BennyEast.Com/Blog The official blog of Kenny West

6pm Dentist Appointment

So tonight I had a 6pm dentist appointment.  I schedule my appointments after business hours on purpose.

This is my work ethic.  See, most people don't do this. They just schedule their appointment during the working day... And then just say "Okay, I'm going to be out tomorrow for an appointment."

To me?  That's just not my work ethic.

I'm there.  I work hard.  And always show up.  I show up on time.  And don't like to take off.  Most people don't have that work ethic.  They take off a lot.  They don't care.

I guess that's just how I am.  I believe in working hard and not taking off, and always going that extra mile.

Most people believe in maxing out vacation days, sick days, leaving early when the boss isn't looking, basically using every excuse to not work.

Most people like to watch YouTube videos on company time... Basically, waste time that they should be doing work.

That's not me.  I basically refuse to do that stuff.  When I'm at work, I work.

But that's just my philosophy.

Anyway... So, I started poking around on the job listings of some of the colleges in and around Bethlehem.  It's close enough that if I did get a job, I could commute while I looked for a place up there.

I mean, I have so many options.  I own my house and there's no mortgage on it.  So, I could always just buy a second house in Bethlehem.  Or rent.  Or rent this house out, and then rent up there and have the rent here cover my rent there... And the great part is Bethlehem is cheaper than this area.

What I'd probably do is commute for a while, then just find a place to rent and like come home every other night or something.  Although I do have these cats to tend to.  And they are a handful that's for sure!

But ideally if I could find a roomie up in bethlehem who liked cats, they could help me take care of them.

I mean, what I COULD do, is just buy a second house up there... And then basically put an ad out for a roomie where I'd let them pay reduced rent in exchange for cat duties so I could focus more on work and dealing with trying to maybe sell this house down here.

Not sure yet.  My plan at this point is just to job search up there until something shows up, and then apply for it just for kicks to see what happens.  I haven't been on a job interview in 11 years... so I really would just be doing it just for practice and not really to try and get a job.

My other thing is, I would ask for a significant amount more than I'm making now.  I mean, I don't all make that much... But I'm not going to bother to ask for a raise at my current organization.  If they think I'm doing a good job, they would give me one.  But they don't.  So obviously I'm not doing a good enough job for what they would consider raise worthy.  But, I work to my own standards like I said and I think I'm doing a personal bang up job.

But, basically what I would do is just apply to places in Bethlehem.  See if someone calls back.  Go on an interview for kicks if they DID call back... and then if they said... "We actually want to hire you...  How much do you want to get paid?"

I'd be like... Since I really don't expect to even get the job... I'd just be like... How about 50 percent more than what I'm making now.  Or even double what I'm making.

So they will probably come back, "Uhhhh yeah.  How about not."

Obviously if they say back... "Deal."

I would be like... "Whoa... okay then!"

Of course then obviously I would turn back to my current employer and say... If you can't match that... I'm going to have to take it.  I mean, if someone offered me double what I was making now, I couldn't turn that down.  That's just how the real world works.  You don't turn down a job that wold pay you more than your current job.  Obviously.  That's like working 101 though, everyone knows that.

I feel like that's a fair way to do it.  You basically apply for jobs... And if someone offered you more... and then you say to your employer... Hey, my market value is this much money... Because to me, market value of anything s the value someone is willing to pay for it.

A house.

A stock.

A painting.

A salary for labor.

It's all really what someone is willing to pay.

I guess I've just never really decided to see what my market value might be.

Maybe it's time!

Mostly the reason I never did was because I just wasn't super confident in myself.

Since my boss has been out this last month though, and I've basically done all the normal things he would do, and I've pretty much smoothly sailed through them all...

I'm just kind of like... really confident now... and especially in comparison to other people that I know where they basically don't do any work outside of work, which I do that a lot, and don't mind it either...

I guess that was another thing that stopped me was when I would glance at a job every now and then, I'd always see... "This job might require weekend work, or overnight, or on call hours..."

I'm basically doing that now.  As I was even at work this Friday night until 11pm.... SO I basically worked from 9am to 11pm.

I mean, I'm already doing it... Might as well see what someone is willing to pay me to do that as a requirement.  And who knows, it might just be the same as what I'm making now.  Which is fine.  Obviously if it's the same, I would just stay where I'm at.

My biggest hold back right now though, actually, is my cats... They require meds and stuff because they are older.  So, it's tough because if a job requires travel, that's hard.  Each time I travel I basically have to pay for a cat sitter to come watch them.  And there's a turtle as well.  Although I'm about to order an auto feeder for the turtle.  Hah.  One less thing I need to do every day.

Automation is awesome in my view.

Anyway... So I've just realized that I'm a really hard worker.  I never really thought of myself as such, but basically since my boss has been out... I've noticed that I'm willing to go above and beyond and take care of business, and I've also noticed that other people aren't.  That other people leave early, take off days... Don't do any work outside of work.

So, I'm just going to start applying to jobs that do require that outside or weekend or on call work... And see what happens.  Who knows, I might end up finding a job that pays double or even triple what I'm making now.

I feel like it would be kind of awkward though to actually get offered something.  Like, that would be SOOO awkward to go back to my job and be like... "So, Um... I kind of applied for this job, and they offered me double what I'm making... SO... I'll totally stay, but you have to match my salary offer".

Now let's say they did match... How awkward is that?  Now they are like looking at you like you're ripping them off all the time or something because they were paying you half what they are paying you now.

Who knows.  I don't know.

My biggest thing is, I hate that stuff.  I just want enough money to be able to pay bills, and go see comedy improv, and buy the latest versions of recording software.

I guess I don't really need to make a TON of money... But it would just be interesting just for kicks to see how much someone would be willing to pay me.  Obviously I don't have a family to support, so my costs are pretty minimal.

Also, it wouldn't be bad to just go work somewhere new just as a change.  I mean, I don't know... Just switch things up a bit.  Obviously, again, I have no kids, or significant other to support... Just cats.  And two of the cats are 15... which means most likely they only have a year or two or three left, and then I'll just have one cat.  Sure cats can live to 20 or more, but in my experience all the cats we've ever owned only one has lived beyond 20.  The rest only made it to about 16 or so.

If I only had one cat and had a turtle on auto feed... I could definitely then travel for work a lot easier, which means I could then apply for jobs that say they need me to travel for work.

I think too one thing I'd like to start doing is just taking like random IT certification tests and such.  It would be cool to just start collecting certs.  Mostly Cisco.  I'm actually pretty good at configuring routing and network equip.  I wouldn't mind going and getting the certifications for it all to see how the testing compares to the real world use that I've done for the last 10 years.

I'm not really sure I have a big grand plan goal in mind for anything...  Some people are like... I want to do THIS with my career!

I mean, I've always dreamed of becoming a musician or writer or actor... But, I'm good at IT... Might as well stick with something I'm good at I guess.

All I know is that, I think it would be cool to mostly try and start seeing if I can get a boost in my work titles.  Since I don't really see my job willingly doing the salary increase thing, or the change of my job title to kind of reflect more of a growth in my "career".  I just think it could be fun to start at least applying to other jobs to see what sort of interest there is.  I just kind of want a change of scenery.

Just a different work entrance and office to show up to.  Different coworker to say hello to each day.  Just something different.  Just for the heck of it.

I just never thought I would even get so much as a call from applying to jobs... And who knows, I still may not.  So that's why I never even bothered to try before.

I guess you never know until you try!  Just like I never knew I could do all the task I've done over the last month that my boss used to do until I basically was the only one there to do the work.

I suppose I would feel bad if I actually did get a job offer.

Although it's just work.  I mean, that's the thing... I feel like sometimes we feel attached to our employers because we've been there a long time, or we kind of get comfortable....

But at the end of the day... I mean, a job is a job... If I left, they'd hire someone new to replace me pretty quick I would imagine.

I mean... It's not like fixing computer issues is such a rare skill.  I'm not magician.  A lot of people can do what I do out there in the world, it's not rocket science.  Who knows, maybe it is?  I guess I've always just thought pretty much anyone and their cousin could fix a PC or configure a switch, or recover an exchange server with a database that won't mount, or create a new subnet for a network...

Maybe it's just me?  The stuff I do doesn't really seem all that difficult.

So, I don't know.  I might apply for jobs and never hear anything back.  Who knows.

Mostly though I want to try and make my next move up to Bethlehem, at least for the time being, so... That's where I'll most likely focus my search and sending out applications and resumes.

Then once I have less cat duties in the eventual future, I'll consider moving across the country or something for my next gig.

Who knows... I have no real set plans at the moment.  No kids, no significant other.  Just me and wherever the wind takes me.

But one thing I do know for sure... I won't schedule my dentist appointments during working hours.  Goes against my work ethic.  Business gets done during business hours, and personal stuff gets done on your own time.  Not on the clock at your job time.  That's my own personal work ethic.