Epic FU money stories

[SmartyCat]

BAM!

https://gizmodo.com/facebook-meta-vr-john-carmack-metaverse-oculus-1849909943

John, I'm guessing you are probably way to busy/efficient to be hanging out with the likes of us, but if you do happen to be lurking here thank you for such a great Epic FU story.  Anybody who walks out on Zuckerberg is a winner in my book....

Nice!

[alcon835]

BAM!

https://gizmodo.com/facebook-meta-vr-john-carmack-metaverse-oculus-1849909943

John, I'm guessing you are probably way to busy/efficient to be hanging out with the likes of us, but if you do happen to be lurking here thank you for such a great Epic FU story.  Anybody who walks out on Zuckerberg is a winner in my book....

Here is the full post on Facebook for anyone interested. It certainly isn't as "scorched earth" as the articles make it out to be, but it is 100% FU Money!

[okonumiyaki]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-64083802

Many UK over 50's have said FU, so much so that the govt is trying to get them back to work...

[FrugalToque]

[MOD NOTE:  I'm locking this thread for a few hours while everyone can read this post and see why:This is not a COVID thread.Please stop posting arguments about COVID immunity/masks/etc here unless it's applicable to FU money (somehow)
I'll unlock the thread in a little while, just so we don't have any stragglers all queued up with some harsh COVID EXPERTISE]

[FrugalToque]

The thread is unlocked.

Please stay on topic.

Thanks,
Toque.

[Sibley]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-64083802

Many UK over 50's have said FU, so much so that the govt is trying to get them back to work...

The single person I know in the UK was forced into early retirement (pre-covid) because he couldn't find work that was full time, paid appropriately, and not a general hellhole to be in. This seems like expected consequences.

[Zamboni]

It will be interesting to see what kind of "solutions" the UK government comes up with to get those more experienced workers "out of" their early retirement and back into jobs. They could cut retirement benefits, of course, but then they might find themselves voted out of a job. Because old people vote.

I don't want to derail the thread, but allowing a bit more legal immigration of people who want to work is one pathway for curing a shortage of workers. Plenty of people seem to want to immigrate to Europe, and most of those people don't have FU money. Currently Australia goes this route with their system for earning citizenship aimed at immigration of younger people (of any skill level) and skilled workers in critical sectors. Aussies please feel welcome to chime in.

[NattyAnn]

The following Monday, two weeks before my outage schedule was supposed to start, I gave my supervisor two weeks’ notice. My exact words were "I found a way to make it work". His face just dropped and I could tell he was pissed but he didn't really say much.  He had my job posted internally the next day, trying to get someone to fill the position before the outage.
...
Now, my work life balance is so much better, I'm closer to family, and I'm getting better compensation.  I just got an email a couple weeks back that they posted my old position externally and the salary range on indeed/glassdoor was about $30K less than I was making.  Yea, good luck with that.
...
In the end my FU money bought me the confidence to look for a new job even if the pay was lower and it bought me a glorious month off of work to focus on time with my babies/moving and I couldn't be happier.

Afuera, this might be the best FU money story I've ever read!! I'm so happy for you and your family. From one pumping working mom to another, congratulations!!

[zolotiyeruki]

It will be interesting to see what kind of "solutions" the UK government comes up with to get those more experienced workers "out of" their early retirement and back into jobs. They could cut retirement benefits, of course, but then they might find themselves voted out of a job. Because old people vote.

I don't want to derail the thread, but allowing a bit more legal immigration of people who want to work is one pathway for curing a shortage of workers. Plenty of people seem to want to immigrate to Europe, and most of those people don't have FU money. Currently Australia goes this route with their system for earning citizenship aimed at immigration of younger people (of any skill level) and skilled workers in critical sectors. Aussies please feel welcome to chime in.

I think that first, you have to define the "problem" you're trying to solve.  "Fewer people are working" is not, in itself, a problem.  "Able-bodied people living on government benefits instead of working" can be a problem.  "Prices rising faster than wages" can definitely be a problem. "Retirees who can no longer work can't afford the cost of living increases" is a problem.  But "early retirees have to cut back on spending because prices are rising" isn't.

[Alternatepriorities]

It will be interesting to see what kind of "solutions" the UK government comes up with to get those more experienced workers "out of" their early retirement and back into jobs. They could cut retirement benefits, of course, but then they might find themselves voted out of a job. Because old people vote.

I don't want to derail the thread, but allowing a bit more legal immigration of people who want to work is one pathway for curing a shortage of workers. Plenty of people seem to want to immigrate to Europe, and most of those people don't have FU money. Currently Australia goes this route with their system for earning citizenship aimed at immigration of younger people (of any skill level) and skilled workers in critical sectors. Aussies please feel welcome to chime in.

Best as I can tell so far the answer is inflate the prices of consumer goods and deflate asset prices until people feel the need to go back to work. Which is where an FU mindset will come in handier than the money itself. Mustacians willing to cut back on their spending may be able to stay retired in cases where a people who just suddenly felt really rich after the last couple of years won't. It remains to be seen how that shakes out in my own life.

My recent less than epic tale but still import reason to have FU money: I lost my father two months ago and I'm so thankful I could make the time needed to deal with it without fear overdue bills. As difficult as it has been, it would been much worse without FU money or at least an emergency fund.

[BicycleB]

It will be interesting to see what kind of "solutions" the UK government comes up with to get those more experienced workers "out of" their early retirement and back into jobs. They could cut retirement benefits, of course, but then they might find themselves voted out of a job. Because old people vote.

I don't want to derail the thread, but allowing a bit more legal immigration of people who want to work is one pathway for curing a shortage of workers. Plenty of people seem to want to immigrate to Europe, and most of those people don't have FU money. Currently Australia goes this route with their system for earning citizenship aimed at immigration of younger people (of any skill level) and skilled workers in critical sectors. Aussies please feel welcome to chime in.

Best as I can tell so far the answer is inflate the prices of consumer goods and deflate asset prices until people feel the need to go back to work. Which is where an FU mindset will come in handier than the money itself. Mustacians willing to cut back on their spending may be able to stay retired in cases where a people who just suddenly felt really rich after the last couple of years won't. It remains to be seen how that shakes out in my own life.

My recent less than epic tale but still import reason to have FU money: I lost my father two months ago and I'm so thankful I could make the time needed to deal with it without fear overdue bills. As difficult as it has been, it would been much worse without FU money or at least an emergency fund.

My condolences about your father's passing, @Alternatepriorities. Making time to deal with that sounds epic enough for me.

[Alternatepriorities]

It will be interesting to see what kind of "solutions" the UK government comes up with to get those more experienced workers "out of" their early retirement and back into jobs. They could cut retirement benefits, of course, but then they might find themselves voted out of a job. Because old people vote.

I don't want to derail the thread, but allowing a bit more legal immigration of people who want to work is one pathway for curing a shortage of workers. Plenty of people seem to want to immigrate to Europe, and most of those people don't have FU money. Currently Australia goes this route with their system for earning citizenship aimed at immigration of younger people (of any skill level) and skilled workers in critical sectors. Aussies please feel welcome to chime in.

Best as I can tell so far the answer is inflate the prices of consumer goods and deflate asset prices until people feel the need to go back to work. Which is where an FU mindset will come in handier than the money itself. Mustacians willing to cut back on their spending may be able to stay retired in cases where a people who just suddenly felt really rich after the last couple of years won't. It remains to be seen how that shakes out in my own life.

My recent less than epic tale but still import reason to have FU money: I lost my father two months ago and I'm so thankful I could make the time needed to deal with it without fear overdue bills. As difficult as it has been, it would been much worse without FU money or at least an emergency fund.

My condolences about your father's passing, @Alternatepriorities. Making time to deal with that sounds epic enough for me.

Thank you!

One slight irony is that I had just started a project that isn't really about the money and it's for my SIL, so falling behind on it makes her and my brother's life harder... So, I can't just quit and FU money wouldn't be helpful except that I've been able to share some of the work with another friend since I don't need the income.

[FireLane]

To get this thread back on topic, here's a fitting story from Reddit:

https://www.reddit.com/r/BestofRedditorUpdates/comments/zyer7a/i_just_ragequit_my_job_of_5_years/

In 2021, the original poster worked at a toxic job. When COVID struck, the CEO refused to let anyone work from home. She only got to do it when she threatened to quit, and it was a huge quality-of-life improvement for her. Her stress dropped, her health improved and her productivity skyrocketed.

Then she was recruited for a full-time remote job at another company that came with a massive salary raise. She asked her current employer to match the offer, and this incredible conversation ensued:

Her: The CEO is willing to raise your salary, but first he wants to negotiate you coming back into the office.

Me: What? Doesn't he realize this other position is fully remote?

Her: Yes, but he says the company has been generous with working with you on being remote and now you will need a doctor's note to remain such.

Me: Generous!? There was a global pandemic! It wasn't some sort of favor to me, it was what the company HAD to do because of COVID-19. I'm glad they finally did it, but I had to beg because I was so scared I was going to kill my partner.

Her: Yes, but some people remained in the office this whole time--

Me: That's not my problem. They were not taking it seriously and there were no rules implemented by the company regarding masks, social distancing, etc. Them staying in the office made me realize I had to remain staying home because I knew they weren't being safe.

Her: That's why he says it's generous he has let you stay home for this long.

Me: I've also proven that I am more effective in a remote position. It has been a net positive for the company as a whole.

Her: I understand....

Me: I don't care if you give me a salary increase, this is about respect. I was on the fence about this new position but now I see that I have to take it. Consider this my official notice: I quit.

She took the new job, and her old employer is utterly unable to replace her. They've been pathetically begging her to come back, and she's laughed in their faces every time. Justice!

[LennStar]

She took the new job, and her old employer is utterly unable to replace her. They've been pathetically begging her to come back, and she's laughed in their faces every time. Justice!

I hope she used the "I was reborn as the villain in an otome game" evil laugh. (If you don't know, it's like this 1:24 https://youtu.be/A2XvF5vzkM4?t=83 )
 

[RWD]

She took the new job, and her old employer is utterly unable to replace her. They've been pathetically begging her to come back, and she's laughed in their faces every time. Justice!

I hope she used the "I was reborn as the villain in an otome game" evil laugh. (If you don't know, it's like this 1:24 https://youtu.be/A2XvF5vzkM4?t=83 )

Hamefura, nice. It's amazing that "reborn as the villainess" has become its own subgenre.

[LennStar]

She took the new job, and her old employer is utterly unable to replace her. They've been pathetically begging her to come back, and she's laughed in their faces every time. Justice!

I hope she used the "I was reborn as the villain in an otome game" evil laugh. (If you don't know, it's like this 1:24 https://youtu.be/A2XvF5vzkM4?t=83 )

Hamefura, nice. It's amazing that "reborn as the villainess" has become its own subgenre.

I wish there would be a story where the reborn is just a minor side character and has to somehow solve all the trouble and make everyone happy without getting killed themselves as "another girl found dead".

You need more than just FU money for this!!

[eyesonthehorizon]

Good for her.

I almost feel sorry for the HR/ employer rep. A lot of times they're really just a meat shield parroting bullet points from management without much power or discretion to agree even if they know it's all crap, which can really erode your wellbeing. I hope they can get some FU money together too, because they're certainly not going to be treated better than the happy escapee was before her departure.

[Zamboni]

^My sympathy level for HR reps depend entirely on the individual. Yes, quite a few HR people are caught in that terrible bind. On the other hand, unfortunately several others appear to just have no soul.

She took the new job, and her old employer is utterly unable to replace her. They've been pathetically begging her to come back, and she's laughed in their faces every time. Justice!

Good for her! Loved the follow up villainess laugh.

Yeah, that's the problem with the "everyone is expendable" attitude that I see in some management.

Sometimes someone leaves and their replacement is just as competent or perhaps even better.

But other times someone leaves and all the balls just fall on the floor, management is clueless because they didn't even know how important that person was to their critical operation, and it is becomes a shit show for everyone who is left behind for months if not years.

I've definitely seen that second case happen many times.

[PathtoFIRE]

BAM!

https://gizmodo.com/facebook-meta-vr-john-carmack-metaverse-oculus-1849909943

John, I'm guessing you are probably way to busy/efficient to be hanging out with the likes of us, but if you do happen to be lurking here thank you for such a great Epic FU story.  Anybody who walks out on Zuckerberg is a winner in my book....

He lives in my old neighborhood, I would frequently see him walking his kid to school. Didn't know him personally, but it doesn't surprise me that he's got his priorities straight.

[mm1970]

She took the new job, and her old employer is utterly unable to replace her. They've been pathetically begging her to come back, and she's laughed in their faces every time. Justice!

I hope she used the "I was reborn as the villain in an otome game" evil laugh. (If you don't know, it's like this 1:24 https://youtu.be/A2XvF5vzkM4?t=83 )

OMG the followup has been CRAZY

[Alternatepriorities]

Well I might have a new contribution in a few days...

I just sent the following proposed response to DW after she shared the contract her district offered this year. She likes her work a lot so she might not pass it on but she isn't going to accept the contract as is either...


Dr. JJ,

I've reviewed the admin contract offered to (DH) on Jan 30th 2023. It appears SD is offering her a pay CUT of approximately 6 percent after adjusting for national inflation in 2022 or 16 percent accounting for local inflation. I understand similar offers have been given to other SD administrative staff. This suggests two possibilities, either SD thinks so poorly of their administrators as to assume they won't do basic arithmetic or the district's finances are in truly dire conditions despite record enrollment the last couple of years. Reducing the contract review time from the traditional month to a single week suggests it's the former, but I'll generously assume it is the second and propose a possible solution. DW will resign and the district will have those funds to provide additional raises for the remaining administrators.

Alternate Priorities
- (DW)'s financial advisor, husband, and future partner in geographic arbitrage.

ETA: It's not really about the money at this point as we're able to FIRE at a median income level. It's mostly about the way they've jerked the staff around on this the past two years. The reduction in contract review time this year from one month to "five days or resign" is especially galling and just feels wrong to me.

[EliteZags]

I had in my mind the wrong definition of "FU money" cause what came to my mind was my buddy that's CEO in debt consolidation moving his 70ft yacht from Newport Beach where he owns a $19M Newport Coast mansion to his $25M waterfront Venetian Islands Miami mansion, only to pay several thousand a month to dock it away from his house and pay for a captain to bring it to his house slip whenever he wants to use it instead of just docking it there regularly- just so there's less obstruction to his water view 

[Alternatepriorities]

I had in my mind the wrong definition of "FU money" cause what came to my mind was my buddy that's CEO in debt consolidation moving his 70ft yacht from Newport Beach where he owns a $19M Newport Coast mansion to his $25M waterfront Venetian Islands Miami mansion, only to pay several thousand a month to dock it away from his house and pay for a captain to bring it to his house slip whenever he wants to use it instead of just docking it there regularly- just so there's less obstruction to his water view

That's an entirely different world than mine...

Maybe we need a thread for "F them" money stories... Something to mock that amount of shear waste just for the flexing of status.

[BicycleB]

I had in my mind the wrong definition of "FU money" cause what came to my mind was my buddy that's CEO in debt consolidation moving his 70ft yacht from Newport Beach where he owns a $19M Newport Coast mansion to his $25M waterfront Venetian Islands Miami mansion, only to pay several thousand a month to dock it away from his house and pay for a captain to bring it to his house slip whenever he wants to use it instead of just docking it there regularly- just so there's less obstruction to his water view

That's an entirely different world than mine...

Maybe we need a thread for "F them" money stories... Something to mock that amount of shear waste just for the flexing of status.

lol, that level of wealth does introduce a possible different meaning of FU money!

***

In my innocent mind, maybe they really do want to see the view. But hey, they know @EliteZags. Maybe soon they'll begin their own move towards Mustachianism by, uh, just selling the boat. :)

Good luck in any secret campaign of Mustache influence you may take, Zags!

[TomTX]

I had in my mind the wrong definition of "FU money" cause what came to my mind was my buddy that's CEO in debt consolidation moving his 70ft yacht from Newport Beach where he owns a $19M Newport Coast mansion to his $25M waterfront Venetian Islands Miami mansion, only to pay several thousand a month to dock it away from his house and pay for a captain to bring it to his house slip whenever he wants to use it instead of just docking it there regularly- just so there's less obstruction to his water view

That's a pretty insane level of hedonic adaptation.

[EliteZags]

Oh and here's a pic of casually giving his buddy Steve Aoki a cross country ride to a Miami show in his G4

[Turtle]

Well I might have a new contribution in a few days...

I just sent the following proposed response to DW after she shared the contract her district offered this year. She likes her work a lot so she might not pass it on but she isn't going to accept the contract as is either...


Dr. JJ,

I've reviewed the admin contract offered to (DH) on Jan 30th 2023. It appears SD is offering her a pay CUT of approximately 6 percent after adjusting for national inflation in 2022 or 16 percent accounting for local inflation. I understand similar offers have been given to other SD administrative staff. This suggests two possibilities, either SD thinks so poorly of their administrators as to assume they won't do basic arithmetic or the district's finances are in truly dire conditions despite record enrollment the last couple of years. Reducing the contract review time from the traditional month to a single week suggests it's the former, but I'll generously assume it is the second and propose a possible solution. DW will resign and the district will have those funds to provide additional raises for the remaining administrators.

Alternate Priorities
- (DW)'s financial advisor, husband, and future partner in geographic arbitrage.

ETA: It's not really about the money at this point as we're able to FIRE at a median income level. It's mostly about the way they've jerked the staff around on this the past two years. The reduction in contract review time this year from one month to "five days or resign" is especially galling and just feels wrong to me.

Please keep us posted.  I'm glad she's in a position to push back about it, regardless of which form that push back takes.

[StPatrick]

My FU Money story in Tech
There is often such a culture in corporate settings where you cannot create any form of conflict. Even if the conflict is a byproduct of good innovation. Corporate culture exists to create small improvements (like a 3% raise! lol.) but never meaningful improvement. So when someone oversteps that unwritten rule, the powers that be absolutely punish outliers.


Me: The product feature automatically collects meaningful data for the client, so that there isn't any manual data input. It's the needed innovation the company is asking for.
New Product Owner 1: We need to remove this feature because it's an extra step.
Me: If you remove this feature, you do not have a marketable product.
Product Owner 2: Let's remove it because it'll take longer to build.
Me: There is nothing else to build. This is the main architecture of the product.
Product Owners: ...
Me: You're going to need to find a new architect to build this for you, because you don't know what you are doing. (of course I said that in a firm tone! Which is a big corporate no-no)

My boss called me, and said "We are going to have to write you up."
Me: I don't think you should do that. Here's why. ↑
At this point HR got involved and without asking me my side of the story, I was given an Indefinite Warning as I was "Not able to fulfill my duties."

If I didn't sign it within 48 hours, I would be terminated. So I signed it, and the next day, Friday, I turned in my two weeks without anything lined up.
My boss called me and asked repeatedly over the two weeks for me to stay, trying to find some way to make this situation work. "The product won't be able to work without your understanding of the data."

I guess tell HR that.

I love FIRE. It exists because it creates power for those who know their value. If you're good at your job, and at FIRE, you just believe you are really free. And you really are.

[Frugal Lizard]

@StPatrick - brilliant. Way to go.

[charis]

@StPatrick - brilliant. Way to go.

Agreed.  So they threatened you with termination as a bullying tactic without any desire or intention to terminate you?  Talk about shooting themselves in the foot.   I probably would have recommended taking the termination and collecting unemployment pay.

Are you fully FI or just flush with FU $?

[Must_ache]

My boss called me and asked repeatedly over the two weeks for me to stay, trying to find some way to make this situation work. "The product won't be able to work without your understanding of the data."

I think you missed a big change to negotiate a raise first.  That would have been the ultimate revenge - one day the company tries to fire you, a week later they give you more money.  It probably wouldn't have worked but holding FU money I would have stayed there to enjoy it had it actually been able to play out (doubtful) 

[Alternatepriorities]

Well I might have a new contribution in a few days...

I just sent the following proposed response to DW after she shared the contract her district offered this year. She likes her work a lot so she might not pass it on but she isn't going to accept the contract as is either...


Dr. JJ,

I've reviewed the admin contract offered to (DH) on Jan 30th 2023. It appears SD is offering her a pay CUT of approximately 6 percent after adjusting for national inflation in 2022 or 16 percent accounting for local inflation. I understand similar offers have been given to other SD administrative staff. This suggests two possibilities, either SD thinks so poorly of their administrators as to assume they won't do basic arithmetic or the district's finances are in truly dire conditions despite record enrollment the last couple of years. Reducing the contract review time from the traditional month to a single week suggests it's the former, but I'll generously assume it is the second and propose a possible solution. DW will resign and the district will have those funds to provide additional raises for the remaining administrators.

Alternate Priorities
- (DW)'s financial advisor, husband, and future partner in geographic arbitrage.

ETA: It's not really about the money at this point as we're able to FIRE at a median income level. It's mostly about the way they've jerked the staff around on this the past two years. The reduction in contract review time this year from one month to "five days or resign" is especially galling and just feels wrong to me.

Please keep us posted.  I'm glad she's in a position to push back about it, regardless of which form that push back takes.

Hoping to know the outcome of her pushing back by the end of the week. We sat down last night and ran all the numbers together and it's not only an inflation adjusted pay cut, it also works out to about $4/hr less than she would make if she had stayed a teacher instead of taking on the additional responsibilities and stress of being an administrator. The contract is for more hours so the total pay is more, but the actual hourly rate is significantly less! That was another on of the things they promised to fix during contract negotiations last year, but since the teachers got a raise that matched inflation and admin didn't it actually got worse.

DW would be just as happy with more time, so if they won't be serious about pay, she's going to propose cutting the number of contract days to make up for it. We also decided that whole she won't use my letter, she will to resign if necessary to get them to treat the rest of the admin staff better.

[StPatrick]

@StPatrick - brilliant. Way to go.

Agreed.  So they threatened you with termination as a bullying tactic without any desire or intention to terminate you?  Talk about shooting themselves in the foot.   I probably would have recommended taking the termination and collecting unemployment pay.

Are you fully FI or just flush with FU $?

Good question. I guess I'm in this odd spot in my early 40s where my net worth is fully FI, but I want to FIRE with my real estate cashflow. Those amounts are only 50% to FIRE.  I don't want to depend on the brokerage or my rental equity for retiring early, I'd rather pass that on to my kids and their kids. It's slightly puzzling with young kids how to forecast some college expenses for them. So I'm putting up with the tech industry for at least 3 more years. lol.

[gooki]

she will to resign if necessary to get them to treat the rest of the admin staff better.

Big props to your wife. What a great attitude.

[gooki]

If I didn't sign it within 48 hours, I would be terminated. So I signed it, and the next day, Friday, I turned in my two weeks without anything lined up.
My boss called me and asked repeatedly over the two weeks for me to stay, trying to find some way to make this situation work. "The product won't be able to work without your understanding of the data."

I guess tell HR that.

Fucking badass dude. I can't believe so many people in your company were so stupid.

[LightTripper]

Great story @StPatrick and looking forward to hearing the outcome from your DW @Alternatepriorities - sounds like they just don't know what they are doing and are trying to save money at the expense of staff - but great that your DW is willing and able to stand up against it! 

[Zamboni]

Dr. JJ,

I've reviewed the admin contract offered to (DH) on Jan 30th 2023. It appears SD is offering her a pay CUT of approximately 6 percent after adjusting for national inflation in 2022 or 16 percent accounting for local inflation. I understand similar offers have been given to other SD administrative staff. This suggests two possibilities, either SD thinks so poorly of their administrators as to assume they won't do basic arithmetic or the district's finances are in truly dire conditions despite record enrollment the last couple of years. Reducing the contract review time from the traditional month to a single week suggests it's the former, but I'll generously assume it is the second and propose a possible solution. DW will resign and the district will have those funds to provide additional raises for the remaining administrators.

Alternate Priorities
- (DW)'s financial advisor, husband, and future partner in geographic arbitrage.

ETA: It's not really about the money at this point as we're able to FIRE at a median income level. It's mostly about the way they've jerked the staff around on this the past two years. The reduction in contract review time this year from one month to "five days or resign" is especially galling and just feels wrong to me.

I like the way you phrased things, and I may be back to filch your wording when I eventually quit. It will be at the "last minute", of course, because they never send me "the raise" letter or the new contract until the last minute.

[alcon835]

when I eventually quit. It will be at the "last minute", of course, because they never send me "the raise" letter or the new contract until the last minute.

This is something I always have to push back on. They drag their feet for months at times, and then want a turn around in a day or two. I always push back and I always win.

"Sorry, you had how many months and how many people to put this together? I'm going to need more than 48 hours to consider whether I want to sign this agreement or negotiate from here and you're just going to have to wait."

[Alternatepriorities]

Minor saga update:

DW did not use my letter, but did write her own, about a page long, detailing the history of promises and explaining exactly how foolish it was for the district to assume a former math teacher would not do math... I don't think it could be sanitized enough for a public post without losing some of it's splendor... It seems to have been reasonably well received. She's supposed to have a phone call with super this afternoon which I will actually be quietly present for because I'll be driving with DW at the time.

We also had a completely bonkers life twist unrelated to work on Tuesday night that would drastically alter everything we accept. It's not related to having FU money, but it would drastically change the math for DW's work schedule next year. Like she could take off 1/2 the days of her contract next year for the same salary. At which point it seems foolish to resign... So tonight we have an even bigger decision to make before we really think about the contract. The next 24 hours should be interesting.

@Zamboni - Feel free to use as much of the phrasing as you'd like.

[Zamboni]

^I'm probably not thinking of some obvious alternative, but I can think of one circumstance that would make this true. Congratulations!

[Dicey]

^I'm probably not thinking of some obvious alternative, but I can think of one circumstance that would make this true. Congratulations!

Ooh! Can't wait for the next installment.

[zolotiyeruki]

^I'm probably not thinking of some obvious alternative, but I can think of one circumstance that would make this true. Congratulations!

Ooh! Can't wait for the next installment.

Me too!  And I still would love to see the text of the email/letter they sent.

[Alternatepriorities]

Well this has been a crazy week!

The bad news is we won't be going on a year long vagabonding trip this year... The program director and super agree that DW should work less days next year to make her contract fair. The super has also asked her to help design the new admin contracts next year. He's new to the district this past year and apparently really appreciated the way DW explained the problems in her contract. Changing them this year requires going back to the board of directors which means a lot of egg on a lot of people faces. The assistant super who has been a source of much stinginess is leaving this school year which gives me some home the negotiations will actually be in good faith next year.

But the the biggest change since I posted is that we've been asked to adopt a baby! Adopting is something we were considering but not actively pursuing when a friend of a friend reached out in December. By mid January it looked like it probably wasn't going to happen but that changed this week. Last night we met with the family for the first time and while I it is far from certain to happen, we're going to move forward with the process. While adoption is more affordable when the mother chooses you before giving birth it's still going to take real money to make it happen. Doesn't seem like FU money is a appropriate term, but I am thankful to know I can "figure out the money" if everything else works out.

With a decade of accrued unused sick leave, DW could take paid leave for half the year if the adoption goes through. If it doesn't, at least she still likes the work she is doing and the reduced time contract is no longer a total farce, so it looks like were here for at least OMY. If the adoption goes through and the contract negotiations don't go anywhere maybe in a year we'll be planning to slow travel North America with a toddler...

[Laura33]

Wow @Alternatepriorities -- congratulations on all fronts!!

[BicycleB]

@Alternatepriorities, well done. So happy for you all! Best wishes for the entire new family.

[bluebelle]

I chronicled my long drawn out FU story in my journal, but TL;DR:
I tried to go off on short term disability in late 2020 due to severe pain in my neck and mid back.  STD is company funded but adjudicated by an 'impartial third party', the insurance company paid by the employer and that would be on the hook if STD turned into LTD in 6 months (hence the air quotes around impartial).....ins company rejected my leave, and appeals, basically, I was working in significant pain and should continue to do so....because I had FU money, I stayed off on unpaid leave will I continued to look for pain relief and waited for the law suit.....US based HR fired me at the 5 month mark with NO SERVERENCE, not even mandated by Canadian employment law.  Queue two lawyers, employment and disability lawyer.   Finally settled almost two years later.....What makes this epic FU?   If the company and insurance company had worked with me to try and find solutions, I would have come back to work, found it didn't work, still in pain etc, and I would have quietly retired.....instead, they're paid out a shit ton of legal fees and a few years worth of pay.   

[Dicey]

Not going to invite trouble by saying too much too soon,  but sending good thoughts your way, @Alternatepriorities .

And congratulations, @bluebelle. I hope by now your pain has lessened.

[Fru-Gal]

Good for you, @bluebelle, they count on most of us not having the patience to stick through all that. Impressive and I too hope your pain is lessened.

[bluebelle]

Good for you, @bluebelle, they count on most of us not having the patience to stick through all that. Impressive and I too hope your pain is lessened.

my pain has lessened for a few reasons, not on a keyboard for WAY too many hours a day, every day, found physio and chiro that actually worked for me, found ways to do things that lessen the pain flair ups, and I go lay on a foam roller or stretch when I need to.   Folding laundry still sucks, working at the kitchen sink or counter.....anything with my head down and my arms out in front of me.....

[shadesofgreen]

@Alternatepriorities - Sending you best wishes! What a happy, crazy, exciting and terrifying time for you and your DW.

@bluebelle - Really hoping your pain gets better with good physio and a non sucky job to deal with.