It Begins

Posted June 28, 2007: "It's interesting to think, too, that by the time this contract expires, I will be within days of being eligible for early retirement. If the plant is still here by then, I would seriously consider taking it if it were offered. Of course it's easy to say that now, since I have four years to go before I could really do it. I might not be that brave when the time comes." Pay particular attention to the phrase "if the plant is still here by then". The plant won't be here by then. On October 30, 2009, it was announced in a 15-minute meeting just before lunch that production will cease at the Bloomington plant on October 29, 2010. If I can find where I wrote it out, I'll post later about that morning and how it all went down. I actually have a paper journal for some portion of the months since then which I might also include here, but for now this is it. The closing was announced, and I have been dealing with it as best I can since then. And the end is getting closer all the time. At first, the sadness was overwhelming. Not just the loss of a job, but the loss of a life - a place to go every day, a place that is there when you're not, the people you associate with and talk about and complain about the boss to, your income, your insurance, everything. And since Mom worked there before me, the plant has been part of my life since before I was even there, when I was in high school. I could deal with not being there myself, but the thought that NOTHING would be there, NOONE would be there, is what was saddest of all. It's been a long time since I posted here online. In fact, I had kind of forgotten about it. But now that I will soon have so much time, I think I'll pick it up again. I have said a lot, in my paper journal, about the feelings associated with the past year. I don't want to rehash it now, particularly if I get things together and get it all put down on here. So I'll just go on from here, with a quick update on my current circumstances and plans. In 2008, I joined Gold's Gym so I could swim and further rehab my ankle. I did so until about September, then quit at the end of my one-year contract. In December of 2008, Mom and Dad, Kym and I took a 10 day trip to Costa Rica. In 2009, we had, I think, six unpaid shutdowns at work, and were on 36-hour weeks all year. In May we were asked to forego the upcoming raises called for in our contract. Thanks to a bunch of IDIOTS who felt "entitled" to those raises no matter what, we voted that down, and were subsequently "rewarded" with the plant closing announcement. In 2010, I was thrilled to host Jorge for 10 days on his first visit to the States. We visited Springfield, St Louis, and Chicago as well as seeing a good portion of the central Illinois area. In April, just after Jorge's visit, I rejoined Gold's Gym and started swimming again. I now swim about eight miles a week. Plans: As of October 29, 2010, I will be "retired". Remember that early retirement that I might not be brave enough to take? Now I don't have a choice - I'm taking it. I wouldn't qualify under the old early retirement rules, but plant closing rules are different. And I'm really fortunate that I get to keep my insurance forever (well, till Medicare kicks in at age 65). Anyone who goes out as a severance person just gets insurance for a year, as do the other plant closing early retirement people. I get to keep mine because I have 25 years of pension qualifying service (thanks to those years of plentiful OT) even though I will never reach my 25th anniversary date, which would have been next May 4. I will be fulltime at my former job #2, which will now be job #1. I plan to work 11-8:00 or something similar so that I can still keep my clients, who are evening and weekend people. I also plan to get to enrolled agent status, the highest pay/certification level there is. If I can make enough money during the season, I might be OK with just my pension the rest of the year. If not, I'll find something else, maybe something just part time. I'll do whatever it takes, anyway. And I'm beginning to see a life beyond the plant. In the beginning, I just couldn't see anything good beyond October 29. I was losing everything, doomed to poverty forever. But when I realized that my pension is more than some people make working fulltime, I had to adjust my thinking. And I adjusted it again when I looked at my expenses and found that I could actually almost make it on that alone. Apparently, over recent years, I have been basically giving away almost half of my income on other people's emergencies. I just can't do that now, is all. And hey - if I really can make it just on the pension, that means that my job #2 money will be "extra"! I really could do some traveling, volunteering, things I haven't had time to do while working two jobs. In November I plan to head for FL for a week... or two...who knows? I don't have to be back to go to work! And in May of 2012, I'm going back to Spain. I'm not just going to survive past October 29, I plan to thrive.