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Dishwasher

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I got a new manager about 6 weeks ago. He lives in another state. Not the first time i have had a manager in another state. The other day in a 1 on 1 meeting he told me i remind him of the movie office space. Is that good or bad?
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Yesterday was another highly successful day of getting paid to do as little as possible by morons who cannot properly plan.

 

Spent 22 hours in the hotel, for which they paid me almost an entire basic day’s pay for wasting my time. So I worked out in the gym on their dime after I got up, took a healthy paid shit, and then had lunch with a friend and coworker.

 

Once they finally called me I promptly bad ordered a locomotive for a potential fuel pump leak, which turned out to be a new fuel pump installation that was messy and poorly cleaned up. Not my fault the roundhouse on another Railroad did a shitty job of fixing their shitty engine in such a way that made me think it was spewing diesel fuel all over. Then spent 4 hours waiting to turn a wheel while another train made a pickup on single main track from a siding; because some genius in Ft. Worth wants Boeing 737 death trap fuselages set out from their original train into this siding to be picked up by another train going to the same damn place. Then we traveled about 8 miles to a yard for fuel because this multi-billion dollar company cannot figure out that an inbound crew should probably yard the train for fuel, instead of the outbound crew. So we burned 4 hours trying to get out of the yard because the east end lead was blocked by another train waiting on a track assignment.

 

By the time I hit main track 2 east bound I was on overtime. So I decided to save lots of fuel by coasting pretty much everywhere the grade was even slightly downhill. The poor state of our track this spring made it easy to have an excuse for not going faster than 25mph. Slow orders galore, by the time I get out of one I’m into another.

 

Needless to say I didn’t make it in, and had to be relieved on line by a short turn crew. As did the two trains behind me who also had shitty trips.

 

It’s only April, we’re not even busy yet and we are constantly out of people. Same story in Alliance, NE and Lincoln, NE where my brother also works for this clown show. This summer will be a total shit show once the Maintenance of Way gangs show up and try to fix all this ******* track. I hope I have the seniority to win a bid as the engineer on a work train with one of the MOW gangs this year. Make lots of OT and be home every night, not have to deal with idiot asshole dispatchers. Just take my track and time warrant, brief with the MOW guys and get shit done, let the dispatcher have his track back when we ******* feel like it.

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Thanks guys.

 

I've always wanted my own shop but the financial burden would be too much. I'm financially okay right now but opening a shop would bury me. I could keep my bills paid for a little while but not a business as well.

 

Maybe one day lol Until then, I'm looking around for the perfect fit. It may take several months and I'm okay with that.

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You need to find a new career. Not many people get ahead turning wrenches on cars, reality is you won’t either.

 

You want to make money and get ahead turning wrenches get out of Delaware, head west, learn to work on heavy equipment and Diesel engines. Guys who make service calls do alright, mine mechanics do alright, RR roundhouse guys do well. Working on cars is probably not going to get you anywhere long term.

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You need to find a new career. Not many people get ahead turning wrenches on cars, reality is you won’t either.

 

You want to make money and get ahead turning wrenches get out of Delaware, head west, learn to work on heavy equipment and Diesel engines. Guys who make service calls do alright, mine mechanics do alright, RR roundhouse guys do well. Working on cars is probably not going to get you anywhere long term.

 

Delaware is fairly cheap compared to many states. I guess depending on your definition of getting ahead but my bills are all paid early/on time, I'm able to still save and I can buy mostly whatever I want (within reason of course).

 

I do often wonder what the field will look like in 10-15 years especially since most people today do not want to work on cars. I feel like that gives me a leg up as long as I stay up to date with all the new technology. I've been fascinated with cars since I was a little kid and haven't lost the passion so you can imagine how hard it would be for me to leave the field for a world of unknown. I also realized the way I'm defending my career, I'm not ready to move on. Things can change but it would really take a lot of thought and an offer I couldn't refuse to leave the field.

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Unfortunately auto makers continue to make their products less and less serviceable by any party other than an authorized dealer. It will only get worse.

 

Do you have health insurance in your current job? What about a 401K or other retirement plan? Are you able to invest for retirement? Are you able to afford your own home? If you’re married can you provide for your wife and children without your spouse working if needs be?

 

If the answer to any of those questions is “no” then it’s time to stop ******* around and find a job that achieves those goals.

 

Some of the stupidest advice ever is to do what you love for a living. That’s only true if what you love makes you a lot of damn money. Otherwise find a job you can tolerate that makes you lots of money, and do what you love as a well funded hobby.

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Some of the stupidest advice ever is to do what you love for a living. That’s only true if what you love makes you a lot of damn money. Otherwise find a job you can tolerate that makes you lots of money, and do what you love as a well funded hobby.

 

This. 100%

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In work as well as love, somewhat sadly, it’s what you’re willing to settle for. I’m retirement eligible in a field that is at the nexus of science, medicine, business, and the law, with a lot of uninformed stakeholders, so wrenching as retirement sounds good to me. Best luck, forum members...
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Penguin that level of stupidity would absolutely drive me batshit crazy.

 

I had a situation at my prior employer where they were not aware of, and not utilizing certain aspects of the law in their claims handling that would significantly reduce our exposure. Our company was not aware of, or utilizing the collateral source laws of multiple states (essentially we owe what your insurance company paid out for your medical expenses, not whatever the idiot billing 'specialist' at your doctor's office submitted, sometimes those insurance adjustments can be tens of thousands of dollars for a single visit) I pointed out this idiocy, and that they were throwing literally millions of dollars in the garbage, and even consulted the company's attorneys to provide the statutes and case law that supported my findings, which they did. I got a "thanks," and nothing I found was ever implemented. Being a drone is one of the hardest jobs in the world, no matter the field.

 Brought to you by Pfizer

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Thanks guys.

 

I've always wanted my own shop but the financial burden would be too much. I'm financially okay right now but opening a shop would bury me. I could keep my bills paid for a little while but not a business as well.

 

Maybe one day lol Until then, I'm looking around for the perfect fit. It may take several months and I'm okay with that.

 

You might want to look into industrial maintenance. Similar to what Penguin said, you can still turn a wrench but get paid more and have more benefits with most companies.

 

Nearly all the skills you've amassed as a mechanic translate to other, more profitable fields.

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I had everything at my old job. My IRA is frozen right now but it has made me 9k in the last ~4 years. My mortgage is paid early and I could easily afford to open the IRA back up and have them withdraw from my check, i just need to sit down with the advisor and work out all the details. I'm not married and no kids. Just myself, gf and a cat lol I could afford to support us if she were to get sick. She works for the best hospital in the area so once I pop the question, I'll be on her healthcare plan.

 

I've always known this shop isn't my final stop but it really gave me a chance to grow and perfect my craft (although I'm not perfect). Sounds immature but I've been to the doctor once in the last 12 years (I'm 32 going on 33). I know im not getting younger which is one reason im ready to break free and get benefits back and all that good stuff.

 

I make decent money, I'm not hurting but getting benefits back would help get me where I want to be when I'm ready to retire. I think you may think my situation is worse than it actually is. I get my OT money and benefits back and I'm good to go. I let it all slide so I could improve and put myself in a position to be picky about where I go next, which is where I'm currently sitting. Auto manufacturers can only retain new technology for a couple years before they HAVE to release the information. By the time it trickles down to independent shops, the warranties have expired on the new cars and we have everything we need to diagnose the issues.

 

I have been looking around to see what else is out there and I've heard about RR techs making good money. I'll look into industrial maintenance as well.

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Penguin that level of stupidity would absolutely drive me batshit crazy.

 

I had a situation at my prior employer where they were not aware of, and not utilizing certain aspects of the law in their claims handling that would significantly reduce our exposure. Our company was not aware of, or utilizing the collateral source laws of multiple states (essentially we owe what your insurance company paid out for your medical expenses, not whatever the idiot billing 'specialist' at your doctor's office submitted, sometimes those insurance adjustments can be tens of thousands of dollars for a single visit) I pointed out this idiocy, and that they were throwing literally millions of dollars in the garbage, and even consulted the company's attorneys to provide the statutes and case law that supported my findings, which they did. I got a "thanks," and nothing I found was ever implemented. Being a drone is one of the hardest jobs in the world, no matter the field.

 

It does drive me crazy, until I stop and consider that at the end of the day I don’t give a **** if I go “A” to “B” or not. Company keeps turning a profit, so maybe my micro level frustrations when factored into the macro level are not only unimportant but perhaps beneficial to making the system work.

 

It’s all a balancing act. As an engineer working in road service my best hourly rate since I’m paid for the trip on a trip rate, with overtime starting after a variable amount of time (based on trip rate miles), is to run like I stole the motherfucker. Left to my own devices I will be using every locomotive I have that is capable of making power, I will be in full throttle until I hit track speed, the only caveat being at low speeds I will temper my throttle usage enough to not rip the train into multiple pieces. I will liberally use throttle to maintain track speed or as close as I can get. I’ll stay in throttle when braking so I don’t have to worry about taking out slack or waiting for the locomotives to start making high tractive effort when it’s time to speed up again. A lot of that is frowned upon for wasting fuel and burning up brake shoes. It’s funny when we get behind on contract delivery and all the fuel conservation goes out the window, and dispatchers have to contend with trains that are flat out running. Most of them can’t handle it. It’s nice to make a 215 mile run that pays about $500 in 4 hours flat and then get an hour van ride to the hotel though. When you do that enough to know it is possible it will piss you off when they turn it into 10 hours or more of bullshit. :spin:

 

Plus it doesn’t always really do a ton of good to have trains going “A” to “B” fast when point “B” can only handle so many trains in a given time period. So we have to stage for other terminals who need to unfuck themselves, and it gets backed up. I’ve parked trains in Wyoming because Lincoln, NE is a shit show, so that other track can remain open for trains going to Denver.

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Took a two hour seminar yesterday entitled, "The 'Reverse Reptile' Turning the Tables on Plaintiff's Counsel,"

 

Essentially there is a new strategy that plaintiff's counsel is using to achieve larger settlements on cases than they used to get, by introducing extremely high numbers early in the case, and convincing a jury that those numbers are normal and in line with even the most little bullshit claims.

 

Furthermore who the hell came up with a reptilian conspiracy within the bodily injury insurance world? What next, an amphibian conspiracy?

 

I'm not performing depositions, it's really unlikely I'll ever be deposed if ever. I am not an attorney. Why the **** am I doing this?

Edited by Dishwasher

 Brought to you by Pfizer

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Unfortunately auto makers continue to make their products less and less serviceable by any party other than an authorized dealer. It will only get worse.

 

Do you have health insurance in your current job? What about a 401K or other retirement plan? Are you able to invest for retirement? Are you able to afford your own home? If you’re married can you provide for your wife and children without your spouse working if needs be?

 

If the answer to any of those questions is “no” then it’s time to stop ******* around and find a job that achieves those goals.

 

Some of the stupidest advice ever is to do what you love for a living. That’s only true if what you love makes you a lot of damn money. Otherwise find a job you can tolerate that makes you lots of money, and do what you love as a well funded hobby.

 

I think "wealth" comes in a lot of forms - for some, the material things are more important, but for others, going home happy at the end of the day is more important. I am also a big believer in the work to live vs. live to work mantra, but everyone has limits and a lifestyle they consider "acceptable" - if you want to have a house, nice car, be able to take vacations, save for retirement, etc. - that stuff is not free - you need to figure out what level you are comfortable with, and aim for (or above) that.

 

That being said, my advice to my kids and their friends when looking at majors is to do something that you enjoy, and that will put food on the table. Generally, my advice is a STEM degree in a meaningful major. You don't have to love the area, but it is important to enjoy it, or at least large parts of it, or you'll burn out. But I agree - if you can find something you love as your major/work area, that's great - but it shouldn't be a goal - you need to enjoy your work, and then save the "love" for the hobbies.

 

Once they're through college, my advice is start saving for retirement early - if your employer offers it, have a percentage of your paycheck put into a 401k - that way you never see it - and always put in, as a minimum, what your employer is offering to match (ideally, I'd say aim for 10%, but that can be more difficult for new folks) - it may seem like not a whole lot of money saved now, but come retirement after 30-40 years, earlier really makes a difference.

 

Getting back to the dumb training, every company I have worked for has had corporate mandatory training - for lab type work, I am sure it's a cya sort of thing - so that when someone does something stupid and causes an accident, when the question "did you train them not to do that" comes up, they can proudly say "yup, sure did" and provide verification that they train all their workforce on that, and show when said individual had their training (and in the case of most places, annual or semi-annual refresher) - it's a box checking exercise for many, but just like warning labels - every one has a story, and there are some employees for which the training is sort of necessary.

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