Jumping off a Cliff – Part 2
Yesterday, I wrote about the decision I made to leave my job. I got a lot of encouraging words and I appreciated all of them.
Today, I’m going to write about how and why I ended up keeping my day job and how it helps with my eventual goal to work for myself.
Before I explain what happened, let me offer a few pieces of advice anyone should keep in mind when they deicide it is time to leave their job.
1) Never “rage quit”
I don’t care how much your job sucks. Two weeks isn’t that long. If you did your job well and your boss could be a good reference, give notice. Even if your boss is a total asshole.
At some point, you might need another job. If you tell a prospective employer that they can’t call your last boss, that will make it that much harder to get that job.
I had been thinking about quitting for a long time. When I submitted my notice, I said I was willing to stick around for up to six weeks to help train my replacement. It meant that I was going have to wait six weeks before I started working my “real” job. But it also meant that if I needed to go job hunting again, I could list this job on a resume with the knowledge they would say good things about me to a potential employer.
Two weeks goes by quickly. Do yourself a favor and power through it.
I have burned very few bridges in my life and I’ve always come to regret making that choice.
Jumping off a Cliff – Part 1
Over the last few months, I’ve made some vague posts on Facebook about a big life change. I hate vaguebooking as a rule because you should either say enough for people to know what you are talking about or you should keep your mouth shut.
Anything else always seems like little more than fishing for attention.
I needed to keep my posts vague, though, because until I was ready to be completely public, I didn’t feel like I could say what was going on. I was happy to discuss what was going on in private. Just not on Facebook.
Well now the deed is done, I want to talk about it to anyone who will listen because I’m excited. And scared. And a whole lot of other things.
On January 2nd, I put in notice at my job. I didn’t have another job lined up. Right now, I don’t plan on looking for another job. I just realized that it was time to make a dramatic shift in what I wanted to do with my life.
So what happened? Why did I make the decision? What kind of shift am I talking about?
First, there were some changes in my job that were particularly difficult. I was told I could no longer use work time to answer and send personal e-mails. This had been permitted up until a few months ago and with all of the shows and other work I do outside of the standard work week, the use of personal e-mail was very important to me.
Shit that Pissed me off – 1/10
Wisconsin State Senator Wants to Make Sure Workers are Allowed to work Seven Days a week
Talk about a completely dishonest putz. Wisconsin labor law says that an employee must have a 24 hour break in a seven day week. It also says that this requirement can be waived by joint request of the employer and employee.
But Senator Grothman feels just awful for the hard working citizens of his state who desperately want to work seven days a week so they can earn some extra overtime but big government won’t let them! He wants to get rid of that restrictive law that prevents people from the windfall of overtime money that would await them if they could only have a seven day work week.
If there’s one thing that would make my job better, it would be if I could spend even less time with my family!
Does that sound like something workers are crying out for in Wisconsin?
Do we imagine that a lot of employers want to shell out a whole ton of overtime?
Or is it more likely that they’d like to have employees work shorter shifts seven days a week and they can’t get their employees to sign that pesky waiver?
Shit that Pissed me Off – 1/3
Teen Makes a Joke on Twitter and People Tell her She Should Kill Herself
So here’s the joke:
This beautiful earth is now officially 2014 years old, amazing
Now shame on her, I guess, for failing to clearly identify her post as sarcasm. I mean she’s only a teenager so it could naturally be assumed that she wasn’t making a joke but was, rather, a complete idiot.
Her joke went viral and when jokes go viral on the internet, two things happen. The first is that a lot of people are amused by the joke. The second is that a lot of other people will completely fail to get her joke and reveal themselves to be complete assholes.
If this was a real book, it would eventually outsell the bible. Ironically, nobody who bought it would read it because they would assume they already knew it all.
The internet, my friends, is the most Democratic place in the world. You want free speech? You can make a joke that reaches thousands of people.
Be warned, however, that some of those people are idiotic. And the idiotic ones are the most likely to say something.
Shit that Pissed me Off 11/15
Self Rigteous Christians have a New Way to be Smug and cheap at the Same Time!
Apparently some enterprising producer of religious tracts has created one that looks just enough like a ten-dollar bill, you can leave it as a tip!
It looks like this if you leave it sticking out just right:
But it’s a lie! A lie meant to prey on the server’s greedy desire to make a living so they can pay their rent and maybe catch a godless movie once in a while.
Pull it out and you get this:
Flip it over and you get a sermon about how eternal salvation is better than money!
Bam!
You can jam god down your server’s throat and save a few bucks! Thanks Jesus!
Minnesota Fringe – Day 1
As you may (or may not) know, I’m involved in three productions at this year’s fringe Festival. Somehow, not a single one of them had a performance on opening night so I got to spend the entire evening enjoying shows put on by other people! It was strange! And exciting!
Here’s what I saw:
Co-Produced by the frighteningly talented Dawn Krosnowski, I’m a big fan of the basic concept behind the show. The history of theatre in 60 minutes? I’m in. Every member of the cast was a terrific and versatile actor and the overall conceit is executed very well. I found myself frustrated from time to time because a particular segment of the show would run on a bit longer than I felt was needed. Perhaps that was just because I really wanted more parodies of theatrical conventions rather than longer ones. So that’s probably on me.
What is absolutely true is that I really enjoyed the show and I while I think it appeals to audiences of every stripe, there are certainly a great many jokes that are there just for theatre insiders. I’m totally OK with that. Find a Fringe Producer and we’ll be happy to explain the stuff you didn’t get.
Hickory Minimum Security Correctional Facility Presents: Hoosiers: The Stage Adaptation
Mike Fotis and Joe Bozic are two of the funniest people in the history of people. This allows them to gather other funny people around them, resulting in a perfect storm of funny. Let’s see if I can use the word “funny” a few more times.
Look, the point is this: these guys consistently create some of the best and most intelligent comedy at the Fringe. I’m fairly certain that if they had written The Happening, it would have been a good movie. I could possibly be giving them too much credit but until they produce a show about “The Happening” that sucks, I’m going to stand by my prediction.
Please note, you don’t need to know anything about Hoosiers to enjoy this show. It might help if you knew something about Rudy, though…
Phillip Low can write.
I mean, I can write, too. I’m writing right now. My point is that he can write very well. It isn’t that he’s a good storyteller (he is), it is that his stories are engaging. I’m genuinely sorry when he reaches the end of one of his stories. Not because I don’t like the ending but because I really liked the story itself.
Phillip is joined by Elizabeth Byrd, who manages to match his intensity, which is no mean trick.
This is only one of something like ten shows that Phillip will be doing at the Fringe this year. I’m not in a position to say it will be his best but I’m going to say it anyway.
Bidgood to BidGREAT: Bumps and Blunders on the Boulevard to Brilliance
I’ve been producing at the Fringe for a little while now and that leads to the problem of knowing too many people who produce good work. Inevitably, I spend my entire Fringe trying to figure out how to see one or two shows by companies I haven’t seen before.
And then I like those people and I need to see their shows as well.
It’s exhausting.
I bring all of this up because before this year, I’d not seen one of Laura Bidgood’s shows. I was, therefore, unaware that I needed to add her to my “must see a show by this person” list. Until now.
Laura’s storytelling style just appeals to me. She is sassy and talks so fast, you want to tell her to stop for just a second so you can catch up. Thing is, you also want her to keep going. Unless she’s curling. Then she should stop.
I give this show a resounding slow clap.
Seriously, that’s a compliment.
So yeah, it was a very good night of Fringing. Everything was at least as good as I expected it to be. Tonight, I’m opening a show and I expect I’ll be unable to see anything else. If you are doing the Fringe, I hope all of your choices are good ones. Or at least interesting.
Fringey Fringe Fringe
I’ve got to apologize to myself for failing to do a good job of promoting my Fringe shows this year. With the Fringe just one week away, it is probably time for me to go into full “see my show” mode.
I’ve got two shows in the Fringe this year and I’m really looking forward to both of them.
Back in February, I didn’t have the slightest idea what I was going to do for the Fringe. Not a big deal, I thought, the lottery hasn’t happened yet!
Well then it did happen. And one of the numbers to which I was attached was drawn. Suddenly, I had to come up with an idea.
My idea was “Schrödinger’s Apocalypse.”
Hey look! Three people reading a book!
In Support of Amplified Speech
I don’t write about performing or presenting all that often. I’m a performer and presenter and I like to think I’m pretty good at it. I’ve learned a lot of things in my years and recent experiences suggest that others might benefit from my expertise.
The advice I’m about to give will help you out if you are presenting a panel at a convention, making an announcement at a meeting or even performing on stage. This rule is absolute. There are no exceptions to this rule.
Here it is:
When someone puts a microphone in front of you, use it.
Shit that Pissed Me Off This Week – 6/14
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is Off the Rails
Kennedy has long been an Anti-Vaccine crusader and I dislike the anti-vaxx movement with only slightly less zeal than the creationist movement.
I have two children on the autism spectrum. They were both vaccinated and I know two things:
1) Vaccinating my kids did not make them autistic
2) Even if it did (and it didn’t), I would rather have autistic children than children with Smallpox or Polio
You think this guy was happy he wasn’t vaccinated?
Kennedy and others like him have been pushing misinformation and, as this article proves, they are willing to name names. They people they name, however, never actually said what they are claimed to have said. Nor do the studies they cite actually say what they claim those studies say.
So all he is doing is engaging in character of assassination.
I get that big pharma is theoretically evil but here’s the thing – vaccines are not. Yes, pharmaceutical companies make money off vaccines. I guess that’s a price I’m willing to pay to ensure that my kids don’t get the measles.
Claiming vaccines cause autism is to make the claim that you understand a shitload more about autism than all the folks out there researching the condition.
And in the meantime, making people afraid of vaccines is contributing to the rise of diseases we thought had been eradicated. That’s what I call a lose-lose.
Geeks Without God Gets Reflective about Comedy
This week’s episode features emergency fill-in guest Joseph Scrimshaw. Joseph is in the midst of a big Kickstarter campaign so it seemed like a great time to feature him on the podcast. We got him to tell us all about the Kickstarter (of course) and then we talked about Joseph’s favorite obsession, comic theory.
Speaking of Joseph’s Kickstarter, my band, The Dregs, will be contributing a song to his Flaw Fest album assuming it gets funded so now I’m not just excited because I like the idea, I’m also excited because I want to write a song about guilt for Joseph’s album.
He also decided that Bugs Bunny is an atheist and I’m all for putting Bugs in our court.
So hey, listen to the podcast and support the Kickstarter! It’s what friends do!
Grail Diary 