The Insanity of the United States Postal Service

Quote: Face

Well, when you are but one man yet do the work of two...

I wish some at my place would do the work of one. Starting with when things are over a day late picking up that little plastic thing on their desks next to the computer and using it.

Quote: AZDuffman

I'd rather work a casino party than go to a party. Hopefully you are not so far down the same road that you can unwind.

Who wouldn't. Its fun, you gain a bit of cash, you still joke with the newbies,...its fun in its own right.

I agree with Face's evaluation of his trips to the BVI.... sort of a mental hygiene break from saving money in the cold creek by taking a break in the hot sun amid Coconut Crabs and naked tourists. You return to cold creek and resume the saving mode but at least you have a tan. Much better than staying in Cold Creek so long that your resolve rots away in the icy water.

Quote: Face

moving forward.

good to hear about the moving forward part. In some towns in Washington State when Winter floods the access roads and there are no tourist dollars left, some people just seem to hibernate, others buy 'grow lamps' for their basement "tomato" plants and at least have something to look forward to.

Its nice to be able to swing a hammer or design an aquarium or sell a bottle tree or race a car 'round a dirt track. Much better than simply the shallow hibernation that otherwise may settle in and become a daily routine.

Quote: Fleastiff

Its nice to be able to swing a hammer or design an aquarium or sell a bottle tree or race a car 'round a dirt track. Much better than simply the shallow hibernation that otherwise may settle in and become a daily routine.

After much reflection, I think you just summed up another big reason I left the casino (and the reason I left the cushy job before that, and the reason I'll likely leave USPS).

I tire of that stuff. The "shallow hibernation of the daily routine". You f#$%ing nailed it.

I miss that job. It was a lot of fun and a huge ego boost. It was nice to have that power, it was nice to be feared and/or respected. It was nice to have haters and those who fawned. It was nice to have all that pay and all those crazy benefits. And right now, life is hard. I am, quite possibly, at the lowest point I have ever been in, even lower than the deepest, darkest pit of my addiction years.

But goddamn it, I feel ALIVE. The struggle to make bills, the stress of medical and dental problems piling up, the worrying about scheduling,... it woke something inside me. It necessitated me breaking down walls and pushing towards stuff I was too comfortable or too scared to push for before. You can't buy that. No salary can compare. As petro is wont to say "I'm getting richer in all the ways that matter".

Quote: Face

.

But goddamn it, I feel ALIVE. The struggle to make bills,

You'll always have bills to pay, no matter
what age you are. Struggling to pay them
gets very old eventually. You don't really
want to get to that point, you want to get
to where it's no longer a struggle, just
something you automatically do every
month. And that means some type of
security in your life.

Quote: Face

But goddamn it, I feel ALIVE. The struggle to make bills, the stress of medical and dental problems piling up, the worrying about scheduling,... it woke something inside me. It necessitated me breaking down walls and pushing towards stuff I was too comfortable or too scared to push for before. You can't buy that. No salary can compare. As petro is wont to say "I'm getting richer in all the ways that matter".

Some "good" jobs just grind the life right out of you. I knew the feeling once. Dream-type job out of college. Company car and looked so nice from the outside. Got canned from it 14 years ago this week. Stability has never been the same, money has mostly not been the same, landman work only comes close and no bennies. But I do not wake up with panic attacks like back then. No job is worth hating life.

Yeah, I know one guy who took early retirement and his much lowered aerospace pension when he found out the office pool on who was next for a heart attack favored him rather heavily. Rather than being the fourth in the department to have a fatal heart attack, he decided to give two weeks notice and retire to a job of part time handyman and part time actor. No stress, stay home. If your agent is calling you, you get the call right away. If your agent is not calling you, you always have your pension check and a few bucks under the table for swinging a hammer somewhere.

Worked fine for him.

Quote: Fleastiff

Yeah, I know one guy who took early retirement and his much lowered aerospace pension when he found out the office pool on who was next for a heart attack favored him rather heavily. Rather than being the fourth in the department to have a fatal heart attack, he decided to give two weeks notice and retire to a job of part time handyman and part time actor. No stress, stay home. If your agent is calling you, you get the call right away. If your agent is not calling you, you always have your pension check and a few bucks under the table for swinging a hammer somewhere.

Worked fine for him.

My father was offered an early retirement package after 25 years at his position. He was 45 and never worked again. My goal was to retire before 45 but I have failed. Now I am shooting for 55 if my health holds out.

Early retirement usually means "beer budget" living: libraries rather than bookstores. That sort of stuff. Sams Club rather than the Venetian. Buffet rather than Deli or Upscale Restaurant. Coffee packets hoarding, etc. You don't have to stop the car and fight the crows away from road kill, but it sometimes seems like that.

Quote: Fleastiff

Early retirement usually means "beer budget" living: libraries rather than bookstores. That sort of stuff. Sams Club rather than the Venetian. Buffet rather than Deli or Upscale Restaurant. Coffee packets hoarding, etc. You don't have to stop the car and fight the crows away from road kill, but it sometimes seems like that.

You do have to watch. At first you can live decent, but eventually inflation chews you up. Smart guys who retire young get easy jobs to live on another 20 years.