girlfriend, i empathize with you completely!!!! As a matter of fact, today I am sick and need to be in bed resting but am at work instead. I've been here for 5+ years and dont like it one bit. I want a new job but they are hard to find. Everyday I have to force myself to face a new day of work. I cry a lot! But I also LOVE my house and I want to keep it and it is what I have to remind myself about each day. My boss is a slave driver, it is just the two of us and he depends on me greatly....so you'd think he'd take care to keep me, right?! uuugh!!! I have made a vow to myself to find a new job in 2008....but in the meantime....we are self sufficient, we dont have a husband to take care of us, and even if we did.....?!?!?! We have to do the best we can and keep on truckin'. We have to be greatful each and everyday for all the good we do have in our lives. I live in Colorado, and we just had the two church shootings....I could have been a victim, but I was blessed to keep my life and go to the job I do not like. There is always someone who has it worse, we just have to remember the blessing we do have. Hang in there!!!!

I, too, have been at my job 5 years. The first year, I was the golden girl, but the last four years have been rotten. I have kept on keeping on because I love working with my elderly people.

I don't have a college degree, so I couldn't find another job that would pay as well. I only work three days a week, so I figure I can cope for those three days.

I am getting ready to retire and move to a warmer climate in the fall of 2008, so I ask the Divine One to allow me to hang in there a while longer. The way I have managed to do so is to stay busy. I create things to do if I run out of official work duties.

You didn't state what kind of work you do nor your position, but if you sit at a desk and can do so, here is a suggestion - play the free rice game. You will help feed the hungry, learn something and it will help time go quickly!

Keep looking for a new job, go back to school, or just try to hang in there. Hugs, Jo

Here is a link that might be useful: Feed the world!

OH God! How I can relate.

I've been in this job for almost 19 years. Everything was wonderful until 2005. That's when the boss decided to sell the business and my job has been pure hell ever since. The last half of 2005 was spent doing due diligence for takeover on 1/2/06. That fell through after everything had been completed and balanced and itemized and on and on and on. Then we had to reverse some of the things that they did such as getting new tax id numbers etc. and you know how hard it is to get a government agency to reverse anything. We finally got all that straightened out and things went smoothly from an accounting standpoint until last week when they decided we are going to try again. Potential new owners will be here next week for a "mini due diligence". (not my description)

I want to retire sooooooo badly I can taste it. I just can't afford to right now. The earliest would be the Fall of '08 and only if I get my house paid for between now and then.

And to top it all off, I don't have time to visit here as much as I would like. Darn

Pat

Today was really bad. I got very angry with one of my managers, but had to bite my tongue and choke back my tears. I am going to do something about it, though, tomorrow. Today, I was praying they would fire me, I was so upset.

But then God sent me not one, not two, but THREE angels. One man just walked up to me and said "You're a beautiful woman". I said "Thank you, and you're a handsome man, and you just made my day". The second angel said "You're always here when I need you. You're so helpful." I asked her to tell my boss that if she would. The third said "You are probably not paid enough for the service your provide to customers." I asked him to also tell my manager that if he would. It was like God was trying to tell me that I am loved, and everything is going to be o.k.

junkyard, sounds like you got the message right.

I know too about stressful (or worse) jobs. Over the w years, I changed jobs 3 times with only one being my choice!! It was so bad at one, that I actually started having chest pains. I wasn't the only one either. The funny thing, every time I "leave" a job, someone calls to tell me that my manager was just fired or demoted because they weren't meeting the mark - what vindication. In June I lucked up and found a job 10 minutes from home and for the first time in my professional life, I can actually say I'm not turned off my the job. Mind you, its got it's problems, but for some reason the problems seem so high-level in comparison to when I worked at other places. Then too, after having 2 and 3 hour commute times sometimes, getting to the other jobs, I just keep telling myself, ten minutes, ten minutes, ten minutes, and the problems just disappear!!

Hang in there; you will get all the help you need, and you know where that comes from!! However, don't, and I repeat, don't sacrafice yourself for your job. We have a tendancy to do that, and in the end, it doesn't really matter (unless you want a gold watch, and they sell them even at the K-Mart!!). Take time for yourself!!

hugs 2U!!

gng

I can really relate to your situation. I've had many jobs that I just plain hated. I've been fortunate to have a few jobs I really enjoyed, but they didn't last too long! The last years I've been working 3-4 jobs and was able to put away a reasonable nest egg and recover from a big financial problem following a business fiasco and an injury that kept me from working.

Back many years though I worked as a manager in convenience stores. This was a roller coaster of a job, since there would be such highs and lows. Then the lows got worse and worse. I too dreaded going in. Stayed in bed playing snooze-alarm tag until the last minute then rushing and flying down the highway, and yes occasionally getting pulled over, which didn't help. I had 24 different supervisors in 5 years with the company and I'd just get one trained and have to break in another. A few decided they wanted me out. At first I was afraid to lose my job. Then I realized I had enough of a nest egg that I could last in case of disaster and I needed to relax a bit. My health was being adversely affected.

I started to enjoy every minute I could. When a customer came in that I knew, I enjoyed the time. But eventually, I had to fire all but one employee and he couldn't work more than 4 hrs/day, 2 days a week. So guess who was salaried and had to cover the store the rest of the time? I did I think nearly a month of 100+ hrs/week and finally said enough. I should have walked out, but have high morals in that regard so I gave notice. The boss begged me to stay, and got some help into the store. He even came out and covered some shifts. But I decided that it was time. I just couldn't take it anymore, for a variety of reasons. The biggest was my sanity.

I have great memories of that job, but looking back, I'm glad I left.

So I don't know if this helps, but I can say, you're not alone in that situation. Hang in there as best you can, but do what's best for you. Many times a big help is to vent a little now and then and share something with friends.

And this doesn't even talk about when I used to travel and was essentially living in fleabag motels while making house payments! LOL

Find a hobby. The internet is my main one, I guess, along with a little tv and radio. BTW, FWIW, I put up a Christmas tree for the first time in probably 20 years. After being in retail, I got to hate the season. And I used to enjoy it so! I also have two cats now (rescues) and they're fun to have around. We're all enjoying the tree, even though it's just a 4' pre-lit artificial one and I haven't even done any decorating on it. I guess what I'm saying is that the things that have done more to keep my sanity in bad situations is to appreciate the simple things in life. It works for me. But I'm sort of a simple person!

Good luck to you!

I'm off to work again. I got some good advice from another manager that used to work at the store, so I'm going to take it, and see what happens. Before I left last night, my asst. dept. manager told me what I was going to be doing for the next two days, and it's BS (excuse my french). The proverbial *S* is about to hit the fan. I just hope not too much of it blows in my face.

Someone once asked me "What's the worse thing that can happen?" I always ask myself that when something like this comes up. If I can live with the consequences no matter what they are, then I do what I think is necessary.

So good luck Junkyard. I'm positive the worst thing that can happen has to be better than what you're going through now. Along those same lines someone else, I think it was my Mother, said "What are they going to do, cook you and eat you?" Now can anything be worse than that?

I've endured a monster for a boss for the last couple years. It has been a whole extra job just keeping my head on straight. Some nights I stand in my kitchen after work drinking and swearing. My cats are an enormous help. They help redirect me from my world of anger into doing something simple and constructive like petting my cat. Petting my cat is a great first step towards making my life the one I want to live. Jerks at work take a backseat to my cat. Once my priorites get back in order I'm much less stressed.

Well, I took a big step today, and hopefully, it will turn out o.k. I was assured that what they were doing was against company policy, and told that it was being turned over to someone to deal with it. I'll either get fired, or things will change. Guess I'll find out in the next few days.

Please know that we are with you in spirit - it will turn out just as it is supposed to. You are too good for them, anyway!

Thanks so much Kay. That means a lot to me.