Drive-by. It’s naptime here!
Yeah, there seemed to be a fair number of people in my “What does your employer do for Christmas” thread where people just didn’t get anything. Working for the government I can sort of understand – I mean, it’s the government, the only definition of “bonus” they are familiar with has to do with unclaimed tax refunds and campaign “donations.” The cheapness of some employers is sad – all the more because it’s not really surprising.
I just got the call from the executive assistant. I had the option of taking it as an extra on my next cheque or taking a company cheque for the difference. I had to take the company cheque because I planned a portion of my finances around it, and without it I won’t even make it to my next cheque. The only downfall is that the proper deductions won’t be made – but since it’s only on $200 I’m okay with that. It’ll amount to about $40 anyway, and at worst I’ll just end up paying it back come tax time. No biggie. But Christmas is saved. That’s the important part. I am happy again. 
Today isn’t as busy as I thought it was going to be. Thursdays usually get all the “I need this shipped today so I can have it tomorrow” orders, but we haven’t even topped 100 calls yet. (Up 'til now we’d have broke that by noon.) Not that I’m complaining, and I should probably shut up now because my phone will probably start ringing non-stop 'til 5 just to screw with me. It’s okay. I console myself in the knowledge that I only have the rest of today and the first half of tomorrow to go, and if I survived this week as it was, I can do the rest in my sleep.
Swampus/Spaz - Okay, I’m an idiot. For some reason I thought '08 was an election year, but yeah, now that you mention it I remember that Dubya still had that New President Smell during 9/11.
Totally packed and about to hit the shower and then head to the airport.
I will be back on line probably Saturday.
Toodles!
Good news on the bonus, Mork. Mr. Lissar’s bonus comes in on either his Dec. 31st paycheque, or his January 15th one. Silly. But either way he should get one. I hate not getting decent bonuses- my job previous to the bookstore, I think we got $7 for a company dinner. :rolleyes: Thanks a lot, guys. But at the bookstore I routinely got $250-$300, which considerably helped with the Christmas shopping. Not this year, sadly. Here’s hoping the damn E.I comes in before I have to pay my Visa bill.
Got a carseat! At the local kid’s and babies’ stuff store. And $100 worth of groceries, half of which was detergent and cat food. Do my cats deserve feeding? Do they ever do anything useful?Anyway, got the muffins and juice to freeze for our take-to-the-hospital bag of food.
Now to do laundry and sewing and have a nap.
We do elect a new prez in '08. He or she just doesn’t get inaugurated until Jan '09. But they’ve been campaigning almost full time for the last year so you’d think they’d be about to wrap it up soon. :rolleyes:
Chicken Nachos for dindin tonight. Except I don’t do all that stuff with the chicken. I used canned chunk chicken. What? It ain’t any different than canned chunk tuna! Except it’s chicken and not tuna. That’s the only difference. Plus I don’t make that pico de gallo cause I’d rather use salsa. Other than that though it’s the same thing. They’re nummy!
Mindude glad the bonus thing got all situated. Yep, next year (November) is the presidential election. However, like taxi said they’ve been campaigning forever. Primaries start crankin’ in January '08 and go on and on and on and on and on, then it’s convention time, (yawn) then we have the candidates who carry on and on and on and on, then it’s election day, then folks start campaigning for the next presidential election… it’s a viscious cycle!
Hey - that’s the day before *my * birthday! Well, one day before but many, many years after, you uppity young’un! 
Today was strange. I had a VTC at 8, and since we’d only scheduled the room from 8-9, even tho the meeting wasn’t over, our idiot people pulled the plug at 9 (no, no one was waiting for the room) so I’m not sure how it all ended. However, I will have to go to work next week. The folks who called the VTC requested some info from us by Jan 15. I don’t think it’ll take long to get it all pulled together, but I don’t want to be rushing around at the last second, so I’ll go in Thurs and Fri next week - maybe only till noon, but still, I’ll simulate work.
The software issues I was having are still there, but we did a work-around. Unfortunately, I had to drag another engineer into the fray, but eventually, I was able to get the product uploaded and thru the Tech QA process.
There will only be a few of us in the office tomorrow, and Greg decided we should bring in munchies. I’m thinking **FCD ** should take me out for Bad Chinese, then I can run to McKay’s and find some appropriate grazing ingestibles. YUM!
Tomorrow afternoon is laundry, tomorrow night is packing. We’ll hit the road in the wee small hours of Saturday, probably with me at the wheel and **FCD ** snoozing in the back. Alllllllll the freekin’ way down I-95 from just north of Richmond to where I-10 intersects I-295 in Jacksonville - then we’ll head west to 301, and thence into Ocala, eventually. The shortest time route takes just over 12.5 hours. It’s slightly different from the way we usually go, which is 14 miles shorter and an hour longer, theoretically. I’m going to try the shortest time this time. And we’ll be coming back on Weds. That’s a lot of driving for 3 days in FL.
And my first 2 weekends in January are booked. Jan 6 one sis is hosting a b-day party for Mom, and Jan 12, other sis and husband are celebrating their 25th anniversary. Celebrating seems a funny word - I never see any affection between them. Whatever works, I guess. I need to give my BIL a prize - 25 years with my sister is no small accomplishment!
Incidentally, Taters, under NSPS, the govt can and does give bonuses (in lieu of raises, but still.) This year, my NSPS shares were divided 50-50 between payraise and bonus. OK, I won’t get it till the first pay period of 2008, so it really isn’t a Christmas bonus, but still, you were WRONG!!!
You’ll notice I mentioned that from 3000 miles away.
I am under orders from MamaTigs to go out and get pictures of the snow I’ve been getting.
So I went out and here you go. Enjoy!
Home from work. Had a nice (ish) lunch provided by our administrative staff, a new lab coat and a polar fleece jacket–both gifts from the hospital for Xmas. Ok.
(never got more than a new vinyl lunchbag before). Off to nap. And more work tomorrow, then stressful weekend, followed by more stress, than more work. Why did I do this again?
Drive by – about to go to sleep, and then off to the airport first thing in the morning. **Ems **-- I think we’ll be passing through Heathrow within hours of each other!
Anyway – see you all next Firday. 
Just in time to help everybody boot 2007 to the curb, as it so richly deserves!
**Haze **-- sounds like you had a really [del]boozy[/del] busy week!
Oh, and
I’ll take an inappropriate kiss, please 
What? Yeah, I promised to be good, but I’m almost off, so just this once today…
[del]ICK![/del] OOH LOOK! Snow! Purty pictures snowbunny. Course I say that as I sit in a part of the country where it is 72 degrees Amurrkin outside as I post. 
Yay for the carseat findin’ LiLi!
My BiL was born on January 4th (I think), my Step-MiL on the 12th, and my Mum on the 17th. I’ve got a lot of people campaigning for me to give birth on their birthdays. I think my Mum is ten years or so older than you, FCM. Get off her lawn, whippersnapper!
I haven’t actually done much today, but I’m all tired. I just packaged up some of the Christmas present candy, and it occured to me that chocolate-dipped oreos wouldn’t be a bad addition. What do you think? Brittle, choc covered popcorn (I’ve got some Mexican chocolate I think I’ll melt for that), caramels, choc peppermint bark. Oreos?
Nice snow pics, snowbunny. I can say, with all sincerity, better thee than me!
LiLi, just hush your sassy mouth! I know better than to get on the lawn - you never know when you’ll step in doggie doo or a mole trench or be drenched by an automatic sprinkler. On my lawn, it’s the mole thing (doggies go do their doody in the nature preserve part of the yard.) I don’t know how many moles we’ve got living here, but I have to be careful walking in the back yard - it’s easy to twist one’s ankle when the ground gives way beneath your foot. Out front, they’ve been easy to spot - they burrow up to the pavement, then follow it! Both sides of the driveway and the walkway to the porch are bordered with raised earth that looks like snaky tunnels, but when you step on them, they yield way too easily. Stoopit moles.
No Bad Chinese tonight - **FCD ** had a late lunch and he doesn’t want to eat. So, do I go get something for tomorrow before he gets here? Mebbe I should…
Oooh! Gorgeous, GOR-gee-yous snowy pictures, snowbunny! Okay, my envy is increasing exponentially! You lucky devil…
Yay! for finding a carseat – that’s one more thing you don’t have to worry about, LiLi. Are you all fixed for crib and such yet?
I’ve had a dull and boring day here. Did some work, not enough, but mostly have just been trying to stay awake. And I’ve only had 1/3 of a daily dose of the new meds thus far. Something tells me I won’t be taking it during the day much longer – although heaven knows it’ll make for a nice relaxing sleep! Which is all I want to do right now. 
You’d think going and sitting outside in the chilly afternoon (currently 43°) for 45 minutes throwing the Kong for Isaac would wake me up, but instead it just made me sleepier. I see another early bedtime in my future. :rolleyes:
I’ve gotten a few Christmas bonuses, mostly when I worked at law firms. The best was a week’s salary, which was nice. This year I got a $25 bonus from the young woman who’s starting her own little firm and for whom I do about 1-2 transcripts a month; the folks who I do the vast majority of my work for, dozens of jobs and thousands of pages a month? I got a Christmas card. Whooptie-doo. Of course, I’m “only” a subcontractor – but I suspect that this firm is cheap enough the regular employees don’t get a bonus, either.
{{{{{{{{Spaz}}}}}}} and {{{{{{{CutiePie}}}}}}}; hope that 2008 will be better for you both. And CutiePie, my son has requested a pecan pie; would you be willing to share a recipe for one, please? I have the one that Karo corn syrup provides, but my Dad used to make one with brown sugar instead of the Karo. Anyways, I do want to make a pecan pie for my son.
I just love all the nicknames some of you use for your friends, especially Haze and LiLi (with all those husbands! LOL)–I try to picture some of them too.
We had our office holiday party yesterday, the Mexican fiesta, and a very good time was had by all! They had beer, wine and margarita punch, though I stuck with water and the non-alcoholic punch. Someone had made rum and bourbon balls, though, and I did sample one of them - not knowing what it was!!! And it burnt all the way down. They even had a couple of pinatas and watching the people try to whack at them was great fun, I must admit. Especially after they’d had several beers! Today was leftovers–and there were actually some of my Hello Dollys left, so I don’t know if I’m going to make another batch of them or not.
I’m so ready for the long weekend, except I still have some shopping to do. I’m hoping that the stores won’t be too crowded early in the morning, because that’s when I plan to go out, on Saturday. Note to self (the same one I do every year …): please start shopping for Christmas next summer!
Okay, that’s all for now… I’m hoping that my secret santa gift will reach it’s destination today or tomorrow. OMG, I forgot – SCL was santa to me, and she is a wonderous one!!! Smooches to you, SCL; I probably won’t get many gifts this year, so that makes the prezzies from you all the more wonderful. Thank you so much again!
FCM, to you!
Yes, we get “bonuses” but they’re not “Christmas” bonuses! We get performance bonuses. Is it me, or does that word just look really wrong?
At any rate, I thank Og I am NOT under NSPS because the folks that are under it here just went through their first pay pool thingie. Um, there are MANY, MANY, MANY unhappy peoples in my organization.
I am la-la-laing away in hopes that NSPS goes away. We have a good system. It needs tweaks, to be sure. Hiring actions should proceed more quickly. If someone is qualified for a job, they shouldn’t have to be in the “right” series, or have been a certain grade. Hookay…off of my soapbox.
I got the prezzies for the various parents and my middle sister and BIL. Sheesh, parking downtown SUCKS. I had to park above the UWT campus and come down a couple, three blocks to get to the restaurant. When I left the restaurant there were FOUR empty parking spaces in front of it. :mad: :smack:
As soon as my daughter gets home, I’ll take the kiddos to the mall so they can buy presents for each other. They are insisting on buying presents for **Mr. Taters ** and I, but I’d really rather they just spent the money on each other.
I’m not looking forward to going to the mall. It looked like pure craziness when I drove past it on my way home from errands.
ENVY
Pity my Older Sister. Her son’s birthday is December 22. Her husband’s birthday is December 23. Her daughter’s birthday is December 27. (She herself was born on our parents’ fourth anniversary.) They’re big believers in the Half-Birthday.
LiLi, I mean this in the nicest possible way, but you’re crazy! You’ve made all of that candy and you’ve stocked your freezer and you’re almost 9 months pregnant and you’re thinking about making more?? I say put your feet up and get some rest!
Meatloaf for dindin at our house tonight. Now I’m trying to decide whether I want to be totally lazy and have mashed potatoes from a box, somewhat non-lazy and have fried potatoes/cottage potatoes/whatever you call them, or rather ambitious and have risotto. I’ll have to see how I feel when I get home.
My manager’s cake for my birthday is good. But now I’m really on a sugar high.
And here’s where I annoy you envious people even more – the pictures don’t quite do it justice. It’s just amazingly beautiful here. I don’t think my camera can get the sparkles on the snow
We’ve gotten very loud snow here. By that I mean when you walk on it, it’s squeaky. I’ve never heard snow that squeaks quite so much. It’s all the light fluffy kind that is useless for snowballs and stuff but is, at least, easy to sweep off one’s car.
I met Porter the golden (no pics, sorry, I was carrying food and couldn’t do that and get a pic) who was bouncing like a puppy in the snow. I love happy goldens.
Appropriate and inappropriate hugs/yays/boos all around. I think I’m going to go take a shower.
No nap. Pretty snow pics. Wish I could post my snow pics here, too, but no cable as of yet… No time to get cable.
Dinner in oven. Tried to nap, but only succeeded in getting colder and colder under my Norwegian wool afghan (there’s something wrong with an afghan made in Norway–it sounds weird). No idea why. Doubt I’m sick again–that would be too much, no? :rolleyes:
Need to make grocery list for Saturday am–I think if I get there early enough, it won’t be too crazy, right? <crosses fingers>
I also need to mail my Xmas cards. Ha!