Reflections Of

 The Supremes - Reflections

Through the mirror of my mind

Time after time

I see reflections of you and me

Reflections of

The way life used to be

Reflections of

The love you took from me

Oh I'm all alone now

No love to shield me

Trapped in a world

That's a distorted reality.

Happiness you took from me

And left me all alone

With only memories

I celebrate my one year work anniversary on January 31st.  I'm amazed at how fast time has flown.  Is it possible to have hate for some aspects of the job but also to be grateful for it?   It sounds like a contradiction but it's the feeling that I have for my current role.   I deal with a variety of customers from various walks of life and it can be stressful trying to come up with answers to issues that they face. 

 This week I was assigned as the primary for Severity 1 cases.   These are those cases where customers have issues that they deem to have major showstopping impacts to their business.   There are extra eyes of these cases by management who wants you to immediately reach out to the customer or sometimes multiple customers.    You have to be the voice of reason to all the craziness while at the same time researching and confirming on the issue.   Plus you still have to make your weekly case closure goals and assist other cases.   Needless to say it's been a stressful week.

My company now is also requiring employees to return to the office.   Starting in February, we'll have to commute to the office twice a week.   My home office as I mentioned is based in Indianapolis, IN which is almost 3 hours from me.    There's a smaller satellite office in Chicago with a smaller support group.   The company is in the final phase of building a new bigger location in the city that will be ready sometime in May.    

At first my manager was saying that I would have to commute to Indianapolis.  But thankfully she came around to me going to Chicago instead.   It so happens one of my fellow students from my Salesforce class also got a job at my company and works in Chicago.   So at least I will know one person.   Hopefully I can do some networking and get a position in the Chicago area.

My commute to Chicago will be a lot easier with me only having a 20 minute drive to the train station and then an hour train ride.    It would take about two hours to get to Chicago with the travel and wait time for the train but it's an easier commute than the more than 2 1/2 hour road trip to Indianapolis.   I would still visit the Indianapolis location once a month but that'll be less intense than having to travel there twice a week.

I admit I was getting spoiled having the ability to mostly work from home as opposed to having to drive to Amazon.   But I'll adapt.  That's what I've had to do all my life.

And actually we've had to go once a week starting this month.   I wound up making an appointment to a medical care facility in downtown Chicago that specializes in improving your breathing.  I've been using a CPAP machine since 2015 and would love to find an alternative way to get off it.    Commuting there would make it easier for me to make future appointments.   Since my initial appointment, I've been prescribed to do a nightly nose cleansing and Flonase.   I have noticed that I'm not blowing my nose as much since I've been doing it.   Even though during my initial consultation I was told I had the narrowest nasal passages they've ever seen in their years of seeing patients (basically it's a miracle I'm alive and could use a CPAP...*LOL*), I'm hopeful that I can get off my CPAP and sleep easier.

Layoff Blues

Waking up on January 5th one of my first thoughts was on my Dad.   He would've celebrated his 93rd birthday on that day.  As I was waking I could hear Dom leaving the house and making his way to work.   I eventually got out of bed and headed straight to the kitchen to get some water warmed up for tea.  The day before I learned that my job had laid off 10% of their work staff.   I remember seeing the intro words of an email from my CEO as I was getting my day started.   I didn't pay much mind to it and didn't open it, opting instead to get a jump on some of the work that I needed to get done.   Twenty minutes later I see a message from a team member pop up in my Slack messenger.   I recognized the message as the same email I ignored.   This time I read it and that's when I learned about the layoff.   There was initial confusion on who all got affected.   I later learned that those affected received another email telling them of their status and that their Slack messenger was immediately deactivated.   Senior management scheduled a late evening meeting to discuss the events of the day.    It was more of a streaming event where questions weren't allowed and nothing new was learned besides what was sent in the email.  A town hall with the CEO and other senior team members was planned for the next day.

So I was logging in that day and of course the topic of the day was on the events that took place on the 4th.  I began to learn the names of some of the folks affected.   Thankfully none of my immediate team were impacted.   The town hall took place in the early afternoon.   There was a separate Slack board where employees could vent and vent they did.   Upper management danced around the questions that were being asked like who was affected, would there be more let go, what happens next.   I was simultaneously doing work (customers still needed help) while listening in on the conference and at the same time seeing a lot of venting and also getting a few vents in with a few of my immediate team.  Two hours later my head was hurting and once the conference was over, I decided to step away from my work laptop.

I, of course, am no stranger to layoffs, having experiencing my own layoff from my previous job (before Amazon and a temp consulting role...*LOL*).    That company started doing layoffs in 2007 and I managed to hang on for ten more years.   It took me forever (40 months) to find this role and I'm not even a year into it (my anniversary is on the 31st) and here I am reeling from fresh layoff news.   

Having gone through a layoff, I know that no job is secure.   Even one with a company that folks deemed is in a growing industry.   I got that reminder once more on the 4th.  That's why I've been trying so hard to save as much as I can and invest.   My ongoing goal is to become financially independent.   The fact that I saved, found temporary work at Amazon (even with the paltry salary), and thankfully got a good severance helped me weather my last layoff only needing to dip into my 401-K a month before I started my new job.

Those who were impacted by my new company's layoff will be getting 20 weeks worth of salary.   It appears to be regardless of length of time employed.   I myself got 40 weeks of salary, having earned 2 weeks of salary for every year of employment.   

I dream of being able to have enough money to not be dependent on a job and to try and enjoy life a bit more.  I still have faith in my Blackberry stock helping me get there.   It's just taking a little bit longer to realize that goal.   I received a little windfall from my Dad which has helped put a dent on my main credit card.   I felt a bit guilty taking my Dad's money (even with him being gone) but I know he would want us to use the money in a way that would benefit us.   This latest layoff is just a reminder that I need to remain steadfast to my goal.

 

Share My World

 Mary J. Blige - Share My World

VERSE 1:

Boy if you stay I'll always make sure

That you look to see a brighter day

Don't let our loving slip away

The things you do, they always make me feel

Like there's no one else but you

Promise you'll be true

Always

REFRAIN:

Share my world

Don't you leave

Promise I'll be here

Whenever you need me near

Share my world

Don't you leave

Promise I'll be here

So baby don't you have no fear

Happy New Year everyone!   I'm blessed to make it through another year.  I spent it hanging out with Trina.   We toasted it with some Rum Chata liqueur mixed with her fave Hennessey.    We almost missed the countdown simultaneously watching a Netflix docuseries called the Tinder Swindler and dozing off (getting old sucks...*LOL*).    But it sure beats how I spent New Year's Eve into New Year's last year.   I'm assuming Tasha will stop by at some point on New Year's Day for us to hang out and do our Christmas Exchange before I head back home.   I plan though to treat myself to a mini-vacation staying overnight in Battle Creek so I can do some gambling at Firekeepers before going home.   It's the little things, right?

So since I didn't go to Detroit for Christmas and the weather somewhat was better on Boxing Day, I along with Dom met an old friend of mine that I haven't seen in quite some time.   It was her first time meeting Dom as well.   She and I befriended each other way back in 2005 or 2006 via our blogs.   She had a relationship blog that she co-wrote with a male counterpart and went by the moniker no_the_game.   I remember we met in person for the first time in downtown Oak Park, IL and had lunch at a Vietnamese place that may or may not still be in business.  

Anyway no_the_game and I had a great time and kept in touch sporadically over the next decade or so.  She's a recent divorcee with an adorable 8-year old trying to navigate through her new normal.

I was so happy we got to hang out.  No_the_game and Dom got along pretty well and they were both talking up a storm which was cool.   So when Dom found out we knew other via blogging, he asked me later on if I would share some of my writing with him.   I admit it threw me off.    My blog in a lot of ways is like a diary (even though it's slightly more public depending on who stumbles upon it).   I don't use real names but anyone who stumbles upon it and reads a few entries would figure out who I was talking about.   Perhaps when I'm older and not as concerned about what folks think I may be more open.   But I'm not ready to give him a link to either of my blogs yet.

I may cut and paste an entry though for him and email it to him.   That way he can get access to some of my writing without getting the whole she-bang.   Fun times.