It Doesn't Rain But It Pours - Inside. In My Furnace Room.

In My Humble Opinion
1

We woke up this morning to water pouring into the furnace room, which is also where the building electrical box is and a lot of other infrastructure. It wasn’t a broken pipe - that could have been “fixed” by simply turning off the water to the building. No, there is a hole in the roof, it’s pouring rain outside, with several more days of rain forecast.

I was able to improvise a sandbag berm across the entrance of the furnace room so the water is contained in there at least. For now.

Landlord is on his way. Not sure what we can do. Hope I don’t have to relocate as of now. Have no idea where we would go, or how we would get our stuff moved.

Can not get ahold of my employers. I left yet another voice mail saying I can’t get to work today - like I was enthused about yet another day without pay. (I haven’t had a paycheck in three weeks and haven’t been able to reach my employers for 4-5 days now.) I called my coworker to at least let him know I couldn’t make it in. HE might not make it in, because he hasn’t been paid and can’t get his car out of the shop (he was trying to borrow the money yesterday, not sure how that went). Told him not to feel guilty if he can’t make it in and the shop doesn’t open, the owners need to get responsible.

This is truly a miserable shit of a day. Our money is rapidly running out, I may not have a place to live by the end of the day, I may no longer have a job, and I might lose all my stuff. Sure, my sister in Buffalo will take me in, but my birds can’t live there long term and if we move out of state we lose our health insurance.

I really hope things don’t get worse…

2

I didn’t want this to sit without any replies.

Damn, Broomstick. What the heck is going on with your employer that you and the other employee aren’t being paid?

My fingers are crossed that the landlord can at least put a tarp up on the roof to prevent further rain from coming in. If you can’t stay, isn’t he liable for the cost of putting you up in a motel? If not, I’m pretty sure the Red Cross helps with situations like this.

3

The owners just stopped paying you?

4

Some bullshit! Hope it all works out, in short order. At the very least the landlord should be able to fix the leak promptly. If you’ve never noticed water coming in before, hopefully that means there isn’t much water damage to the building, and moving wouldn’t be necessary. Keep us posted!

5

The landlord can put a tarp on the roof to quickly stop the leak. Then get roofers up there later to make permanent repairs.

6

The landlord came, the rain stopped, and we put the 30 foot ladder up, and found out what the hell happened. We’ve been having high winds and apparently a gust got under something and ripped a piece of the roof off. He’s pretty sure he can get a temporary patch and fix by the end of the day. Rain is predicted every day through Friday so that’s rather important.

Still no sign of paycheck, though, and still can’t get ahold of the shop owners.

Anyhow, I’m taking a lunch break and the landlord is off getting emergency roofing supplies. So here I am.

In a word: yes.

I have been aware for some time that the shoe repair shop I was working for was not doing well. A series of bad business decisions had been made, there were a couple of dishonest employees, and the management and business skills of the owners are far from perfect. Despite that, as long as I was getting paid I was willing to continue to work there and even do a bit of extra effort. However, knowing what I knew, a sudden stoppage of payment, while infuriating, is not entirely surprising.

I think it may be the end for the shop at this point.

They’ve been mailing me my paycheck, which I’ve been OK with and was arriving on a weekly basis, even if sometimes delayed a day or two. The last week of March I failed to get one. OK, I mentioned this last week to the bosses because, you know, sometimes mail gets lost. And if not, well, yes, I did notice the lack of paycheck. I didn’t get one last week, either. I was given apologies and told I would definitely be paid up this week.

If no money is forthcoming I will be looking for work. I already have two other shoe repair shops to apply to, plus all the other contingency plans I’ve made over time.

As my spouse and I have been doing a bit better this past year we actually do have money to cover the rest of the month, but not a whole lot beyond that (contrast this to two years ago when we were flat broke with no reserves whatsoever). My family will also help me if needed, though I prefer not to take advantage of that unless absolutely necessary.

Also of note: neither I nor any other employee has been able to contact the bosses directly for five days now. We leave messages but get no replies. I’m going on three weeks without pay, my usual co-worker is at two weeks, and the guy who specializes in workboots tells me he’s owed three grand. He also speculates they might have skipped town.

Suffice to say my employment situation is Not Good. Not hopeless, but basically I’m back to where I was two years ago. Except for little details like having been able to get new eyeglasses, some dental care, maintenance/repair to the two vehicles, and started my spouse on a home-based business that, while not yet profitable, is starting to bring in a few bucks a month. It’s not enough to live on (yet) but it’s something.

That will be quite… interesting… to do with today’s 50+mph winds…

The landlord is a general contractor with roofing experience. For that matter, I am also a person with some roofing experience. I expect it will be him and me and maybe a one or two others doing the job ourselves.

Well, hell, apparently I am looking for work right now…

7

I guess you had spoken too soon.

8

That is not incompatible with the idea of allowing people time to demonstrate a good faith effort to make amends. Up until this point they had paid me regularly and if there was a problem it was solved in a day or two. I do get paid via US mail these days and it is possible for such mail to go astray. If a check is not in my hands by Thursday I will seek work elsewhere. It’s that simple. But hey, come into a thread where someone is discussing a household disaster and take a crap why don’t you?

Which disaster, by the way, is now under control thanks for asking. The temporary patch is holding for now despite last night’s rain. I will now go back to shoveling soaked, ruined sheetrock into the building dumpster and laundering the wet rags and blankets used during the emergency and clean up.

9

Who took a crap?! I just said you’d spoken too soon, as in you jinxed yourself and now haven’t been paid in three weeks. Please don’t break my femur.

10

Where is all the register money going?

Stop making the daily deposits and you will hear from the owner right quick.

11

Hell, the cash register itself is probably worth a couple hundred.

12

I don’t know about your state, but Texas has a board of labor something-something that I complained to when an employer bounced a paycheck to me. They take that stuff deadly seriously, though it may take a while for payback to gear up.

The other thing might be that if the owners are really screwed up financially, the business may be in receivership. If it is, then someone else has a say in what happens. If you know where the company banks, you could check with them.

13

Mr. Ducca, based on your past posting habits I don’t believe for one moment you came in here to do anything but snark. You are not helping. Please take your time and energy somewhere else.

14

It’s not going anywhere, it’s still in the register.

We don’t make the deposits. The owners make the deposits. They haven’t shown up for almost a week to do so.

As of Sunday, the last day I worked for them, $226 in cash. By far the majority of the money we take in is either from cards or checks.

If they aren’t paying I’m reasonably sure it’s not from malice or thoughtlessness it’s because they can’t. If they haven’t got the money they haven’t got the money. If they’re bankrupt a bunch of us are screwed, which is why I’m not going back there until I see money.

I prefer to give people a chance to make good on their commitments without involving authorities. Of course, I’m a day or two away from saying “screw them, where’s that phone number for officialdom?” because my patience is not infinite.

On the upside, I do have a tax return coming, which will help.

15

Hey, I understand why you’d say something like this to me. I’d be cranky too if I hadn’t been paid in three weeks.

16

BTW, I recently complimented you at an off-board site on your knowledge of the North Korea situation. I probably should have saved my time and energy then as well, right?

17

Mr. Ducca, I am trying to be respectful. If you have complimented me I sincerely thank you, but the fact is you have more than once made comments reminding me of an assault and attempted rape I was foolish enough to attempt to discuss on line. In case that wasn’t something you grokked before I am making it clear now. Your attempts at humor serve only to remind me of an extremely upsetting and terrifying incident that occurred when I was only 14. I understand that some people doubt the veracity of some of the details, nonetheless, being reminded of someone who grabbed me around the neck, dragged me into some bushes, and started removing my clothes with the intention of raping and beating me as he had other women is one of the LAST things I need this week. Will you please cease and desist?

18

nobody calls him “Mr. Ducca” who ain’t connected.

19

You sure get the shit, but you handle it well.

20

I do my best to be a cock-eyed optimist. :smiley: