The Work Thread 2 - Get back to work!

[Victor Mildew]

Thanks GG, that means a lot. I've been very careful to not say a single bad word about my current employer because I've always been told it's just something you don't do.

It's going to be a long weekend as I'm desperate to find out how this is all going to go but I definitely need some R&R. Multiple interviews with multiple companies in one week has wiped me out. I've completely lost any sense of time. Yesterday's interview feels like it was a week ago.

[Green Gecko]

I'm taking a bit of time off actually. I say time off, I'm installing a new laser diode, continuing to attack my 7 year long vat return and still processing 3 orders... Yeah, holidays mate

[Zilnad]

Just received a quick update from potential new job no.1 to say they'll get back to me as soon as possible regarding next steps. Feels more and more likely that I'm up against a handful of other candidates at this point and I feel sick thinking of the possibility of being pipped to the post in the final stage.

[Zilnad]

Well that's the final version of my notice complete and ready for Friday. Whatever happens, it's being sent across this week.

I feel sick and very worried for the future but hopefully I will get some good news this week and everything will turn out okay.

[aayl1]

Good luck Zilnad - I'm sure things will work out, it just may be a (slightly) tumultuous journey to get to the working out bit. But it may also be smooth sailing!

I feel sick thinking of the possibility of being pipped to the post in the final stage.

Just wanted to provide some constructive feedback - what you have listed above is a very real possibility and happens to thousands of people every day. Maybe think about working on accepting situations which are out of your control and feeling more comfortable with the uncertainty. This is a tough skill if you are a serial worrier (like me!) but you know deep down that what I said initially is true - things will work out, it just might require some work or a bit of a rough patch. But you also know deep down that you can and will make it through said rough patch. So try not to make things even harder on yourself by worrying needlessly.

Apologies if this is unhelpful or innacutate. It is also something I struggle immensely with and haven't been able to 100% put into practice myself, so I understand the difficulties around this.

[Jenuall]

I wouldn't listen to anything Aaron says, he didn't even know that you could get both Super and Hyper forms of Knuckles in Sonic 3&K!


But yes good luck Zilnad! Like Aaron says trying to be accepting of things out of your control is a very good skill to develop - you can do absolutely everything right on things like interviews and still come out of it losing to someone else and that's just one of those things that can't be avoided. You'll get there and then this process and all the time spent with your current shitty employees will be but a distant memory!

[Zilnad]

Thanks, Aaron. That is very helpful. I've been in this situation before and I know you have as well. So realistically I know that, even if I end up with another gap on my CV, I will still get another job eventually and I will get myself back into a stable position.

Tempering my expectations might even be why I feel so down at the moment. Even I don't get this particular job, I should be proud of how well I performed throughout the interview process, it's a big achievement. However, if I don't get an offer at the end, it'll be very hard not to feel crushed, no matter how hard I try to stay objective. Which is probably why I'm giving myself such a hard time today, to start processing the bad feeling ahead of schedule.

I'm aware I need to be careful though and not let this feeling effect my performance in the final interview.

[Zilnad]

I wouldn't listen to anything Aaron says, he didn't even know that you could get both Super and Hyper forms of Knuckles in Sonic 3&K!


But yes good luck Zilnad! Like Aaron says trying to be accepting of things out of your control is a very good skill to develop - you can do absolutely everything right on things like interviews and still come out of it losing to someone else and that's just one of those things that can't be avoided. You'll get there and then this process and all the time spent with your current shitty employees will be but a distant memory!

Thanks, Jenuall. I try to remember that the only two things I have any control over are my own thoughts and actions and that does help.

And like I say, I'm so proud of what I've achieved last week, even if the end result isn't perfect. If I don't get an offer, it's not my fault.

But you never know, I might actually get an offer and then it's all the other poor sods that'll feel sad! A *little* optimism won't hurt.

[aayl1]

I wouldn't listen to anything Aaron says, he didn't even know that you could get both Super and Hyper forms of Knuckles in Sonic 3&K!

My 7 year old self HATES what I have become.

[Jenuall]

I wouldn't listen to anything Aaron says, he didn't even know that you could get both Super and Hyper forms of Knuckles in Sonic 3&K!

My 7 year old self HATES what I have become.

We all grow up to become the things we despised as children!

[Choclet-Milk]

I wouldn't listen to anything Aaron says, he didn't even know that you could get both Super and Hyper forms of Knuckles in Sonic 3&K!

My 7 year old self HATES what I have become.

We all grow up to become the things we despised as children!

Adults?

[Victor Mildew]

I wouldn't listen to anything Aaron says, he didn't even know that you could get both Super and Hyper forms of Knuckles in Sonic 3&K!

My 7 year old self HATES what I have become.

If you didn't have a full row of hyper 100% completion saves for each character combo, did you even play the game?!

[Jenuall]

I wouldn't listen to anything Aaron says, he didn't even know that you could get both Super and Hyper forms of Knuckles in Sonic 3&K!

My 7 year old self HATES what I have become.

We all grow up to become the things we despised as children!

Adults?

Yep, Peter Pan had it right all along!

[Zilnad]

To be fair to Aaron, Sonic 1 and 2 were my favourite childhood games and I played them for hours upon hours. Even so, it was only in adult life that I learned Super Sonic was even a thing. So he's not alone.

[Jenuall]

I wouldn't listen to anything Aaron says, he didn't even know that you could get both Super and Hyper forms of Knuckles in Sonic 3&K!

My 7 year old self HATES what I have become.

If you didn't have a full row of hyper 100% completion saves for each character combo, did you even play the game?!

"Boost your Sonic completion with this one crazy strat! You won't believe what happens to Tails!!!"

[Cuttooth]

I wouldn't listen to anything Aaron says, he didn't even know that you could get both Super and Hyper forms of Knuckles in Sonic 3&K!

My 7 year old self HATES what I have become.

If you didn't have a full row of hyper 100% completion saves for each character combo, did you even play the game?!

"Boost your Sonic completion with this one crazy strat! You won't believe what happens to Tails!!!"

This one weird trick frees the critters! Doctor Robotnik hates this!

[Victor Mildew]

*Dr Robotnik holding up drivers license by cash point*

[aayl1]

I wouldn't listen to anything Aaron says, he didn't even know that you could get both Super and Hyper forms of Knuckles in Sonic 3&K!

My 7 year old self HATES what I have become.

If you didn't have a full row of hyper 100% completion saves for each character combo, did you even play the game?!

I had this! all 8 save slots completed with various characters.

Then my younger brother came along and thought the farting robotnik on the file select screen was really funny, and thought that if you put him over the save files you got to "Del" with him again...

I don't think our relationship ever truly recovered.

[Green Gecko]

Several weeks ago now I took an order for 100 shirts, which was my largest to date. I do every single one, one at at time, pretty much all by hand. That took a while.

Today, 400 shirts, 200 caps, 100 hoodies, 50 jackets.

Now I can either double the size of my shop and staff (even if it's just hiring my girlfriend who isn't available anyway as she works FT) or outsource most of that, but the thing is I literally just today set aside shop time for myself and family stuff (my mum just came out of hospital, various other things going on), just 10 work days, and for the first time in, well, forever, I have a little "working capital" to go on. Why do the enquiries like this come in when you're just about to put your tools down and not when you desperately need the work?

That's coming up to 1000 units for one person to put together, this job doesn't surprise me anymore

I have no intention of growing this business into a large scale operation but I see the stories of print houses going from garage to doing 1million+ units per year and I'm just strawberry float that, the margins must be absolutely terrifying together with the 6 figure downpayments on equipment.

I obviously won't let it on and there are practical solutions for this kind of situation but I just thought I would share about the growing pains of business and where to draw the line on what you can and should take on and when to jump ship or upsize etc, it's really a very hard question but a "good problem to have".

Or they'll just vaporise and I'll never hear from them again, and still have had that 1 or 2 days where I'm thinking, how the hell am I going to do that?

[Victor Mildew]

That's a lot of fish on t-shirts!