Monday, November 23, 2009

Work Frustrations

It's a short work week so I should be happy but Mondays are still Mondays and today was a frustrating one. I think I get close to quitting every two months or so. Today was my quit day. My boss talked me out of it. I don't think he really took me seriously but he was in a good mood and it helped just to have a sympathetic ear.

I tried to take half a day's vacation for my dentist appointment and HR said I don't have any vacation days left, I only have 1 "personal day" left and those can't be taken in half days. I need the second half day for my other dentist appointment after my crown is made. My boss was cool about it and said we could work it out. That wasn't the main reason for my frustration today, only an annoying side plot. Co-worker drama was the main reason. I will be so glad when I don't have to be around that anymore.

Unless I rope myself in to a construction loan, I don't know how I am going to manage to stay with this job once my mortgage is paid off. I mean, right now I think if I quit, how will I pay the mortgage on my rental house and pay my living expenses? Ok, so the rent does cover the mortgage but I don't have much of an emergency fund left since I put $5,000 towards the mortgage a couple of months ago. My bare-minimum expenses are $600 per month with no dogs. Of course I could raid my 401k but that is a last resort.

I just need to hang on for one more year at least. After that I can take a mental health day when I get that quitting feeling and maybe it will make the job easier...or maybe I'll decide I don't need a job at all.

7 comments:

Over the Cubicle Wall said...

Sorry. From my experience, once I got completely out of debt, including the mortgage, work frustration became less frequent. At that point I was working for me, not working for them. The frustration still happens, but not nearly as often. (If it didn't, I probably wouldn't want to leave, so I am grateful for that part of it). Hopefully when you get to that point, it will be similar. Hang in there.

Daizy said...

I hope so. I can't see it but that would be great if it became less frequent. One year seems soooo far way.

Daizy said...

I meant "away" not "way". So far away...as in never reaching the end...forever out of reach...a carrot on a stick that I never get...never gonna make it because they are going to drive me crazy...and so on and so forth.

Over the Cubicle Wall said...

You'll get there. A year is only 52 Mondays. Minus the odd holiday, vacation day, and personal day.

Dave said...

Daizy, about your paid time off days, it sounds to me like you have at least two types of days (personal, vacation, others?). This is what I had at my old office for many years until they consolidated them into a single bank of PTO (Paid Time Off) days a few years ago.

But back when I had these days in separate categories, I was always sure to use the non-vacation days first and the vacation days last because the vacation days were the most flexible (i.e. could be taken in fractional amounts, could be rolled into the following year, etc.).

No matter what the purpose was (other than sickness), I always took those personal days (we called them floating holidays) first when I listed them on my timesheet just to get them out of the way so I would not have to keep track of multiple categories as well.

Don't you have any sick days you can use for your dental work? I used mine for that when I had to schedule dental work on a workday years ago. Or are you out of sick days and left with only the less flexible personal day?

I hope you can work out an arrangement to get your dental work done without losing pay or squandering a full day needlessly. Maybe next year you can use your non-vacation days first so you don't get bitten in the rear again. :(

Dave said...

Daizy, your "I really gotta quit" mindset was one I felt all the time in my final months, even years, of working in 2007-2008. My mortgage had been long paid off, so all I was doing was waiting for my company stock to hit $300k and find myself a decently priced individual health insurance policy.

All along, I was working on my retirement budget as I slumped inside the elevator, exhausted and often somewhat nauseous, thinking to myself, "Why am I STILL working here?"

Any chance you can switch to working on a part-time basis? How much leverage do you have to pull that off? I had a lot of it when I switched to P/T in 2001 (20 hours) and further reduced my work hours (from 20 to 12) in 2007. That will help your mental health, at least for a while.

I don't think you want to raid your 401(k) because you will get killed on the taxes and penalties, as well as mortgaging your future.

You do want to be debt-free before you quit your job, IMHO. This will make your expenses easier to handle with a lower income.

Daizy said...

Dave, I thought I was using my personal days first but when I took some days last month I forgot that I have one day left. I asked HR about sick days and got a curt "no you cannot use sick time for the dentist" response which I thought was kind of rude. Anyway, I will be sure to use my personal days first next year.

I wouldn't try half time with them at this point. They would expect the same amount of work in half the time. When I am ready to quit I might suggest it while they look for a replacement.

Every month when I get my 401k statement I calculate how much I would need to cash out minus tax and fees just so that I know I have that security. I don't want to do it but it's fun to think about.