Holy Shit, I Got Kicked in the Nuts

[Duken4evr]

Excellent Doug. My goal is the same. Retire from my current job at 55 with 29 years in and hopefully live to 85 so I can suck off the company's tit for 1 year longer than I worked for them, just to get even I will likely work part time, perhaps my own business as an independent or full time somewhere else. It all depends how well I manage my 401K and invest the money from selling my CA house. I am working on doing it well

My situation is somewhat fucked up too, and honestly, it was of my own doing. I was one of the highest paid Supervisors in the company, stationed in SoCal. I did a very good job there in a profit center office, but also I think they took care of me to keep me from leaving. I left anyway, due to the insane real estate runup. An investing principle I adhere to is to diversify assets. If one investment goes bonkers, trim it and spread it around to less high performing assets. This ensures buying low and selling high. Through no forsight of my own, my house became more than a home, it became an insanely outperforming investment. I treated it as such. I also wanted out of CA, as my heart was restless and it was time for something else. So I called in some favors, threatened to quit and whined like a child to get a transfer. They gave me the bare bones screw you package. We made do. I moved to Denver, took a demotion and went back in the road as an adjuster, a position I had been promoted from 12 years previous. I had to pull strings and basically write my career's death certificate. I could change employers, but the pension beckons and I am simply too far in.

I left shoes to fill in the old office and nobody will relocate to SoCal due to the cost of living - it is hard to get someone making 70K a year (starter Sup pay) to move to CA, land of the 500K starter home - even with the recent real estate correction. So my old Supervisor chair in CA has been musical, with 3 guys coming and going since I left in '04. They just promoted a 2 year adjuster who was already in the office to the job. That reeks of desperation. No wonder I am on the corporate shit list. The result of all this is I have been passed over for promotion back to Supervisor in the Denver office twice now. The current supervisor is failing badly. My boss knows I could do the job in my sleep, but she has no say, it is all up to the VP's in corporate and I am not their golden boy.

Funny thing is, while I was depressed about this for awhile, I have come to terms with it. I think it is true when I say I am the best adjuster in the company. Give me huge injury cases or a house burned to the ground. I have handled it all and nothing fazes me anymore. I have sat on both sides of the desk and unlike most old timers in my position with a capped salary, I am not burned out and have a good attitude.

The Denver office has historically been a place for adjusters to fail. The shit hits the fan here. My boss loves the rock solid stability and, at some level, even the VPs have to admit that I am hacking it with distinction in a place where so many others washed out. The fact that they still won't throw me a bone shows the depth of their vindictive nature. The offset is that my boss here in Denver loves me and she lets me run free with no undue meddling. I like the autonomy working out of the office brings and I like helping people directly. I would love to mentor and train the younguns, but I manage to do quite a bit of this in an unofficial capacity. My phone rings quite often as people in my office and even out of state are told by their sups to run it by Duke cuz he knows

Anyway, life is good Doug. Keep on doing what you are doing. I intend to as well

[deltl1ks]

For me I had five years in and I fought HR and lossed. Go review my old threads. Don't do that. The good thing is you can retire in five more years and you make a mint compare to me so hang in there.



Tell you what. Hire me in at 65K. I'll find out who did it and cause them personal havac. BTW, I need to come home at least once a month.

[CMonkee]

Doug another thought...Nuclear is about to take off like we haven't seen since the seventies so you're probably in for a high paying gig as a contractor or just an adviser/consultant.

So it'll be semi-retired. I think by early next year, they'll realize how important you are there will try to keep another facility from stealing you.

C

[pmmonster]

Originally Posted by Duken4evr

...I left shoes to fill in the old office and nobody will relocate to SoCal due to the cost of living - it is hard to get someone making 70K a year (starter Sup pay) to move to CA, land of the 500K starter home - even with the recent real estate correction. So my old Supervisor chair in CA has been musical, with 3 guys coming and going since I left in '04. They just promoted a 2 year adjuster who was already in the office to the job. That reeks of desperation. No wonder I am on the corporate shit list. The result of all this is I have been passed over for promotion back to Supervisor in the Denver office twice now. The current supervisor is failing badly. My boss knows I could do the job in my sleep, but she has no say, it is all up to the VP's in corporate and I am not their golden boy...

...The Denver office has historically been a place for adjusters to fail. The shit hits the fan here. My boss loves the rock solid stability and, at some level, even the VPs have to admit that I am hacking it with distinction in a place where so many others washed out. The fact that they still won't throw me a bone shows the depth of their vindictive nature. ...

Anyway, life is good Doug. Keep on doing what you are doing. I intend to as well

Sounds like you're too valuable in that position to promote

[OldTLSDoug]

Yep, I was in the "Too valuable to promote" position in 1997 and then they gave me a buyout package. That was when I learned they didn't love me no matter how good I was. I turned it in and started looking for a job. The old director, personally pulled my buyout package and told me to stay. I ended up a supervisor from that little fiasco. Sad that I had to leave to get promoted.

The good news is that they can't hurt me, they need me and they have to pay me for my work. So with the industry spinning up, folks bailing out left and right, I am currently in an excellent spot to profit from it all. We are considering building 2 more plants right here. And so it goes..........

[Duken4evr]

Sounds like you're too valuable in that position to promote

Perhaps. There is a position that is not used often called "Supervising adjuster". Basically I would report directly to the corporate office without manager intervention on all but serious cases. My manager would love this as she hardly looks at my stuff anyway and it would mean less work going across her busy desk. As a supervisor I did this for 12 years so it is not like it would be something new.

The job would only entail about a $5,000 raise. I have asked for it repeatedly, no dice.

Tightwad vindictive bastards, I tell ya...

Sad that I had to leave to get promoted.

This has crossed my mind.

[Steve TLS]

Originally Posted by OldTLSDoug

Sad that I had to leave to get promoted.

I resigned from a job once and it got me a $17K AUD payrise and an RDO thrown in for good will. (RDO - Rostered day off, 1st Monday of every month off, with pay).

Money got me to stay, but it couldn't keep me there, I left again 12 months later and then the 1st day of my new job was back at my old job on labour hire It was the Hotel California. 'You can check out anytime you want, but you can never leave'

I guess I don't burn bridges.

[Miles B]

I'm a whore. I do my job until the next one that pays more comes along, so I always only sign 6 month contracts so I can leave regularly on good terms. I work the angles at every opportunity to pull a pay rise. I have averaged over 20% per annum for the last 5 years. I now earn at least 3 times most of the people my age, and soon that will be 4 and then 5. This is how I treat work these days.. a way to get money, nothing more. The people there are not really my friends; they are either there to give me money or they are standing in my way of getting money. Many office workplaces have taught me these things. Noone is your friend and most will eventually stab you in the back if you stand around too long - people are people. 9 months is usually about the sweet spot. I do my hours, I take my money, and I do the things I want.

[TL Lurker]

Doug, sorry to hear about this B.S. I really have no advice as I'm not a very PC person and would have probably bitch slapped him and then confronted my co-workers. sigh. good luck with everything and I will be the first customer at "Doug's Garage".