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Time to Find a New Job?


sirdle
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Positives:

I am working on an interesting and challenging project that will benefit my career tremendously.

The work I am doing will improve employee safety and compliance with environmental regulations.

I am being very well paid.

If I quit this job, I may not be able to afford the house I live in and I will have to move to another state.

My wife loves living where we are.

 

Negatives:

I am worknig 70-80 hours per week.

I live offshore for 5-days at a time which makes it impossible to follow a vegan diet.

I have little opportunity for aerobic exercise.

I have little access to weights which is causing my muscles to atrophy.

I share an 8' x 10' room with 3 other guys, all of whom snore.

...And because of that, I usually get less than 4 hours of sleep each night.

The project is expected to last another 4 months.

 

This is totally stressing me out. My brother once told me, "Don't make any irreversible decisions when you haven't had any sleep." But here I am... another sleepless night... and all I can think about is how nice it would feel to pack up my tools, get on the morning boat, and make a new start somewhere else...

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Possible suggestions:

 

I doubt I could do the job you described, as I could not handle that stress. But if you can handle it, you might ask yourself, in a year or so, will I be in a better position to reach my personal goals, if I stay in the job. If yes, then in a year, you will be glad that you continued it.

 

If answer is no, then adjust your expenses so you can handle the lower income. What I think a lot of people in our society do not realize is that more income does not comparably make you more materially wealthy. For clarification, I am not arguing some metaphysical stance about how material possessions do not matter. My point is that the vast majority in our society are not materially richer from more income. That is because they increase their expenses equally or more than the increase in their incomes. Think of the average middle-class American. He gets a raise, then buys a bigger house or fancier car; he buys more expensive televisions etc. His extra income has gone to buy improved items that offer little more utility than the items they replaced (and many times the same person pays rent to a storage place to house the replaced items - in other words, he would materially be better off throwing the replaced items away instead of paying rent to store them, as he will likely never use the replaced items again.)

 

The point of all this is the by decreasing expenses one can become more wealthy than having more income, which normally leads to the wealth trap of spending it away on small margin increases to lifestyle.

 

Question:

 

Good news on diet front. When did you start entertaining a vegan diet? I noticed in a past post that you stated you were non-vegan and non-vegetarian and that only logical arguments would sway you to a new diet. What arguments worked?

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Believe me, I understand what you are saying about the money. Last year, I worked an average of 32-hours per week and led a comfortable, yet frugal, life. I prefer to work fewer hours, but it is very hard to find jobs where such a "slow pace" is acceptable. I only brought up the question of money because... well, if I were NOT being adequately paid, then it would be easy to feel bitter and I would quit without a second thought.

 

==============

 

I have been vegetarian for about 6-months now. (Occasionally I still eat meat but this is only when I have not planned my day and I get stuck eating some fast food because I am getting light-headed from lack of food. I feel very bad about this and I keep striving to improve). Which arguments? I am not sure. I had some very long posts with CompassionateGirl and she pointed me to some very good sources. I guess I approach the vegan issue from the idea that a really good reason is needed before one can intentionally cause pain or distress or death to another sentient being. I can't think of any reason that is good enough. As I said, I occasionally eat meat. I have excuses, but no reasons. It is still wrong

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My own personal opinion is that being miserable is not just a temporary thing. You have the memories of being miserable to hold on to for the rest of your life.

 

Selling a house in California (and moving to another state) could mean making a ton of money if you've owned it very long.

 

4 months isn't permanent.... But is the career advancement really that much of an advancement?

 

I consider 70-80 hours a week to be slavery. It should be illegal.

 

Vegan stuff: I can't honestly expect you to make the transition to veganism if you're working 70+ hours a week. When you're working 70+ hours a week you are no longer a human being who can make moral choices etc. You're just a machine. Factory workers used to work those kind of hours in the 1880's at the beginning of the industrial revolution. Life expectancy for them was 27.

 

But that's just my opinion I haven't lived in your shoes so I can't really say. If you ever end up homeless and starving as a result of your choices I'm happy to try to help out. (Not that I'm doing so great myself.)

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I' probably stick with it for the remainder of the 4 months but I'd be searching Monster.com everyday in the meantime. Have an excape plan and be ready to execute it if the company decides to expand the 4 months into a year.

 

oh yeah, also, invest in some ear plugs.

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I' probably stick with it for the remainder of the 4 months but I'd be searching Monster.com everyday in the meantime. Have an excape plan and be ready to execute it if the company decides to expand the 4 months into a year.

 

oh yeah, also, invest in some ear plugs.

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I'd probably stick with it for the remainder of the 4 months but I'd be searching Monster.com everyday in the meantime. Have an escape plan and be ready to execute it if the company decides to expand the 4 months into a year.

 

oh yeah, also, invest in some ear plugs.

Double (especially investing in ear plugs).

 

For exercising - use your own body weight and do push ups and pull ups and one legged squats until you can get to some decent weights.

 

Only you can say if it's unbearable , but if you feel you can withstand it -- you've already spent 4 months on this project, so you're halfway there (light at the end of the tunnel ). Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

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Have a goal.. a plan where you see not doing this anymore.

 

I was told by a cab driver in Houston that one his fellow african immigrants had worked crazy days & nights for 2-3 years, lived on bread & peanut butter for that time to buy a HOUSE.. they saved, bought a house, went to school (pharmacy or something) and now have feasts.

 

Ive seen people go through that..Success Stories.

 

So have that PLAN of what AFTER.

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Thanks for you support, everybody.

 

I made up my mind. I have been in this line of work for 18 years, and in this industry for the last 8. I tend to doubt myself and my abilities and to think that if I only had a little more knowledge or a little more experience then I would be a worthwhile employee. But there is always some new skill to master, new knowledge to acquire. When I really take a close look, however, I find that I am uniquely qualified for the work that I do. I can find work anywhere! It is time to make my experience pay for itself! As Jay says, misery as not temporary...

 

The most important things in my life right now are, hanging out with my wife, exercising regularly, and switching to a totally vegan diet. None of these goals can be achieved working offshore.

 

So I have decided to tell our client that we cannot meet our deadline. I will be happy to continue to work on the project with a more reasonable deadline, but I am not willing to sacrifice my health and happiness... even though it IS a great project. I may get them to change the deadline, or they may toss me out and get someone who will tell them what they want to hear. It really doesn't matter too much to me anymore. If they toss me, that just means that I will have more time to look for another job. What is that expression? "I was looking for a job when I found this one..."

 

Again, thanks for your support!

 

=============

 

By the way, I sleep with earplugs every night, even when onshore. My hearing is so sensitive that when the cat jumps up on the bed in the middle of the night and starts purrrrrrrring, I often wake up! But then I pet him and he puts me right back to sleep.

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