So I Received a Christmas Bonus...

[GreenPig]

59 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

Now I see why you’re always catching the bigs, sophisticated organized weaponry 

Had to do something to offset my lack of mental acuity and little slow boat. ?

[12poundbass]

All I got was a one year membership to the jelly of the month club. 
 

[TnRiver46]

31 minutes ago, 12poundbass said:

All I got was a one year membership to the jelly of the month club. 
 

That’s the gift that keeps on giving the whole year ‘round 

[Koz]

23 hours ago, J._Bricker said:

And I’m sure you’ve already done something like this, but I’d probably buy my crew lunch as a group as a way of saying thanks.

I bought them  16 pound turkeys and gave everyone a cash bonus this winter. Today I closed housekeeping and worked the front desk for 10 hours so everyone could spend time with their families.

[QED]

In Silicon Valley, bonuses for mid-tier professionals are around 1/4 of one's salary. In really exceptional years it can exceed your salary.  Kids, go get a STEM degree!

[Koz]

45 minutes ago, QED said:

In Silicon Valley, bonuses for mid-tier professionals are around 1/4 of one's salary. In really exceptional years it can exceed your salary.  Kids, go get a STEM degree!

Mine was definitely not 1/4 of my salary.

 

However, one year when I was working for Marriott corporate I warned them that my bonus targets were too low. I told a couple of people including my RVP. They said the targets stand. I warned them it was going to cost them.

 

Two weeks before bonuses were to be paid I got a call from a buddy on the bonus committee.  The good news was that my bonus came out to $96k. The bad news was that they rewrote the bonus program at the last minute - before the payout - so I got only $18k. I raised holy heck and got myself fired for saying some bad, bad words.

[QED]

8 minutes ago, Koz said:

Mine was definitely not 1/4 of my salary.

 

However, one year when I was working for Marriott corporate I warned them that my bonus targets were too low. I told a couple of people including my RVP. They said the targets stand. I warned them it was going to cost them.

 

Two weeks before bonuses were to be paid I got a call from a buddy on the bonus committee.  The good news was that my bonus came out to $96k. The bad news was that they rewrote the bonus program at the last minute - before the payout - so I got only $18k. I raised holy heck and got myself fired for saying some bad, bad words.

Sorry to hear it.  Bad management decisions suck.  In SV, the labor market is so competitive that one seldom runs into these issues in successful companies.  But a ton of SV firms fail, so there's that.  The philosophy is to swing for the fences, but if you fail, fail fast and try again.  The good thing about SV culture is that although failure is a battle scar, it's not a scarlet letter.

[Eric 26]

6 hours ago, Koz said:

I bought them  16 pound turkeys and gave everyone a cash bonus this winter. Today I closed housekeeping and worked the front desk for 10 hours so everyone could spend time with their families.

You sir are a good man and manager.??

[padon]

i use both zodias and expride rods. run all shimano reels.its up to you of course , the dc is nice but if you dont have any problem with backlash i would get a curado k or mgl. save a few bucks on the reel. then you could upgrade to the expride.now dont get me wrong the zodias is a great rod. in my opinion the best $200 rod on the market. the expride for 60 or 70 dollars more fishes like a 350 or 400 dollar rod.th 7'2" medium heavy is a pretty universal rod. jigs texas rigs chatterbaits spinnerbaits etc. that would be my recommendation on model. zodias would be the same.

[Koz]

11 hours ago, Eric 26 said:

You sir are a good man and manager.??

No, I’m just trying to make up for being a stubborn SOB.

[Koz]

And the winners are:

 

Shimano Curado 150 DC

 

Shimano Expride 7’ 2” MH

 

Thanks for all of the suggestions- they convinced me to go with the Expride. The MGL 70 looks like a great reel as well, but in the end the DC won out. Maybe next time.

 

Thanks again for all of the input.

[FishTank]

On 12/25/2021 at 2:52 PM, 12poundbass said:

All I got was a one year membership to the jelly of the month club. 
 

 

To share a story......

 

I use to work for a company where this actually happened.  We would get a Christmas bonus every year that was between 5-10% (on average) of your yearly income.  We knew how much we would get based on the amount of work/production we got done.  The managers would remind us at every meeting.  So for some of us it was pretty good and yes, at that time you could actually get a pool installed with a bonus.  We would get it the pay check before Christmas.  Then the last year I worked there (1999) we received these yearly subscriptions to various things in side our paycheck envelopes and somebody actually got the jelly of the month club.  I received Sports Illustrated and National Geographic.  My brother got Omaha Steaks and the ladies got either Avon or Mary Kay stuff.  There was no warning, no notice, only the HR payroll person and our corporate people knew.  Our CEO group and board members were the only ones that received money and for them it was more than ever.  It was sort of heartbreaking and made for a rough Christmas for everyone that year. 

 

But on a happy note, this year was great and I feel blessed to work for the company I am at now. 

 

 

[PhishLI]

My boss, me, is a real jerk. He stiffed me again. I bought a new Zillion anyway.

[padon]

7 hours ago, Koz said:

And the winners are:

 

Shimano Curado 150 DC

 

Shimano Expride 7’ 2” MH

 

Thanks for all of the suggestions- they convinced me to go with the Expride. The MGL 70 looks like a great reel as well, but in the end the DC won out. Maybe next time.

 

Thanks again for all of the input.

good choices. now the bad news. once you fish with the expride your gonna want more.lol

[NYWayfarer]

Grats!
 

I have been working for the same organization for 16 years. I are received a bonus every year since I have been there. 
 

As a manager I tell my team, don’t expect a bonus and be pleasantly surprised when you get one. When you expect something is when you can be disappointed when it doesn’t happen.

 

Unfortunately my bonus this year will go to pay for new brakes on my car and my son’s car. Those are the breaks sometimes ??

[N Florida Mike]

Congrats koz. Sounds like you really deserve it. Enjoy the new combo!

 

. I just got a 400.00 bonus + a 250.00 gift card for hitting my quarterly and monthly goal. Best I’ve ever had. I’ll end up with around 200.00 left after paying bills. Gonna get a nicer spinning rod for my Shimano Nasci. Still probably going to stay under 100.00 with it though.

[Vilas15]

On 12/24/2021 at 11:24 AM, Bankc said:

Go with your gut.  The good thing about "found money" is even if you hate it, you're not out anything.  Worst case scenario, you're back where you started.  So no pressure to make the "best decision" or avoid a bad one.  

Disagree. You're still out a few hundred bucks you could have spent on anything else. Boss didnt say spend this on bass fishing gear or else I won't give it to you.

 

Good on OP for doing his due diligence. At least with real expensive gear you can typically sell it for not much less than you paid. That's the real benefit if he doesn't like the new stuff.

[TnRiver46]

15 hours ago, NYWayfarer said:

Grats!
 

I have been working for the same organization for 16 years. I are received a bonus every year since I have been there. 
 

As a manager I tell my team, don’t expect a bonus and be pleasantly surprised when you get one. When you expect something is when you can be disappointed when it doesn’t happen.

 

Unfortunately my bonus this year will go to pay for new brakes on my car and my son’s car. Those are the breaks sometimes ??

I see what you did there 

[Koz]

2 hours ago, Vilas15 said:

Disagree. You're still out a few hundred bucks you could have spent on anything else. Boss didnt say spend this on bass fishing gear or else I won't give it to you.

 

Good on OP for doing his due diligence. At least with real expensive gear you can typically sell it for not much less than you paid. That's the real benefit if he doesn't like the new stuff.

Actually, my hotel owner did explicitly tell me to go and spend some of it on myself and on something I would not normally purchase.

 

He’s a really nice guy. He will sometimes call the hotel in the evening to make sure I have gone home. If I work for a few weeks without time off he kicks me out for two or three days so I can recharge.

[Columbia Craw]

Being a cop for 25 years, people often asked if we wrote lots of tickets did we get a bonus?  I made it clear we did, a new pen.

[jbsoonerfan]

9 minutes ago, Columbia Craw said:

Being a cop for 25 years, people often asked if we wrote lots of tickets did we get a bonus?  I made it clear we did, a new pen.

LOL, I have told my students that I don't give grades, they earn them, just like cops don't give tickets, people earn them. I told them if I got a bonus for every A I gave, then maybe I would give everyone an A. Until then, you are gonna get what you earn. 

[Boomstick]

On 12/26/2021 at 11:12 AM, Koz said:

Shimano Curado 150 DC

 

Shimano Expride 7’ 2” MH

I was about to suggest maybe going a little bolder and stepping up to the Expride. The new Zodias (and even the new Curado) are supposed to be real good too, but if you're buying a rod that you'll likely take with you every trip (like a MH/F ?) and not a utility style rod then might as well make that jump.

[Junger]

Congrats on the bonus, I enjoy reading your posts about the hotel.

 

As for upgrading your gear…what technique do you enjoy the most? For me it would be top water frogging and thats where I would start my search.

[Koz]

3 hours ago, Junger said:

Congrats on the bonus, I enjoy reading your posts about the hotel.

 

As for upgrading your gear…what technique do you enjoy the most? For me it would be top water frogging and thats where I would start my search.

 

Chatterbaits, spinnerbaits, and buzzbaits are what I use most in the area I moved to. While I like fishing frogs, I usually use those around vegetation and thanks to a screw up by GA Power we had very little vegetation in the section of lake that I fish. That is supposedly being fixed this winter.

 

I think the 7' 2" Expride I ordered will be good for my style. I do have a decent frog rod that I like.

 

When I bank fish I prefer to use just one all purpose rod, but now that I have the kayak I prefer multiple rods so I don't have to tie on new baits as much.

 

Thanks for the advice.

[Deleted account]

On 12/26/2021 at 2:10 PM, PhishLI said:

My boss, me, is a real jerk. He stiffed me again. I bought a new Zillion anyway.

LOL. Same here, even though I stiff myself on the $, I do lay me off before the fishing gets good, and then rehire me after, so there is that.