OT: Home for the Holidays... Getting laid off friday...

The purpose of a company is to make money. Just as most people wouldn't go to work to break even or lose money, why should companies be any different? Unless someone works for the gubment, it's a job not a social program. Sometimes things like this lead to a better opportunity.

 

Spare me the lecture on rudementary business theory... I could probably teach it along with a compelling discourse on why the "law" of supply and demand is bull ****... But I digress...

There's a time to open your pie-hole and then there's a time to shut it...

Guess which time it is now...

 

Kilroy, as mentioned, one door closes and another opens. BTDT. You will land on your feet.

 

That really ****s.

 

Great point.

We all do the wrong thing too easily. You see the price of a good product - let's say a wide white wall tire - and it seems like it's too high, so you shop around.

You find something really cheap and you just buy it for the price alone - not even wondering why it's cheaper. hell you even get excited and tell freinds about it.

Do the research and you'll find out that the cheaper brand is from over seas and is paying their workers peanuts to undercut the compe***ion. (seriously - have you ever seen the work camps in Japan, holy ****!)

It's easy to ***** about the price of something and refuse to pay that much when there are cheaper alternatives. Unfortunately you are just feeding the beast - and it can come back to bite your (our) ***.

All the money goes to the cheaper - usually foreign - products (this includes cars) and they start to get the market levereage to wage an ever stronger fight against US product.

Meanwhile the US companies are left with no other options but to stick it to their own employees....see above!!....and raise the prices of their products even higher to make up for losses, which in turn - and obviously - isn't going to do anything but make it worse.

It REALLY does matter.

I went shopping for a new car last year - bought american even though the temptation was tremendous to go the Jap route.

I buy only American when I need appliances - but I am running out of options...quickly.

I bought a Harley about ten years ago - and for the very same reasons - because truth be told, Harley's aren't that great, not when it comes to reliability and bang for buck. But *******it - I am not going to knowingly buy a Japanese product and not feel like a total creep. I mean - I can rest ***ured that an American family is making a good living because of my choices.

Also I am a firm believer in spending your money. Rich people who sit on their fortunes and hand them off to their kids - bugs the **** outta me. Look at Oprah - worth billions and she's always telling her viewers to support this charity or that one. What good is that? If a million of her fans gave 10 bucks each (that's 10 million bucks) - they still couldn't help as many folks as Oprah hypothetically could. If Oprah GAVE 10 Million away she'd still be worth 1.39 BILLION dollars.....and she's just one of America's billionaires...in fact I think she's only ranked in the mid 200's on Forbe's list.

I especially hate seeing even a moderately rich person buying Mercedes, Porches, Bimmers and Lambos, etc... think of how much help they could have given to our own economy if they bought US. Perhaps if they did Cadillac could justify building a $100,000 model, or whatever....instead - all that's left is the "what ifs".

Maybe this is going to come off as kinda NAZI - but that is not my intention. I fully support the idea of international free trade. But not when it's one sided....or I guess it would be better to say unidirectional since we buy form everywhere, but noone buys from us....

BTW I voted for Ross Perot - who better to run the economy than a billionaire? I mean, my thinking was - he'd run the country more like a business and less like a puppet....And he had the interest of his family in mind - he wanted to make a successful future for the US, not ***** it out.


....but don't get me started.

 

Tell me...which

 

Sorry to hear man.

Keep your chin up. You're a smart guy and you will find something soon I am sure.

At least you still have your sense of humor, I spit diet pepsi all over my monitor....

 

You make a lot of good points.
However the Japanese worker is paid pretty well by & large , in some cases better than a US worker. One of the things that allow them to be competive & still pay decent wages is that the Executives don't get 500 -1000 times as much as the average worker, more like 10-20 times --- same thing is true in most of Europe. German car factory workers are paid better than ours & they have National health care. I have never underdtood why the auto industry in this country has not pushed for a national health care -- ins. costs are one of the things killing them now.
In Germany when a company wants to make m*** layoffs they have to prove that it was not bad management that created the situation- if it was --the bosses go first.
Japan & Germany produce pretty decent quality ----- China is another animal entirely.
The United states does not have a trade deficet with China ---- WALMART does.
I will do without before I will buy from walmart---- wages- benefits-no union-- you name the fault -- walmart has it.

 

Dude what the ****...

 

Your lucky its just christmas time..Im a worthless piece of **** al year long
Dave

 

That blows. It could always be worse. If that other door opens and there is a family/relative's business there, run (and see previous sentence).

 

I've been there too. I got released from a job on December 1, kept looking at companies I wanted to work for, got a job with one and then later got the job I have now. Just keep yourself open to possibilities; relocating for a job is not always a bad thing.

I just got lucky this year, I got a one-month contract renewal as opposed to no renewal because I took a 3rd shift position with another department at the client I am working for.

Look at it this way: christmas should NOT be about the **** you buy for folks it should be about spending time with those you love. If there are those who feel that you're a piece of **** because you got laid off - not fired, laid off - at christmas then maybe you need to reevaluate your relationship with them.

Keep your chin up and the resumes flying. Let everyone that you know that you are looking for a job and to p*** the word to anyone they might know who is looking for a tech writer. You might be surprised where the offers start comming from.

 

Sorry to hear that. I know two guys who got wacked last year. They had over 50 years experience with that company alone. The company notified them 15 minutes before we were putting the tools away.

Keep your chin up. I know it is tough but at least in an office the new budgets start and your may have a few more options.

Larry

 

I too am a recently out of work Technical Writer, albeit in the aerospace and defense industries. Perhaps we could discuss the possibility of forming a partnership? Many companies seem to have 3-6 month projects, needing technical writing. Send me a PM if interested.

BTW, my girlfriend works for Mainline, IBM's #1 reseller, and from the rants I overhear, BigBlue is being Big*******...

Check out Hoffman-Marcom at http://www.hoffmanmarcom.com/
They have telecommute positions writing B2B white papers (or "red papers" as IBM pompously rephrased) give them a shot.

Good luck to you,
Jerry

 

Please enlighten a stupid old fart.......What is a Technical Writer?

 

Dude, I feel for ya, having been there. I really thought IBM would have been above that. Why is it when a corporation cuts back, the people who built it are the first to get the knife in the back. When Harris (another IT corp) killed my division, I took on side consulting jobs until I could get a "real" job, that was 17 years ago, self employment may not be for everyone, but at least you've got some control of your destiny. Are there any free lance opportunities in tech writing?

 

That is a tough question to nail down, but generally in my field I talk to subject matter experts and take engineering do***ents and compile and "stupify" the language for the end user to understand, then write a do***ent for the end user. Some Tech Writers just write code all day, while others write contracts or just month to month do***entation and reports. Hope this helps, sometimes I don't even know WTF it is either!

 

Big ****en business....I work for Pfizer....yea the 5th largest company in the world, we profited 54.2 billion last year. I was laid off last thanksgiving (2005)I was given 4 different "last days"...I'm still here ......waisting there time...enjoying the HAMB severence is real good so I'm doing some work.....

 

Sorry to hear about it man. You'll land on your feet.

Don't get rid of hot rods. I always take advantage of the downtime to actually get things done at home. Keeps ya on the 40 hour week jive and helps give a sense of forward motion to life.

How many times you been working and thought you'd rather be home wrenching on a hot rod instead? Live in the moment for a while.

 

I would take my ride to the front door right after I dumped about a 1/2 quart of ATF in the carb and let'er eat. Oil and rubber smoke always make me feel better. Sorry about your situation but things will turn around for you and your family. Don't let a bad thing keep a good man down. You control your destiny, make the best of it. Praying for your comeback.
Sam

 

Sorry I didn't do this sooner...

I'd really like to say thanks to all you guys for the words of encouragement and leads, etc...

I know things happen for a reason, and I'm sure the right opportunity will reveal itself..

Sometimes it takes stepping back and taking a deep breath to realize that...

Thanks for helping with that.

-Phil

 

Been there, done that... it's hard but you'll land on your feet. Don't let yourself get discouraged. I currently am employeed by a huge corporation that's going through a thing called "Project Resolve"... same old stuff with a different name. We call it "Project Desolve"... Found something on the outside that's gonna make it possible to retire next year I hope. Hang tuff old man!!

 

KILROY, I feel ya brother. My IH.R. {in-human resources }"manager" called me into her office yesterday and told me I had violated a "major" company safety policy. Basically I was useing a mini-grinder and cutoff wheel in the wrong area off the shop. We are not supposed to do anything that creates sparks or flames in this portion of the shop.OOOPS! Okay, so I was two feet away from where I thought I was supposed to be, thats where THEY put the benchvise. Short story long, I might get canned for this "violation". Oh well, I had a job interview at a "major national autoparts retailer" and might just say hasta la bye bye to the old company even if they dont let me go LOL
Best of luck to you and dont sell of ALL the hotrod stuff.You will just regret it later! Keep enough for one project anyway
R.R.

 

Been there, Had the same screwing!! You might check on a little known program known as WAIT. If your company deals with the Govt in any way and there are more than fifty people in the reduction, the company has to give 60 days notice before letting anyone go. Human resource folks will deny this program exists, but it does. I worked at the Superconducting Super Collider and this program was initiated as a direct result of this project being shut down. I ended up starting my own company, building windows, and now have a company wanting to buy me out, for a tidy profit.

 

Sorry to hear that best of luck to you.

We are going through stuff now as well. I work for Dana they are closing plants(moving most to Mexico). We(USW) got a letter last week they want us to take big pay cuts, pay a bunch of our insurance, take away vacation, and more. They want us to take all the cuts while the ceo gets his 1.2 million salary and is in line for a 6 million dollar bonus. So I got a feeling I will be looking next year.

 

r8odecay had a good point. I also work for the DOD and government contracts are not that hard to get and they pay really good. They give new and smaller companies more points then they do larger ones. I really don’t know how they justify paying some of the companies what they do. It’s only an urban legend that the government picks the lowest bidder. I know a couple of welders that bid on some contracts at camp Pendleton and won, they busted their a@# because it was only a couple of them but they made a good deal of money. The real thing that ****s is IBM is now owned by the Chinese government. I remember when they bought it there was a lot of controversy about a government especially the Chinese buying an American company and making money through it.

 

Hi.
Sorry to hear that you will be losing your job. I'm here in M***achusetts and went through it back in 2001 when the economy tanked. So much has changed in the 25 years I've been working in semiconductor capital equipment business. Three companies I worked for went out of business due partly to foreign compe***ion. Most everything we build now goes to China, Korea and Taiwan. Most chip making is done over there. Just wait a few more years when China starts producing real quality manufacturing machines, we'll all be out of work!
Good luck, stay positive something will come your way!

John

 

Don't know if you are interested in relocating but Boeing is having a hard time finding enough skilled people, especially in Seattle. I've worked in Tech Pubs all my life, first as a tech illustrator and then in computer publications systems. Most of the writers in the groups I deal with will be retiring within 5 years and its hard to find replacements.

A side note, IBM only sold their PC business to the Chinese company Lenovo. The server and mainframe business is still an American company.

Good luck man,

Kurt O.

 

go rent, it`s a wounderfull life ! and get all liquerd up ! and wait till next year to worry about life ! enjoy what you have ! Life ! merry christm***! and best of luck brother !

 

there is a shortage of cdl truck drivers and wrecker operators. towing and recovery is a lot of fun.