Spannering is good for you....

[davetherave]

Think at the end of the day if you enjoy your job life is going to be a hell of a lot easier!
Time to change jobs?

[CitroJim]

Jim, I was in the exact same state meself, even to the point of near depression! (what with lifes other cross weilding shoulder weights also...)

Dave, thanks You've closely echoing what's been going on with me, very, very similar in fact. Your solution is perfect, very near the perfect job I reckon, own boss but with none of the worries that come with running your own company...

The bills are the problem for me, mainly in the form of one daughter at Uni and another to follow in a couple of years. I said that when the girls were clear of Uni I'd leave my present employ but honestly, how it is with my mental health it is likely to be sooner rather than later.

This week, whilst I'm off I'll be giving some options some very careful thought; something has to give and this time it isn't going to be me. I'm niggled with myself really, I ought to have known this would happen as 10 years ago I did a very similar job to the one I'm doing now and it contributed to a very bad mental breakdown that took me years to recover from. I stayed away from that particular work area for eight years and was perfect, doing a quite lowly sort of job that carried responsibility but not too much in the way of pressure. Stupidly I allowed myself to be enticed back to my old work area because they were crying out for the skills I have; I have two very uncommon skills that few others seem to possess but are essential to the organisation I work for. Trouble is, they will not do anything to get others skilled up in my area so the burden may be shared - it's all heaped on me and I'm the only one.

I'm seriously thinking they may have to cry out again for someone else with those skills instead of me though...

Today again proved that a hard day's graft is no problem when it involves practical spannery sort of work... Whilst it was not 100% successful, my day of spannering has none the less been good...

Paul, thanks for the Welsh pronunciation lesson Most interesting!

[DickieG]

You're probably still in the "honeymoon" phase though, and your shift work would have tipped into a nice superannuation fund.

I've seen first hand what happens when people decide to retire at a specific point (eg, age or years of employment) without considering where this leaves them financially for the rest of their life. Sobering stuff, and not so uncommon as one might imagine. Banks love it; look at the growth in reverse mortgage and similar types of deferred liability loan products.

Yes I'm still in the "honeymoon phase" but I've worked out my sums to know that our outgoings are well covered by my monthly pension (indexed linked) to always put food on the table and still have some luxuries to enjoy life.

The reality of my situation is that the government are cutting Police wages by so much and are about to attack our pensions that to continue working would be financial suicide as the lump sum looks likely to be reduced by at least 60% despite increasing contributions by £70 on top of the £366 per month I'm paying now. The upshot is that should I continue to work I'll be doing 40 hours a week shiftwork for less than £100 per week in my pocket over and above retiring from the force. Its for that reason that several hundred are leaving the Met every week at present, the term sinking ship doesn't come close.

Should times become financially difficult finding a comparable job paying £100 per week for 40 hours isn't that difficult to find especially with the sometimes unpleasant nature of Police work. With the skills I have from my present role I've actually been turning down work so retirement doesn't hold any fears for me, in fact its quite the opposite feeling in one of relief to get away from the job. Hearing the comments of colleagues who aren't yet due to retire and those who already have retired totally eliminates concerns about making the correct decision

[HDI Dave]

This week, whilst I'm off I'll be giving some options some very careful thought; something has to give and this time it isn't going to be me. I'm niggled with myself really,

That's where I was Jim,good on you for thinking of yourself for a change

My daughter's also at uni, my other 3 kids also need money, the bills needed money, but at the end of the day I was proper burnt out,stressed to the max, summat had to change..

True that saying, money's not everything, life always works itself out.Even a lower paid, but happier career, if you're burnt out... you're no good to anyone!!!

Best wishes Jim, Dave

[CitroJim]

That's where I was Jim,good on you for thinking of yourself for a change

I've been doing plenty of thinking since my last post on this subject and made a few decisions already...

One big problem is/was time and to give the requisite time to family commitments which for me are at both ends of the scale; children and elderly parents. They have to come first and the latter take a lot of my time and energy. This week Robyn leaves home and rather than doing all spannering, Robyn and I are spending some quality time together before she leaves home. Robyn will be at Uni by the end of the week and I foresee plenty of trips there in the next few years along with consumption of money.. Sian also is a good, efficient consumer of money too...

These are fixed commitments and can't be changed.

My house needs work doing - badly. Ditto garden. Two jobs I hate but none the less must be done otherwise I'll find my house has become a pile of rubble...

Paid work is a difficult one but I'm hoping a sensible discussion about my workload may help.

My Activa is due an MOT. I need to prepare for that.

So, despite the best intentions, time and money to restore the XM is always going to be limited so I've reluctantly decided to part with my XM on the basis that to do the work needed on it is beyond my resources at present. Also, it became painfully apparent that I'm also short of space to do the job properly. Just taking the front end off has filled my garage, patio and garden with bits and really the job has barely begun. By the end the whole garage, garden, conservatory and house would be full of XM and that's not really on... Fact is, to do an XM restoration properly a large, covered area is needed and I don't have that luxury...

At least not having to worry about the XM is a big worry lifted and hopefully others will lift in its wake.