I Called In Sick Today

[Essay21 2,385]

looks like cereal for poor people.

 

i took off wednesday through friday this week. a few pointless meetings away from sweet freedom.

[Theraflu 1,035]

I'm off all week.

[brvheart 1,752]

I got to know Boston pretty well on my trip. There were a few things that I wanted to do but didn't get the chance. Overall it was a good trip. I was in Philly for work and then took at Amtrak to Boston with my daughter to visit family friends. We were there from Wednesday evening until Tuesday morning.

 

I bought a bunch of fruit at Haymarket. Fruit was dirt cheap. Like $1 for 2 pounds of cherries cheap. Sadly it was only open on like Friday/Saturday. Still great.

 

I bought a bunch of crabcakes at Boston Public Market. Cooked them at home and they were awesome.

 

I had drinks at the Bell in Hand and Green Dragon Taverns. (Apparently they fight for who's been around the longest, both opened before the Revolutionary War)

 

I went all over the freedom trail. I saw Old North Church, Revere's grave (along with a bunch of other people), Faneuil Hall (the Great Hall was great), and a bunch of other cool buildings.

 

I ate at Union Oyster House. The clam chowder was great.

 

Went to Deer Island and watched planes landing at Logan. Messed around in the ocean with my daughter.

 

Went on top of "The Pru" (The Prudential building) and got a lay of the land. It has an awesome view of Fenway.

 

I was staying right near the new Encore casino so we checked it out. The cheapest Blackjack table at the time was $100 minimums so I was just people watching mainly.

 

Went to the Isabella Stewart Gardner museum, which was fantastic. I'm really sad they lost three masterpieces to an art theft, but it's pretty cool that they still have the empty frames on the wall waiting for their return. (now almost 30 years later)

 

Ate some more crab cakes at Legal Seafood. Highly recommended.

 

Also drove through Harvard and MIT for a look around.

 

I like the Boston area. I could see living there.

[Napa_Don 688]

Sounds like a great trip, Brvy. You really packed in the activities. I enjoyed Boston when I was there, too, but didn’t do near as much as you did.

[brvheart 1,752]

This is ridiculous. You guys need to be sharing your lives with me. I know it's summer, but COME ON!

 

 

My 1/2 boss (Dean of Education) was unexpectedly fired this morning. Apparently she got into a fight with the president and he canned her. This will dramatically affect me, but I have no idea how at this point. I'm hopeful that whoever replaces her will leave me alone, but you never know. They haven't even announced it yet, and it's going to cause a major stir.

 

What's going on with everyone else?

 

-John

[Napa_Don 688]

I’m working what feels like a million hours a week and am unable to get caught up while trying to do a bunch of work to my house and still keep some sort of social life.

 

It’s...not going great.

[Theraflu 1,035]

I enjoy watching the live WSOP stuff. Richard Seymour was traaaaaaaaash though. He took about a full minute to flip his cards/discard in a hand he lost, and no one said anything, because he's twice the size of everyone, but no one knew what to do, because he held onto his cards, grunting and groaning, and it wasn't even a bad beat. He stunk.

[Napa_Don 688]

Oh shit, just remembered. My buddies wife works for Cambridge in the licensing and permit department and was telling me about this crazy bar owner who is harassing their office because they wouldn’t let her distill in her bar or something (because its illegal, not because they don’t like her). Any chance you know what I’m talking about Thera?

[hank213 1,823]

This is ridiculous. You guys need to be sharing your lives with me. I know it's summer, but COME ON!

 

 

My 1/2 boss (Dean of Education) was unexpectedly fired this morning. Apparently she got into a fight with the president and he canned her. This will dramatically affect me, but I have no idea how at this point. I'm hopeful that whoever replaces her will leave me alone, but you never know. They haven't even announced it yet, and it's going to cause a major stir.

 

What's going on with everyone else?

 

-John

 

Got into Vegas Sunday around 5:30 and was in the room at the Bellagio by 6:30 thanks to online check in. Online registration for hotel rooms is a huge plus. The line was ridiculously long when we got there which was kind of odd considering the airport was dead. No line for cabs. After dropping off the luggage we ran over to CVS to pick up a case of water and some snacks. Then met up with friends for dinner, a few drinks and a little gamboool.

Hit the pool Monday morning until about 2ish then up to the room for a little afternoon delight and a nap before picking up a drink out in front of caeser's then walked around until getting good and buzzed at the pbr rock bar (blondie rode the bull) next to planet hollywood. Several drinks and dinner there before heading back to Bellagio for drinks and games.

Tuesday I went and did a little shopping. Picked myself up a Hamilton jazzmaster. Got the traditional straight razor shave. Ate at Prime Steakhouse in Bellagio. Craftsteak and GR Steak are miles ahead of this place. Heck, even Gallagher's was a better steak and better experience. Really overpriced and spotty service for the price point.

Wednesday more pool time then cirque show "O" that night.

 

My manager texted me today (still had the day off) to tell me he put in his notice. I'm not enthused about this. Yeah, I'm probably the front runner for his job but I don't know if I want it. We will have a huge back fill problem down the line to keep up with the daily work and his boss is the weakest leader in our exec team. Having a buffer between him and I on some things was very advantageous. I have a feeling I will get frustrated in relatively short order. We'll see what happens.

 

 

I'm working what feels like a million hours a week and am unable to get caught up while trying to do a bunch of work to my house and still keep some sort of social life.

 

It's...not going great.

 

As a single person home owner the most valuable lesson I've learned is to get over the bullshit pride of "doing it myself" for a lot of homeowner tasks. I knew pretty much right away that I was going to be able to keep up the yard or keep the inside clean but not both. At least not without having next to no down time on the weekends or evenings. So I hired a lawn service right out the gate. As I get busier at work and traveling I've also hired someone to clean my house on a one off basis here and there. You're time is valuable. Hire some shit out.

[Theraflu 1,035]

Oh shit, just remembered. My buddies wife works for Cambridge in the licensing and permit department and was telling me about this crazy bar owner who is harassing their office because they wouldn't let her distill in her bar or something (because its illegal, not because they don't like her). Any chance you know what I'm talking about Thera?

No idea. Cambridge Brewing, or just the town of Cambridge? There's so many breweries now. Boston is pretty tight (corrupt) with it's various licenses. It's a huge pain in the ass to do pretty much everything.

[InternetExplorer 2,609]

My boss (CFO), who recently attempted to wrench responsibility away from both me and the COO as some kind of unprompted power grab, has seemingly backed off. She was furious with me when I brought up the topic in a "just so we aren't duplicating efforts" conversation. I suspect the COO did the same independently.

 

I have a 1:1 with the CEO in a few days, and I think I'm going to rip up my agenda and just walk him through the problem of 2020 and beyond. All the functional groups have crystalized in a way that leaves me out in the cold. I mainly work on software stuff, and we hired an IT director within the last year, who the COO is fast tracking into a strategic role, partly in an effort to keep it from looking like a bad hire (which it was). The functional groups have all indicated who they see as the admin for the software I'm converting, all internal to their groups.

 

 

I'm reading a book on the COO role, and the people they interview keep warning against having a "back door" for people to drive a wedge between the #1 and #2. We have a version of that problem, or rather, I'm eating fallout from a related problem. My CEO has consistently used me to "second opinion" the people on his team, but he never formalized my role. I was not smart enough to see the situation for what it was before I got blackballed by the rest of the leadership team.

[InternetExplorer 2,609]

This is the hardest I've ever swung in the "I'm screwed" direction. All those years spent thinking normal office jobs would be so boring and easy.

[brvheart 1,752]

My manager texted me today (still had the day off) to tell me he put in his notice. I'm not enthused about this. Yeah, I'm probably the front runner for his job but I don't know if I want it. We will have a huge back fill problem down the line to keep up with the daily work and his boss is the weakest leader in our exec team. Having a buffer between him and I on some things was very advantageous. I have a feeling I will get frustrated in relatively short order. We'll see what happens.

 

 

Well, if you get it, congrats I guess? I'm won't be in the running for my bosses job, nor would I want it. I'm heading the other direction, away from teaching and more into IT. I just hope our new Dean is cool.

[Napa_Don 688]

 

No idea. Cambridge Brewing, or just the town of Cambridge? There's so many breweries now. Boston is pretty tight (corrupt) with it's various licenses. It's a huge pain in the ass to do pretty much everything.

 

The town. Didn’t know if you worked with them at all or not.

[InternetExplorer 2,609]

Well, if you get it, congrats I guess? I'm won't be in the running for my bosses job, nor would I want it. I'm heading the other direction, away from teaching and more into IT. I just hope our new Dean is cool.

Why IT?

[Napa_Don 688]

Did not get the new job.

 

Although it looks like the other consulting gig is more likely to happen than not, but not at a the original amount quoted to me. At the very least, I’ll get to watch the Twins/Yankees game from a suite next week out of the deal.

[brvheart 1,752]

Sorry you didn't get the job Naps. I'm 1 for 1 being your reference, so next time you apply, just feed me some information and I'll sell you.

 

 

Why IT?

 

Something new. I also like the idea of building that skill set and working from home. There is a good chance I'll be the CTO here within 2 years.

[InternetExplorer 2,609]

Another round of promotions lately, don’t know if I mentioned. Several people bumped up to the next level of benefits to include equity. Not me. I am considering bailing here in the next two weeks.

 

My girlfriend said something to the effect of “what would you do if you quit.” I told her, based on my spending and savings, I could be unemployed for almost a decade and change nothing else about my life, but in reality I would have something else in motion within a few weeks.

 

I don’t know how serious I am about it. Just sick of seeing others blow past this tier that has been held back for me since like mid-2016.

[Ron_Mexico 4,219]

We had someone cleaning the house twice a month, but I got into buying new sneakers, so I started cleaning the house myself and saving the $85 every two weeks.

 

I got a new car (to me) with a bigger engine, and it’s a fancy green this time instead of orange. We don’t spend on much, so I splurged a little. I’ll miss having no payment and more money in the savings, but we’ll build back up in short order.

 

Hank, I was positive you didn’t get married. You ain’t moving, and I guess she ain’t gonna move.

[Ron_Mexico 4,219]

https://imgur.com/a/mM49XHH

 

https://imgur.com/a/gjM3JrQ

 

 

My car - weeeeeee.

 

This is pretty much my dream car. I will never need or want more than this. At least I hope not. 485hp

[BigDMcGee 3,352]

I'm not a car guy. The only thing I'd spend money on is a safer car as I'm super risk adverse when it comes to driving, so my only car takes are aesthetic ones. That caveat said, I love that green. I don't understand why people get muted and pastel car colors. Particularly with fast cars, why not get a hot color?

[Essay21 2,385]

sweet ride ronny. not my color, but that thing is a goddamn BEAST

[Essay21 2,385]

I enjoy watching the live WSOP stuff. Richard Seymour was traaaaaaaaash though. He took about a full minute to flip his cards/discard in a hand he lost, and no one said anything, because he's twice the size of everyone, but no one knew what to do, because he held onto his cards, grunting and groaning, and it wasn't even a bad beat. He stunk.

 

that really annoyed me too. i absolutely hate when people do that. such a d bag move.

[brvheart 1,752]

https://imgur.com/a/mM49XHH

 

https://imgur.com/a/gjM3JrQ

 

 

My car - weeeeeee.

 

This is pretty much my dream car. I will never need or want more than this. At least I hope not. 485hp

 

That's a cool car, Mex. I love the color.

 

How about a Dodge Demon? I would like one of those.

[hank213 1,823]

Job update.

 

Managing director/CIO is proceeding full steam with presumption of me getting promoted to fill exiting spot, in fact he told the exiting manager to tell some of his direct reports that they will be reporting to me. I thought about the stuff I mentioned previously and I think it's all stuff I can deal with. In fact, him being a weak leader might actually work to my advantage in some spots as I get increased visibility from other execs. I have already done a couple tasks (create a list of questions for the president of a different business segment to ask a potential acquisition regarding their IT infrastructure and position, wrote a counter proposal for our contract specialists to a suggested edit to our standard client contract from a Big 10 prospect client) so this could position me for a director level role in ~5 years. The question of compensation came up and while I don't have a firm offer yet I suspect I could finally hit 6 figures or be close enough to hit that with 1 or 2 years of "standard" merit increases. The way our company works is with any promotion HR/Leadership is free to provide a raise up to 9.99% of current salary, anything above that requires approval from compensation committee. MD/CIO told me he is going to the committee because he "doesn't want to have to play catch up" to get my salary in line with market/organization. I'm expecting a formal offer to maybe come by the end of the week but more likely the following week.