How to quit your job, let me count the ways

I just quit my good for a small paycheck, high stress job. The feeling is wonderful. I can't seem to get this darn smile off my face.

The last time I quit a job was back in 1989 when I literally walked out in the middle of the day, or was it morning...oh well, that does not matter, what mattered was the fact that I got fed up enough to walk. At the time it was due to an indifferent boss who would not acknowledge my supervisor role and pay me for it. It was only after denying me a promotion (discrimination was the cause, found out later) and demanding I do job duties that only managers did I walked. Of course I stewed for about a week before taking those final steps.

In those days it was common to give a 2 weeks notice of your intent to leave. They could hold that last paycheck for up to 2 weeks if they wanted to. In my case I got my check within 4 hours because I threatened to turn them in to OSHA for violations.

Nowadays employment can be "at will" meaning they can fire or lay you off without warning, so the same can apply to you. You can quit on the spot without cause or warning. Most well respected companies are not "at will" employers but small shady operations are and I have worked for some of them.

While I did not walk out this time on my employer, I called in to quit. The manager was sorry to see me go but understood my reasons. I was the one chosen to send home when there was a lack of work, one time for 3 months!! That was last year and this year it was turning out to be the same way. This time I found a higher paying job with more stability. The manager was also thinking about leaving and almost walked out on several occasions.

Due to new technology there are now several ways to quit your job:

• don't call in for a few days and let the company assume you have quit
• call in and just quit - like I just did
• send an email to your boss. Be polite but official, giving the date of your last day, instructions on what to do with your last paycheck (send it, wait for you to pick it up, etc) and lastly how to handle any personal stuff left at work.
• send a text message to your boss, keep it short and simple and follow up with an email

Follow my suggestions of quitting without seeing your boss in person and you will be less stressed.

I have no intention of going back to that place and hope it goes under due to the way it treats and uses up its faithful employees.

Get The Dumb Shits I Work With on your Kindle. Click on the link for a free 14 day trial today.

The high gas prices promote rumors of job quiting

The local price of gasoline is just at the $4 mark. It now costs me close to $75 a week to get to and from work. The co-workers I have spoken to are paying about the same or more for their commute. Several have mentioned that they have started to look for a job closer to home even if it pays less than what they are now earning because they would save money in the long run on the cost of the commute.

As it is now, I have to work about 1.5 hours a day to pay for gasoline and the taxes they take out of my paycheck. So out of an 8 hour day I get to keep only 6.5 hours of pay. I only get $11 an hour so working for $71+ a day (after gas and taxes) is about a poverty level wage. Lets do the math - at $71 X 5 = 355 a week X 52 weeks = $18460 a year. That is about the same wage as a fast food clerk working full time. I am a highly skilled electronics tech who has taken on a low paying electronics assembly job at a job shop because all the electronics jobs have been out sourced to China. New technology has been very slow to develop otherwise I would have moved easily into those career fields.

Have I gone back to college? You bet I did - but the college courses were not geared towards todays job markets. I took several computer classes to get certified as an IT specialist but I knew more than the teachers and the material was outdated. I even tried a career change and found out that everyone else tired that same career change and the market was saturated with job seekers like me.

I am getting nowhere fast and just holding on until the economy improves and I can find a job with decent pay that I can actually live on rather than just barely surviving on - knocking on wood that nothing breaks or needs to be repaired or I don't get sick.



Get The Dumb Shits I Work With on your Kindle. Click on the link for a free 14 day trial today.

There should be an IQ test

When you apply for a job you have to submit (at least most of the time) to certain tests. Almost all companies require a drug test but that is only after a position has been offered. Other tests might include typing speed, reading schematics, soldering, or a multitude of skill related tests, but they never ask for an intelligence test....and maybe they should.

I have worked with people that I swear never competed high school or even got past 4th grade for that matter. I was having a conversation with a co-worker about the massive floods in Australia last year and another person near us asked, "what part of Europe is that?" I guess I could be thankful that they knew about Europe.

The last dumb announcement was just a few months ago when another co-worker mentioned he saw the moon this morning after sunrise. He asked almost everyone was there going to be a major calamity take place because the moon was visible during the day time. Someone finally had to explain the orbit of the moon and the meaning of waxing and waning. Apparently the dumb cluck never looked up during daylight hours to see the moon. For those readers out there who are totally dumbfounded the moon is visible during daylight hours at least once a month.

Intelligence tests maybe not what would be required as much as a common sense test. How many of you know or work with an engineer or scientist that lack common sense? I have and even though they could design a computer they could not find their car in the parking lot if they parked it in a different place due to parking lot maintenance (yep, seen that first hand and I couldn't stop laughing).

Then again if a common sense test was required to get a job then think about all those dangerous jobs like miners and oil riggers that would go unfilled. I am not saying those workers are dumb, but who in their right mind would put their life in danger for a paycheck?


Get The Dumb Shits I Work With on your Kindle. Click on the link for a free 14 day trial today.

Why can't I have that perfect job

You hear it on the news at least once a week........a person really loves their job and likes the pay too. They wouldn't even think about working somewhere else. Why can't I find a job like that?

I know what you are thinking, they probably have a college degree and worked hard to get where they are. In some cases you are probably right but the ones I see have no upper level education.

When I was in high school I did so well that I had a teacher who was willing to help me get a scholarship to a Junior college. All I needed was my parents OK and backing but they would not