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Last Sunday was my five-year anniversary at ACIPCO. The good news is that I am now officially vested in our pension plan. The weird news is that I graduated from college five years ago! I've been in the working world for five years! I've been working longer than I was in high school! I've been working longer than I was in college! Of the major life stages I've gone through thus far (preschool, elementary school, middle school, high school, college, and pre-children adult), this is now the longest!
The other good news is that by most people's standards, being at your first job five years is a long time. Of course, by ACIPCO standards, I'm still a rookie (our average tenure is something like 24 years), but for most people, five years is a long time. I honestly don't feel like I'm settling into a rut or being too lazy to pursue a change. I enjoy working here, they take pretty good care of me, and I'm good at what I do. What else do you need out of a job?
Could I get a higher-paying job? Probably. Could I get a higher-paying job in Birmingham? Possibly. Could I get a higher-paying job where I like the people, I'm not constantly stressed out, and I actually don't mind coming into work most days? Almost definitely not. So here I am. Maybe I just don't know any better, but I think ACIPCO is a great company. Sure, there are plenty of things that frustrate me and that I could rant and rave on for many pages, but that's true of any company.
I've never been one to write out life plans, but if I had written out my five-year plan back when I graduated from college, I think it would be pretty close to where I am today. I'm gainfully employed and have advanced in my job. I am happily married and falling more in love with my wife every day. I have the cutest dog in the world, two reliable cars, and a house that is plenty big enough for now. I'm still close with my family, and I'm still fairly active at church. I don't know what else I would have planned for back in 2000 except for...
Friends. I think back when I was graduating college, I would have assumed I would be able to stay in touch with more of my college friends, even though I had already learned from assuming the same thing when I graduated high school that it probably wasn't going to happen. There are a few that I have occasional contact with, but other than Tammy and Brandon, there really aren't any friends from UA that I'm close to anymore. That bothers me, but there's probably nothing I can do about it at this point. In addition to the fact that pretty much none of them live in the same area that I do, I have the extra reason why I'm not in touch with most of my college friends, and it's the same reason I'm not in touch with most of my high school friends. Most of them were girls, so once one of you gets married or in some cases gets a boy/girlfriend, it's just not the same anymore. There are plenty of friends from both high school and college that I wish I could at least keep up with by email, but that hasn't happened. Oh well.
It's been a good five years, for the most part. If my website is still around in 2010, maybe I'll get around to writing another one of these...