"On top of the last year normal stress, I ended up with a Mayor that hated the ground I walked on adding double to the stress. Thank God she didn’t have a vote on council and they (council members) loved me and help keep her in check."

Captain I'm in a very similar situation as far as employment politics are concerned. So I understand where you are coming from there. Unfortunately the tyrant in my life doesn't have anyone keeping that person in check. There has been quite a few very experienced employee's bale from here in the last few years, and a whole bunch more of us planning to do so in the next 1 to 5 years. Too bad, as I have some great peers that are very good at what they do.

Thank you all for sharing your insight. I swear I'm about to become Ebay Mogul II in a couple of years as I don't think I could stand to go back into retail which I did while going to college. Hopefully between my art, skull cleaning, and possibly guided fisherman I can find a way to survive on a teacher's retirement. I wish I knew what door to walk through next in life, but right now the only thing I'm sure of is I want to shut the door on my current situation in 2 years. I completely understand what JB was saying when he said he divorced his old work place.