I realized tonight on my way home from work that since we’ve moved from downtown (25 mi from home to work) to our new building ( <5 mi from home to work), I've actually spent a heckuva lot more time working late than I used to…that sucks. I used to get home 7:00-7:30-ish, but now sometimes it’s closer to 9:00pm. It’s really getting ridiculous…
I’m so stressed out at work these days, and no one with the authority to do anything seems to care. Only a handful of us stay late to do the work, and the rest go home to their families and hobbies on the dot at the end of their shifts. I keep telling myself that I should just do the same, but I’m not that kind of person – it’s just not ethical and my job still beats sweeping warehouse floors. But still, it’s not fair for me to have to (try to) carry the weight of my deadbeat co-workers, either.
It really irritates me because three months ago, it only affected me (and on Thursday nights, the comic) when I worked late, but now I’ve got someone to come home to and its not fair to her, either, that I’m always coming home tired or in a bad mood because of work. I know it’s getting to her, too, but what am I supposed to do? I want my time with her, I want to get back to pushing my writing, and I want to eventually even bring Just Laugh back online sometime this year. 5 or 8 hours a week may not seem like much extra when I submit my weekly timesheet, but when it’s time that I could be spending on these other things, it’s important to me, damn it.
I have an interview on Monday for a lead position within my department, which really could go either way at this point. The extra money would obviously be nice, and a promotion after three years would certainly be earned, but if there’s not a plan in place to shift my workload if I get the new job, I’ve got to say that it really wouldn’t be worth it to me. And that’s sad, because I really do think that I’ve seriously earned it at this point, but an extra five grand a year (or less) for an extra 10 hours of work each week just does not sound like fun.
Nope – no fun at all.