Career Change ?

[Strangeways]

Sometimes these days I just tell people the salesman has bullshitted them and then I sort the customer out in an honest way and they love me for it.

I bet they do. It's amazing how honesty seems to work so well... Good on you for taking the straight path, very refreshing. :)

Had any five minute balls with no targets hit lately?   

That's almost a bloody warning 

[pinnies4me]

Sometimes these days I just tell people the salesman has bullshitted them and then I sort the customer out in an honest way and they love me for it.

I bet they do. It's amazing how honesty seems to work so well... Good on you for taking the straight path, very refreshing. :)

Had any five minute balls with no targets hit lately?   

That's almost a bloody warning 

 

[markc]

well well Nino ....


it happens to us all .

I live by   once its not fun  I move on.  
you dont live to work    you work to live ...
you work for your family   to see the smiles on the things you

i live to see my little girls faces when i walk in , to talk to my older daughter.

this industry has gotten to me a few times  but at this stage not enough to move on. yes I have thought about it and come close
I then sit back and think of the good people involved  and the nice ones .
there are some real ratbags  in pinball but you must forget these


mate think of your family  and think of what you can do for them and DONT miss the kids growing up. I can see that little smile on Zacs face when you get home, if anything like when I bring a pin over  , you are so lucky  to have that .  thats just one of the best things we as dads  get.

do what you makes you happy , do what gives you time with your kids  your wife .  

ifs its not fun   , sit down  talk to your wife  and take time to think what your next move . talk to your dad  too .  
even  take a week away   take a month off  
fix some your 37 pins you have ......

now  go back and play pinball   ITS FUN

I know I wont be in pinball for ever and will enjoy what time I have left and love seeing peoples faces when I drop them off
seeing the kids  play and the smile   thats  just gold for me.   but I know  in a couple of years   we will just have the parts site and a few pins.
you wont get rid of me just yet as we still have a few hundred in stock and working on more  but time changes everything.
I will contnue to chase more parts and build the site to service my customers for YEARS to come.


mark


now no more serious posts     I need a drink    ( smoke is close enough     havent had one for them for over 10 years   well 10 years  3 months and 5 days )

[Creech]

Dont worry Creech - U were the best customer I ever had 

Sounds like you're the only one who can get things happening over there. I will never forget the sheer joy I felt when you told me you could get me my TV almost instantly while all the salespeople in Adelaide were telling me BS about how there were none in the country.

[Strangeways]

well well Nino ....


it happens to us all .

I live by   once its not fun  I move on.  
you dont live to work    you work to live ...
you work for your family   to see the smiles on the things you

i live to see my little girls faces when i work in , to talk to my older daughter.

this industry has gotten to me a few times  but at this stage not enough to move on. yes I have thought it and come close
I then sit back and think of the good people involved  and the nice ones .
there are some real ratbags  in pinball but you must forget these


mate think of your family  and think of what you can do for them and DONT miss the kids growing up. I can see that little smile on Zacs face when you get home, if anything like when I bring a pin over  , you are so lucky  to have that .  thats just one of the best things we as dads  get.

do what you makes you happy , do what gives you time with your kids  your wife .  

ifs its not fun   , sit down  talk to your wife  and take time to think what your next move . talk to your dad  too .  
even  take a week away   take a month off  
fix some your 37 pins you have ......

now  go back and play pinball   ITS FUN

I know I wont be in pinball for ever and will enjoy what time I have left and love seeing peoples faces when I drop them off
seeing the kids  play and the smile   thats  just gold for me.   but I know  in a couple of years   we will just have the parts site and a few pins.
you wont get rid of me just yet as we still have a few hundred in stock and working on more  but time changes everything.
I will contnue to chase more parts and build the site to service my customers for YEARS to come.


mark


now no more serious posts     I need a drink    ( smoke is close enough     havent had one for them for over 10 years   well 10 years  3 months and 5 days )

That's a really insightful post - Thanks for that Mark...

I WILL be looking at moving on either at the end of this year, or within 2 years. The only other thing I know outside of IT is Pinball. So I will definitely look at something in that area.. I did speak to Dad about it - He said "NOOOOOO" - But he has a wealth of knowledge and a couple of buildings I can use. Ironically, one of the buildings was "purpose built" back in the old days.. So I may go "full circle"..

No offense intended to the full time or part time guys in the industry, but I don't see working on pinballs as "work". I find it challenging and relaxing. It will allow me to spend more time with the family.

I guess the hardest part is the first step..and I won't be taking that "first step" until the family have been consulted.. So far, so good...

Thanks to all for the great replies 

[indazone gav]

I'm another contemplating a career change. I am getting stressed lately. I just don't know what I would do as I've been in the same industry for the last 15 years. Other problem I have is that I am responsable for around 100 staff and I would be concerned as to their futures if I wasn't around. Very hard as I'm just not enjoying coming to work any more. Sure the money is good but it's not everything, right? I have been worrying over this for months now and it just keeps getting me more and more down. Maybe a easy job walking the isles in a bunnings or something is called for just to give me a break or maybe I should open up a coffee shop or something.......f**k knows..... I've got a headache.

[Creech]

Exactly how I feel mate.

I'm contemplating buying a courier franchise as I love being on the road. Something a bit different from IT.

[Strangeways]

Reading through the replies again - I noticed a common thread. We all turn to "pinball" to relieve stress and take us to that "special place"..

I could be worse - imagine if we didn't have pinball as our form of relaxation and stress relief ? I guess we would find something else - but nothing beats Pinball except Family and Friends

 

[studley67]

nino,i would just sit it out and wait for a redundancy package.you can hurry it up by taking all your sick leave

[pinnies4me]

I am now working from home, with a select group of clients who actually appreciate the work I do. Sure, I won't see the sort of dollars I did as a principal of a good sized firm, but I get to:

Walk away from the PC when I feel like it;
Do some gardening if it takes my fancy;
Play with the girls (and the pool has been great fun the last few days);
Log onto AP anytime I feel like it without answering to f*ucking admin employees of mine asking why I'm not working;
Not have my email vetted by people I paid to work for me;
Play a game of pinball just because the games are three feet away;
Sit and chat with my beautiful wife whenever either of us feels the urge;
Have as many coffee breaks as my caffeine levels will allow!

Balanced against the former dollars, all I can see is I'm miles ahead!  (Might feel different if the cash flow slows too much! :)

[Strangeways]

nino,i would just sit it out and wait for a redundancy package.you can hurry it up by taking all your sick leave

Damien - I'm in a specialist role.. My position won't become redundant. Would be nice to have a redundancy package to start a new venture !

[Strangeways]

I am now working from home, with a select group of clients who actually appreciate the work I do. Sure, I won't see the sort of dollars I did as a principal of a good sized firm, but I get to:

Walk away from the PC when I feel like it;
Do some gardening if it takes my fancy;
Play with the girls (and the pool has been great fun the last few days);
Log onto AP anytime I feel like it without answering to f*ucking admin employees of mine asking why I'm not working;
Not have my email vetted by people I paid to work for me;
Play a game of pinball just because the games are three feet away;
Sit and chat with my beautiful wife whenever either of us feels the urge;
Have as many coffee breaks as my caffeine levels will allow!

Balanced against the former dollars, all I can see is I'm miles ahead!  (Might feel different if the cash flow slows too much! :)

That's awesome !

[Creech]

Sounds great Nick. The kind of things I'm looking for too!

[pinball god]

I've done the career change 3 times now. Did IT when it paid until the great recession and anyone with a PC thought they could be consultants. Then moved side ways when the opportunity arose and did robotics & cnc machinery (training, troubleshooting, programming) Ended up owning my own company in this business. License to print money, 3 hour days mainly but was like fire fighting, when the shit hits the fan, you move into action with major stress and time constraints.

Now due to family reasons I'm in the family business of colorbond fencing (supply and project management of the largest estates). No more stress, longer hours and have to deal with STAFF!!! Ah management, love it so much I'm thinking of taking a sicky on my first day back LOL

What I'm trying to say is work is work otherwise they'd call it pinball or golf or play of some sort. I don't believe (unless you're really lucky) there is a job that won't get you down or burn you out. You just have to ride those waves and make the most of the "play times" after the job is done. Just don't take your work problems home otherwise your home life will be like work all over again. 

[stuba]

grass is always greener boys. you get the same crap no matter what you do or how high up you sit . i bailed on IT/Finance 6 years ago to get into corporate greed - at least the stay is shorter and more lucrative. mark is bang on with "work to live", I spend more time with the kids now than when i was on the treadmill. actually feel like i have work/life balance for the first time, few bucks to boot, assuming the recession doesn't wipe us out lol . i'm not sure this is a good year to move around much though...starting to get ugly out there..