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May 10, 2017
Your Contract Has been Extended
Your Contract Has Been Renewed
My contract is up on July 1st. So, that's less than 2 months from now. And, they've been dicking me around. Giving me a bunch of shit. Pushin gme into the corner. "Why can't you be more like Ben? We want you to be a Subject Matter Expert. But you don't seem to grasp the tasks you've been assigned with."
So, finally, on Tuesday, I did my Budget Presentation. I showed them how the Budget works in a presentation before who knows how many people. Then, after the presentation was over, I just let everything go. Like...y'all wanted me to do a presentation. I did my presentation. Now, are you going to renew my contract, or not? And, by the way, trust me....I don't even give a fuck any more.
Like...I'm tired of y'all beating me down and comparing me to Ben. He's so perfect. Such a fucking genius. Why can't I be more like Ben? Hey...I've got an idea...how about you STFU?
So, finally, I called my manager, and told him...."Ask them if they're going to extend me or not. Like...trust me I don't give a fuck, one way or the other, but I need to know, because if they don't have work for me, then I need to start looking for work.
They've been giving me shit for taking photos during the day. And I'm like...trust me, if I want to take some photos when I'm walking around at lunch, I certainly will. That's not going to stop.
That was yesterday. Today, my boss comes to me. This is what he says.
"Well, the thing is that we're trying to downsize. They're trying to get rid of the contractors. (Like...no shit....after 5 years and $500,000,000.00 dollars, they've suddenly embraced fiscal conservatism as a guiding principle. Got it.)
"Ben will come down here and take over two of your CEMLI's.....I-702 Voucher Outbound, and I-160 Tuition Remission. But, we will extend you through the end of the year."
"OK. Fair enough. Thanks."
Like...Good Enough. That means that, I'm make another $150K this year, and then they'll release me just in time to drive to Tierra Del Fuego. Because, honestly, I've been looking around and July is the exact wrong time to be driving down to the Southern Hemisphere. It's Winter down there in July. So, Jan 1, 2018 would be the perfect time to leave on a drive down to Tierra Del Fuego.
I work the rest of the day like a rented mule. I dunno why. Maybe because I finally found out who the budget people are. So now, I can talk to them for the first time ever. Like...finally I have someone to explain what I've been working on for the last year to. Like...holy shit...you people exist. Let me tell you what I've been working on for the last year.
And we go over all sorts of things. I"m opening defects. Linking test cases. Training the end users.
And then, it's time to go. It's suddenly 7:00 p.m. and I'm exhausted. I'm Monday-night-tired on a Wednesday night. That never used to happen.
Now, it feels like I'm only halfway through the project. I went from almost at the end of the project (10 months out of 12), to barely halfway through (10 months out of 18). I'm exhausted.
Now, I'm thinking that I need to go into Chapparal Motorsports at San Bernardino tomorrow and buy my Honda Africa Twin.
At some point, John says, in passing, "We're in Riverside next week, aren't we?" Like, can you imagine a point in your life where you didn't know where you were going to be next week? Like...when you didn't know if you'd be in Oakland or Los Angeles or Riverside or Pomona? I can.
Posted by Rob Kiser on May 10, 2017 at 10:33 PM
Comments
Ah, the life of a contractor :) But its nice to have a contract in the bag for the rest of the year surely. Happy days.
Posted by: Joe on May 11, 2017 at 5:31 AM