Finally got the job offer I’ve been waiting for. It’s not quite what we discussed (being more temporary in nature), but it might still work out in the long run and would give me a chance to earn money to pay my parents back however much they’re going to have to lend me for the divorce settlement.
…but six more weeks.
That’s another Friday down, only five more to go (since my last day is a Thursday). Of course, I’ll be working this weekend and next (full days), but hey, it’s something.
Finally got a response from my solicitors today. A very junior (and very scared sounding) boy called to confirm receipt of my instructions and cheque (damn right). It remains to be seen whether they will act upon my instructions next week or wait for the appropriate staff member to return from holiday, but at least they’ve got it this time (third time lucky is correct).
Work have finally announced that I have resigned (6 weeks ago), so I can be openly happy about leaving. If I hadn’t already then this week would have finished me off. The list of (I don’t want to call us rats) leaving the ship is pretty impressive. In one go they’re losing a senior manager, two managers (though one has been persuaded to move internally), two assitant managers (again, one is an internal transfer), a consultant, and a secretary. It’s not like the department is huge, either. Ah well, not my problem. I almost feel sorry for those left behind since they are already horrendously overworked, but nah. Fuck ’em.
Finally got back to my knitting yesterday having done nothing for a week. I tidied up my queue at Ravelry, then spotted a rather nice peacock based shawl that some purple laceweight silk would go well with, so it all got reorganised. Peacocks are, of course, evil, but I have a soft spot for them so hopefully it’ll knit up well. But not before I finish the project I’m currently on, the one after that (which I need by EJC), and the one I’m going to knit at Bungay. That’s just the big projects, mind, and doesn’t include 3 presents due on various days.
Hopefully my knitzi will arrive soon and I can start knitting socks during my commute without fear of breaking needles (though I am planning on switching to metal DPNs). When asked what I wanted as a leaving present, yarn was mentioned, so I requested sock yarn, from iKnit. You can never have too much sock yarn. Especially now I’ve got a stitchionary and a whole book about them. I just have to fit them in around the lace.Â
It seems to me that someone is playing a trick on me to see just how much stress one person can take.
As if the run up to April 15th weren’t hectic enough, not only am I managing the people below me, and my own work, I also have to manage the people above me (which means that none of my work is actually getting done, particularly since I can’t work late without risking losing days in bed, ill). What I really needed, therefore, was for an argument about who was authorised for services on my main client to blow up. I was never involved in this but am the only person available to dig into it all and try and calm people down. Great.
On top of which I seem to have every client ever requesting status updates, which means that my time is spent chasing other people instead of actually doing work (when I’m not ranting on blogs, that is).
Divorcewise, I dutifully sent off the cheque and instructions (the previous 2 sets of which had been lost) to my solicitor on Monday, with a note for them to call me when the package was received (so many packages and e-mails have been lost). No call yet, so I phone the office. The person dealing with my case is on holiday, the person covering their work is too busy to talk to me, but they will send me a note if they’ve received my cheque. So if they haven’t, exactly how long is it going to take them to work that out? This is only the first counter-offer on the divorce settlement, which I instructed them about on 13 March, there could be several offers backwards and forwards until it is resolved and the divorce is supposed to be being finalised in under 3 weeks (with payment 4 weeks after that). The financial arguments could delay the divorce being finalised, or they might not. I don’t know how much money I’m going to have to raise, or in how short a space of time. I don’t know when I’m going to be able to get my house to myself. Oh, and my solicitor is on leave until a week on Monday, the 14th, just over a week before the divorce is supposed to be finalised. Marvellous. The other side are bound to get arsey because they won’t have had a response in a month despite the fact that I responded on the same day as I got the letter from my solicitor.Â
All of which is delaying my pre-registration for EJC as names on credit cards need to match up. Swell.
I am surrounded by idiots. Not only are my solicitors a waste of money (losing letters, cheques, e-mails and not appearing to be putting my best interests first), but it appears that everyone at my current place of employment is incompetent too.
As part of the move to the new building everyone is required to log in to their desk by 10:00. This isn’t co-ordinated say through logging in to your phone or computer. Oh no. You have to log in either by scanning your barcode at one of the two kiosks on your floor (yes we all have barcodes now), or through the online system. I’m sure this would work fine if either of the kiosks worked, or the online system didn’t crash. So, having spent over half an hour trying to log in to my desk so that no-one else tries to book it as a hotdesk, I’ve been bumped out of it. That’s going to be a fun argument if someone turns up trying to work.
Technical issues aside, the people don’t seem any more sensibly wired. I’ve only been gone for 3 working days and yet had over 120 e-mails, most of which, having gone through them, are questions of the most idiotic type which funnily enough I can answer with minimal thought. On my biggest client apparently the senior manager had a right panic and infected everyone else with it over what turned out to be absolutely nothing. Goodness knows how they will cope when I’m gone (just under seven weeks to go).
I will post about the BJC later, but I want to do that when I’m in a good mood and not despairing at the future of the human race.
Returned home to find a letter from the solicitors asking for more money (surprise surprise), but also chasing for an answer to their letter of 13 March. That’ll be the reply I sent by e-mail on 14th March then, and followed up on last Tuesday. Evidently they can’t seem to cope with either e-mails or complicated payment options which don’t involve paper. They’ve so far lost one cheque of mine and four e-mails, and everything is delayed by another two weeks. Sigh.
A bit of a Monday feeling about today, despite the fact that it’s Tuesday.
The Easter weekend was a good break, even if I did have to work on the Friday. I should have worked Saturday, Sunday and Monday too, but the incompetents who pretend to do work for me had done it all wrong, so there was nothing I could do. You’d expect that to be a good thing, except I’m off for the rest of this week at BJC and that means I will effecitevely be a week behind by the time I actually get a chance to look at stuff.
No word from either my solicitor or my old boss, so I have e-mailed the former and left a voicemail for the latter. I could do with some good news, but at the moment would settle for any news that allows me to make plans and not feel stuck in this limbo.
Packing for BJC has got as far as me throwing some clothes on to my bed as I got ready for work this morning. As with moving house or office, it’s not a big deal and I can get it done in about half an hour (provided I can find the important things, like Jungle Jam).Â
The forecast for BJC has changed from bright but cold, to rainy and marginally warmer. Not sure which I’d prefer, but there’s nothing I can do about it, so hey ho.
The cat was ecstatic to see me after spending Easter on her own. She’d wolfed all of the food down for her (two pouches and a massive pile of biscuit), but must have filled herself up as she wasn’t too fussed when I put more food down. She was so excited to see me that she had to tell me at 4 this morning by wailing outside my bedroom door, then sitting on my chest, purring. I’ll take it as a sign of affection and not a form of revenge.
My day at work (so far) is notable for the number of internal e-mails to which the resounding reply has been “Fuck Off! Are you people not busy?”**, complaints about the air conditioning/heating (my colleagues are cold* whilst I am sweltering), and spending 40 minutes on the phone to IT – who couldn’t fix the problem.
 In lighter news, the vending machine gave me two Twix (Twixes?) for the price of one, so I’m going to spend my windfall on a packet of crisps. Oh, and I got sent a song earlier, which was nice.
I also texted my ex-boss to remind him about the job he was supposedly offering me. Fingers crossed that works out otherwise I might have to borrow more than the extra I need to pay off the divorce from my parents.
*well I say “my colleagues”. Of the four of us: I am overheating; one person is complaining of being freezing; another is going along with it; and the third is saying that they would be cold if they weren’t wearing a jumper.Â
**Just received another one: Can you do X, Y and Z, I need it urgently? WTF? On top of the 17 things you’ve already asked me to do urgently for you today? Have you considered doing some actual work yourself, you lazy bastard? Seriously, where is my motivation to do this? I’m leaving in 9 weeks and haven’t once got a thank you when I’ve gone above and beyond (presumably because this happens Every. Sodding. Day). No wonder there are 6 people scheduled to leave in the next couple of months (from a group of 32).
A bit of an odd start to the week. I woke up at about twenty past five from a bit of a nightmare, with the sound of rain lashing against the back of the house (which took me a good few minutes to work out what it was since I sleep at the front of the house). I eventually got over that post-dream confusion where I thought there was someone in the house and decided my bladder took priority. The year is certainly rushing on as it was light enough not to have to switch any of the lights on, and the weather was certainly making a meal of things.
Speaking of weather, thoughts have turned to the BJC. These things aren’t the most predictable, but at the moment it looks like it’s going to be a cold and wet one (minus 5 at night, minus 5!), so jumpers and wellies at the ready (I think I shall have indoor shoes and outdoor shoes this year) and as many duvets as will fit in the car (mmm, a tent entirely filled with duvets – I’d never leave). But don’t let that put anyone off.
The first part of the divorce goes through today, the court pronouncing the decree nisi. No word on whether the settlement is going to be accepted and the cat and I appear to have the house to ourselves this week, which should be an opportunity to tidy up but is actually going to be an opportunity to go to bed even later than normal and not getting woken up early.
I did take the opportunity to laugh at lots of people with umbrella’s this morning. The storm has been on the news enough that people should know that there are due to be high winds. Umbrellas don’t function well in high winds. Personally, I took my snow jacket which fits to below waist level and a baseball cap. With the hood up over the basebal cap I keep the rain out of my face (and importantly off my glasses), and the top half of me is dry. Unless you’ve got a huge golf umbrella you’re not going to be able to keep your lower half dry anyway, so why bother battling a load of fabric and metal?
I’ve just been running some numbers (back of the envelope stuff) and it looks like I’m going to be having a particularly lean May and June, what with having to pay back my season ticket loan to be soon to be ex-employer, and further solicitor’s costs for having a consent order drawn up (if the proposed settlement is agreed).
I’ve managed to turn one firm job offer down (I never saw the actual offer letter as it was handled by the recruitment agency), but the other one I was given verbally hasn’t had the written offer arrive yet in the post which is starting to worry me. Fingers crossed I get an offer I can accept soon so that I can start earning again (cat food costs money), though it looks like I won’t get much of a break between jobs if I want to live on more than bread and water. Of course, if the proposed settlement isn’t agreed then I’ll have to find more money from somewhere, both to buy out the house and to pay the accompanying legal fees.
At least I have my ipod to comfort me, even if it hasn’t been paid for yet, and luckily I get home after the shops have shut, so can’t spend any money there. I can always temp to meet the bills.
This morning I got a letter from my solicitor confirming the court date for the pronouncement of the decree nisi: 10th March, a lot sooner that we’d thought. This puts the first date for a decree absolute to be issued at 22 April.