My Good Fortunes...very long!!

[Broman62]

I’d like to share my good fortunes with you that just came my way last week and I’m soooooo freakin’ happy...BUT a little RANT first and if Harry deems this inappropriate he can take care of it...So you’ve all heard about Mary Barra(CEO of GM) and her 12 A$$ MONKEY APOSTLES deciding to put 5 GM plants in the non-allocated state(meaning they are gonna eventually shut them completely down, never to be opened again...they are outdated and don’t fit into their future investments!!!). They decided not to make gas powered cars anymore and go with the electric cars for the future and rely on the HUGE trucks and SUV’s to make their BILLIONS!!

Now, I work at the Lordstown, Ohio complex as a skilled tradesman and we just finished up making the Cruze and it was a great little car and a great “entry level” car to lure first time buyers and those on lower or fixed incomes, just like every other automotive manufacturer has in their lineup...NOW they have nothing like this in their lineup and it is FREAKIN’ SCARY TO THINK WHO HAS MADE THIS DECISION AND WHY!?!? Unless these new electric cars are self charging, this is gonna be a total failure...IMHO!! The earth and the 7 continents...especially the USA’s (which I love dearly) infrastructure and electrical grid are so horrible and deplorable right now that I cannot see it supporting plug in electric cars...the VOLT was a prime failure example of this as I/we saw it first hand!!! So anyway, to me and a lot of the other GM workers affected by this just don’t understand their thought process but have to live with it BECAUSE THEY ARE FREAKING MONEY HUNGRY IDIOTS...JMHO!!!

Disclaimer: remember this is a RANT and when you RANT you may say things that aren’t always accurate or the whole picture but it sure feels good to get it off your chest!! The writer of the above will not argue with or get into any discussion of said statements...ain’t worth my time because I’m TOO HAPPY!! :D :D :D

So anyway, when this all came down in November it was a total and complete utter shock to everyone involved (union and management)...I never saw such dread and panic on management’s face when this announcement came out and to the workers at my plant(you know you’ve seen this hundreds of thousands of times on TV and think...“all that’s a shame but it will never happen to me!!”...well let me tell ya PAL or GAL that when it hits home and you, it’s crushing...the fear of the unknown and uncertainty!!! So for me at 56 years old and 23 years of GM time and have gone thru 2 divorces which was nothing like this, this caused me to go into a panic mode and start having anxiety attack’s...what am I gonna do, what about my family, my house, where am I gonna get a job next etc...!?!?! And for me on top of this, right after the announcement, my oldest best pupper friend Samson became ill real fast with the cancer and we had to put him down and that was CRUSHING!! Right before we had to put him down I got so bad I had to get on medication...ME...56 years old and I had never took anything more than a vitamin or aspirin...to help get my CHIT back to normalcy and believe me when I tell you...IT’S A MAGICAL WONDER PILL that has gotten me this far with taking all my anxieties and worries away...it has taken me now to “I DON’T GIVE A CHIT AND IT IS WHAT IT IS!!! And I’m proud that I made the decision (with help and encouragement from friends and family) to get on with it and move on!!! I got out of my funk awhile back that I was in and got back into my regular life things and back into doing what I love and that is slotcars and other passions I have(which ain’t to far out of the realm of slotcars :D :D :D )

So, after all this came down, everyone affected( union wise) had/has been giving an opportunity to put in for transfers now and down the road to other plants and/or I believe there will be some kind of buyout for all the OLD FARTS that they want to get rid of and believe me their are a ton of them(I haven’t reached the OLD FART STATUS quite yet :D :D ) but getting closer and if they don’t take the buyout they will force them and anyone else that hasn’t put in for a transfer to other plants and they will not like that!! Management was offered buyouts and transfers and the ones they decided to keep on, but the other ones were giving their walking papers and it was “see ya” and that just sucked!!

So to my GOOD FORTUNES...after this came down they started posting places you could transfer to and for me I wanted to stay in Ohio and so I only put in for a Parma and Toledo plant...Parma an hour away and Toledo 2 1/2 hours away!! All us northerners FEARS were we would get forced to plants in Texas or Missouri or Tennessee :laughing-rolling: :laughing-rolling: :o :o !! Right away they started accepting people at these other places(remember they are taking from a pool of 5 plants for either production or skilled trades) and at first people where flying out the door on transfers and then it slowed down and for me I started to think I was gonna end up out of state, far away from home, and it just wasn’t what I wanted so I drug my feet for awhile as other offers came thru and higher seniority or even lower seniority people were jumping on these offers to stay employed with GM!!!

SO THIS PAST THURSDAY WHEN I GOT HOME AND OPENED UP MY IPAD, THERE WAS A JOB OFFER WAITING FOR ME AND IT WAS FOR TOLEDO...now these MAGICAL PILLS have taken all my emotions away since I started on them but that was the first time I cried since my bestest buddy Samson left us...I was so shocked that I got the opportunity to stay in Ohio and only be 2 1/2 hours away from home and finish out my time with GM...I only have 30 months to go to reach GM’s magical 85 points system to retire and get the #$&# out of there!! So on Sunday I moved my 2nd ex-wife back into my house to watch over it during the week while I’m gone and to take care of our other pupper we still have/share and it worked out good cause her apartment lease was up at the end of this month and they were raising her rent $100!! It’s alittle weird right now and we are just helping each other out(I went thru 2 divorces but in both of them I went above and beyond my obligations to help both of them) but I am gonna have to find a place to stay up that way BUT, being only 2 1/2 hours away I will be home every weekend I can so I will still be able to take care of my home and the other things I was so worried about losing out on!!! I report Tuesday, April 23rd...HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY :banana-dance: :banana-dance: :banana-dance: :banana-dance: :banana-dance: !! Thanks for reading if you got this far!! :D :D

My slotcaring will be non existent until I get settled in but I will always be here and moving forward!!

[4424ever]

I’m happy for you too bud :banana-dance: I hope it all works out in your favour!
I’m in a very similar situation just changing jobs and at the same age no less
At least you have a package to look forward to :music-rockout:

[Xr4ti]

Wow! What a turn around!
Made for a good read with a happy ending
Slot on!

[waaytoomuchintothis]

Bro, you better watch your A$$. Never trust the GM people or the union. Stick it out no matter what they throw at you. Be the stickiest thorn they ever saw. You have earned what you are protecting, and every day you are on the job you are defending it.

Anytime you feel the need for support, you get on the PM and write it to me.

[HomeRacingWorld]

[slothead]

Best wishes for the position in Toledo! I understand the stress a midlife change like this can cause, I got laid off from a major company at 40 and had no idea what to do next. But, it worked out better than I could have dared imagine.

While in Toledo please get to Tony Packo's regularly and enjoy the Hungarian hot dogs with chili and delicious sides. The wife and I always make it a stop on road trips out west. Last year were on the road for nearly 4 weeks going coast to coast and when I got back a former student asked "what was the best thing you ate on the trip?" Tony Packo's for sure.

[Cincyslots]

:text-goodpost:

[FC47]

:text-goodpost: Yup, good post!! Hang in there with that good news and things in place, run that thing on out the door!

[dw5555]

Congrats and Good Luck. :text-bravo:
Dave

[TuscoTodd]

Glad to see there is a silver lining to go with that dark cloud!
Hope things continue to brighten as you temporarily switch locations!

Have to second slothead's note about getting to Tony Packo's! I have stopped there a number of times over the years when traveling between eastern Ohio and Michigan - great food and history there!
(my first visit there was in the 90's prompted by Klinger from MASH talking about it - LOL!)
Good luck with the new position sir!
:D

[bobbyraz49]

So happy things worked out for you.

[Broman62]

Hey guys...thanks so much for the well wishes and words of encouragement...truly appreciate it!!! And I did put Tony Packo’s into the navigational to make sure I stop by there and chow down!!! :banana-dance: :banana-dance: :banana-dance:

[slothead]

There are several Packo's locations in the Toledo area - I've been to 3 of them, all equally good.

Once you get settled in there try bringing some slot car tools with you. I attended a race in PA once that got postponed to the next day due to rain, so I stayed over in a motel. When I started to get bored watching TV I remembered my slot car box was in the trunk and ended up building my best chassis ever that night at the desk in the room. I don't remember who won the full size race the next day, but I still have the trophy that car won me as high point man in the slot car club I belonged to.

Idle time is a great time to be creative. When life gives you lemons make some killer low C-of-G lemonade that corners like it's on rails!

[Broman62]

UPDATE:

HAPPY EASTER TO YOU ALL!!!

Just a quick and last update:
Well...I was not laid off at any time and actually worked up till this past Thursday which was my last day at the Lordstown plant because we have 4 days off for the Holiday!!

Got my apartment all set up and am very happy with my place and location...3 miles off turnpike for quick travels back and forth home and about 15-20 minutes to the Toledo plant!! Will report to work on Tuesday and start a new chapter in my life...doing very well and very happy now!!

Been working on alot of slot car stuff to keep me busy and hope to get stuff posted at a later date plus getting everything ready outside for spring and summer!! Once I really get settled in I hope to take some of my slotcar stuff up to my apartment just to keep going on it...pretty much just planning to continue scratch building up there then bring home to test and run!!

Having Easter dinner today with some family and then heading back tomorrow afternoon!! All in all everything has gone well and am looking forward to my new adventure!! Again I’d like to thank everyone for the support and words of encouragement...love HRW and its members!!!

[slothead]

Happy Easter and best of luck with the transition. You have a positive outlook which is most important. I hope you keep providing updates as you choose - after all we are all a big family here.

Looking forward to your first Toledo Special slot car.