I had a comment asking about my husband, Christopher's, job. (Hi Annie thanks for the comment!!)
So, I figured I'd do a quick post on it.
For newcomers, my husband is an assistant manager at a large discount store (not WalMart blech!). In all, he's worked for them for 22 years now. He started as Christmas help in the toy dept when we first got married and were expecting our first child. He was laid off for over a year which led to stress and an even more stressful job which led to his heart attack. He quit that job when he recovered and went back to his old store as night replenishment crew, part time at about half the pay he used to make. Within 4 months, he was bumped up to stock room manager, then "key carrier" (doing asst manager job but still an hourly employee), then finally Assistant manager (Softlines Manager). He's now been Asst Mgr for going on 5 years.
His current store manager took him aside after he got some high praise from several district and regional folks who worked with him on a project. The Mgr said he was going to retire in 1-3 years and wanted to start training Christopher on everything the manager does, and then get him into the manager training program in Chicago. He wanted Christopher to be able to just take over the store when he left. Of course, he has no power over who gets the job, but he was going to make it obvious that C was the man for the job.
Then about 3 weeks later, the company offered the Mgr a store much closer to where he actually lived. He wasn't going to take it since it had a bad rep for employees making Mgrs lives hell. But they made him an outrageous salary offer, and he knew he'd be stupid to turn it down. He has just one more week at this store, and then he's gone.
So, where does that leave Christopher? Well, we're not sure. He's not been through the manager training program yet. However, there is precedent for them promoting an Asst Mgr to Store Mgr, even at this same store before (twice since he's worked there actually). Usually though, it's not how it's done. Usually, there will be Asst Mgrs or Manager Trainees, waiting to be placed in a store that opens up. That said,... if there were such folks ready to go, why didn't they put one of them in the store that the Mgr is moving to?
There still has been zero word on who will be taking over when Mgr leaves. Christopher intends to step up and make the store run as smoothly as he can without a store manager. C has always been the manager who did a lot of the tech stuff - but I use that term loosely. He checks the company emails, that the others ignore - usually very important ones. He sits in on conference calls. He's very detail oriented about a lot as well. His years as a department manager drilled all that into his head.
Still, the day after the going away party for the Mgr, there might be a visit from the District manager with some new guy fresh out of college with a business degree and lots of ideas, and he'll be the new boss. (or she). We're just praying that instead, that DM will come for a visit to tell Christopher he's in charge. Even if it's not the actual promotion, it will look very good on his record. And maybe, just maybe, he'll get promoted to store manager.
The difference in salary could actually get us out of this deep hole of debt we keep sinking deeper into... and even get us ahead. No more living paycheck to paycheck.
So, yeah, for those who have been following along... no really new news. But it's much closer to zero hour. They've already planned the Mgr's going away party and are getting him some big gift.
Oh if he got that job, it would be such a Godsend! We are worse off financially right now than we've been all year. A lot of it is my fault, spending money I shouldn't have on some things for the house, but it's just been a lot of other things too. Several huge bills had to be paid all at once to keep things from being turned off, and then our Explorer stopped working. It's in the shop, and we can't even afford to pay for what's been done so we can bring it home... and it's not even totally fixed. The bill is over $700 to get it all done. It's $256 just to pay for the current work and get it home and park it. We had to buy a new battery for the van which barely runs. The transmission is shot, so it only drives in 2nd gear, 40 mph tops. The windows don't work, the sliding and read doors don't open. It's like a giant tin can of death (well that's what I call it.) I don't like the kids riding in it. So, C drives it to work and back which is just 2 miles down the road. And I have to drive it to run errands which I try to get done in one day. Last weekend, I had to get a rental car to drive Rhiannon to Maryville, TN to the All East Honors Choir audition. I guess we'll just get a rental each weekend it's needed, since $50 a couple times a month is easier to manage than the other $500 to get the Explorer fixed.
Did I mention we're also behind on the house payment, and currently overdrawn? I don't sugarcoat or hide anything here (unless it affects other people). I know it's because I didn't get those cash advances paid off when I should have, but things kept coming up that took the money - it wasn't all just shopping sprees. And for me a shopping spree is at most a can of paint and a new bathroom rug or pillows.
So, there's the current state of this household. Needless to say, I feel like I'm walking on thin ice all the time. Like any minute, it's going to crack and I'll plunge through. I've actually not mentioned a lot of this to Christopher. Hes under enough stress with the work thing, I don't want to pile more things on him when he can't really do anything about them. I've prayed and prayed and put it all in God's hands. I've just got to be wise enough to see his path and do what needs to be done to keep the house, keep food on the table, be able to log into work, and make sure my husband can get to work and back. The rest will just have to get in line.
Prayers would be appreciated obviously. Thanks for reading and listening. Y'all are like my therapist! LOL
Hope your day is going better than mine!
Patty
So, I figured I'd do a quick post on it.
For newcomers, my husband is an assistant manager at a large discount store (not WalMart blech!). In all, he's worked for them for 22 years now. He started as Christmas help in the toy dept when we first got married and were expecting our first child. He was laid off for over a year which led to stress and an even more stressful job which led to his heart attack. He quit that job when he recovered and went back to his old store as night replenishment crew, part time at about half the pay he used to make. Within 4 months, he was bumped up to stock room manager, then "key carrier" (doing asst manager job but still an hourly employee), then finally Assistant manager (Softlines Manager). He's now been Asst Mgr for going on 5 years.
His current store manager took him aside after he got some high praise from several district and regional folks who worked with him on a project. The Mgr said he was going to retire in 1-3 years and wanted to start training Christopher on everything the manager does, and then get him into the manager training program in Chicago. He wanted Christopher to be able to just take over the store when he left. Of course, he has no power over who gets the job, but he was going to make it obvious that C was the man for the job.
Then about 3 weeks later, the company offered the Mgr a store much closer to where he actually lived. He wasn't going to take it since it had a bad rep for employees making Mgrs lives hell. But they made him an outrageous salary offer, and he knew he'd be stupid to turn it down. He has just one more week at this store, and then he's gone.
So, where does that leave Christopher? Well, we're not sure. He's not been through the manager training program yet. However, there is precedent for them promoting an Asst Mgr to Store Mgr, even at this same store before (twice since he's worked there actually). Usually though, it's not how it's done. Usually, there will be Asst Mgrs or Manager Trainees, waiting to be placed in a store that opens up. That said,... if there were such folks ready to go, why didn't they put one of them in the store that the Mgr is moving to?
There still has been zero word on who will be taking over when Mgr leaves. Christopher intends to step up and make the store run as smoothly as he can without a store manager. C has always been the manager who did a lot of the tech stuff - but I use that term loosely. He checks the company emails, that the others ignore - usually very important ones. He sits in on conference calls. He's very detail oriented about a lot as well. His years as a department manager drilled all that into his head.
Still, the day after the going away party for the Mgr, there might be a visit from the District manager with some new guy fresh out of college with a business degree and lots of ideas, and he'll be the new boss. (or she). We're just praying that instead, that DM will come for a visit to tell Christopher he's in charge. Even if it's not the actual promotion, it will look very good on his record. And maybe, just maybe, he'll get promoted to store manager.
The difference in salary could actually get us out of this deep hole of debt we keep sinking deeper into... and even get us ahead. No more living paycheck to paycheck.
So, yeah, for those who have been following along... no really new news. But it's much closer to zero hour. They've already planned the Mgr's going away party and are getting him some big gift.
Oh if he got that job, it would be such a Godsend! We are worse off financially right now than we've been all year. A lot of it is my fault, spending money I shouldn't have on some things for the house, but it's just been a lot of other things too. Several huge bills had to be paid all at once to keep things from being turned off, and then our Explorer stopped working. It's in the shop, and we can't even afford to pay for what's been done so we can bring it home... and it's not even totally fixed. The bill is over $700 to get it all done. It's $256 just to pay for the current work and get it home and park it. We had to buy a new battery for the van which barely runs. The transmission is shot, so it only drives in 2nd gear, 40 mph tops. The windows don't work, the sliding and read doors don't open. It's like a giant tin can of death (well that's what I call it.) I don't like the kids riding in it. So, C drives it to work and back which is just 2 miles down the road. And I have to drive it to run errands which I try to get done in one day. Last weekend, I had to get a rental car to drive Rhiannon to Maryville, TN to the All East Honors Choir audition. I guess we'll just get a rental each weekend it's needed, since $50 a couple times a month is easier to manage than the other $500 to get the Explorer fixed.
Did I mention we're also behind on the house payment, and currently overdrawn? I don't sugarcoat or hide anything here (unless it affects other people). I know it's because I didn't get those cash advances paid off when I should have, but things kept coming up that took the money - it wasn't all just shopping sprees. And for me a shopping spree is at most a can of paint and a new bathroom rug or pillows.
So, there's the current state of this household. Needless to say, I feel like I'm walking on thin ice all the time. Like any minute, it's going to crack and I'll plunge through. I've actually not mentioned a lot of this to Christopher. Hes under enough stress with the work thing, I don't want to pile more things on him when he can't really do anything about them. I've prayed and prayed and put it all in God's hands. I've just got to be wise enough to see his path and do what needs to be done to keep the house, keep food on the table, be able to log into work, and make sure my husband can get to work and back. The rest will just have to get in line.
Prayers would be appreciated obviously. Thanks for reading and listening. Y'all are like my therapist! LOL
Hope your day is going better than mine!
Patty