2025, Uncategorized, work

Transitions

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Today is my last weekday off before I start back to work next week. I have to go in on Monday, start my work computer that has been returned to my office and reset, and “onboard” in Peoplesoft, which means I set myself up as an hourly employee instead of a salaried employee. That means I have to clock in and out, but I needn’t stay when I have nothing to do, and I can just go home. I haven’t had to clock in and out since I worked at Mr. Steak in Moorhead, MN in 1980.

I didn’t complete as much household organizing and cleaning as I envisioned at the end of January, but illness and travel and a sciatica flare-up got in the way. I expect all sorts of questions from colleagues on Monday about having a “fabulous” month off, and I expect they may be disappointed when I tell them how mundane it was. I look forward to work but more flexibility for being at work, and that will be a really nice transition.

What life transitions have been the easiest and most difficult for you? Have you ever had to clock in and out at work?

23 thoughts on “Transitions”

  1. A few years before retiring, we were required to put a tracking app on our phones. It could tell your location precisely. It knew if you were taking a potty break.
    Divorce was a rough transition.
    And by the way, soon enough, if you’re a federal employee, the word “transition” will be verboten in all communications, verbal or written.

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  4. Husband has to have our boss adjust his clocking in and out on occasion as he was a salaried employee fir so long he forgets to click the in and out button.

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  5. This will be an odd weekend for me. We have all our grocery shopping done as of last night, we have all our cooking done for the next week, and we don’t have to sing in the church choir or play bells on Sunday. I may not leave the house until I go into work on Monday!

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  6. Better Late than Never, Baboons,

    Early on in working life, I had to punch in everywhere. I had key punch operator jobs where I would punch in. It was a big machine in which you stuck your time card, and the card was punched and stamped. Then there was a large rack screwed to the wall where you placed your card alphabetically. It did not take long and I did not think much about it.

    Transitions: The decision to divorce wasband was a tough transition, but once I got through that I thrived without him. He was just such a dependent pain and it was like life dragging an iron ball clamped to my leg. Once that was gone, I was fine. I found it much harder transitioning to parenthood. Parenting is so boring when much of it is being there and being available to address whatever the situation might be. Evenings especially, between supper and bedtime, I found dull. My child wanted to play with legos and blocks undisturbed, and he entertained himself with that. So I took up knitting again, and I did large projects while I watch TV and supervised whatever he was doing. Sweater, afghans, mittens, etc. Then bathtime and reading before bed was more active and interesting.

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  7. I think the only job that required me to clock in was working at Surdyk’s. But I don’t specifically recall punching a time card. But we had assigned shifts and had to be prompt.

    Transitioning to a “serious” author was so gradual and took so long I barely noticed. Moving households is always a stressful transition. Glad we haven’t done it in 25 years and don’t intend to do it again for another 20 years.

    Transitioning from a college music ed. major to a fulltime band director was the toughest. I felt totally unprepared because it happened so quickly–hired early August, started early September. Also, I later realized that my education didn’t come close to teaching me how to be an “in the trenches” teacher. Ed. psych, music theory, and student conducting are all well and good, but dealing with 50 students in a band room when there’s no back up and you’re making it up as you go along was another world entirely.

    Chris in Owatonna

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  8. I’ve only clocked in once in my working life…my very first job… at Country Kitchen in Northfield. All my other jobs you were just expected to be there when you were supposed to be there.. I got salaried when I got my first B. Dalton store to manage.

    I’m thinking that the transition to parenthood has to be a biggie for most. One day you’re not a parent and the next day-ba da boom! This was not a hard transition for me-I’ve loved being YA’s mom. I think my hardest transition was when I got furloughed during pandemic. It came out of left field and the combination of staying in place and not having any day to day contact with my coworkers made me a little loony. Honestly, the Trail was a life-saver the first month. However, it turned out to be a blessing in disguise because it allowed me to ease into the retirement mindset so that by the time that I got un-furloughed, I didn’t really want to go back! And you all know how I feel about being retired now! Woo hoo!!!

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    1. I recall punching in at B. Dalton. Didn’t have to as a manager, but I distinctly recall the grey metal timecard holder next to the dorr in the breakroom. I wasn’t salaried for the first two or three years.

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  9. The last time I had to clock in at a job was when I was a teenager and working as a waitress: Country Kitchen in Faribault, then CJ’s Diner on the west edge of Faribault.

    I think the hardest transition for me was job related. I had worked at the Regional Center for 17 years. I knew everyone there and I was good at my job. When it closed, I got a MoU that allowed me to claim a job anywhere in the state. I was interested in what might happen, so I claimed a job at DNR Central Office in St. Paul, and I started commuting. I had a rough time with the whole thing. The commute was awful, but I got to listen to TLGMS and it saved me. The commute home was an irredeemable loss of time. The people I worked with were mostly unfriendly, although there were some friendly people in other Divisions. That was when I jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire. I went to Fisheries in Waterville, thinking that I would like it because it was closer to home. That was the biggest mistake of my life – it really was – and it wasn’t long before I found myself longing for the camaraderie of my former job at the Regional Center. It was gone though. There were other jobs that were similar to the nursing job I once had, and some of my former coworkers had taken them. I waited for an opening. It took years, but I finally got back where I belonged.

    Retirement was a little hard at first, so I worked on an on-call basis. That was really very good. After a couple of individuals with whom I’d worked for many years passed away, I decided I didn’t need to be there anymore. I’ve been quite happy with that decision.

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  10. It’s late so I’ll go off political.
    This transition from Democratic to Trumpian is incredibly harsh. I thought 45 was rough but this..this is impossible for me to transition.
    It’s hourly by hourly what I’m being asked to accept as normal. Can’t do it. Nor can I ignore it. I seek out any way of Resistance instead of transition.

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      1. I bought my protest sign materials last week! This will not get any easier. We are dealing with leadership that is not leadership at all.

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  11. Several of my transitions were huge leaps of faith – not just a change of vocation, but also moving across the country, or to another city… Some of these were an entire change of identity – of how I perceived myself, esp. when I left Bay Area coastal California for New York. Uffda.

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  12. I think I had a period of about fifteen years when timeclocks were not a part of my life, but about thirty-five years when they have popped up quite regularly. Now I clock in at my Intuit job, though it is a virtual timeclock. I have a Workday app on my phone. Having the app means the timeclock is more of an honor system. It can’t tell if you are actually at work. You could clock in and out from anywhere.

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  14. Hardest transition was not working for nine months when I was laid off in 2023. I’d been working at one job or another since my teens, except for a 5-year break to raise children, which is really just another job. I missed the routine and my coworkers. Things that helped included daily yoga and walks, reading (a lot) and journaling. Parenthood was a big transition, but husband, as the oldest of 7 kids (with an 18-year age range), is an accomplished baby wrangler, which made it much easier.

    I had to punch in for high school and college jobs, working first at a department store and then at a hospital as a supply aide/mail clerk. After decades of salaried work, I now have to punch in/out (via computer/phone) in my new job at a nonprofit. It’s hard to get used to it, because the work I’m doing is like the work I did as a salaried worker. It can be frustrating when I get into a project and have to quit because I’m not supposed to go into overtime. Another difficult transition, but I’m glad to be working.

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