Working from home blues.

wired · Sep 19, 2022

So 3 months ago I took a job with a chemical company where I work from home. Theyre mainly a sales driven company that wants some engineering backup for their customers They gave me a company car and free gas even for personal use and told me we will contact you when we need you to do some work. I'm an engineer and I figured they'd have me doing some CAD work or doing tech support work. Something like that. So anyway I'm working maybe 6 days a month now. Travelling a little which I like because I am a tourist at heart and I work sightseeing into trips. This week I'm flying to NYC for 3 days to do 2 hours work in PA. Ive never been to Downtown Manhattan. Midtown many times but never downtown. Next week I have one day of doing ANYTHING. Take some measurements and lay out a chemical room. . Thing is theyre happy with it. Theyre paying me good and I have perks like crazy but I still have that gnawing feeling this cant go on forever. Maybe I'll get used to it.

Going shooting tomorrow.

L84Cabo · Sep 19, 2022

What you need to do is find another job...or two...like that...bank the cash and retire early.

Alexx1401 · Sep 19, 2022

wired said:
So 3 months ago I took a job with a chemical company where I work from home. Theyre mainly a sales driven company that wants some engineering backup for their customers They gave me a company car and free gas even for personal use and told me we will contact you when we need you to do some work. I'm an engineer and I figured they'd have me doing some CAD work or doing tech support work. Something like that. So anyway I'm working maybe 6 days a month now. Travelling a little which I like because I am a tourist at heart and I work sightseeing into trips. This week I'm flying to NYC for 3 days to do 2 hours work in PA. Next week I have one day of doing ANYTHING. Take some measurements and lay out a chemical room. . Thing is theyre happy with it. Theyre paying me good and I have perks like crazy but I still have that gnawing feeling this cant go on forever. Maybe I'll get used to it.

Well from what I know of you from here I think I can safely assume you are not the kind of person who lives paycheck to paycheck. So if this job up and ends not like you are going to be in panic mode. So for now? Sounds like the kind of position a hell of a lot of people would love to be in. If it was me? I would be enjoying it every day for as long as it lasts.
I have had a job for many years now that is far from as easy as you have it but, I have never in my life made this kind of money to this little real work. They seem to be willing to pay me more for what I know than what I actually do. It has a few times looked like it was going to come to an end. I was prepared for the day it happened. Would take my "buy out" and already lined up what was next. Assuming it ends before I shuffle off to my fate? I will certainly look back at it fondly. If it holds on for a couple more years I can put in my papers for retirement and still keep working at it assuming I can still keep up when needed. If that happens? I will be doing a happy dance for sure. For now one day at a time.

wired · Sep 19, 2022

Alexx1401 said:
Well from what I know of you from here I think I can safely assume you are not the kind of person who lives paycheck to paycheck. So if this job up and ends not like you are going to be in panic mode. So for now? Sounds like the kind of position a hell of a lot of people would love to be in. If it was me? I would be enjoying it every day for as long as it lasts.
I have had a job for many years now that is far from as easy as you have it but, I have never in my life made this kind of money to this little real work. They seem to be willing to pay me more for what I know than what I actually do. It has a few times looked like it was going to come to an end. I was prepared for the day it happened. Would take my "buy out" and already lined up what was next. Assuming it ends before I shuffle off to my fate? I will certainly look back at it fondly. If it holds on for a couple more years I can put in my papers for retirement and still keep working at it assuming I can still keep up when needed. If that happens? I will be doing a happy dance for sure. For now one day at a time.

To me it feels kind of like retirement and I dread retirement. Like I said maybe I'll get used to it, If not Jobs for whatever it is I do are a dime a dozen.

L84Cabo · Sep 19, 2022

wired said:
To me it feels kind of like retirement and I dread retirement. Like I said maybe I'll get used to it, If not Jobs for whatever it is I do are a dime a dozen.

If you dread retirement, you probably need to spend some time figuring out what you want retirement to look like. And to that end, retirement can simply mean that you no longer work because you HAVE to, but you work because you WANT to.

Alexx1401 · Sep 19, 2022

wired said:
To me it feels kind of like retirement and I dread retirement. Like I said maybe I'll get used to it, If not Jobs for whatever it is I do are a dime a dozen.

I hear that. I will unless I am just no longer able to work, probably never stop all out. When I take a week off now and then I find myself looking kind of forward to going back. Of course probably because all my life my "work" was often FAR more physical than now. Some people are just not "wired" to stop working and "relax". Some seem to take this to really far out. Maybe just too much memory of really hard times? I know I probably will never get over the times where there just was no work and I was close to having no roof over my head. Who knows. Maybe this will be a good way for you to "practice" for retirement? :s0140:

monkeybutler · Sep 19, 2022

Happens. There have been points in the pandemic where I could have gotten away with doing F all for months at a time. I can't say I did not occasionally take advantage of that situation. (It was an engineering role, but I'm not an engineer.)

In contrast, a friend of mine had two tech jobs for about six months, then he started an entirely new job. He's very type A and super productive, but still, an impressive feat. I won't say who he worked for but it would make you laugh.

wired · Sep 19, 2022

Alexx1401 said:
I hear that. I will unless I am just no longer able to work, probably never stop all out. When I take a week off now and then I find myself looking kind of forward to going back. Of course probably because all my life my "work" was often FAR more physical than now. Some people are just not "wired" to stop working and "relax". Some seem to take this to really far out. Maybe just too much memory of really hard times? I know I probably will never get over the times where there just was no work and I was close to having no roof over my head. Who knows. Maybe this will be a good way for you to "practice" for retirement?

I'm 55 now and my son asked me today when I was going to retire . I think 70-72 would be fine. I don't feel much different now than I did when I was 25.

gryghin · Sep 19, 2022

I have been a high tech engineer for the last 17 years of my 27 years of my civilian career. There has been times when my projects are running well and then changes in the industry caused the schedule to push. Adapting to the long down time was hard at first but then years of being in the cyclical industry tempered the frustration.

During the lull, I focused on my hobbies and have fostered relationships that provide a direction once I retire.

During the 6 months that I was off work last year, I contemplated pulling the retirement parachute. While waiting for the long term disability insurance to kick in, it gave us a chance to test out my financial plan. Everything was running smoothly.

The only reason I didn't retire this year and take the IRS Rule of 55, was the fact that my manager doubled my technician headcount and assigned another engineer.

So, I will wait a couple years and pad the 401k.