The value of Workmates

Another week and another trip to Kiruna.You would think that they would be right sick of me by now but they seem to keep chucking stuff at me to do. Not that I'm complaining too much as it is nice to be able to carry my own weight. The local branch of my company had it a little tough last year with a nmber of projects being cancelled at the last minute. Getting some new big contracts from the mines helps to make the result look a bit better. This time around my boss came up for the meeting and we drove back together. I had taken the train up to Kiruna the day before as I had aranged for a planning meeting prior to our main project meeting the following day.

 

My boss is a really nice guy and great company, but he drives a car like he stole it. Sun, fog, ice, snow, makes no difference to him. We get home every time with no harm done, but sometimes there is no much more than a coin toss in it. On the positive side, I'm pretty sure that he doesn't read English language blog sites. Both my boss and his wife work in our local office and they have both always been very good to me and to my wife. My boss is likely to retire in the next couple of years. He is one of those people who you can't really imagine your workplace being without. He has always been there and he just kind of knows stuff. Stuff that other people in the industry don't know. You can do all the training you like, read up as much as you want, but there is no way of replacing that intellectual experience that each person carries. Everyone has a unique perspective view of a subject, which makes their knowledge also unique. We will certainly do it tough when he is not around. I have had a few other job offers since starting but it has really been my personal relationship with my boss which has kept me loyal to this company. Work relationships start to take on more of a tangible value as one gets older. I could probably earn more money elsewhere, but would I be as happy ? The eternal struggle.

 

When thinking about my boss's impending retirement, I would how it will be for him. He has worked for the same company forever, and it is pretty much all that he does. I don't really see him as being the "stay at home" type of guy. You hear of so many cases of people who simply waste away once they retire. I hope that he won't be one of those. He has already starting talking of "part time" retirement but, in my experience, voluntary part time invariably ends up becoming full time again. We'll see. Either way I think that my future working life in Sweden will be a little poorer for not having Leif in it.