoff, there are no valid non-compete clauses. Well that was nice to know!!!! I had worked for them continuously for 3 years and a couple months! I could even go back to a former assignment and take a job!

On a hunch, I decided to try to apply for open jobs with the same rank in other departments within the paper company. I knew other department heads and knew which ones liked me, so I targeted the ones I thought would hire me in a second flat.

After another 6 months.... I've applied for a couple jobs and got turned down while people outside the company got hired. I've gone back to HR and heard the same old promises but the paperwork isn't done yet.

What's wrong with me????

My boss pulled me aside a couple months later (we're now 1 year and 8 months into this carrot being dangled in front of my face) and he tells me, "do you really think HR will hire you at approximately $19/hr at this point, when you're doing so well at $12/hr?" He advised me to quit and then apply for the job when it comes up. (I'm assuming the temp agency didn't have a markup on my $12/hr all the way to $19/hr)

I struggled for another couple months with this and decided he was right. I quit. Then I waited to hear about this job coming available. I had several co-workers who were going to tell me as soon as it was posted, and my boss said he would as well.

A month later, someone else got the job. My boss had found a better job with another company and wasn't in a position to let me know (this is completely understandable). My co-workers were all shocked when the new department manager was hired and decided not to post my old job, but instead hired his wife.

I guess HR didn't have a problem with her paperwork.

Fact of Life Becomes a Fact of Life

Disparity pay? So now our court system will enforce a fact of life. I can't remember having a job where I got paid equal to my male counterparts. A fact of life! Or at least, my life. It's nice to know our court system has no problem with the obvious.

How many single parent homes are headed by a woman? Just pondering here...

So how will women make up for the disparity in pay and still get the lifestyle we want? That's the $1,000,000 question. Here's one idea

Promotion!

I've been away for awhile. But the good news is the time spent away was well worth it. Curt and I got promoted!

We will be in Nashville for the convention this August. Hope to see some of you there as well.

While I was away, I kept a list of different ideas for this blog... so not all was lost! I'll get busy in here again and have some fun.