The best thing the company I work for has ever done for me was to lay me off in May. I am quickly getting to the line of making more money since they layed me off than the money I made when I was technically employed by them and finances aside I’m not real sure what to do about that. For those of you who think that one day I will blog something brilliant and have been checking in to see if today is the day you already know what this whole “get a part time job” plan was about. For the uninitiated here’s a quick synapses so you don’t have to dig through the archives to get caught up.

!. find a part time job 20-25 hours per week,

-no evenings or weekends

-no shift work, ie. 11 pm to 7 am

-no supervisory responsibility

2. work said part time job until July 31st,

-then quit or get fired

I am gone for 2 months starting August 1st to September 30th, this is a non negotiable fact of life and any employer who considers hiring me will either not know about my plan until June or if my plan is revealed prior to June well, they can just go ahead and fire me if they don’t want to give me the time off.

3. make enough money for a nice down payment on a new vehicle.

-get paid more than minimum wage if possible

-find a job with huge tips

At the not so tender age of 46 and already having done a career, 2 different ones actually, having done the shift work thing when you could easily trick your youthful body and mind into thinking it’s OK to run on 3 hours sleep I was looking for a job that all I had to do was show up for. I have done the “boss” thing so many times that I wonder how many people I have permanently scarred in the work place and I now attribute each and every grey hair that I have not to Steve but rather to the whole process of managing people. I don’t mind managing people but if I don’t have to I won’t.

When I got layed off I was initially annoyed, OK so I was pretty P.O.ed not because I thought it meant that I was a bad worker but it certainly put a twist in my financial plan and I had to rework my budget which was starting to look like the new truck was not going to happen. Then a plan was hatched behind my back that I would cover for “John” and “psycho Jill” when they took holidays or time off or needed an extra body. Seeing how my prospects of immediate replacement employment were bleak I went along with this plan and picked up some pretty decent hours covering off for “John” and “Jill”. Then the fella “Jake” quits and I find myself back down in the kitchen form hell working 7 to 3 Monday to Friday. Again “John” offers me a full time permanent job on his staff and again (hopefully for the last time) I not so politely decline. Enter in “Jake’s” replacement and once again I’m training someone new to work in a cafeteria that I am on loan to. Is it me or is there something really wrong with this place? This new body is only a temporary filler until a full time permanent replacement is found so along comes victim/employee number 2 and once again I am training their staff for them.

Beginning on Monday “psycho Jill” is off for 2 weeks holiday and I will make my return to the shop where I belong. Because I have been layed off our little shop is now a shop of one employee to do…..well everything. This is very do able, it may be intense for an hour each day but it can be done without buckets of stress or any need of medication. Red Bull technically does fall under the category of medication so I can’t claim that I’m “taking an aspirin” each time I pull the tab on a new can but man o’ man that stuff sure does make life happier.

I’m honestly looking forward to being back in my own shop for the following reasons: hubby will still be working across the street for the first week before he moves, I’ll get to see so many familiar faces, no boss just me, no more ovens and hot grills to char my tender skin on, no more pot scrubbing, happier customers (I find the customers down at the Sullivan considerably ruder/more arrogant/condescending except TGirl and 5 others), I will gets tips again, breaktime happens when you can find time as opposed to a designated time, no more noxious aromas that cling unmercifully until you shower, longer hours ergo bigger payday still and last but certainly not least………..GREAT BIG WINDOWS!!!!!!

This stint back in my own shop will probably be my last because I will be demanding a raise come October that I doubt very much the company will go for. I mean think about it, rather than spend the $40 a day it cost them to have me on their payroll they layed me off. They’ll probably fire me when I ask for 25 cents more an hour, sigh, I can only hope.