u/Creepy_Ad_3535

I recently got a call from the campaign of Rakhi Israni for my upcoming congressional primary. This was an actual phone call.

C= caller, M=Me

C: "What would you say your most important issue is"

M: affordability and local economy

C: as a small business owner, Rakhi understands and prioritizes that and will push financial policies that improve affordability and the economy in the east bay

M: what kinds of policies?

C: uh.....uh..... (No joke I let the caller sit in silence for 10 seconds)

C: I'm not sure I'm sorry I'm new but you can visit her website for all her policies

M: ok

C: now that we've had the chance to talk can I count on your vote

M: I'm not sure, I'll have to look at her website

C: oh ok that makes sense thank you for your time

I don't mind taking these kinds of calls especially when I haven't made up my mind, but don't waste my time with this nonsense! I wish there was an easier way to get educated on all the local races

I work at a medium sized company and I really am hating my job recently. I've been seriously mulling quitting, or at least quiet quitting. I am the technical lead on a new project we rolled out. It's a huge initiative and I pioneered it inside and out. I have no idea if it will take off but if it does, our competitors are definitely going to want a piece of it.

I have never signed any documentation that limits me from taking my knowledge elsewhere. Even if they did I'm not sure what the legalities are of all that in the US. The process we pioneered isn't patented. The main thing I would be missing at a new place is the database but we could easily rebuild it since I already created the process which took a year.

Anyway I was wondering if I could use this to negotiate a sweet severance deal in either of the following scenarios

1. I get put on a PIP or something like that and am moving towards getting fired (given my current status that seems extremely unlikely and I'd have to start doing a shit job for at least 6 months before it would come back to me)

2. if I want to just quit and avoid this drawn out process can I negotiate benefits in exchange for a) training a replacement and b) not taking/selling my product knowledge to a competitor

Every day on my commute both ways, the majority of people in the HOV lanes are single riders who set their fastrak to 3. If we're going to be doing that we might as well just open the lane to regular traffic. Obviously more lanes isn't the answer to traffic either but it's just completely wasted space.

Side question but why doesn't CHP camp out and enforce this? Seems like an easy cash cow for them especially when the ticket is $490. The goal of traffic cops shouldn't be to raise revenue but when raising revenue also ensures the proper flow of traffic it seems like a no brainer

I'm an early career engineer at a mid-sized company that is a dumpster fire in slow recovery. New CEO is turning things around but the current reality is still rough.

I haven't bailed because my pay is good (not great), my schedule WAS incredibly flexible, and leadership is fast-tracking me toward real decision-making power. I'm also leading a major product launch that could genuinely change my trajectory. Career-wise, I'm playing the long game.

Then there's Project Alpha (generic name I made up for privacy reasons).

Alpha is a black hole. It was bad when I joined. I survived it only because the work was brainless and my hours were short. Six months ago I finally escaped — they backfilled my role and I moved on. I thought I was free.

I was not free.

Things got so bad they're pulling me back in. Now I'm stuck doing what I can only describe as performative busywork while my actual important project collects dust. Every task I'm handed on Alpha is pointless. Every week it gets worse. Management is never going to pull the plug. The fantasy of quitting gets stronger every week.

The back breaker for me is that today, my boss called me in and took away all my flexibility. He said I'm "too important not to have on site all the time" (presumably to work on shit like this).

Leadership genuinely wants to keep me. They at least need me to see the big launch through. I'm not going to make threats or manufacture a standoff. If I did leave I want it to be on good terms.

For those who've been trapped in a career-vs-sanity situation like this, how did you think through it? Did you stick it out? Do you regret it either way?

I'm an early career engineer at a mid-sized company that is a dumpster fire in slow recovery. New CEO is turning things around but the current reality is still rough.

I haven't bailed because my pay is good (not great), my schedule is incredibly flexible, and leadership is fast-tracking me toward real decision-making power. I'm also leading a major product launch that could genuinely change my trajectory. Career-wise, I'm playing the long game.

Then there's Project Alpha (generic name I made up for privacy reasons).

Alpha is a black hole. It was bad when I joined. I survived it only because the work was brainless and my hours were short. Six months ago I finally escaped — they backfilled my role and I moved on. I thought I was free.

I was not free.

Things got so bad they're pulling me back in. Now I'm stuck doing what I can only describe as performative busywork while my actual important project collects dust. Every task I'm handed on Alpha is pointless. Every week it gets worse. Management is never going to pull the plug. The fantasy of quitting gets stronger every week.

Leadership genuinely wants to keep me. They at least need me to see the big launch through. I'm not going to make threats or manufacture a standoff. If I did leave I want it to be on good terms.

For those who've been trapped in a career-vs-sanity situation like this, how did you think through it? Did you stick it out? Do you regret it either way?

I'm an early career engineer. I work at a medium sized business. I'm not really interested in the work I do but I have a sweet setup - my pay is good (not great), I have a ton of flexibility, and they are fast tracking me to upper management/engineering decision maker which is where I want to be. I'm also the lead on a huge project we are rolling out and it could really accelerate my career. All that is to say that the main reason I am at this job is for the career advancement.

However, my company is also a complete shit show. Apparently it was a lot worse before I got there and the new CEO is slowly but surely turning us around. I see the great progress but it doesn't change the current reality. When I started I was on this one project, we will call it project alpha. I hated my job. It sucked so bad. But because of the nature of the work was super easy, I just dealt with it and enjoyed my short work week.

Now project alpha has spiraled out of control. It's hopeless. It's a time and money abyss. I moved off the project 6 months ago and they hired someone else to run it. Now things have gotten so bad they are putting me back on it and I can't make much progress on my other things. All the things they are asking me to do are idiotic and time wasters but I have to do them. It just keeps getting worse and management is never going to give up on this.

I also know that the CEO and other decision makers want to keep me. They really need me to at least finish out this other launch we are running. But I'm not about to force their hand and threaten them to make it someone else's problem less I leave. I want to leave on good terms.

I just want to walk away so bad and the urge gets more intense every day, but I know it's a bad idea for my career advancement. Can anyone provide guidance?