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What have I become?

 
  

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Fist Fun
15:19 / 26.10.07
Today I had to partake in team building exercises. Excruciating.
 
 
ONLY NICE THINGS
15:37 / 26.10.07
Think of it this way, old chap. The money's important to you, and you're not likely to make it as an astronaut, a footballer, a writer or anything else you actually _wanted_ to be, so you may as well just work within your desires.

And then, at some point, if you do decide that the money isn't as important as you first thought, or your priorites change re: home, hearth, heart, house, you'll have a nest-egg, as my dear mother would have said, and you can use that to start off a career in art or live in a beach hut and write a novel, or similar.
 
 
grant
16:19 / 26.10.07
Did they make you sing together?
 
 
Fist Fun
17:25 / 26.10.07
I had to write a song about the how great the company is. Then sing it. Then we built a boat and raced it. Ours sank.

The prizes are being given out at the party tonight. Sadly I'm "ill" and have to miss it.

I can't believe I actually get paid to do this. Sit through pointless powerpoints with meaningless numbers and quotas then all off to the adult version of PE class to be bullied by the alpha males on the sales team. Like when you read some history book about mad dictators and the crazed whims they made their serfs fulfill.
 
 
grant
02:10 / 27.10.07
I think Kurt Vonnegut described these retreats in his first novel - they're an old tradition. If you really want, you can scout around the web and find mp3s of old corporate anthems.

It's more of a culture than most people imagine.
 
 
grant
02:15 / 27.10.07
Like the blogs on the zen of powerpoint presentations and the various personal methods of creating good ones.
 
 
Tsuga
09:37 / 27.10.07
I sometimes find it disturbing when people enjoy those team-building things. It's fine to get to know your co-workers, albeit forcibly, but the attempt to create some corporate jingoistic attitude among people? In mouth=bad taste. I'm not saying people aren't smart enough to realize they're being manipulated— well, not all people— but it is so often kind of creepy when some businesses pretend for a day to be fun when the rest of the time they are avaricious, driving, and heartless, and the pretending is only to boost productivity.
At least it sometimes gives people who are inside all the time a chance to get out and get scared on a big-ass zip line. If they have fun at all, good for them.
 
 
iamus
12:52 / 27.10.07
If you really want, you can scout around the web and find mp3s of old corporate anthems.

KPMG! We're strong as can be!
A dream of power and energy!
We go for the gold,
Together we hold
To a vision of global strategy!



Always been a favourite, that one.
 
 
Regrettable Juvenilia
16:59 / 28.10.07
I can't believe I actually get paid to do this. Sit through pointless powerpoints with meaningless numbers and quotas then all off to the adult version of PE class to be bullied by the alpha males on the sales team.

It's good you're starting to look on the bright side!
 
 
Fist Fun
16:18 / 31.10.07
" I'm not saying people aren't smart enough to realize they're being manipulated— well, not all people— but it is so often kind of creepy when some businesses pretend for a day to be fun when the rest of the time they are avaricious, driving, and heartless, and the pretending is only to boost productivity."

Although, I dunno. Business is a good thing. It provides jobs and money and cool stuff to do. It has certainly provided me personally great opportunities to do cool stuff. Lots of stress too though. I suppose business has to be greedy to a certain extent because it is all about making money. The world needs something outside of business to keep it in check though.

I just want to have a big pile of money in the bank to give me complete security and to be able to work on my own terms doing stuff I enjoy. Hopefully one day...
 
 
Olulabelle
17:32 / 31.10.07
About seven years ago I had a really good, extremely well paid job working for an internet consultancy. But I also had a nanny to look after my child and I left before my child was awake and came home from work after he had gone to bed. I hated it. It was lovely to have the money; I never used to look at the price of things, I would just buy them, so I had lovely things but no real life. It seemed the reason for my existence was to work at that company.

I always thought I couldn't give up having that flashy job and high income, even though it made me unhappy a lot of the time.

My circumstnaces have changed a lot in the last five years and now I earn far less. My reason for existence is my family, the fun we have spending time together and planning for our future. Sometimes at the end of the month I hae to hold over a bill until the next month but I don't mind. I would so much rather be me now, with my not so brilliantly paid job(s), than the me before with no time for my family or friends.
 
 
My Mom Thinks I'm Cool
17:59 / 31.10.07
I just want to have a big pile of money in the bank to give me complete security and to be able to work on my own terms doing stuff I enjoy. Hopefully one day...

sounds good to me if there's a real plan here. when's One Day?
 
 
Fist Fun
18:59 / 01.11.07
One day. Hmmm, dunno.

I've saved up some money so I could not work for a few years but realistically that is going to be a deposit on a house.

I'm trying to work on some websites to bring in some extra money. Last month I earned 27 dollars..... but I'm learning and enjoying some stuff so hopefully I can get some extra money that way.

I've got a fair bit invested in shares which has done well this year.

So at the moment I want to keep earning, saving and investing and maybe one day I'll have enough to live the life I did as a student.
 
 
Supaglue
10:10 / 02.11.07
Get yourself better business cards than your colleagues. Nice embossed ones.


And don't forget to take your videos back.
 
 
All Acting Regiment
12:44 / 02.11.07
Having read through this, I'm realising that I'm really, really lucky to have my current job teaching adults. We might have frustration and grief at times, but at least no-one's asking me to build a powerpoint presentation.

What I don't understand is why powerpoint automatically sets to blue with silly arial and so on fonts - why not just a nice white with times new roman? It would be 10000 times less harrowing.
 
 
rizla mission
13:33 / 02.11.07
I entirely agree. Fucking blue. Bah. Even this forum's blue!
 
 
Regrettable Juvenilia
13:37 / 02.11.07
Buk - I might be a bit short next month - any chance of a small loan? You know I'm good for it guv, etc etc.
 
 
Fist Fun
16:47 / 02.11.07
I spent most of today in bed making a Gantt chart and wanking. That was quite a good day at the office I suppose.

I don't even know what a Gantt chart is. You just put some crap in this computer program and it draw little pictures and then everyone just ignores them and just does what they were going to do anyway.
 
 
Papess
16:55 / 02.11.07
Just so long as you didn't make a Wank chart and Gantt all day, power to ya!
 
 
Fist Fun
17:04 / 02.11.07
"I'm realising that I'm really, really lucky to have my current job teaching adults"

I spend a lot of time teaching adults as well. Corporate training though.

What kind of stuff do you teach?
 
 
astrojax69
06:33 / 04.11.07
buk buk buk... go and talk to someone... they'l tel you about stuff and they'll mebbe recommend some reading. do it!

then re-appraise your life - write a list: what do i wan to do? what do i wan to do in five years time? what do i do now to do that in five years time? who do i want to be? what do i need people to think about who i am and who i will become? where do i get mote chocolate?


it works. go talk to someone - your work prob'ly has a free service - a great place to start.

[then hire grant as your life coach -and if you choose to let him go, hire me - i'm cheaper anyway, and i don't have a beard... ]
 
 
netbanshee
14:02 / 04.11.07
Sounds like an interesting but certainly manageable predicament, Buk. Having savings is a big positive for you and something that not a lot of people have access to when they're considering a shift in life. Whether it ends up going into a house or some other large personal investment, it is something to operate from.

Is there another type of job that allows you time and travel flexibility that's in a different field and also plays off of your strengths? Something less corporate or potentially more open and rewarding? How much looking around have you done?

Besides putting away side money for potential life plans, how's your 401k / retirement investing going? It sounds like if you have a few years salary as a "rainy day" fund, you should put at least one of those away towards retiring. Depending on your age, a few decades of reinvesting your dividends will probably provide you one hell of an investment to live on in later years.
 
  

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