Sunday night at the moanies

 So here I am, at the end of two weeks off, because the company that owns our company is in a business that has had a rough couple of years.  And for a lot of reasons, I'm really bummed right now.

Because I have to work?  No, God led me to this job, it frankly isn't hard, and it is provision for my family.  I don't regret where I work.

What I am regretting boils down to this: we used to be a mid-level player in a specific industry, with dreams of expansion, hopes of extending into related industry.  Now, however, we are a constantly-contracting wart on the butt of a much bigger concern that has fingers, toes, and arms into industries both close and far-flung from where we are.  But the thing is, our plant is a highly successful wart, and still is getting treated like our masters are considering Compound W.

Since we were sold to this company- an event trumpeted as being a great deal, that would inject $$$ into our efforts, here's what has happened:

-One plant manager had a stress-related heart attack, another jumped ship just as the sale was announced.

-We used to have a Quality exec and an assistant Plant Manager.  Both have since been deemed unnecessary.

-We've lost two plants to closure, a VP, a VP-replacement, a President, a HR department, a scheduling staff, and a maintenance man.

- I work in a department that used to run three machines constantly, including overtime; one machine is basically unreliable, another needs a belt and other vital parts that we are jury-rigging around.

- We've lost getting a quarterly bonus and haven't had a raise in at least a couple years.

Our plant is consistently in the 90%s in efficiency; The remaining other plant- who (for them) is conveniently located across the street from our biggest customer- only tops 55% when the Boss from the big company is on the floor.  And because they suck, and the other industries our owners are in are sucking, it doesn't matter what we do- no raises, no bonuses, and the little things at holiday times our company USED to do for us, the current Plant Manager does out of his budget.

Though I try not to think about it, it sucks to feel like the whole place has the sword of Damocles over it.  Been through this once before, didn't like it then, either.  And just like then, it started when a kind hearted, old school owner had to sell to a larger outfit who only see $$$.

It's kind of sitting on me tonight, along with much of the same stuff that came out in my last rant.  Today, Pastor Josh preached on Hebrews 12, a message about three 'gauges' we can use to check where we are faith wise.  One is the gauge of "being plural", connected to others of faith.  And that is a problem for me, though there are options available to me.  The second is the gauge of "being light", not carrying the garbage and the things we can't control or don't need; there I think is my bigger problem.  The third is the gauge of "Being focused on Jesus", and I think the 'weight' is dragging that gauge down right now.

I didn't know how to finish this, or if to even publish it- just let it sit and be cathartic.  I flipped over to X just now, though, and read this:

"Did you know that the most mature person in Christ has further to go than he or she has already come?

"Gee James, I'm sure glad we have eternity with Jesus to figure this all out!" "

Okay.  'Suck it up, buttercup', I guess is the motto for the night, and be glad Jesus still walks with me.  Reminds me of another tweet I saw today.  "Satan thought he took everything from Job; but he couldn't take God from him."