Adios Safeway?

Wow, it's been a while since I last posted. I've been pretty busy working crazy hours at Safeway, while trying to find time to work on my thesis in between time. Plus now I have to find time to get some Christmas shopping done. I'm trying really hard to have my thesis proposal finished and accepted by Jan. 10, as well as Chaper One so I definitely have my work cut out for me the next few weeks. I also have a huge life decision to make by Dec. 24th. Since my union and Safeway finally settled our outstanding contract, (which only took three yearsto settle!), the company is offering employees with high seniority opportunities to take buy-outs. Myself, I would take home a cheque for $23,500 (minus 30% for taxes)... so I would take home $16,500 if I were to be accepted for the buy-out. I am really tempted because it would give me a large amount of money to sit on for a bit and truly allow me to focus 100% on finishing my Masters. $16,500 would allow me to live at a comfortable level for a year (over $1300 a month if budget myself effectively) while I finish my school. I plan on being done school in a year or less so taking the buyout would allow me more time to get serious and finally get it done. Safeway is good money, but it really has kept me from getting my Masters finished. I'm not high enough on seniority where I could restrict myself for 24 guaranteed hours a week, so I have to leave myself open for any available shift if I want to pay rent and tuition. So one week I'll only work 2 days for maybe 16 hours at the most and then the next week I'll wind up with a full 5 days for 37 hours. It is totally feast or famine at Safeway. I wake up most days not knowing if I'll be called into work or if I'll have the day off. Even if I am scheduled, I usually get called in earlier anyways. This definitely fucks up any opportunity for me to get into any kind of routine for school. If I get called in for a 2-10:30 shift I definitely won't feel like getting 3 or 4 hours of research or writing in afterwards. Safeway should be my part-time focus and school should be my full-time focus, but this past year I have wound up working more than I have in any previous year due to many people at working being away on sick leave for extended periods. Once I am done my Masters, April and I are planning on going overseas to teach English for a year or two, so my days at Safeway are limited anyways, so I am about 90% sure that I will take this buy-out. I've been at Safeway for 9 years and even though I hate many aspects of the job, there is still that comfort factor where I can go into a job and pretty much do it blind-folded or in my sleep. Plus I have made some really great friends there over the years. However, I feel like I've been in a rut for the last year when it comes to school and work so taking this buy-out would be a big wake-up call for me. Safeway is definitely not my career and I don't want to be another Safeway lifer. I don't want to be one of those people that always say they will leave one day but find that they are 35, married and have kids and realize that it's pretty much too late. Plus I am getting more and more disgruntled with the clientele that shop at my store. To put it bluntly, I am sick and tired of dealing with white trash welfare cases and our "mouthwash regulars." I hate feeling like a bartender on Sunday mornings when these total wastes of skin come crawling in at 10 am on a Sunday, scraping up change and panhandling so they can get totally gunned from drinking mouthwash and hairspray. Safeway used to be a good place to work at when I first started, but over time they have gradually treated their employees more and more like trivial pieces of shit and it really has reflected on the staff. Morale is so low and it makes it harder and harder to go to work every day with a smile. So I think this buy-out is coming at a perfect time where I can wipe the slate clean, focus on school 100% and get on with the next phase of my life with April. If I do need some added income, I could get a part time job for 2 or 3 days a week either as a server or a bartender or at a music store like A & B Sound or HMV or something at the university. Basically I would be in the position to work at a job I might actually LIKE and not be worried about making rent for a while. The more I think about this, that 90% certainty is getting closer and closer to a 100% certainty.