Author Archives: f2x

Promising Career Change

I’m not old, but I’m not as young as I look either. I’m not going to tell you exactly how old I am, but I’ve been working for my current employer for 19 years, 4 months, and 10 days. When I started there, there were over 130 people working on three shifts. That number grew a little for a couple of years, and then that number started falling. Today we have about 31 people left working in the factory, and most of them are much older than I am with between 30 to 47 years of service. Several are considering retiring within 5 to 7 years.

The company is facing a retirement bubble. When those old-timers leave, there probably won’t be a company left. There have been a number of warning signs over the years. Less than two years ago they made everyone take a 5% pay cut because things were so bad. I’m making less money today than I was 5 years ago.

But 19 years is nothing to sneeze at! I’ve got a real history with these people. They are like family to me, but the writing on the wall is pretty clear. The CEO is not going to fix the long term staffing problem, and if I’m willing to stay there till they shut the doors, it’s unlikely that he will have any sympathy for my resulting joblessness.

So I set out to find a new employer…

…and I found one.

I’m going through their vetting process right now, and things are looking very good. It takes a few weeks to get through the process. When I get the job, I’ll be making more money and have plenty of opportunities for advancement. I’m really looking forward to showing them what I can do.

Of course I’m a little scared. Changing jobs can be risky, but no risk, no reward, and at this point I think the greater risk is staying at a company I’m not entirely confident will make it through the next decade.

Wish me luck!

Pax,

f2x

Cord Cutting Conundrums

Although I’ve dabbled with cable a few times in my adult life, I’m what you might call a cord cutter. In fact, I cut that cord long before the term cord cutter was even in vogue. In the early days, I used to use rabbit ears and a VCR. This was back when dial-up was still popular, so YouTube hadn’t even been invented yet.

As time passed by, different avenues of entertainment presented themselves. Oh, sure, I’ve used torrents here and there… Who hasn’t? If you don’t have a DVR, it’s a pretty reliable way of catching last nights episode of “The Big Bang Theory”. On the other hand, it’s not something that you can easily explain to family and coworkers, not to mention it’s somewhat frowned upon.

Netflix is currently my go-to for streaming TV and movies. I’m also an Amazon Prime member, so I’ve got some options there too. Toss in Pluto, Crackle, YouTube, and suddenly you’ve got a pretty decent lineup of shows at your fingertips.

But now my dad wants to cut the cord. The cost of cable and dish has gotten too expensive, and he’s looking for options. Naturally, I’m sharing my Amazon and Netflix with him (not against the rules BTW) and he’s even played around with Kodi. Apparently there’s even apps out there that let you stream live TV, so I got him an Android TV box.

Since he lives about 30 miles away, I also got a box so I could tryout different setups… Well, I tell ya, this little time vampire is not yet ready for Prime Time. It’s frustrating as hell. Lots of problems with apps freezing, or just being plain broken. Then there are the rather dubious “services” that want you to sign up. All in all, it just doesn’t lend to a very satisfying TV viewing experience.

But there’s something about this device that holds promise. Something about it makes me think that if I found the right combinations of apps, this little device could be the answer my dad is looking for.

Then again, it could just be another colossal waste of time.

Pax,

f2x