Wowza, my head has been silently spinning for the past twenty four hours.
Discovery number 1: The hearing for the lease rejection of my facility (and four others) has been adjourned to July 14. Meaning: My job won't disappear at the end of this week. There's a lot of variables that are way, way, way up in the air. The emergence from bankruptcy has also been delayed. The auction for new ownership was due to take place on June 30th, but that has now been put off. Bids are now due July 17, auction July 21, and close of the sale on July 24. (got a spare 40 mil? Buy my company!) Additionally, the company who is rumored to purchase the membership rolls of my facility and my parent company mutually paused negotiations until June 30. Add in a dash of precedent in how the company shut down a facility with similar methods last month. I don't know what to make of it! This could play out many, many different ways. So I'll just write it out...and if you can maybe make sense of it, try to clue me in?
Scenario A) Closure of the facility is reliant upon the motion to reject the lease being granted. Lease is rejected on July 14th. Facility will close with three days notice in time for bids submission.
Scenario B) A deal is struck with the membership purchaser on or about June 30. Closure proceeds with some notice but prior to lease rejection. This fits with precedent; the location that was closed last month was done two days prior to their lease rejection actually being granted. Employees and members were given two weeks notice.
Scenario C) The adjournment has bought us time and may actually work in our favor to prove our worth and change the minds of the heads of the company. As inexplicable and ridiculously optimistic as this option sounds, there's a small amount of plausibility. Currently, my facility is one of the best performing units in the company. For the months of April and May, we were in pretty dire straits, but somehow in June we're burning it up. I have absolutely no idea how that's even possible. It's just barely enough to consider ...hope? reckless optimism? I think I'm far too much of a realist for that, but the couple of other people aware of the situation are grabbing on to that idea pretty tightly.
Discovery number 2: My best friend in NYC's roommate called me at 11:30 last night. She's moving out on August 1, and do I want the room? Of course I do... but without a job in NYC, what do I do? Then, the shocking twist came talking to my best friend: The rent is only $50 more than what I'm currently paying in Atlanta. Now, I have a pretty darn good rent in Atlanta. That rate plus fifty in NYC is absolutely UNHEARD of. In fact, it would be the cheapest rent I EVER paid in New York. And the place is wonderful. Assuming the club closes and I lose my job in mid-July, I can opt in for COBRA (yay subsidy!) and find some waiting tables gig when I first get there while searching for my real job (and actually BEING there is a big help in landing interviews). I stay covered until better days and better insurance plans, living in MY city. But nothing's set in stone. I mean, it's all but an absolute certainty in my view (the filing for lease rejection was very, very clear to me...)
It would appear this is all in the timing. Do I hedge my bets that I will be out of a job at earliest, the first week of July, at latest the third week of July? That's a pretty sure bet. Do I give my roommate notice I'm leaving at the end of July? (Very likely. If I lose the job but don't leave Atlanta, I'll probably move back in with my brothers.)
I'd be taking a pretty serious gamble here, but I think the odds are more in my favor than ever before. Which, I know, is a very strange thing for someone about to lose his job to say.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Saturday, June 20, 2009
he's dead, jim
I'm gonna call it. Time of death: 3:45pm, June 20th, 2009.
That was the time I found my fate in Atlanta. After two and a half months of unanswered questions, unending stress, torn out hair and frustration, I discovered docket number 67.
Filed on May 22nd, but kept from the public by the noticing agent, Docket 67 seeks to reject five leases under bankruptcy protection, including the facility where I am currently employed. I discovered this through the public records posted by the NY Bankruptcy Court, access to which is provided at a small premium.
So that's it. I expect the end of my employment to come inside two weeks, and this time rather than well placed sources, I can rely on black and white court filings. The hearing on the motion was held on Wednesday. Only one objection to the motion was filed by the management company for a different facility in Chicago. The previous two lease rejection motions carried despite objections, and there's no reason to think this one won't either.
It's really quite a relief. I've been grasping to this desperate hope that maybe, maybe, maybe everything will turn out OK against all odds. Now, I can relax. I can breathe. I can go, put in my hours, collect a paycheck, run out the clock and stop going that extra twenty miles. I'll call my HR department on Monday to let them know if I can find this, anyone can and perhaps it's time for our corporate heads to stop being so secretive -- HR has been really good to me, so if I can help them avoid some headaches, I will.
But first, I think some wine for tonight.
That was the time I found my fate in Atlanta. After two and a half months of unanswered questions, unending stress, torn out hair and frustration, I discovered docket number 67.
Filed on May 22nd, but kept from the public by the noticing agent, Docket 67 seeks to reject five leases under bankruptcy protection, including the facility where I am currently employed. I discovered this through the public records posted by the NY Bankruptcy Court, access to which is provided at a small premium.
So that's it. I expect the end of my employment to come inside two weeks, and this time rather than well placed sources, I can rely on black and white court filings. The hearing on the motion was held on Wednesday. Only one objection to the motion was filed by the management company for a different facility in Chicago. The previous two lease rejection motions carried despite objections, and there's no reason to think this one won't either.
It's really quite a relief. I've been grasping to this desperate hope that maybe, maybe, maybe everything will turn out OK against all odds. Now, I can relax. I can breathe. I can go, put in my hours, collect a paycheck, run out the clock and stop going that extra twenty miles. I'll call my HR department on Monday to let them know if I can find this, anyone can and perhaps it's time for our corporate heads to stop being so secretive -- HR has been really good to me, so if I can help them avoid some headaches, I will.
But first, I think some wine for tonight.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
eleven months later
Since it's all over the news again, I thought I'd weigh in...
Eleven months ago, I decided I'd treat myself to something I really wanted. After grappling for months with a clunky, ineffective and flimsy Blackberry, I woke up at 5:30am, hauled my sleepy/happy butt up to the mall, and waited in line for the covenant of the coveted (at that time): The brand new iPhone 3G.
A lot of people scoffed. Totally unnecessary, a waste of money, following the herd... I heard all of it. And I'm very, very happy to say now -- those people were wrong. In fact, I think this phone is quite possibly the best gadget I've bought in eons. See, with gadgets, I'm like most others -- I tinker around with it for a few months, and move on. I actually had outgrown my gadget phase, but the 3G came along and my impetuous inner six year old came out. COOL TOY! WANT IT! NOW NOW NOW!!!!
So, eleven months on, I'm thrilled to report that I am still thrilled with the phone. I love what it's capable of doing. And now a new model is coming out on Friday, and all I can think is... COOL TOY! WANT IT NOW NOW NOW NOW!!!
I will, of course, wait. I get a nifty software update tonight to tide me over. I don't really need a video camera or a digital compass... it's the inner guts of the new version that draw me in. A larger hard drive, faster processors, and better connection speeds -- the truly geeky things -- have me in a tizzy, but I can wait. I'm eligible for the cheapo upgrade price in December... and if I wait even longer -- I can get it even cheaper with the NEXT upgrade next summer. But I think everyone here knows me well enough to know that...no. I won't wait that long. But I do know what my extra special 30th birthday present to myself is going to be! (Originally, it was going to be a trip to Australia, but work drama has pushed that back to 35 or 40, sadly.)
I was technogeek before technogeeking was cool, yo.
--
In other news... there is no other news. I've arrived at the conclusion that I will not ever, ever get back on a workout program unless I do it somewhere I don't work. Added bonus is a local gym quite close by doing a great membership special through the end of the month. But I'm so in the dark about what's happening with my job and can't really be sure if I'm leaving town next month... I don't want to plunk down money for something I'll have to abandon in July. I wish minds would be made up. Or, if they've already been made, that we'd be informed of that decision so plans may be made. While things have calmed down a bit while I'm actually at work, I have no more confidence (in fact, maybe a bit less) that my job will be there in a month's time. All I want is a sign. Or a sugar daddy in New York. That'd be nice too.
Eleven months ago, I decided I'd treat myself to something I really wanted. After grappling for months with a clunky, ineffective and flimsy Blackberry, I woke up at 5:30am, hauled my sleepy/happy butt up to the mall, and waited in line for the covenant of the coveted (at that time): The brand new iPhone 3G.
A lot of people scoffed. Totally unnecessary, a waste of money, following the herd... I heard all of it. And I'm very, very happy to say now -- those people were wrong. In fact, I think this phone is quite possibly the best gadget I've bought in eons. See, with gadgets, I'm like most others -- I tinker around with it for a few months, and move on. I actually had outgrown my gadget phase, but the 3G came along and my impetuous inner six year old came out. COOL TOY! WANT IT! NOW NOW NOW!!!!
So, eleven months on, I'm thrilled to report that I am still thrilled with the phone. I love what it's capable of doing. And now a new model is coming out on Friday, and all I can think is... COOL TOY! WANT IT NOW NOW NOW NOW!!!
I will, of course, wait. I get a nifty software update tonight to tide me over. I don't really need a video camera or a digital compass... it's the inner guts of the new version that draw me in. A larger hard drive, faster processors, and better connection speeds -- the truly geeky things -- have me in a tizzy, but I can wait. I'm eligible for the cheapo upgrade price in December... and if I wait even longer -- I can get it even cheaper with the NEXT upgrade next summer. But I think everyone here knows me well enough to know that...no. I won't wait that long. But I do know what my extra special 30th birthday present to myself is going to be! (Originally, it was going to be a trip to Australia, but work drama has pushed that back to 35 or 40, sadly.)
I was technogeek before technogeeking was cool, yo.
--
In other news... there is no other news. I've arrived at the conclusion that I will not ever, ever get back on a workout program unless I do it somewhere I don't work. Added bonus is a local gym quite close by doing a great membership special through the end of the month. But I'm so in the dark about what's happening with my job and can't really be sure if I'm leaving town next month... I don't want to plunk down money for something I'll have to abandon in July. I wish minds would be made up. Or, if they've already been made, that we'd be informed of that decision so plans may be made. While things have calmed down a bit while I'm actually at work, I have no more confidence (in fact, maybe a bit less) that my job will be there in a month's time. All I want is a sign. Or a sugar daddy in New York. That'd be nice too.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
up to date
It's been over a month since my last update. I wish I could say that there's much to report, but there isn't. Depending on how you look at that, it can be a good thing or a bad thing.
I'm still employed. Nothing has actually changed at the job -- it's still a toxic environment with a lot of issues and problems that are nowhere near being fixed or solved. The total silence that emanates from our higher ups is unsettling and comfortable all at the same time. Unsettling, because there's no plan of action or determination as to what happens to us when we emerge from bankruptcy in two and a half weeks. It's still a pronounced possibility that my club will close in that amount of time with no notice. Emergence from bankruptcy is always when the nastiest closures tend to happen -- I could literally show up one day with chains across the doors. But also comforting, because no one is paying attention to the failures of my every-day efforts... which has nothing to do with me and everything to do with the situation I've been handed. I've watched how this company runs and I know there's a tendency for undue scapegoating. Knowing it hasn't reached that point yet is, at least, a relief. No one is trying to blame me for the failing fortunes of my region.
Part of me wants to keep speaking up so that when some attention does shift back and problems actually become priorities for my corporate people, it's all documented and common knowledge that I've had a grip on the issues, tried to fix them and was met with resistance every step of the way. But the other part of me doesn't want to draw that attention to myself knowing the history of scapegoating. I did reach the conclusion some time ago that even if by some miracle my region still exists in a few months time... I don't want to be there.
So I took a few vacation days earlier this month to break away from it. I flew back up to NYC for Tony weekend, catch up on a few shows and hang with friends. It had been over eight months since I'd last been up. The last few times I visited, it felt as though I was just that -- a visitor. This time, that old familiar feeling washed over me again -- I felt like I lived there again. It was wonderful. I turned off my phone and work email and just enjoyed the time away. And interviewed for a new job while I was there. Though I doubt I'll land that specific position I interviewed for, there are other future possibilities to watch out for with this company. And those options have the kind of payday I'm looking for. All I can do at this point is be diligent and persistent... and maybe... maybe very soon... I'll be back in a comfortable environment, with comfortable employment. God, it would be nice.
My Sunday today has been very nice. Relaxed, watched TV and put the rest of the world out of my head for a while. Days like today are what days off are meant to be. If I could do this every day I'm off, I might actually be OK.
As for the week ahead? Well, since I went on vacation last week, it's only fair someone goes on vacation this week. I'm on a 6-day work-week. No fun, but I'll make it through. I shortened my own hours for each day to even it all out (it's good to be boss!). I spent Saturday catching up on most everything, so I'll be a little more able to take on tasks as they come. It'll be a day or two before I drown again, but it's a start!
Healthwise? Fought off a cold from last week (mostly gone thanks for a 15-hour sleepathon on Wednesday), but still have a lingering cough. Appointment with Dr. Z the second week of July. This may well be the one I go onto the meds. We've talked about it the last couple of times -- the pattern is not in a good trend right now. Meds will reverse that, but I'm going to be in a quandry if I lose my job. COBRA is still subsidized, thankfully -- and speaking to a former co-worker, it comes up to just a little over $100 a month. I can swing that on unemployment, if it's necessary.
Sorry, this isn't a very cohesive entry... just a catch up. I'll try to have a point in future entries. :)
I'm still employed. Nothing has actually changed at the job -- it's still a toxic environment with a lot of issues and problems that are nowhere near being fixed or solved. The total silence that emanates from our higher ups is unsettling and comfortable all at the same time. Unsettling, because there's no plan of action or determination as to what happens to us when we emerge from bankruptcy in two and a half weeks. It's still a pronounced possibility that my club will close in that amount of time with no notice. Emergence from bankruptcy is always when the nastiest closures tend to happen -- I could literally show up one day with chains across the doors. But also comforting, because no one is paying attention to the failures of my every-day efforts... which has nothing to do with me and everything to do with the situation I've been handed. I've watched how this company runs and I know there's a tendency for undue scapegoating. Knowing it hasn't reached that point yet is, at least, a relief. No one is trying to blame me for the failing fortunes of my region.
Part of me wants to keep speaking up so that when some attention does shift back and problems actually become priorities for my corporate people, it's all documented and common knowledge that I've had a grip on the issues, tried to fix them and was met with resistance every step of the way. But the other part of me doesn't want to draw that attention to myself knowing the history of scapegoating. I did reach the conclusion some time ago that even if by some miracle my region still exists in a few months time... I don't want to be there.
So I took a few vacation days earlier this month to break away from it. I flew back up to NYC for Tony weekend, catch up on a few shows and hang with friends. It had been over eight months since I'd last been up. The last few times I visited, it felt as though I was just that -- a visitor. This time, that old familiar feeling washed over me again -- I felt like I lived there again. It was wonderful. I turned off my phone and work email and just enjoyed the time away. And interviewed for a new job while I was there. Though I doubt I'll land that specific position I interviewed for, there are other future possibilities to watch out for with this company. And those options have the kind of payday I'm looking for. All I can do at this point is be diligent and persistent... and maybe... maybe very soon... I'll be back in a comfortable environment, with comfortable employment. God, it would be nice.
My Sunday today has been very nice. Relaxed, watched TV and put the rest of the world out of my head for a while. Days like today are what days off are meant to be. If I could do this every day I'm off, I might actually be OK.
As for the week ahead? Well, since I went on vacation last week, it's only fair someone goes on vacation this week. I'm on a 6-day work-week. No fun, but I'll make it through. I shortened my own hours for each day to even it all out (it's good to be boss!). I spent Saturday catching up on most everything, so I'll be a little more able to take on tasks as they come. It'll be a day or two before I drown again, but it's a start!
Healthwise? Fought off a cold from last week (mostly gone thanks for a 15-hour sleepathon on Wednesday), but still have a lingering cough. Appointment with Dr. Z the second week of July. This may well be the one I go onto the meds. We've talked about it the last couple of times -- the pattern is not in a good trend right now. Meds will reverse that, but I'm going to be in a quandry if I lose my job. COBRA is still subsidized, thankfully -- and speaking to a former co-worker, it comes up to just a little over $100 a month. I can swing that on unemployment, if it's necessary.
Sorry, this isn't a very cohesive entry... just a catch up. I'll try to have a point in future entries. :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)