The Boomer Chronicles

There’s so much talk about how baby boomers ought to have another career/job waiting in the wings. Well, I started one about a year ago. I do decluttering — helping people get rid of stuff and organize themselves. I have had several paying clients over the year (including one I work with every week), and it’s growing. I work with people who are simply messy or who have a problem bordering on hoarding (I have decided not to work with hard-core hoarders because they don’t usually have a capacity to change). As a side note, I bought a GPS recently on Craig’s List. Someone who received it as a Christmas gift didn’t want it, so I got a good price on it. It’s a TomTom 720 and I love it. It got me to a new client’s house a couple of nights ago. I like doing decluttering because it’s extremely physical — the opposite of my daytime desk job. I also like it because I’m helping people change their lives. Do you moonlight or have a second job/career? Tell all.

In my further efforts to undermine capitalism, if you use this handy Work Friendly device, it will make every page appear on your computer as if it’s a Word file. In other words, you can surf the web and take care of other business without raising suspicions.

was perfected today over at Cleaning Las Vegas, a blog written by the manager of a dry-cleaning establishment in Las Vegas.

Read this brief yet brilliant essay.

Did you know that lots and lots of people hate their jobs? According to a study:

Americans hate their jobs more than ever before in the past 20 years, with fewer than half saying they are satisfied. Workers age 45 to 54 have the second lowest level of satisfaction (less than 45 percent).

Since misery loves company, here are some resources for people who hate their jobs:

Disgruntled Workplace
Boss Bitching
101 Worse Jobs Than Yours
The Sick Day Handbook
Work Rant

A guy named Bob Sutton has started a cottage industry on hating your job. He’s written a book called The No A-Hole Rule: Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One That Isn’t.

Hey, maybe YOU are the source of everyone else’s workplace misery. Are you a bad boss? Take the “Are You a Workplace A-Hole Test?” to find out.

Here’s another indispensable term from the Urban Dictionary:

Hostage Lunch

Definition: Meal purchased by the company, often pizza, and delivered for employees whose bosses require them to attend a meeting or work over their lunch hour.

“I was planning on running some errands over my lunch hour, but the VP is keeping us in a meeting. At least he ordered us hostage lunch.”

Lots of 40+ people want a big midlife change. I call it a midlife crisis.

There’s a new book that takes a much more positive spin on this subject. Thinking About Tomorrow: Reinventing Yourself at Midlife includes dozens of profiles of midlife people who have ‘remade their lives in fascinating ways’ in the areas of travel, work, family and health.

This sounds like a book I want to read. See the full story at Life Two.

In an ongoing effort to offer valuable Career Services to my readers, here is a timely discussion of illness and absenteeism from work.

Studies have actually been conducted to determine just how sick you have to be in order to stay home from work. I’ve personally never had a problem making that decision.

What symptoms should keep you home?

• A fever of any kind
• Achy joints
• Persistent cough accompanied by green mucus buildup and a runny nose
• Severe sore throat
• Throwing up
• Eyes are bright red and have a discharge

What symptoms are OK to go to work with?

• Sniffling, but no fever
• Throat tickles or you have postnasal drip
• Ear aches
• Sinus infection
• Dry cough with little or no mucus

The New York Times has a big story today about a bunch of midlife people who, well before they were ready to retire, decided to take buyout packages.

Here’s an excerpt:

…The offer of a buyout forces the issues: Will I have enough money to retire? Am I happy where I am? Was I too hesitant in pursuing my dreams or too heedless? If I don’t take this offer now, will it be available again?

There must be something you’d rather be doing than working at your job today, right? So, what is it?

• Spending more time with your kids
• Finishing the novel you always meant to write
• Gardening
• Helping your aging parents
• Retreating to the woods
• Etc., etc., etc.

As for me, I’d like to purchase a compact RV and see the country — on an extremely leisurely schedule.

What would YOU like to be doing?

If you’re new to this site, welcome! Be sure to avail yourself of all the special services I offer baby boomers, including my special “Kareer Kit.”

As we all know, baby boomers will change careers several times during their working lives. To that end, please take a look at the following:

• You Could Always Become a Phrenologist
• You Could Always Become a Bad Opera Singer
• You Could Always Rent Out Plants for a Living
• Take This Job and…
• Take This Job and… (Part Deux)
• Take this Job…(Part III)
• Retiring? Think Again

And if all this career advice is not enough, try out this guy’s site. He actually knows something about changing careers.