Great to see you again, Charlie!
On employees: I've never owned my own company so I wouldn't know what it's like to deal with them. I do know this: the only reason (with one exception) I ever left a job was to make more money someplace else.
One job in particular was a real pisser. Back in 1998 I had been really busting my ass for over a year, working 55 to 70 hours per week. I had finally decided that by God I wanted a raise.
I was told over and over again how money was tight, how much they've "invested in the company" and that I just need to hang on until things get better.
Meanwhile, the owner drives up in a brand new Cadillac. The General Manager (they were all family) drives up two weeks later in a new, fully loaded Dodge Durango. The next day the Vice President (also a family member) drives up in a brand new Lexus.
No money, eh? Yeah. OK. Sure. Right.
So I made a phone call the night after Sam showed up in the new Lexus and was offered a job for 25% more money. I put in my notice the next day. And guess what they said?
"But we had you approved for a raise! We were going to tell you about it on Friday".
Yeah. Sure. Right.
On how I'm doing: Doing great with one exception - my best friend of 40 years died of covid. Damned idiot didn't get a shot.
Other than that I honestly can't complain. I'm feeling better than I have in quite a while and have pretty much everything I ever wanted...except the dog. The dog is, at best, an idiot. Sweet? Sure. Good looking? You bet. But dumber than a box of hammers.
As far as gaming, lately I've gone back to racing. I bought the new version of Assetto Corsa Competitione and have been driving. I got pretty tired of War Thunder. I didn't play World of Tanks but did go back and play World of Warships for a while. They've flat ruined it too.
You can tell Wargaming has simply thrown in the towel and are now effectively hurling anything they can at their games to make a buck. They even removed the player count in World of Warships so you can't see how few people are playing it anymore. Most matches are filled with bots because there's nowhere near enough people to fill the teams up.
It's pretty sad.
Good to see you're doing well! Don't be a stranger!