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[evile]

 

 

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evilE

May 26, 2004

 

evile: DOL is going to be in the office tomorrow & Friday...so I
won't be online much needless to say :P
SkyeDS: otay
evile: I might be tempted to say "Welcome to our Potempkin Village"
but I probably won't.
SkyeDS: lol
SkyeDS: news here isn't so hot at the moment either
evile: Bummer.
SkyeDS: the bank has lost every credit card transaction since midMarch
evile: Oh, that's ridiculous!!
SkyeDS: and Customer No Service told me that we were set up on the
wrong number with the wrong instructions
SkyeDS: to begin with
SkyeDS: I think Hugh is angry enough to have a heart attack or stroke.
evile: That is such BS!!
SkyeDS: I've got to figure out how to retrace whether or not we had
credit card transactions run in April.
SkyeDS: with it done over the phone, I have no paper trail.
evile: that sucks!!
SkyeDS: I hope I can keep his anger directed at them for this, and
not have it land on me when it occurs to him that I should be able to
just pull up and rerun old transactions (when I have no paper trail) -
ie blame me for not having a papertrail.
evile: *fingers crossed*
SkyeDS: I *think* there are only two clients that pay us with credit
card
SkyeDS: so it will just be a matter of looking back at their bills
alone
evile: That's not so bad, then...
SkyeDS: calling them, asking them to check to see if their accounts
show the transactions
SkyeDS: and saying, I'm sorry, I'll have to run them again
SkyeDS: I don't mind taking egg on my face for that, if it comes down
to it
evile: yeah.
SkyeDS: but I can't be positive that those are the only two clients
that have paid by CC since midmarch.
evile: ack. What a mess.
SkyeDS: what this brings into sharp relief is that we do need a
papertrail system for keeping up with credit card payments
SkyeDS: rather than relying on the bank's phone system.
evile: *nods*
SkyeDS: and he isn't going to be happy when I point this out.
evile: nope...
SkyeDS: and it could be argued that I should have created such a
system without being told.
SkyeDS: rather than just accepting everything the bank gave us and
relying on their representations.
evile: true...but how were you supposed to know the bank was doing
crazy stuff?
SkyeDS: yes
SkyeDS: but it could still be argued that the remedy to their mistake
would be simple from our end
SkyeDS: if my recordkeeping, which I'm paid to do, had been better.
evile: I am just boggled that with all the records banks keep, your
transactions aren't SOMEWHERE. Online, or something, at least.
SkyeDS: the number and instructions they gave us are apparently for
approvals only but don't actually put the transactions through
evile: Old statements. Somewhere. They are supposed to be so
scrupulous about keeping their records straight. FDIC rules & that.
SkyeDS: but since I did put them in the system there should be a
record of them somewhere
SkyeDS: and the last two weren't recorded as even having gone through
the current phone line
SkyeDS: even though one of them I made with the assistance of an
operator.
evile: bizarre.
SkyeDS: in my own half ass defense I will say this.
SkyeDS: I have accepted the systems that have been in place here as I
found them
SkyeDS: and I probably in retrospect shouldn't have.
evile: *nods*
SkyeDS: the invoice system is such that, when an invoice is paid,
stamped paid, and moved from open to closed -
SkyeDS: half the time my predecessors seem to have written the date,
check number, etc, and half the time they didn't.
evile: Your boss doesn't seem to be very comfortable with changes,
though...so he might not have enjoyed you changing his system around.
SkyeDS: and there is no record of when they have been paid by CC.
SkyeDS: and so I have not religiously done this either.
SkyeDS: even though in the back of my head has been that I probably
should.
evile: *nods*
SkyeDS: and needless to say I will from now on, particularly with
CCs. With checks it's a nonissue because we file copies of the
checks in the client file before they go in the bank.
evile: right.
SkyeDS: I sent him off to lunch to decompress. I foresee a shouting
match with the bank when he gets back. Hopefully it won't direct at
me right afterward.
SkyeDS: <cringes>.
evile: yucko..
SkyeDS: the other point I might have to make, and it's lame too, is
this.
SkyeDS: half of these payments, he hands me a pink phone msg slip
with all the pertinent info scribbled on it.
evile: yup...
SkyeDS: and no, I don't keep those, after the damn system says, the
payment is good.
SkyeDS: maybe I should have
SkyeDS: but to me it is arguable that I should have known that.
evile: too late to start second guessing yourself now...just take
what you know and go forward...
SkyeDS: yep
SkyeDS: but there still remains the possibility of a beating over
past mistakes.
SkyeDS: oh well.
SkyeDS: yes, I saw a flawed system, and yes, I should have not just
accepted it, and corrected it myself without the need to be told. So
I will accept the buck for that one. And hope it doesn't cost me my
head.
evile: Maybe time to start putting together ideas for a new tracking
system now...to have a little armor just in case boss man starts
yelling.
SkyeDS: oh yeah. new tracking system already in place as far as I'm
concerned. Double edged.
evile: "Okay, the old system failed, here is a list of ideas for
procedures we can implement to keep this from happening again."
SkyeDS: I'm going to save every piece of pink msg paper he scribbles
on, and put them in the client files, as well as hand copying the
info to the invoices when I close them.
SkyeDS: nods, and hope he doesn't think too closely on me being to
blame for there not already being a new system.
evile: *shrug* as far as anybody knew there wasn't anything wrong
with the old one...
evile: If you are driving a car that is running perfectly fine and
the transmission then blows up..should you have bought a new car a
week ago?
SkyeDS: is not quite the same but point taken.
evile: Nevermind that you're stranded 50) miles between El Paso and
Hell, there's still no way you could have known it was going to
happen..
SkyeDS: it's just that every time I open the closed invoices to put
another one in there, I think, you know, every one of them should
have written the check numbers or credit card information on there.
SkyeDS: and I didn't do it, because it hadn't been consistently done
before, even though I thought to myself, well, it should have been.
evile: I am sure you had other things Hugh had indicated as
priorities...
evile: Current crises always take precedence over cleaning up old
stuff...at least in my humble office & clerical experiences.
SkyeDS: nods
evile: Hopefully it will be obvious that berating you isn't going to
fix anything, you can say "mistakes were made and now let's fix them"
and move on..
SkyeDS: I went in there to find him already in process of making me a
credit card payment log copied from the mail log
SkyeDS: and told him, oh, ok, I was going to do that, but thank you :)
evile: good.
SkyeDS: I guess a different perspective is, well, yes, it should
have, would have, could have occurred to me, but then, it also
shoulda coulda woulda occurred to him too.
evile: yup. And he's not a fan of change, so unless he'd bitched
about it, I wouldn't have just arbitrarily started changing things.
SkyeDS: he wouldn't have noticed if I'd started keeping additional
logs or writing info on closed invoices though.
evile: right.
SkyeDS: it's something I could do without asking him to do anything
additional.
SkyeDS: could have already done, rather.
evile: yup. oh well. from this day on, you'll know better than to
trust the banks records & keep your own.
SkyeDS: I hope the bank steps up to bat like right after the noon hour
evile: that would be good
SkyeDS: "Hugh is going to shoot you in the face with a bazooka. And
I'm not going to stop him this time.".
SkyeDS: filked from "sineater is going to...."...which is filked from
Cosby's Himself ~ "Your father is going to..."
SkyeDS: I'm an unabashed thief.
evile: hehe
SkyeDS: I have decided to spend my birthday by myself
SkyeDS: if I don't invite people and they don't show I will be less
let down than if I issue a general invite and end up by myself anyway
evile: Oh. Okay then.
SkyeDS: although, since Randy now has a new trailer, I will tell him
I'm goin and ask them if they want to go
SkyeDS: you of course are always welcome but you don't need
an "invite".
SkyeDS: I am still pondering whether I want to spend one night or two.
evile: it's a bit of a drive for just one night, looks like.
SkyeDS: ok, now I think my foot is in it. when I said, I'm not
issuing invites -- I meant to the groups I belong to, HFS, SCA, etc
evile: aha.
SkyeDS: I didn't mean I was disinviting you
evile: You could still evite or email individuals.
SkyeDS: I think I'm going to shut up now <sigh>
SkyeDS: anywho, if you like, I could pick you and your stuff up on
Friday on my way home from work, whether I end up spending one night
or two.
evile: Ther'es a Voyagers party the 5th, too....and AKon. So...lots
of stuff. (and not very much $.) Hopefully I'll get something sussed
out soon.
SkyeDS: nods
SkyeDS: I think I'm having a palomino day.
SkyeDS: palomino days are akin to blonde moments
evile: aha. I figured.
SkyeDS: blonde all over, all day long, as opposed to blonde for a
moment
evile: It happens. I spent half the morning thinking it was Thursday
& dreading DOL, then realized that's not till tomorrow!
SkyeDS: I coined it for Mirage...I thought it was funny.
SkyeDS: I've had a problem keeping my days straight this week too.
evile: heh. It is :)
SkyeDS: I had a hard time remembering whether yesterday was Tuesday
or Wednesday, and then today too.
evile: Just not so much when it's happenig to you :P
SkyeDS: I also forgot when I was doing my makeup time yesterday that
I only had two hours to make up and not four, like usual
SkyeDS: so I stayed an hour where I had originally thought to stay
half
evile: Maybe there's something in the air or the stars or something
today. :P
SkyeDS: but what I'm going to do is stay another hour today, and not
have makeup time left on Thu or Fri
SkyeDS: and that works too
SkyeDS: it does sound contagious doesn't it.
evile: Nice to have 'short' days on thursday & Friday
SkyeDS: I can't remember the last time I worked a full eight hours on
Monday
SkyeDS: certainly not in the last past month
SkyeDS: so I'm always having to make up monday hours the rest of the
week
evile: Nice that your boss lets you do that, though...
SkyeDS: yep. it was his preference that I be an independent
contractor, so that he doesn't have payroll taxes on me.
SkyeDS: and then that creates all sorts of freedoms on my side, so
that I truly am an IC according to the IRS>
evile: that seems like a real win-win.
SkyeDS: there are 20 different tests, I researched all of them and
put in language for every single last one in my IC Agmt.
evile: wow.
SkyeDS: yours truly is nothing if not thorough when it comes to my
research and my writing.
evile: yup!
SkyeDS: would be a nice job
SkyeDS: just doing research for authors
SkyeDS: and grad students, or whatever
evile: Yeah. That's J-Law's favorite part of her job,too.
evile: I'm too easily distracted to be a good researcher
SkyeDS: really? you don't strike me as being nearly as easily
distracted as I am, in general
SkyeDS: although it isn't easy to distract me when I'm on a
particular mission
SkyeDS: just when I'm not.
evile: heh. I am good at faking like I'm studious & such
SkyeDS: I'm not as airheaded as people think given my astrology
evile: astrology sin't everything..
SkyeDS: but I notice the older I get, t he more airheaded I get
evile: yeah...
evile: I was a lot more Taurean as a child, becoming more of the
typical Gemini flake as I get older.
SkyeDS: it may be that all my earth signs keep me from being as much
of a flake as the typical gem sun & moon would be
evile: yeah.
SkyeDS: because I have rising, merc, saturn in taurus
SkyeDS: merc & saturn both in taurus conjunct are good so it is said
for research
evile: astrology, like palms, is just 'tendancies'...which are
tempered by environment & people around you.
SkyeDS: makes one stubborn in a bloodhound sort of way (bloodhound =
atty term)
evile: heh
SkyeDS: I am not a balanced person astrologically at all. Four in
air, four in earth, three in water, and no fire.
evile: I don't think I am either. Been a while since I looked.
SkyeDS: I had a rather interesting research experiment type situation
happen to me when I was werkin fer Miz Cleo
SkyeDS: I was on the phone for two straight hours with this woman
SkyeDS: trying to figure out how she had gotten to such a miserable
place in life, and how to get her back to a happy place
evile: ugh
SkyeDS: and astrology was very useful in that instance, because the
problem was, she had completely lost who she was
SkyeDS: in making herself who someone else wanted her to be
evile: pisces?
SkyeDS: and could not answer the questions, "who are you, what would
make you happy" at *all*
SkyeDS: yes.
SkyeDS: remade by an Aries. for 20 years.
evile: ick.
SkyeDS: it was like....reconstructive surgery on the soul.
evile: wow...
SkyeDS: one of the few times, I logged off after only two hours
(spent with just one person) and had to take a bath and have a glass
of wine to settle my stomach
evile: that's tough.
SkyeDS: usually tough stuff involved kidnapped kids, had that happen
a few times
evile: I could not deal with that....
SkyeDS: most of it is love & money. When do I get laid, when do I
get paid. To paint with perhaps an overly broad and general
brushstroke.
evile: heh.
evile: Met a 24/7 dpe Domme & sub last night at dinner. That
was...interesting.
evile: oops Tpe
SkyeDS: I bet
evile: bizarre. apparently they have a macaw too. WTf. :P
SkyeDS: really? what kind?
evile: dunno. her profile just says 'macaw'
evile: not sure how TPE and poly would really go together...but OK...
SkyeDS: it's common
SkyeDS: the master is poly
SkyeDS: the slave is not
evile: hm.
SkyeDS: and the slave sleeps with whomever else the master gives to
evile: I was just thinking in terms of time constraints. ..
SkyeDS: I wouldn't know about that aspect, never been there done that
and don't want to
evile: well, apparently these two do OK, they seemed happy & such.
very self-contained, though. In a group, it was still very obvious
that they were together/bound in some way. Went rooting around LJ
today & figured out who they were....
SkyeDS: tpe is special. not for everybody. not for most.
evile: so I gather.
evile: BRB, I need to check L&B's po box. No worries if you need to
get gone between now/then to work on stuff w/bank/CC/boss. :)
SkyeDS: tay
evile: I'm back. it's HOT out there. ick!
SkyeDS: yesterday looked like our ac at work was having a hard time
keeping up
evile: ooh, not good.
SkyeDS: better today so far
evile: I don't think it's as humid today.
evile: I still need to get Aunt L her lottery ticket, but I didn't have
a long enough break time to do both PO box and lottery ticket. I can
get lotto stuff anywhere, after work I guess.
SkyeDS: nods
evile: I wonder if I will have my tent back by the 4th if I loan it
to Galenn & household for this weekend....maybe I should not have
offered...
SkyeDS: I have a tent
SkyeDS: the old one
evile: ahem.
SkyeDS: my thought was you could loan my old tent
SkyeDS: instead of yours
SkyeDS: it isn't going to rain this weekend
evile: I never trust the weather.
evile: Tavalon is very organized & compulsive about things, so
hopefully that means if I loan them something it will come back
quickly
SkyeDS: nods
SkyeDS: Daddy said the old tent might not be in bad shape, as hard as
it was raining most tents would have leaked
SkyeDS: I don't know
evile: Me either. The tent that we ruined at e. rock wasn't that old.
evile: It ended up being a good excuse to upgrade from a '4 man'
to '6 man' tent.
SkyeDS: I saw an interesting critter when I went to buy our 12 x 16
SkyeDS: it was three dome tents that set up separately and then
connect with a habitrail
evile: that's cool.
SkyeDS: it was 20 more
SkyeDS: I thought about it, and then thought, if I give the boys
three tents to set up instead of one, that will not be popular
evile: heh
SkyeDS: but it looked neat
SkyeDS: 88 bucks for what constitutes 3 cabin tent that could be 3
separate tents if needed
evile: could definitely come in handy...
evile: When we camped with folks at TRF, some of them had a tent
specifically just for garb & dressing. Guys & gals took turns using
it.
SkyeDS: nods
SkyeDS: was thinkin with that 3 tent set up arthur could have his own
space
SkyeDS: but he wouldn't like that
evile: Might be OK if he coudl still hear you. otherwise, beware the
screech-fest...
SkyeDS: it is interesting to look at. a 3 earth pimple habitrail :)
evile: heh.
SkyeDS: also looked into truck tents but they were costly and I don't
want to unhitch trailer
evile: yeah. more trouble than it's worth
evile: The DOL lady is going to get an eyeful, even if we look busy
tomorrow & Friday--Tomorrow's a big fatass luncheon for my unit's May
Bdays, Friday's a big fatass pizza lunch for the Dept.
SkyeDS: lol
evile: *sigh* Oh well.
SkyeDS: yawn
evile: me too, man. I've been ready for my nap allll day!
SkyeDS: bank just now called back
SkyeDS: has no clue what's going on
SkyeDS: has to look into it.
evile: ARGH!
evile: I guess you'll have to work your way up the bank foodchain,
chewing asses every step of the way. How hassley.
SkyeDS: not a tasty prospect
evile: no indeed.
evile: Well, time for me to put paper here & there...& get Aunt L's
lotto #'s
SkyeDS: wind to your wings
evile: *hugs* Good luck with the bank!
SkyeDS: hugs