Humans spend their entire lives discontent.....
Eve wanted the fruit she could not have...
People want what their neighbors have....
Workers want to retire....
Retirees want to find something to do....
Losing teams want to win....
Winning teams fondly remember working hard to improve....
Kids want to grow up.....
Grown ups want to be kids....
I realized this today as I was looking for something to do. There were days where I went to work wanting to just sit or do something else and now I want to work. I've been driving Katie nuts with cleaning around the house in between my applications for work. Mostly, I just need to learn to be content and live well where I am and strive to improve.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Friday, March 20, 2009
Everything else takes a backburner...
Well, I was laid off from work this past Tuesday. I had spent a little more than 9 years at Lincoln Plating Company/Lincoln Industries, but proved to be expendable when it came down to the bottom-line.
When people at Lincoln Industries were first informed of the layoffs (over a week ago today), we were told that it was not our fault that 40-80 people would be let go and that LI wanted to preserve everyone's dignity. They rolled out their 6 catagories which you would be scored on...to determine if your score made you valuable enough for the company to keep through an economic downturn. In the end, it just seemed like a corporate, real-life version of "lifeboat." You know, "lifeboat"...the game you probably played in 1980s middle school. A boat sinks, there's one lifeboat that holds 5 people and there are 10 survivors and you have to decide who is worthy enough to go on the lifeboat. I quickly found out if I was worthy enough....
Plus, Lincoln Industries kept everything very hushed and secretive as the layoffs were happening. People were being quietly tapped on the shoulder with no advance notice. A quiet whisper of , "We need to see you regarding the Reduction In Force", or RIF in corporate acronym/jargon. After you were told and had to sit through a 15 minute review of all the paper work by our HR department, they would say, "We can arrange a time after hours to come gather your belongings." My response: if I've done nothing wrong, then I will collect my things now. Agreed. Then, you were quietly led to get a box, quietly led to your desk or area, someone stood there while you quietly packed the box, you were quietly escorted to the door (so I wouldn't cause an incident or become violent...even though I have no history of it in my entire 9 years there) and that was it. I did not feel like my dignity was left intact. Instead, I felt like I was part of a family trying to keep quiet a dirty family secret, like sending a teenage daughter to a home to have a baby or arranging for an abortion very quietly. What LI wanted to preserve was their dignity and did not give a rip about anyone else's.
Needless to say, the house we intended to buy is off now. We are now in a fight to prove I was laid off "legally" (or, prove to the sellers I did not take a voluntary severance or quit) so we can get our $1000 earnest money back. Ironically enough, I need to enlist the help of LI human resources, who failed to fill in a date on one of the letters in my "separation" packet. Wish me well on that.
The only blessings of this is that Katie and I had not closed on the house yet and we know that God has something better out there. He is not vindictive, we will learn something from this and we will be better of for it. Just read Job.
When people at Lincoln Industries were first informed of the layoffs (over a week ago today), we were told that it was not our fault that 40-80 people would be let go and that LI wanted to preserve everyone's dignity. They rolled out their 6 catagories which you would be scored on...to determine if your score made you valuable enough for the company to keep through an economic downturn. In the end, it just seemed like a corporate, real-life version of "lifeboat." You know, "lifeboat"...the game you probably played in 1980s middle school. A boat sinks, there's one lifeboat that holds 5 people and there are 10 survivors and you have to decide who is worthy enough to go on the lifeboat. I quickly found out if I was worthy enough....
Plus, Lincoln Industries kept everything very hushed and secretive as the layoffs were happening. People were being quietly tapped on the shoulder with no advance notice. A quiet whisper of , "We need to see you regarding the Reduction In Force", or RIF in corporate acronym/jargon. After you were told and had to sit through a 15 minute review of all the paper work by our HR department, they would say, "We can arrange a time after hours to come gather your belongings." My response: if I've done nothing wrong, then I will collect my things now. Agreed. Then, you were quietly led to get a box, quietly led to your desk or area, someone stood there while you quietly packed the box, you were quietly escorted to the door (so I wouldn't cause an incident or become violent...even though I have no history of it in my entire 9 years there) and that was it. I did not feel like my dignity was left intact. Instead, I felt like I was part of a family trying to keep quiet a dirty family secret, like sending a teenage daughter to a home to have a baby or arranging for an abortion very quietly. What LI wanted to preserve was their dignity and did not give a rip about anyone else's.
Needless to say, the house we intended to buy is off now. We are now in a fight to prove I was laid off "legally" (or, prove to the sellers I did not take a voluntary severance or quit) so we can get our $1000 earnest money back. Ironically enough, I need to enlist the help of LI human resources, who failed to fill in a date on one of the letters in my "separation" packet. Wish me well on that.
The only blessings of this is that Katie and I had not closed on the house yet and we know that God has something better out there. He is not vindictive, we will learn something from this and we will be better of for it. Just read Job.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
2009 Varsity and JV are Up and Running...
Well, we started out well yesterday. Defense and goal keeping looked strong. If there had been better footing (the field was very dirty and muddy -- super slippery), we probably could have put a few more in the back of the net. But, we'll take a 6-1 loss to the defending state champs. Almost all of their scores were on transition. We only allowed 1 goal from a settled defense. In fact, they didn't even score until 7:30min into the game. Then , there was the second game. I'm not sure if we were tired or we ate too much for lunch, but it was ugly. A lot of penalties, not enough ground balls and not enough shots on goal.
JV was encouraging to watch. We have a few diamonds in the rough who will be very good once they get their stick mechanics down. They lost 4-3, but I did a count and we had 5 kids on the field who had never even played an actual lacrosse game - either no expereince or old Lincoln Parks and Rec experience. JV will be good in a few weeks.
I am tyring to heavily emphasize playing boldly, with dignity and class and to the best of our ability on to the team. We received very good compliments from all of our opponents yesterday, saying that we played tough, but with class -- just as important as a "W". I'm really trying to impress my Christian life on to the team through example and actions. Just trying to remember the words of St. Francis -- preach the gospel and use words if necessary.
Later.
JV was encouraging to watch. We have a few diamonds in the rough who will be very good once they get their stick mechanics down. They lost 4-3, but I did a count and we had 5 kids on the field who had never even played an actual lacrosse game - either no expereince or old Lincoln Parks and Rec experience. JV will be good in a few weeks.
I am tyring to heavily emphasize playing boldly, with dignity and class and to the best of our ability on to the team. We received very good compliments from all of our opponents yesterday, saying that we played tough, but with class -- just as important as a "W". I'm really trying to impress my Christian life on to the team through example and actions. Just trying to remember the words of St. Francis -- preach the gospel and use words if necessary.
Later.
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