Quitting my job today

[krispysglass]

Alright so been a long time coming, but quitting my scientific job today. Putting my 2 weeks in and being responsible/curtious about it. But ya nervous as hell. Have things set up pretty well artistically, have a distributor and working on adding shops but I guess it's time... my gut says do it, my heart is nervous and my head has just gone silent I guess you could say. Just figured I'd share with my glass fam for support and maybe some experience.

I currently have my own shop at my house and 1 apprentice, I'm building another bench possibly 2 to rent out. But ya been a long time since i was full time artistic, gotten spoiled with a pay check, but the place has driven me nuts for a while... so heading to chat with my boss as soon as I hit send on this :eek: oh boy

www.kaglass.com

[LowTideGlass]

Good luck. Any time you are following your heart, you are making the right decision.

Just be smart about your next few steps and tread carefully. Best wishes!

[glassdocnc]

Best of luck going forward. Takes some guts to make that move!

[Jason Lindquist]

Clang... Clang.. Clang...

That's the sound of your balls as you walk up to your boss. Solid brass.

Best of luck. I have fantasies about doing the same one of these days. (I have a looonnngg way to go).

[PyroChixRock]

Congratulations!

I think our field (art) is pretty much the only field where someone would congratulate you on quitting your job. :lol

Good luck with everything! Set yourself a real schedule and stick to it and you'll be fine. :D

[istandalone24/7]

do it to it!
i was all psyched up in april to do the same, but i pussied out and kept the day job (for now).

[Dan Kooper]

Think of it as quitting a job to start a career.

[hammer]

I'm in the same situation. I have a full time Scientific job I'd love to quit. But I'm going to take my customers with me and do both scientific and art work at home. I need about 30k worth of equipment to make the move. I'm jealous. Congratulations.

[krispysglass]

Thanks ya all

Pyrochick- lol totally with the congrstulations piece... and ya super solid words of wisdom with the schedule

Dan k - I like that

Jason - lol totally, thanks dude

Glassdoc- it's definetly nerve racking
Lowtide- more solid advice, tread carefully... definetly don't wanta step on any toes
Island- ya I almost did last year in april but they offered me a substantial raise so I stuck around, but they screwed me on 2 weeks of vaca and benefits, so fuck it I'm out

Hammer- that sounds bad ass once ya can get things straight, where are ya located? And thank you.

www.kaglass.com

[istandalone24/7]

Think of it as quitting a job to start a career.

i try to keep that in mind. my only issue is health insurance...i need it, can't afford it w/o having an employer (who usually pays more then half) i could go on state insurance, but i'm not sure if i want to go down that road. it's hard to give up a guarenteed paycheck, even when my hourly wage melting glass is 3x that of what i make at the day job/hellhole.

[krispysglass]

I hear ya, I was using my insurance heavily but got off the stuff I was taking, but I got insurance for mid 200 now threw united health care... ya my wage is actually super good at this Sci job that's what made this so hard for me, it's pretty much a wash but the freedom is what is worth it, I mean because I got insurance, I even have what essentially is workman's comp threw this policy, idk it takes some work but maybe looking into it you could find something.. pm if ya like I can share what I got with ya

www.kaglass.com

[istandalone24/7]

is that $200 a week or a month? if it's per month, that's about what i pay now for crying out loud. you've got me rethinking this quitting business :)

[krispysglass]

Mid 200s a month ;)

www.kaglass.com

[istandalone24/7]

Oh damn, that's a good price. that i could swing.
maybe i put my notice in this week. been dying to, and nobody here (at work) thinks i'll actually do it. all the more motivation imho.

[jr23]

i try to keep that in mind. my only issue is health insurance...i need it, can't afford it w/o having an employer (who usually pays more then half) i could go on state insurance, but i'm not sure if i want to go down that road. it's hard to give up a guarenteed paycheck, even when my hourly wage melting glass is 3x that of what i make at the day job/hellhole.
Successfully changing fields with a healthcare requirement can make decisions harder for sure. But if you truly make 3 times your hourly wage your finding a policy should be very easy.

What's usually scary is secure sales and figuring that time as work also. I can walk out the back door and make 300 bucks worth of stuff in half a day. But can I count on selling 30 work hours worth of them in the other 10 plus hours left in a

[Ray]

Best of luck in your next chapter of life

[krispysglass]

Do it for yourself not to put the finger up at your coworkers ;) karma my friend... but ya scope it out, look into it, and you can set it up to start a month later or 2 months later so that you don't have a break in being insured...

Jr- true that, I mean ya the 300 in half a day is sweet I can do that retail no problem, 200 wholesale maybe, but the consistent sales costs money in a way I guess, distributors help with that but then it's 200 in a fairly rough day of work I guess

www.kaglass.com

[krispysglass]

Thanks skull

www.kaglass.com

[ArmyOfDorkness]

Congratulations!! One of the best decisions I ever made was quitting my job!!

A lady I did some contract work for once told me "Life is too short to work for assholes. There's too many nice people out there to work for instead. I won't work for people who treat me like crap anymore". She was absolutely right. I left the slave cave I was at full time, and never looked back. Now I work a couple of days a week for that lady as her assistant and I couldn't be happier. I'm broke, but there are much worse things!

No matter what...even if you have to rejoin the 9-5 crowd for a while, never forget that life is too short to work for assholes!

[jr23]

Yep with a distro in the mix you have to then rep your stuff and do shows diversify and do give a ways to get a following . Because with a name that 200 wholesale becomes 400 wholesale. But you have to count all that away from the torch time marketing your steez. It's not all that working social media and answering all the people so you can get to the level.

[krispysglass]

Hell ya army, totally... sometimes we gotta get a few paychecks but only for so long until back to self employment

Dude Jr those are some solid words, I've been so tunnel vision ed the last few months and haven't been posting shit on ig and never have done a giveaway (cuz I'm so cheap over the $5 of shipping, I mean seriously lol) but ya the game has changed in the last 5 years, had a shop literally say to me "well ya I mean if you had more of a name I could give you $150 for that rig no doubt, but I'm going to pass" never heard that before... gotta figure out a system and like Pyrochick said, schedule my social media/marketing time into my week so I actually do it

www.kaglass.com

[eyeflame]

Best of luck man! Make it happen

[snoopdog6502]

Best of luck! Hope you can have some fun while being productive at the same time.

[LRG]

Good luck!Guy once told me when I was stressing on finding a job (17 years old) kid you have a job your a glassblower.He was right!

[istandalone24/7]

Successfully changing fields with a healthcare requirement can make decisions harder for sure. But if you truly make 3 times your hourly wage your finding a policy should be very easy.

What's usually scary is secure sales and figuring that time as work also. I can walk out the back door and make 300 bucks worth of stuff in half a day. But can I count on selling 30 work hours worth of them in the other 10 plus hours left in a

i do when i make big marbles. flowers i get less for, but those opal/fume mibs (2" range) i've averaged about $40 an hour (this takes the opals and fuel into acct, but not oxygen, i get that free as my homefill paid for itself a while ago).

and yes selling it is the hard part lol...i'm working off of orders that have built up. if i could stay as busy as i have been for the last few months i'd have no issue working for myself.

[istandalone24/7]

that being said, i make a whopping $13.65 at the day job. horrible pay considering how much ass i bust. but, paid vacations, health insurance, a boss i can walk all over (i literally have the run of the mill so long as my work is done....i can call in sick once a month, they don't care).

[Nomad]

I have MVP insurance. I got it for free from a MVP rep. I think it is MVP through medicade. I get it for free in NY. I am going to use it today.
I use it for all my medications also. I have gotten name brand medication too. But if there is a generic they go with that one.
They do not cover my nurse practitioner that I see once ever 3 months. I have to pay her $120 a 15 minute session. But the state insurance pays for the medicine. I used to see a nurse that was covered but that was at county. They told me I was not sick enough for there and I had to go someplace else. So I see one of the top doctors offices in the Hudson valley. Which I pay for then medicine is free.
I am going to a walk in clinic today and it is free. SO is my primary care doctor and a specialist I go to see for my blood once in a wile.
THe insurance issue can be solved.

[istandalone24/7]

man.....you all are making me really want to try. and if i fail, get a part time job for solid income (some anyway) and more glass hours. that's what gets in my way now....my 50 hour a week dayjob.

[Nomad]

I have been blowing glass for so long at this point I don't think I can get another job. I have tried but with no luck. Being a pipe maker is like that though. THe only references and job experience I had was related to MJ. Not something an employer really likes.

[istandalone24/7]

don't tell them you make pipes. tell them your a glass artist and leave it at that! if at any of my interviews i told them i made paraphinalia, i'd not expect to get the job.

[Nomad]

Everyone knows what I do.

[istandalone24/7]

idk, maybe look for work outside your town? they only know because you told them most likely.

[krispysglass]

My pipes got me my job in the scientific field, they aren't dB they know where the money is being glassblower, either scientific or pipes, just saying, also depends on the job your going for... I mean I'm in illinois and my boss was 75 years old, not your typical mmj supporter but knew what was up regardless

www.kaglass.com

[skyhighguy]

Original poster and anyone else working a scientific or production glass job and looking to quit: Do you feel that your production/scientific work has helped you learn about glass and will help you with your art? Also, what was it about the job that makes you want to quit rather than go part time? I am currently weighing my options between getting a low paying production job or just working it out on my own producing whatever I can sell.

[Mr.P0rn]

Krispy - where at in IL are you? And where did you work? My best advice is if you are feeling it....do it. I have done some amazing "impossible" stuff all because when i set a goal and everyone said it wouldn't work, I didn't listen. Get out there and get it, and if you know it's right....it's right!

Skyhighguy - I don't work in scientific currently...but i go to school for it, and my teacher is a 20 year chemglass foreman. Most of my friends are moving throughout the industry. what i have learned being here is that yes, it ABSOLUTELY helps you learn about glass. I've had friends tell me they learned more in their first day than in the entire year at school. But....there is little part time in scientific around here, and they want to quit because the job sucks. In one instance, my friend has to make x number of pieces per hour, and the number of pieces is more important to the quality. This is to the point where they tell him to make garbage, but make enough garbage per hour to meet quota. Another example is welding together multiple pieces into a complex apparatus where none of your pieces are any shorter...so all your welds look like cold welds, but are used in a vacuum, so must be perfect. You learn an amazing amount, but it gets very old, very quickly. One big name pipemaker told me he got fired from a scientific job for snapping and throwing a trash can. People who he worked for said he was great, and only speak highly of him. He seemed surprised. So.....hope this perspective helps. Is it worth it? Yeah, probably. EDIT: Spelling and spacing.

[krispysglass]

Skyhigh- I'm with Mr porn, working in scientific glass was huge, I gained knowledge, critical thinking and confidence. It was crazy at one point we had a government contract and I was one of 2 glassblowers (the other was my boss who had a bit of an overly inflated ego and a bit too old to really be doing what he is) but had to figure out how to do it myself, glass to metal seals on two sides of one hollow piece and some other crazy specs, but was a lot of fun. I have been part time for a while now, without getting into major details, there were some managerial issues that drove me nuts, it was a 45 min commute that was a 1 hour and 15 min a lot of days, and ya again like Mr porn said it did get old. But the repetition was really the least of the issues as I had/have a solid hourly rate. But as my teacher told me "if u have a chance to work scientific, do it, I don't care what you gave going on, do it, even if it's only for 6 months" so ya I worked there for almost 3 years, managed to buy a house, build my studio out nicely, get myself a little sports car, and establish some accounts to go off on my own.

www.kaglass.com

[krispysglass]

Mr porn - lake zurich, think we have gone over this before lol, but forgot where you are

www.kaglass.com

[Ray]

So, krispysglass did you do the deed and if so how is it so far?

[istandalone24/7]

not to thread jack, but my notice is being put in monday am. the plant manager and the ho in HR are both on vacation days today, but i am doing this.

i'd rather regret doing it, then to regret not doing it.

[Ray]

not to thread jack, but my notice is being put in monday am. the plant manager and the ho in HR are both on vacation days today, but i am doing this.

i'd rather regret doing it, then to regret not doing it.
well...best of luck to you to!

[krispysglass]

Going well so far, totally checked out. But had one of my best days ever in my shop yesterday, it was so hard to shut everything down to come to work today, but only have 2 more days of having to be here so it's all good...

Congrats Istand get on the hc shit so ya don't regret that, glad I could be a positive influence; )

www.kaglass.com

[krispysglass]

Well friday was supposed to be my last day but it's a holiday, so now I gotta decide whether to come in next week for a day or just rip the bandaid off today... man fear of success far exceeds that of the fear of failure but they work together so well, I'm scared to rip the bandaid... to make matters more stressful my distributor hasn't given me a new order, gotta love it :eek:

www.kaglass.com

[Nomad]

They are probably at the dead show?

[istandalone24/7]

i'm putting my notice in next week. reason being is my supervisor asked me to either put in three weeks, or put in the two weeks a week later then planned. lots of vacation time scheduled for a lot of the staff here, and as much of my bullshit that they've put up with over the last 9 years, i can do that much for them :)

[Nomad]

I have orders until august. I got back ordered from Denver and the Dead shows. I think after that is over it going to be holiday orders.
So enjoy the brake if you got one. I would make my most popular stuff to try to get ahead? Or maybe make some glass on consignment for Gypsea Glass?
But that is me personally.

[krispysglass]

Ya they are doing the dead shows, that's what I'm thinking is messing with things... I'm making some street sales cases, tried some new stuff and had some fun, now starting to do pieces to build ahead like your saying

www.kaglass.com

[PhantomGlassGuy808]

Follow your heart and the money will follow. I have done that in the past and was never sorry.
Best of luck!

[istandalone24/7]

i'm putting my notice in next week. reason being is my supervisor asked me to either put in three weeks, or put in the two weeks a week later then planned. lots of vacation time scheduled for a lot of the staff here, and as much of my bullshit that they've put up with over the last 9 years, i can do that much for them :)

and then i ended up tearing my letter up, and hoping like hell the rumor didn't reach the plant manager.
mom got sick last week, just blood sugar issues that she should have been dealing with a long time ago, but she works for a hospice is majorly stressed out, which contributes to the issue. me and my father (or my father and I....too early for proper grammar) are trying to get her to retire a few years early...in which case i need all the income i can get. so, fulltime job has to be kept for the time being. which breaks my heart, but my parents have been there for me more times then i can count and i have to do the right thing here.

fucking sucks to be honest but it is what it is.

[krispysglass]

Yes sir phantom, it's a trip, and tricky, only my 2nd week full time on my own and already got a gnarly flu, lol gotta love the stresses that come along with self employment

Istandalone, dude ur a good man, family is priority, u should feel proud of your decision took me a long time to do what I did, it was a 2 year process and it's a second time around so don't sweat it, responsibility has to come first to have any success later

www.kaglass.com

[istandalone24/7]

it's tough for sure. they want me to be happy...working 50 hour weeks (NOT including glass) is taking it's toll..and i make a shit wage. i just NEED health insurance. it'd cost me so much that i'm not even sure if it'd be worth it.

of course, i could claim to the state of VT that i'm unemployed, and get the free medicade or whatever it is, but i'd have a hard time doing that. isn't exactly honest.

[Nomad]

Tell them you only make $1200 a month and work off the books.


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[Nomad]

If you can't afford healthcare they will provide it. Tell them you're a poor starving artist. You believe in universal healthcare because of taxes.


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[Nomad]

People pay millions in taxes and we should all get healthcare! Doctors make too much money!


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[Nomad]

Or be a slave to the man over $200-$500 month. It is rediculous! Especially when Hillary Clinton is running for office!


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[istandalone24/7]

^^ exactly what i'm pondering doing. and it's free...like no copays or deductables.

[Nomad]

They don't cover my shrink though. I pay that every two or three months. It is like $120 for 15 minute session.


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[istandalone24/7]

i don't do head shrinkers any more.....every single one i've spoken to, has wanted to blame my past drug issues on my parents, on my upbringing. nothing could be further from the truth, and none of them wanted to hear it. my parents never had a lot of $ when we were growing up, but they did everything they had to, to keep food on the table and clothes on our backs.

as for why i chose heroin (clean for a long ass time btw)....why do kids spin themselves until almost puking on the playground? it's human nature to want to alter our state of being.

[Nomad]

Yeah that is too bad. Mine just giver antidepressants and say lack of work Made me nuts. As well as imports and Mexican sweatshops etc..... The meds helped me out and got me back to work.


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[istandalone24/7]

i was on 50mg of zoloft for about a year...got my head (and life) straight and now i'm good to go.
trees don't count as drugs imho.

[Nomad]

I take 5 mg of ability. Lowest dosage there is.


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[Nomad]

For about 4 years now.


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[Nomad]

I have some anti anxiety meds also. But I only take them when needed. 1 mg klonopin for 8 hours.


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[istandalone24/7]

i knew the ssri's were only for the short term, that's the only reason i agreed to taking them.
as far as anti depressant....they seemed to work great...but it's hard to put into words how the "happy" felt. it felt "fake" or manufactured. weird for sure, but it helped me get through some rough times.

[Nomad]

My second glass teacher took Zoloft. He stopped and committed suicide.


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[istandalone24/7]

oh yea, i have clonopin/clonazapam for my social anxiety issues, and sleep. i come from a long line of insomniacs. sucks.

so i take 1/2mg at bed, and another 1/2mg as needed, which is maybe once or twice a month. i'm very weary of benzos and what they do/how hard they are to quit.

[istandalone24/7]

My second glass teacher took Zoloft. He stopped and committed suicide.


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that's crazy, what a sad story :(
never had suicidal thoughts.....i think every teen growing up in todays world has some suicidal ideations (sp?) which i did, but i've finally gotten to the point where i'm looking forward to the future. you need to love yourself, including all of our faults.

[harpentuan]

Doctors make too much money!


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Said the boy whose doctor-father offered him a storefront in Colorado.

[istandalone24/7]

oh snap!!

i was actually going to say the same thing, but i had to verify it first. you saved me the time searching posts ;)

[Nomad]

My father has a problem with his colleagues also. He charges less and does not take insurance. He actually does not take on any more clients because he's partially retired. He just does consulting now for the most part. He cut down his private practice.


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