[Lewey]

Hey folks!

I know I've been an infrequent visitor to this great site lately. I apologize. My real job has been a real bitch lately. I have had a chance to work on a few canes and I did learn how to sell worldwide on Etsy. Recently sold 2 to people in Australia and 1 to a fellow in England. I've been working to replenish my inventory.

Back to my real job. The company I work for has decided that our plant and product line is not competitive. (I'm a quality manager for a ball bearing factory). Instead of just closing the plant, they've come up with a plan to "shrink ourselves to greatness". Essentially we are discontinuing many of the actual manufacturing processes and we're going to purchase components from overseas and assemble them.

I just don't have the energy to deal with going through this change so I've given my notice and I'll be taking an early retirement at the end of this year.

I'm worried about retiring so early (I'm 54 years old). I've got another daughter that I've got to get through college. But I just can't continue to participate in the disassembly of all the work I've done for the past 28 years. I've got to tell someone next week that they no longer have a job and I really dread it. Things like this are just going to get worse over the next few months.

But....... I'm looking at the positive side. I'm still young enough to either get another job or start my own business. Obviously, i'll keep making canes and trying to sell them but I may just try something different like opening a coffee shop (there are none in our town and I believe there is a market for good "Starbucks" like coffee).

Anyway, I hope I can get back to visiting here and posting regularly. You're a great bunch of people and I'm happy that I was one of the first to join.

I'll keep you updated on how things go.

Bill

 

[Rad]

Good to hear from you Bill! Sorry work has been such a downer! We are living in strange and uneasy times! Keep us updated -- God bless.

 

[Lewey]

Good to hear from you Bill! Sorry work has been such a downer! We are living in strange and uneasy times! Keep us updated -- God bless.

Thanks Rad. I'll stay in touch.

Bill

 

[JJireh]

Praying for you Bill. I know where you are coming from.

 

[gdenby]

" I just can't continue to participate in the disassembly of all the work I've done for the past 28 years" You're a good man, and I expect you passed some of that quality into the sticks you made. Please continue if you can.

I hope you can put the coffee shop together. Not long ago, I visited the Portland, OR area. I was surprised to see that there was a chain of Espresso shacks along the highways. Drive thru coffee super-charging stations. There were also "food truck" stands all over. I read up some, and found that the city and area have very easy licensing laws, and reasonable utility contracts. Those have contributed to a vibrant food culture. There's a food making establishment for ever 1.5 blocks in Portland. I hope your locality can see the sense in easing your entry into the field.

 

[Lewey]

Thanks Guys. I'm actually not too upset about getting out of this job. 28 years of doing the same thing will burn you out. Also, as a quality manager, all you get to deal with are the problems. No one ever calls you to tell you that the last shipment they got was really great. Also, I'm held responsible for reducing customer complaints but the people that make the errors don't report to me so I really have limited control over it. If I were to start a company then you can bet I won't even have a quality manager. It will be everyone's responsiblity to produce high quality work.

I'm looking at it as an opportunity to start all over and do something new and exciting.

Thanks again.

Bill