Officially Unemployed

It is now officially official, Stunner is now one of the many unemployed in Jamaica. I went in today to do what they call my exit interview which was nothing more than me signing my redundancy papers, and handing in my ID, access and health cards. I am no longer employed to the "sour" company. It was a bit of mixed feelings today as I handed in my particulars and signed those farewell documents, and somewhat surreal, that this was it, the finale.

I will miss my job, even though at times it was a pain in the neck and a source of much frustration. However, I had such good relationships with my coworkers, so that I know I will miss. even though we we will link up every now and then. But it just won't be the same, to in office jokes, no mutual cussing of how the badly senior managers are performing, no communal lamenting about our meager pay and of course no more heated debates about the topic of the day. Those are the things that make work fun.

Of course, I felt a bit of anxiety too while I signed of those papers, as I know this was the end of my stable income as I know it. Even through the pay wasn't much to talk about, at least I knew I was guaranteed a salary at the end of the month. But now, I will have to rely on the little that I have to sustain me until I can find another job and source of income, whenever that is. On the other hand, this is a new opportunity for me to capitalize on, to try something new or to do the something for better pay. Whatever it is, this opportunity presents me with a whole field of potential to make myself better.

These jobless days will be rough though, I will have to find ingenious ways of surviving off my dwindling savings while I try to find or invent a new job. I guess I'll have to settle down and do more stringent budgets and learn to conserve more until better days come in these harsh economic times, At least with this time though, I'll have a lot of time to pursue my hobby of photography and hopefully get better and good enough to start making some money from it.

One thing is true though, the only thing constant in life is change. So changes must come, whether we like it or not, we just need to embrace the change, good or bad, and learn to deal with it.

Read More

Revenge of the Fallen

I have been anticipating Transformers Revenge of the Fallen for some time now. However I had delayed going to the movies to watch it as I kept hearing horror stories of the cinema being filled to capacity, especially for this movie. My first attempt at watching this movie was last week Monday at the two for one late movie special. However, this was a total failure as we arrived at the cinema late, about 8:10pm, which is in fact late for a two for one special day and as such the movie was sold out and also parking was non-existent. So I had to make a return to Carib 5 on Friday, to watch the movie, and even this was almost a total failure as the only available seats when I arrived was the box seats. After escaping the heat of my apartment, to watch this movie, I was not prepared to return to the heat again so quickly and opted to pay the extra for the box seats.

The movie started off on a funny note with the very funny conversations and behaviour of Sam and his comedic family members. However, the comedy was soon joined by action, action and more action. If you wanted to watch a movie that had a lot of metallic, robotic action mixed with merciless bullets firing from big guns, then this was the movie! I will agree with the critiques that said the story line was a bit weak, but the action throughout the movie made up for the not so strong story. As I said before, if you, like me, went to this movie with action on your mind, then you would enjoy this action packed movie mixed with the spices of comedy.

I did have a small feeling of wanting something more at the end of the movie, a little more fighting and metal crunching between Optimus Prime and Megatron and especially when Optimus fought with The Fallen. That would have made the movie a full dose of action for me. Nevertheless, when you see a Jamaican crowd clap at the end of a movie when it has been showing for over two weeks now, you know it is good! So to me it was a good movie overall, and definitely one that can be watched at the cinema, especially if Transformers was your cartoon of choice is your youthful days. I will give it a Stunner Rating of 4 out of 5.

Read More

Too Many Tweets!!!

Earlier I went on to Twitter to see what the latest was with my twittering friends, and to let out a one tweet, but it seems everyone is tweeting! I was shocked by the page that greeted me! Did something critical happen that has prompted everyone to hit twitter and just start twittering? Or is it that people truly have nothing to do, so much so that they are sending out so many tweets that the server is in overload? One thing for sure thought, Twitter has become very popular, and seems to be even rivaling Facebook. It's not just the ordinary people like me and you who have entered the Twittersphere, it is much larger than that! Celebrities, small businesses, large multinational corporations and even the news stations have logged on to this social networking website. Now you can follow almost anyone and anything on Twitter.

Ever since a few bloggers, I won't say any names, convinced me to jump aboard unto this twitter thing, I have been lurking there. I use the word lurk, as I am logged in at times, but the majority of the times, that just it, I have been logged in, I may give out a tweet every now and then during the course of the day and engage into a conversation a few times, but that's just about it. However, it seems I am just about the only one who hasn't become a twitter addict! Or have I and I just don't know it yet?

Ok, it's up now, let me go send out a tweet that I just posed on my blog.

Read More

Wata Addiction

I think I am addicted, yes addicted to drinking Wata. Well, not the plain Wata but the Cranberry flavoured Ocean Spray Wata. From the first time I decided to try one, it seems I became hooked on these flavoured water, both the white and red cranberry flavoured water. Now I'm wondering if they put something else in that water to get people hooked, something other than cranberry juice. I have at least on bottle of these cranberry water, at least four times a week!

I must admit they do taste good and much more palate-exiting than plain water. I guess it's not all bad though, as I have replaced that box drink I have with lunch and, some of the times, the drink I have with dinner, with the cranberry Ocean Spray Wata. This has a two fold benefit apart from tasting good. One, it has much less sugar than the box drink or bottle juice that I would normally have and two, I get more fluid in my system as I am more likely to drink the cranberry flavoured water than the plain water. So I guess this Cranberry Flavoured Ocean Spray Wata isn't a bad addiction right?

Disclaimer: This is not a sales pitch for Cranberry Flavoured Ocean Spray Wata as I am not receiving monetary compensation for this post or even a free case of flavoured water for this post.

Read More

Redundancy Update

Before I give you the latest, let me first say thanks to everyone for their words of encouragement and advice, I greatly appreciate it. As I mentioned in my previous post, I was hearing rumors that the redundancy date was being pushed back to July 31, and so, as I am at work this morning, the rumours were true. I found out on Thursday of this week that it was in fact true that we, the unwanted, will be staying until the end of the month. But for me word of mouth had no value and I wanted something in writing. With that in mind, I impressed on my manager the necessity of me receiving something in writing confirming such. And after sternly putting across my concern I got a call from my former HOD and the VP that the redundancy was pushed back until month end and that they will be sending an email to confirm such. The email later followed, so at least now I can start making some initial plans on the way forward, first of which is a well deserved vacation and time to do some reorganizing.

Even though senior idiots... I mean senior management, have made their decision to cut staff the unions have been having meetings with them to at least reduce the numbers being sent home. It seems the company has been cutting staff, despite having contractors doing the same function, which by the union agreement with the company is illegal. Yesterday talks broke down and the non-management staff has been on strike since yesterday. Some interesting things going on, I bet senior management didn't count all this when they devised their devious plot. Well, we'll see how this sour saga unfolds.

One of my theme-songs for this time in my life, check it out. This is one of the few good uplifting songs these days.

Read More

Winds of Change Blowing Me Away

A few posts ago I wrote about redundancies in my company, more specific in my department. I recall mentioning that all the technicians that reported to me were being made redundant and that I was not sure what my role would be in this new restructured company. Well, now I know...

It seems the redundancy exercise has hit closer this time, and can't get any closer than this! I found out that I too was being made redundant along with the other supervisors. I am not shocked, in a sense i was somewhat expecting it. you see, after working in a company that has been doing redundancy exercises every year, sometimes twice per year, since two years after I started, I get to accept that it is just a part of the organization culture. As "sour" as it may seem to be. I know it is said that positions are made redundant and not people, but I beg to differ, as the functions of the technicians and shift supervisors are not being relinquished, but being shoved over to the persons in our sister section of the department. Their Job Title has changed to accommodate our functions added to their existing functions... may God help them. But I am very upset about this redundancy. Why?

I am a bit unsettled by the fact that very soon I will be without a job, without a source of income, unemployed, a bum, but that is not the reason why I'm so upset. As I said before, redundancy is a reality in my company something we have learned to accept, basically it's like old age and death. As companies seek to cut cost and try to be more profitable, they make adjustments as they see fit. one such option is to cut staff, which from my years of experience is the organization I temporarily work for opts for first. So it was just a matter of time. I am upset due to the poor, shabby, unprofessional and dastardly way those who calls themselves senior management went about it. When they announced that the technicians were being made redundant, we asked what would happen to us supervisors. However, they failed to give us a definite answer as to what our role or function would be in this new structure, and gave no indication of us being made redundant. A few days later, about June 25, a fellow supervisor heard that we were being made redundant by the grapevine, later that day meal vouchers arrived for everyone else except the technicians and of course the supervisors. It was not until the said supervisor engaged our manager, that they finally admit that we were also made redundant as of July 1, 2009.

Today, is July 8, and I am still working at the sour place. It seems the so called senior managers in their rush to cut staff and collect their bonus made several illegal moves and the unions got involved. This has delayed the redundancy to July 10, but now I am hearing rumors that it may be extended to the end of this month, once again due to the so called senior managers intellectual blunders. Getting rid of an entire department and imposing their function on the remaining staff didn't go down quite well with those who are being forced to take up the new assignment. Also the so called senior managers didn't consider all the implications of such a change, the processes involved and the very limited number of staff they already have and the even smaller staff they will have after the redundancy. I wouldn't be surprised if they extend my employment to the end of August too. Yuh si, a fi dem job mi want, weh mi can do any foolishness and still collect mi big monthly salary plus get a bonus!

So what will the unemployed Stunner do? Photographer, professional blogger, salesman, male stripper? Well, at the moment I don't have a grand idea, as I have several factors to consider. But one thing is for sure, looking a new job in this harsh economic climate is definitely one option. However, making plans right now is somewhat challenging due to the uncertainty of these bumbling idiots... um I mean these so called senior managers. But after I get that parting letter, I plan to take a few weeks to just clear my head, think things through, come up with a plan of action and then I will execute. I have already started to cut back on my expenses in view of the impending loss of income and also looking at ways to further adjust my lifestyle. Rough times ahead, but just like with a hurricane, we know it's coming but we can't stop it, we just have to batten down and be prepared. Oh and please don't tell me, "as one door closes, many more will open", mi tyad fi hear that statement! [big smile] I will keep you all posted.

Read More

The Spirit of Jamaica

After months of searching, proposals, negotiations it has finally happened. The pride of the Jamaican skies, the cash strapped Air Jamaica has been sold. Yes, the national airline of Jamaica has been sold as with most of the things owned by Jamaica, JPS, Carib Cement, several beaches, etc. But who was brave enough to by an airline that has been in the red for as long as I can remember?

According to The Gleaner, Air Jamaica has been bought by one of its newer competitors, Spirit Airlines, which entered the Jamaican market in recent years. It seems Spirit, led by Indigo Partners LLC and funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management LLC, won the bid over the Trinidad owned Caribbean Airlines to become the new owner of the Jamaican national airline. The sale of Air Jamaica has now signaled the end of Air Jamaica and the end of the era of the country having its own national carrier, as the name will now be changed to Spirit of Jamaica.

No doubt this acquisition of Air Jamaica, will mean more than just a name change to Spirit of Jamaica. No doubt Spirit will be implementing it's practices and method of operations on this new airline. It will impose policies that it feels are in its best interest as a company to survive. These could include the cutting of meals from flights, charging for snacks and separate fees for luggage, changes in routes, to name a few. The sale of the airline will also have an impact on the staff of the former Air Jamaica, as some will loose their jobs as with any merger or acquisition.

As mentioned before, this is yet just one more Jamaican, owned company to be sold to an overseas company. In this case however, the government was being told to sell this company due to it's constant loss and heavy debt. The divestment of Air Jamaica and privatization of Air Jamaica was seen by many as a good move and a way for the government to get rid of some of its debts. Good move or not, one thing is for sure, we have lost our national airline, one more of the few things Jamaican.

Source: http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20090704/lead/lead1.html

PS: I have included a poll at the bottom of the page.

Read More