Six years ago this past January, I retired from ALCOA after 34 and 1/2 years. I did work for 3 months in the summer of 2006 during a potential strike after the Plant Manager quit, but that was it. I have been perfectly content being ‘unemployed’!
In December, I was contacted by the acting Plant Manager about coming back to work for a short while. He wanted me to fill the Production Manager position while a new Plant Manager and a new Production Manager were hired and got into the jobs. That was a job that I did not want, because it is a tough 24hr/day-7day/wk position. However, after thinking about it for a few days, the challenge got to me, and I caved…… and took it!!
I told them that I could probably do it for 3—5 months. I knew this when we left for Quartzsite, but some of the negotiations continued by cell phone and email while we traveled. On our way back from Quartzsite, I saw this billboard on the side of the freeway going into Tucson……..
I thought it was a little eery!!!
I went in for my one day of required safety on the Friday of the big freeze, and then began full time last Monday. I got up at 5:30am, and left for work at 6:00am. I got home about 7:00pm. It was a long tough day, after not really working for six years. I have worked during retirement, and worked hard, but at my pace!!! I really hate my day being so structured.
The second day was not much better, but by the third day, I seemed to be getting into the groove. By Thursday, I remembered why working people love Fridays!! It’s been a nice weekend, but very short. I even went out to storage to get some things out of the Bus…….and gave it a big hug!!!
The plant has a lot of new people and old problems! It is going to be a lot of work getting things running well again. It will require some really long, hard days, but I expect a lot of satisfaction at the end!!
Except for one or two weekend trips, I don’t expect any long RV trips until December or January of next year.
Stay safe on the road………….. and if you find a job, run for your life!!!
