Still working

Well, i survived the first round of the lay-offs. But, the big round is coming. Yhe WARN notice said 650 personnel would get the axe. So far, 185 laid off and another 50 or so through attrition. So the math states that close to 400 will get the axe on 11 Dec with the final day being 18 Dec. we shall see. For the world in general. I am so unsure of what is going on in the world today. It feels as though I am living in the world of "1984". If you haven't read the book, do and tell me I am dreaming. Particularly about who we are mad at and who we are friends with.......Seriously, I want a mountain cabin off the grid so I can clear my mind of this nonsense. One of these days, that cabin will be a reality. A two room structure, with An outhouse, water, solar panels, and a wind generator. Think that would cover it. my own place where I can be a free man. Dreams like these keep me sane most days. I have been designing this cabin in my head for years, how it will be laid out, how I will construct it, what kind of land I want. I have read that POW's that were "guests" of the North Vietnamese would do the same thing. Is that telling me something?

Well, I got a WARN notice a couple of weeks ago. Do not know what that is? Then you have never had the threat of being laid off held over your head. On Monday this week, Human Resources sent out a voluntary lay off, but this one had numbers of personnel for each management classification listed. It laid out the severance pay package. So i figured what the heck. I will submit and see if they bite. I had to have my boss sign the paper before it went to HR. I took it to her and she asked to take it to the VP and ask him what's what. I saw her later in the afternoon, she handed me back the paper and stated I was "not on the list".... Whatever that means. Guess I will continue riding the train until it continues past the crossroads or runs off the tracks! While all this is going on, the award I wrote for the Program got selected to try for a Silver award level. Huge honor to go in front of corporate staff and brief your program to them. I would really like to win this as the Gold awards are held in London!! Would love to see Trafalger Square, Lord Admiral Nelsons statue, and the HMS Victory. White cliffs of Dover would be awesome as well. but first, I must make one of the most awesome PowerPoint presentations ever to convince them we are doing Gods work here at NSR.

Another day......

Wake up, shower, dress, make coffe, toast bagel, eat, peruse Internet, pack lunch, pull on work boots, drive through traffic, go to work, supervise the sometimes glacial pace of ship repair, meetings, lunch, more meetings, drive home, eat dinner, walk dog, television, bedtime at 10:00, wake up and do it again. But wait.......it's Friday! And Labor Day weekend to boot! Three days off! Mountain biking with the kids, yard work, barbeque, cold beer. Fly the American flag proudly.

Just thinking...

I am guessing that since I have been a bit active on some of the other blogs out there that folks might actually be looking at this blog now. A little about me. I had a checkered past and my beloved Marine Corps set me on the straight and narrow. It gave me a reason to hold my head high and look people in the eye. And I appreciated the chance it took on me. I turned 27the day I jumped on the yellow footprints at MCRD San Diego. At that moment I left my past behind. I became an 0351 Dragon Gunner and tried out for Force Reconnaissance and to my amazement...I made it. My true maturity in the Corps began the day I checked in to that elite unit. I met the CO and 30 seconds after that, while still in Alphas, I was thrashed for 30 minutes by a Sergeant all us new guys affectionately nicknamed "Sgt Satan". I was tested and tested like I had never been before, being pushed to the extreme limits of what I could endure and then further than I gave myself credit for. It was the last thing in the Marine Corps I had joined for but soon became the real reason I had joined. I belonged to something greater than myself. Where only the mission mattered....everything else was secondary. And those lessons carried me throughout my career. I made a huge mistake during the RIF following the first Gulf War and got out despite knowing I was making a mistake. It took me 16 months to get myself back in.