Friday, January 11, 2008

2007 Reflections and 2008 Hopes

2007 is over and 2008 is now almost two weeks old. I wanted to reflect a bit on the year that was. To be honest, 2007 was not as productive as I had hoped. My intention was that by year's end Roxanne and I would be together in our own place. Well, we are together, but living with her parents. All-in-all, not a wholly bad arrangement, but it certainly did not happen the way either of us had hoped. Circumstances between my uncle and I necessitated my moving out of my Gramma's house. Truth be told, the fight that led to my exodus was not much of surprise to me; it had been long overdue and my patience level and ability to ignore is narcissistic ways finally ran out and let loose with my unvarnished opinion of him and the way he treats and talks to other people, particularly my Gramma and I. But let us not dwell on that, for it is now water under the bride, and I'm happier and better off for having moved in with Roxanne.

I still work for RadioShack and I'm still a keyholder and presumably still a Manager in Training, but I have to honestly say that I'm 99% sure that as long as the current District Manager is present, I'll not get a store of my own, and frankly, don't know that I want one. Truth be told, I'm not even sure I wish to continue my employment with RadioShack. The thing is, I know I'll be stuck with being a peon in the world of corporate retail greed where employees needs and wants do not amount to a pile of shit. For example, our schedules are all generated by a computer program that only looks at sales figures and the availability a person has entered. To that end, I have days that are ten hours long (or more) and others that are the legal minimum of only three hours. I mean, how ridiculous is it that a full-time keyholder with open availability gets scheduled for a shift that does not even begin until 6:00pm when the store closes at 9:00pm? Then there is the mindless plan-o-gram resets for no reason other than giving someone at corporate justification for their paycheck by making up layouts for the stores that do not really work and then having us change it again a mere month later. How stupid is that?

I did get the opportunity to interview with a Information Technologies (IT) company in Atlanta, GA this past summer. The trip was fun and I got to hang with my buddy Rob, but I knew going in that even though I like to say I'm a Geek, I do not really have the chops to work in the IT industry (yet?). I guess I should have finished my degree, but let us be serious. Just what the hell would a self-described “Universalist Philosophical Pagan with Wiccan influences” do with a degree in Biblical Studies with a minor in New Testament Greek?

At any rate, I did get new golf clubs this past summer and have been playing more in the past few months than I had the previous ten years since I took up the maddening sport. Winning the lottery would be fun so I could retire early and play everyday, but let us also be realistic.

I do not know what 2008 will hold for me, but life is short and I do know that I love being an Uncle and I love being with Roxanne everyday, so I am going to enjoy the ride, try not to take to much shit seriously and keep on livin'.

~ JC