Midnight Ramblin’

Coincidence?
This was a horoscope for Gemini for Saturday, August 10:
Right now you could be in the mood to make a change to your career,
Brian. You could feel a little frustrated or limited by the situation in
which you are working. Maybe you will want to think about sending out
some resumes. Or you could ask some colleagues to keep their ears open
about new opportunities. You’ll feel good if you can realize that you do
control your destiny, and you aren’t really trapped!
Where’s the coincidence? Hmmm… lemme just tell you about my day and my wonderful job!!!
It’s that time of year… the beginning of the school year… time for renewal, time for excitement, time for enthusiasm. It’s also time when “raises” go out, and to the deserving directors, bonuses as well. I’m not going to lie — I BUST MY ASS FOR MERIWETHER-GODSEY. I’ve worked so hard and gotten myself so stressed that I literally got sick. I have spent much of the time at my psychiatrist defending my job as something that I enjoy doing. And I even claim that I have been fairly compensated. But you know what? Today was a CROCK OF SHIT!!!
I can understand the fact that I’m not getting a bonus this year. I didn’t quite meet my financial goals. I have some questions about that and how those numbers were reached, but I can accept their determination. But that’s for bonus, meaning “above and beyond” — a reward for exceeding financial goals.
So, how about the yearly raise? How does a 2% increase sound? Sound pretty damned small to you? It sure does to me. We’re given a line that CPI was less than 1% and that we’re being paid in excess of cost of living differences. First of all, where does this number come from? Does it mean that costs of living are less than 1% different than from a year ago? Does this take into account that Northern VA isn’t fucking small ass Chatham, VA? How about this? My rent jumped up a total of 16% this year… Divide that 3 ways, and it’s still over 5% increase.
So, after a year where I busted my ass, trying to make things good or better for myself, I’m given a 2% increase to handle what I’m perceiving as a 5% cost of living increase. Yep, I’m in the hole for the next 12 months, at least.
Where’s the incentive there? I feel as though I can just show up at work and sleepwalk through my job and end up losing money! And don’t give me this “blame the economy” bullshit!! How do you beat an economic downturn? Through spending and investing. I can’t spend because my company isn’t investing in my abilities. Maybe it is time that I started to look around again. I’ve always wanted a computer job. The funny things is… I’m not the only one thinking this way.