OT: Is it time to retire

[FirmDancer]

Originally Posted by annette

Well, it's official. My furlough status becomes "unemployed" as of July 25. I suppose I'm retired now!! Looking forward to figuring out what I want to do with this new chapter in my life.

WOW ! Good for you !!!! Must be such a relief. And a severance package too - yippee!

[sherry7899]

Congratulations, Annette! I am so happy for you !

[TracyQ]

Congratulations Annette. I’m happy for you.

I went back to the office yesterday after being home since March 13. I take the subway. I keep going back and forth on whether it’s worth the risk.

[Carol K]

Do you have limits to the number of people in a train car, Tracy? We do here in Chicago. But I drive to work, because otherwise I would have to take two trains and it's time waster. I start back on next Wednesday, just two days a week, three days at home, like I did before the pandemic.

[TracyQ]

Originally Posted by Carol K

Do you have limits to the number of people in a train car, Tracy? We do here in Chicago. But I drive to work, because otherwise I would have to take two trains and it's time waster. I start back on next Wednesday, just two days a week, three days at home, like I did before the pandemic.

Thats a good question Carol and I’m not sure of the answer. It wasn’t too crowded but I think it’s because a lot of the city is still shut down. We are only working at 25% capacity so I will be alternating days going in only 2 days per week to start anyway. The city was pretty empty and the Dunkin Donuts where I get my coffee was all boarded up due to the looting that took place after George Floyd’s murder. So that was a little disheartening.

It’s a different world than the one I left on March 13th. It’s hard to believe how so much has changed in just a few short months.

[Pat58]

Originally Posted by TracyQ

Congratulations Annette. I’m happy for you.

I went back to the office yesterday after being home since March 13. I take the subway. I keep going back and forth on whether it’s worth the risk.

Good luck on the subway Tracy. I hope commuters are being intelligent about it.

[TracyQ]

Originally Posted by Pat58

Good luck on the subway Tracy. I hope commuters are being intelligent about it.

Thanks Pat. We had one woman on our car that had her mask pulled down around her neck. I swear she was looking for a fight. No one spoke up.

My company/boss is fine with us coming in later (and leaving later) so we don’t have to commute during the rush hour. As much as I have been enjoying working from home, surprisingly it was kind of nice to break up the week by going into the city.

[TracyQ]

I’m retiring . I certainly wasn’t planning on retiring (I’m only 57 after all) but due to many changes at work—my immediate supervisor and his supervisor were let go. Then my job changed drastically and I found myself not really even knowing what I was supposed to be doing after 32-years on the same job. So I made the painful decision to leave a lucrative salary for a small pension and peace of mind. It took me 3-weeks to come to terms with my decision (not able to eat or sleep, severe anxiety) but now I’m ok.

I plan on taking the holidays off and then looking for a job with less responsibility to supplement my pension and help with insurance.

[bzar]

Originally Posted by TracyQ

I’m retiring .

congratulations - more in terms of making the decision to leave. given that your bosses left, it was a good idea.

i applied for a couple of federal jobs on the usajobs website. i have never seen so many open positions located in my city since having opened an account with them >5 years ago.

if there's anyone working in the federal govt, please provide me with some encouragement! this is a big step for me. i'm still in my current job and will stay put until i have an offer.

[Laura S.]

Tracy - Congrats on making the decision. You'll wonder how you ever got everything done that you did when working once you have the chance to relax some.

jeannine - I'm not currently working for the federal government but when we lived in MD, I was a government contractor and my husband was an employee (for 37 years). Getting a government job is hard, even when you are in it, but it's certainly doable. DH had multiple jobs at three agencies in his career. You just need to wait until the right one comes along. Is your current job with the government? If not, one thing to keep in mind is that on a government resume, list EVERYTHING you've ever done. I always called it the "kitchen sink" resume. DH's resume was always so much longer than mine. That's because you need to give them every possible thing that they could count toward the job you're applying for. Anyway, it's definitely doable. Good luck!