Long Hard Ride or 4 Months of Hell

Long Hard Ride or 4 Months of Hell

I know without a doubt that I am not even close to being ready for retirement and the proverbial rocking chair. The last 4 months of sitting on my arse has proven that.

I have been unemployed since July 1 and I start my new position with Century West Marketing November 1. Thanks to Jim and Jimmy Latter for the opportunity.

I suppose I was a little too full of myself when I resigned from my previous position in June 2017. I thought to myself, “You’ll bounce back like a boss and have a job inside 6 weeks.” Terrible famous last words. I have held a job permanently since 1992 and thought there would be a multitude of companies and people that would fall over themselves to hire me. Not so much…

I spent the first week of July “on vacation”. It was the first time in 25+ years, that I did not have to think about sending an email, doing a follow up call from a previous appointment or have to get paperwork in for a tradeshow. No responsibility (or so that it seemed) and worry and a care free existence. This will be a snap….

4 weeks led to 1 month and then 2, then 3 months and nothing. I would sit in front of my computer 5-6 hours every day (seriously, every day) looking for gainful employment. I made phone calls to business contacts and industry peers; nothing.  At first, I concentrated on nothing but animal health jobs, but that was not working.  I seemed to think that since I had worked in animal health all these years, I could do anything related to animal health. Not always the case Timo. After a few weeks, I started applying and sending resumes to any job that looked like it might fit. Hardware companies, farming rep positions, beverage and food distributors, the Fresno Grizzlies Triple A franchise.  

I tried to not leave a single stone unturned. I even looked into a position selling fancy television/entertainment systems to hotels.

I would use Susie’s office and computer to job search because I just couldn’t bear to go to my own office. “That’s where employed people work Timothy, not vagrants like you” was my thought process.

I started reading articles on how to word a resume and cover letter. I made countless changes to them trying to make them stand out. I looked into the psychology of interview questions. I was going to be ready to kill an interview, but still nothing happened. Then, out of the blue, I started getting phone calls and I felt I had reached the end of this terrible journey. When it rains it pours, as they say.

I walked into several face to face and phone interviews like I was the shit; full of confidence and bravado. Not so fast Timmy. I started getting emails from companies I had applied to saying “We like your experience and background, but we have chosen to move in a different direction or pursue other candidates.” This translates, “Your too old or you didn’t put in the right resume catch phrase.” Efff….

One morning I looked at my resume cover sheet that I had gloriously composed and read the header, “Professional Sales Rep With 27 Year’s Experience.” I looked at it proudly and then, like a ton of lead, it hit me. People looking at this will probably think, ”27 Years of Experience? How old is this guy?” Needless to say, I amended that very revealing tid bit.

Although it was only 4 months, it felt like 4 decades of no production or income. We were burning through our savings like grease through a goose. Susie went back to work and that made me feel like a real loser. She would leave for work and I would be home producing zilch. I looked at selling food at festivals and events, but nixed that. I’m kind of glad I did because I don’t think I would make a very good carny. I have too many teeth and possess basic hygienic skills.

I would go to the grocery and feel like I had a big ass “L” branded on my forehead. I started noticing that the only people at the grocery store during the week were retired folk. I was headed downhill fast and started going to the store on Saturday thinking I would blend in better with the people who actually had jobs.

Jimmy Latter called me one Sunday, which seemed odd, but he had just found out I was looking to find and he had a spot for me that might work. Probably goes down as one of the happiest days of my life.

We eventually met up and worked out a deal that is pretty sweet. I’m back doing what I have been doing since 2011 (independent rep group), but with a different mix of companies and a little different territory.

This has been the most humbling experience of my life. My brother went 8 months before he found something, so I can’t ask for sympathy. He showed major patience and fortitude for his situation. I just ate a lot and watched Dr. Phil and The View.

I guess the main thing I have learned is to not pat yourself on the back too much. We are always learning and we all need to stay focused and on track. Don’t get discouraged and keep on keeping on.

The best thing to arise from this ordeal is I was able to read about 5 or 6 books and split 3 cords of wood. Ask me anything about the life of Wyatt Earp and I can tell you. I read “Ball Four” again and have a greater appreciation for 1960 and 1970 major league baseball players. Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata were actually pretty good people. Ask me what it’s like to spend 4 days splitting wood.

I can tell you I’d rather be working…

Fire or Rain-Pick Your Poison

Fire or Rain, Pick Your Poison

This last week has been as horrific as it gets concerning the weather. Hurricane and rain in the south, fires in the west and it looks like the east coast might get hit with a sizeable hurricane by the end of the week.

Susie and I were talking the other day and I asked her what she felt is worse, hurricanes and tornado’s or fire. Tough to answer for us. We have lived in South Texas and dealt with hurricanes & the like and in North Texas, we dealt with tornado’s. Now that we are on the left coast, we fret about fire for about 5-6 months out of the year.

You know the only good thing about hurricanes is you know they are coming. Really. You seriously know they’re coming. Like 2-3 days at least. Plenty of time to get out if needed and to somewhat prepare.

Tornados are a different breed of duck. You kind of know they are on their way, but you really don’t get much more than a few hours notice that they are on the way. You can’t get out of their way once they hit and all you can do is hunker down and pray for the best. When we lived in North Texas I traveled a 10 state territory. I can’t count the times I was in Casper, Wyoming or Albuquerque, NM and I am stuck in my hotel watching the Weather Channel tell me about potential tornados in Dallas. And I can’t do anything to help…

I have been through 2 hurricanes, Camile in 1969 and Alicia in 1983, plus countless tropical storms. Yes, the stories are true that we have hurricane parties. Schaefer Beer was named the official Hurricane Alicia Beer that night. Fortunately, the only inconvenience was power outage. I was in Louisiana in 1969 and we evacuated to the school in town. Thankfully we came back to minor tree damage and the like. No water damage or anything like that. Same with Alicia. I had a second floor apartment and only lost power for 10 days. In August. In Texas. Could have been worse, but at the time I sweated for a living and I didn’t feel the need to sweat 24/7.

Both hurricanes and tornados in most instances do a ton of damage, but leave the buildings intact a lot of the time. Then people have to deal with repairing the damaged sheet rock, the soaked carpet and the ruined appliances. Not to mention the possibility of mold.

Fire is much different and very much alike in certain ways. If you are affected by fire you usually don’t have much time to get out (ie. Tornados). But the good thing about fire (if there actually is something that can be considered acceptable) is there is little to no cleanup, because you have nothing left to clean up in the first place.

The biggest and most important issue with me concerning fire are the idiots who start them. Yes, I know what you are thinking, “But Tim, lightning starts fires doesn’t it?”

Very true, but it seems that in the last several years, the idiot theory is prevalent and being proved year in and year out.

The Rim Fire of about 4 years ago was started by a great white hunter who felt the need to build a fire. The Courtney Fire of 2 years ago was apparently started by another braniac that decided to burn a deer carcass.  I guess they were too tired to dig a hole and bury the deer. 30 houses destroyed and it was very close to my home, something like 3-4 miles.

The Detwiller Fire this year burned 81,826 acres and 63 residences. I have heard target shooting attributed to this.

The death sentence for starting fires has my support. At the very least it will help thin down the gene pool. I don’t know if it is stupidity (number 1 on my list), ignorance or just plain ole bad luck. The comedian Steve Martin once said that we can bring the overpopulation down by issuing death sentences for parking violations. A little rash and humorous, but it’s a start.

Why, oh why do people not use ash trays. These are the same dorks that throw beer cans into the back of their trucks and miss the bed of the truck 75% of the time. They drag chains when pulling trailers, they park their vehicles in tall grass. “No need to douse the campfire, it’ll burn itself out eventually.” The list is long…

I have said in the past that I will never move back to Texas because of the weather and the problems that it brings. I’ll keep on believing that until the next dumbass decides to toss their cigarette butt out the car and we have to live with puckered butts until the fire is put out.

Saturdays Are The Bomb

Saturdays Are the Bomb

I have always said that I don’t vacation very well. It seems that I can take a few days and then I get the itch to get back to work.

Terrible habit…

I have been on the job hunt for about 6 weeks now. I left my previous job “because I needed a change”; nudge, nudge, wink, wink to quote Monty Python’s Flying Circus.

The first week or two was an amazing experience. For the first time in almost 30 years I woke up without a worry, a care or any anxiety at all. Nothing. Zilch. I think I was seeing what “retirement” was going to possibly be like. I spent the first week (which was July 4^th week) on the couch acting like I was taking some time off for the holidays. The second week I split around 2-3 cords of wood from an enormous oak tree that had died last year during the drought.

Splitting wood is rather monotonous and it lets your mind wander to a certain degree. I spent probably 3-4 hours a day splitting and stacking enough firewood for my niece and nephew’s grand children to use. I thought about old friends I haven’t talked to in a long time. I thought about my grandparents, and I pondered what in the hell happened to the San Francisco Giants this year. Before his crash, I hope Madison had fun on his dirt bike…

Week three I switched to job hunt mode. For the last 3 week’s I have spent the entire day on the phone, on the computer looking at job boards and practicing interview questions. I actually thought I would end up wandering over to You Tube and watching Van Halen videos, but I stayed true to form and pressed on.

I also spent a good bit of time calling business associates to explain what had happened and why I did it. I think my list had 100 names on it. That’s a good thing because everyone I worked with was a friend.

After about 2-3 days of dialing the phone and repeating the same story over and over again, I ran out of gas. I got to thinking, “Why am I spending all this time explaining myself.” Some of my friends honestly gave me leads and made calls themselves, but the majority would kindly say, ”Don’t worry, you’ll bounce back. You’ve got a great reputation in this industry and everybody likes you.” Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate all the kind words and the encouragement. I realize I am a likable person and I will land on my feet, but the $1,000,000.00 question is

WHEN??

There are days when you have a phone conversation or a positive email and things start looking up. Then the inevitable message of “Sorry, but we have filled the position.” or “You’re qualifications  are not what we are looking for.” comes along. Although in one or two instances this scenario has happened and at 4:00 in the afternoon I get a positive phone call or email and the sun comes out again.

My situation is similar to the pitcher who is throwing a no-hitter into the 7^th inning and the whole team lets him sit by himself at the end of the dugout. No one gives him a look or a pat on the back. The team doesn’t want to jinx him. On an island sort of thing…

I do have friends who call or text fairly often and that means a lot to me, but I sometimes like the island life to a point. Maybe I need to be left to my thoughts and let me work this out by myself.

My brother has been in the same place I have been, but for a lot longer. His position was eliminated in January and he received an offer this past week. We have shared information and encouragement between ourselves and that has helped a bunch. My dad was about the same age as me when Mobil Oil decided he was not needed and they turned him out. Big difference is he had 3 kids. Dad took some time like me and relaxed for a bit, but he bounced back like a boss. He did an about face and left the oil business behind. I know I don’t want to leave agriculture and animal health behind, so that fork in the road won’t be approached.

I have had some really good leads and good conversations the last few weeks and I am confident someone will see my solid skills and chiseled good looks. Well at least the job skills…

I still remind myself that it has only been 6 weeks. Unfortunately it feels like 6 months. I keep reminding myself of what my brother told me;

“It ain’t that bad, every day is Saturday and you get to wear shorts all week.”

I’ll try to keep that in mind.