There's this commercial on tv. It's a woman remembering how her mother swears that a sponge is no good for cleaning because it traps in all kinds of nasty bacterias and spreads them around.
It then flashes to this little girl cleaning up a spill with a disgusting looking sponge. Suddenly this woman comes over and says 'No, no, here use this instead' and hands the little girl a Clorox wipe. The girl wipes up the spill and says "Thanks Grandma"
Yeah, is grandma trying to poision her granddaughter? Sure the icky bacteria in the sponge may have caused that same result, but couldn't the grandmother have used the bleach soaked cloth herself rather than hand it off to her granddaughter?
It's a miracle! I know, you're thinking that I'm being melodramatic. And maybe I am. No, I take that back, I'm not. Here's the situation.
On October 1, our company changed...well everything. They realized that they were paying too much for the medical benefits they were providing for us, and that they were paying too much to administer the pension plan thing, and that they were underpaying a lot of their employees. Also they decided that our employee rewards program needed reworking. Because, really do the people at the head office really need to get the rewards that are supposed to be sales related? No.
So, on the first of October, we got a new medical plan, a new retirement plan, a raise, and a new rewards program. That's great, right?
While we were at this meeting they held for us in August they gave us these forms to fill out which asked us how much we'd like to have deducted from our paycheques to go into the new retirement plan. I filled it out, sent it in and promptly forgot all about it. You'd think that was it, wouldn't you? Well, I thought it was anyway.
So, then these packages show up at work. They have no information with them to say when they need to be filled out and sent back, all there is is a video. Yes, because they're screwing around with our retirement, why not explain it all to us in a video? And, make the video an hour long, and as boring as it comes?
I did actually try to watch the video. Honest. But, I ended up fast forwarding most of the way through. I really have no interest in managing my own funds, so a huge explanation on how to do that wasn't of any interest to me at all. I guess while I was fast forwarding I missed the part where it told me when the forms were due. Oops.
But, whatever, that's why they created the Total Rewards hotline. I called it and talked to a very helpful woman named Susan who told me that the forms were due October 1st, and that I should fax them and then forward the originals in our regular weekly mailbag on Monday. All good, right? She also told me that later in October I'd have a chance to transfer my exsisting retirement type money into the new thingy. (Yes, those are technical terms! ;) )
Clearly this is someone who knows what she's talking about, she's employed by our company in the Human Resources department and DID in fact answer the Total Rewards hotline. I assumed that all those facts would mean that she'd know what was going on. Well, you know what they say about those who assume....
I faxed my forms, and sent the originals on as requested.
The next week when I was checking the managers email (because she'd been off for two days), I discovered a message from this HR woman to me. Why she'd send me email to that account is beyond me. At any rate, the message said that she had not received the original forms and therefore I was not going to be enrolled in the plan and I could reapply in January.
When I was at the meeting in August I was told that as a member of the previous pension plan, if I joined in October I would be vested in the new plan. I'm not entirely sure what that entails, but from what I understand it means that any contributions the company makes (they match up to a certain percent of my salary), will be mine immediately rather than waiting for 2 years like the new members to the plan will have to. Am I explaining this well? So, if I was forced to wait and apply in January, I'd miss out on that vesting opportunity.
Obviously I wasn't happy. I emailed this Susan person back and complained that I had only followed her directions, and if it was so urgent that they have the original forms then perhaps she should have mentioned it on the phone and I could have sent them right away instead of waiting till the next week. She just apologized and said that she'd thought the forms would get there in time, but obviously not, but I'd just have to reapply in January.
So I was pissed off about that. And then October 14th happened. Which is payday. My raise? Totally not there. As soon as I got to work and saw what the total was on my paystub I called my Regional Manager. He called me back several hours later.
Because payroll was processing raises for everyone in the company, they were SO backed up that they didn't get around to doing them all. !!!!! They've known about this for at least six months. How the hell could they not get it done?
So, on top of me not being enrolled in the pension plan, I also didn't get my raise. I have to say, I was feeling awfully disillusioned. I decided to ask my RM about the pension mix up and see if he had any suggestions. In fact he did! (I like our new RM) He suggested that I email the VP of HR, he mentioned that she was out of town for two days but he was sure she'd get back to me.
I emailed her as suggested. On Monday she emailed me back, in fact someone else in HR had received my forms, and she submitted them to the retirement company thing. AND, the deductions are supposed to come out at the end of the month each month, so I should see that on the next pay.
Thank goodness for that great person in HR who found my forms and sent them in to whomever they needed to go to. I'm glad someone at our head office works.
Now...if only payroll would get their acts together.
Not being particularly knowledgeable about either regular history, or art history I spent the entire time I read this book wondering if a) There ever was an Amber Room and b) What it would look like if there actually was.
Actually, being as uninformed as I am I didn't even know what Amber was. I mean, I realize that it's what you often find ancient mosquitos stuck in, but that's about it. To imagine an entire room made out of that yellowish plasticy looking stuff, sounds...well disgusting actually. But, it was described as being this beautiful, breathtaking thing. So I wonder, and imagine, and try and create a picture of it in my mind.
The book has been billed as something for people who enjoyed the DaVinci Code. I haven't read that. In fact, it's entirely likely that I never will. I always find when a book has been hyped to the point where you'd think it had been written on golden pages, that I don't enjoy it very much. Case in point, The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency. It was enjoyable, but in my opinion, not everything that it was touted to be.
So, as the story goes, there was all kinds of art stolen by the Nazis during the second world war. This I know to be true. The story in this book is that Hitler and his number 2 guy ( I can't remember his name) were bitterly competitive about their collections, and fought over acquiring the best pieces. Somehow the Amber Room got lost. Lost in the caves in the mountains.
The first glimpse we see of the story is of a man they call 'Ears', in a German concentration camp. He's called ears because he is the only Russian in their area who understands German. For this reason he's routinely chosen to go on...errands (for lack of a better term), so that he can instruct the others what to do. On one of these errands he sees Hitler's number 2 guy (still don't remember his name), interrogating some of the men that transported The Amber Room to it's hiding place. He stripped them naked, tied them to wooden posts, and poured water over their heads until they froze to death. None of them talked. And they froze to death, naked, tied to their wooden posts.
In Europe there is a group of private collectors. Their collections are vast, and most are top secret. They employ people to go out and recover the pieces for them. The race to these treasures sometimes gets heated, and people die.
It's entirely likely that I am not explaining this well. It's a book I really enjoyed. If you've heard about anything else I've ever read, you'll know that it's not exactly the type of book I'm drawn to. Generally the light and fluffy variety is what catches my attention. However, this one was fantastic. If the Davinci Code is this good, maybe I should read it. I'm quite sure I won't, but maybe I'm missing out.
I feel as though I haven't had a vacation this year. I'm not entirely sure why since I've been to New York for a long weekend , Charlotte for a week, and to the cottage for a week. That's more vacation right there than I had the year before. And I've still got time left to take! Which is very exciting. I really wish I could take it and go somewhere far away, which will make my subconscious realize that I've had vacation. Of course, it wouldn't necessarily quash the desire for another vacation, but really, who is ever tired of vacations?
On Thursday I'm going to Charlotte again. And as you can probably imagine I'm really looking forward to it. Not only because it'll be a vacation, but also because I'll get to see my mom again. I haven't seen her since August, and I miss her. I've been feeling sort of down lately, so I'm hoping that some time away, and a visit to my mom will lift my spirits.
In the meantime, I'm working lots. We have a bookfair going this week, there are 10 tables out in the middle of the mall that someone has to stay with all day. I was out there today, and it went fairly well. We have these beautiful tea pots. Yes, I know, I work at a bookstore, but we have some clearance gift product, and these teapots came with that. The teapots are $7.99. When we were talking about it on our conference call last week our Regional Manager Todd said that last year at large format (which is Chapters and Indigo), they sold these teapots at mothers day for $35! Since I can't seem to find my teapot anywhere. I'm going to get one.
Tomorrow night I'm supposed to go to a movie. I'm not sure if that will happen or not at this point, but at the moment I think it's still the plan. Tuesday evening Sam is coming over to hang out. Wednesday I'll be packing and then Thursday I'll be off.
Hopefully the trip will cure my wanderlust.