Backstory:

I work retail (I know...) and am in charge of a department as well as do the majority of the tech repair work. I'm a former field technician with the same company. So I know a lot of the in's and out's and get a lot of respect from my team because of it.


Today I was told that, because of the higher-ups (read: above the store level), I have one of two choices to make:
1) Stay in my current position and probably be let go in 2 months or
2) drop to a lower position, reducing my hours by 13.

Now, with regards to choice #2, I've been informed that, under no certain terms, I would be given as many hours as possible with the position (more sales == more hours and vice versa), my pay would not be cut, and my benefits would stay intact.

My boss has gone out of his way to point out that he does not want me to leave and that, while it may not seem like it, thinks choice #2 would be in my best interests.


I know a lot of you are screaming "bail out" but I've had this man fight for me in the past and I truly believe that he is not pulling the wool over my eyes on this one. He is one of the rare types of managers that actually cares about his employees and I figure I'm going to stay.

I think that this is my wake-up call to go back and finish off a degree (even if it's in something general) and by the time I finish, if my hours/position hasn't improved, to gracefully exit and seek another job.


My biggest problem is that I keep second guessing myself since all the crap with my ex, the courts, and custody battle. Am I on track with my logic here? Or am I just having another wistful thinking moment? I appreciate the feedback.

Well, one thing I did, recently, was re-watch the DVD set I have for Science Ninja Team GATCHAMAN... and decided to remake the team... So... here it is: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/2249681

TinyTribble and I are going to do the Ride for Roswell again this year... 3 mile course instead of 8 (they say they created it SPECIFICALLY with her in mind). Considering she did 6 out of 8 miles last year, I think we'll do JUST fine. (OH! BTW - if * raise $3k USD or my team raises $5k, I'm shaving my head bald.. Just so you all know.)

The old crybaby boss is now gone. We have already found out she didn't give all the passwords to the financial software, so a few phone calls to the respective institutes have gotten her locked out and the new lady in. Met the new boss lady this morning. She is very friendly and seems nice. She worked here a few years ago and everyone that remembers her from then has come in with huge smiles on their faces and given her a hug, so that's a good sign. I'm still in the process of changing over all the various and sundry accounts to her name, and I've gotten her slightly oriented on what I did know of what my boss did, so she is off to a running start. I wish her the best of luck because I have a feeling she's going to need it cleaning up after that woman's mess.

• The doctor who wanted the updated laptop didn't want the one I was going to give him, but instead wanted one of the ones with 11" screens. Apparently size did matter to him when he was travelling (down Burrkiss, down!). So now I have to cotact the other laptop guy who's at the other site to get one of the mini laptops up here, since only he has them. Oh yes, and another person suddenly found out we have them and has requested them.
• The laptop that was not purchased through us has been encrypted, but it has become incredibly bogged down with said encryption, mostly because the laptop was a refurbished deal with 256 MB of RAM, with tons of software from both $rhymeswithHell and $rhymeswithBulletMackard on it clogging up what little memory was available. Before I even put the encryption on it, I wiped off as much of that software as I could along with CD burning software, which is a huge no-no on anything we have with patient data. That freed up a bit, but the encryption did the trick. My guess is, they're not gonna like what they see, and whine and gripe to get a new one.
• On top of that, I've got doctors coming in on a near hourly basis requesting new laptops because the previous person essentially gave them all old beasts or systems on their last legs, while harding most of the newer ones. I've done what I can to update them, but it's like trying to fill an ocean with three pebbles. My boss is quite understanding of this, and told me that if'n I have an issue with a doctor who can't grasp that our laptop supply isn't limitless, he'll talk to them personally.