So why is it that it's perfectly acceptable for your employer to not pay on time, but you rack up absurd penalties for turning around and paying your bills late?
As I've mentioned before, I do a lot of freelancing, so I have had quite a few experiences with employers paying me from anywhere to a day to eight weeks late. My frustration increases when these paychecks arrive late...but I still have to pay my rent, insurance, and utilities on time.
I've talked to several experts in the financial realm - accountants, lawyers, etc., and unfortunately there's not an easy answer. If an employer hasn't paid you, you can indeed file a complaint in small claims court, but that can take weeks or months to go through - way past when your bills are due. Or, if a contractor doesn't pay you at all, you can write off you missing check as a tax deduction...but again, that's not really helping with the here and now.
Oh, and the best part is the whole direct deposit thing. I have NEVER been employed by any company who gets this right the first time. I usually go through one to three pay periods before someone gets off their lazy ass and actually types in my information. In the meantime...I'm just waiting for another late check.
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Pedestrian Woes
We had a discussion earlier this week about other pet peeves on Twitter, and @andymurd brought up bad pedestrian behavior. Since you're already used to my bitching about bad driving, a lot of these may sound familiar, because they follow the same rules:
1) If you're walking slow or stopping frequently, then stay to the right. This applies to everything from shopping malls to busy sidewalks, to escalators. Other people might actually know where they are going or, *gasp!*, have some place to be, so just get out of the way and let the rest of society get on with their lives.
2) Speaking of escalators, don't freakin' STOP after getting off the steps and look around to see which way to go. There are people behind you, remember? No one is having fun walking backwards on those things while you get your bearings, so just take a few steps and get out of the way while you figure out where you are.
3) Groups: if the sidewalk is only wide enough to let 4 people through, then don't try cramming your whole group together in one line. Other people need to walk on the sidewalk at some point, too, you know.
All in all, just use some common sense. Realize you're not the only one there. Understand that other people have places to go, too.
1) If you're walking slow or stopping frequently, then stay to the right. This applies to everything from shopping malls to busy sidewalks, to escalators. Other people might actually know where they are going or, *gasp!*, have some place to be, so just get out of the way and let the rest of society get on with their lives.
2) Speaking of escalators, don't freakin' STOP after getting off the steps and look around to see which way to go. There are people behind you, remember? No one is having fun walking backwards on those things while you get your bearings, so just take a few steps and get out of the way while you figure out where you are.
3) Groups: if the sidewalk is only wide enough to let 4 people through, then don't try cramming your whole group together in one line. Other people need to walk on the sidewalk at some point, too, you know.
All in all, just use some common sense. Realize you're not the only one there. Understand that other people have places to go, too.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Driving Rant #4.5: A Day in the Life of...
Today we take a brief pause in the planned line of subjects for a full blown rant about my drive home from work today.
I knew the day wasn’t starting out well when I couldn’t even leave the parking garage. I park in the same garage for work every day I’m there, but for some reason today the parking attendant decided to be a head case and demanded to see my ID along with my check card. So I gave it to her...she looked at it, looked at me, and said "That don’t look like you!" Ugh. I’m wearing glasses today, and not in that photo. So after about five minutes of arguing back and forth, reciting my address, and showing her two other forms of ID, she finally lets me pay and go. I mean seriously - I think if someone was using a stolen wallet they’d have better things to buy than overpriced city parking space.
I managed to get about two blocks from the garage when I’m stopped behind a Fed-Ex tractor trailer completely blocking traffic. Now, this is Main Street - there is a fair amount of traffic coming in the opposite direction. So I wait, and I wait, and I wait - in the meantime, a city cop pulls up behind me in line. Finally, a small space opens up in oncoming traffic, and as I begin to pull into the lane, the cop behind me turns into the lane and passes me, narrowly missing the driver side of my car. In the meantime, oncoming traffic approaches, and the cop and the oncoming car are at a standstill next to the tractor trailer. Now, keep in mind the cop is obviously the one going the wrong way - instead of backing up and letting the correct traffic go through, he turns on his lights and sirens and makes all of the oncoming traffic back up so that he can get through. He then turns of his lights and sirens, and continues down the road at a leisurely pace - while the rest of us are still stuck behind the goddamned truck.
As for the truck - dude, seriously, even if the loading dock is full, do NOT block freakin’ Main Street to unload your packages. There is a side street not 20 feet ahead of you that you can pull into and not disrupt one of the major arteries of downtown traffic.
After that fiasco, I headed towards the interstate on one of the main roadways, and got behind a lady who came to a dead stop at a green light in the middle of the three lane road. She then signals to turn right, and as I’m about to pass her on the left, she then swerves to the left at the last minute and signals a turn in that direction. I stop, she doesn’t move, and then the light turns red.
She then proceeds to turn right as originally planned (still in the middle lane, btw), and I’m stuck for a whole light cycle.
I FINALLY make it to the interstate (keep in mind this is just over two miles from my work place, and it has already taken me over half and hour to get there), and merge on - and than am almost immediately run off the road by a handicapped driver who cut in front of me and then slammed on her brakes to avoid hitting the car in front of her.
Two minutes later, I watch a see of red brake lights light up in front of me as a dump truck crosses four lanes of interstate traffic at once to make a last minute left exit.
It was like America’s Worst Driver’s all rolled into one episode for my viewing pleasure. Oh, wait, there wasn’t any snow. Well, there’s some forecasted again for Wednesday.
I knew the day wasn’t starting out well when I couldn’t even leave the parking garage. I park in the same garage for work every day I’m there, but for some reason today the parking attendant decided to be a head case and demanded to see my ID along with my check card. So I gave it to her...she looked at it, looked at me, and said "That don’t look like you!" Ugh. I’m wearing glasses today, and not in that photo. So after about five minutes of arguing back and forth, reciting my address, and showing her two other forms of ID, she finally lets me pay and go. I mean seriously - I think if someone was using a stolen wallet they’d have better things to buy than overpriced city parking space.
I managed to get about two blocks from the garage when I’m stopped behind a Fed-Ex tractor trailer completely blocking traffic. Now, this is Main Street - there is a fair amount of traffic coming in the opposite direction. So I wait, and I wait, and I wait - in the meantime, a city cop pulls up behind me in line. Finally, a small space opens up in oncoming traffic, and as I begin to pull into the lane, the cop behind me turns into the lane and passes me, narrowly missing the driver side of my car. In the meantime, oncoming traffic approaches, and the cop and the oncoming car are at a standstill next to the tractor trailer. Now, keep in mind the cop is obviously the one going the wrong way - instead of backing up and letting the correct traffic go through, he turns on his lights and sirens and makes all of the oncoming traffic back up so that he can get through. He then turns of his lights and sirens, and continues down the road at a leisurely pace - while the rest of us are still stuck behind the goddamned truck.
As for the truck - dude, seriously, even if the loading dock is full, do NOT block freakin’ Main Street to unload your packages. There is a side street not 20 feet ahead of you that you can pull into and not disrupt one of the major arteries of downtown traffic.
After that fiasco, I headed towards the interstate on one of the main roadways, and got behind a lady who came to a dead stop at a green light in the middle of the three lane road. She then signals to turn right, and as I’m about to pass her on the left, she then swerves to the left at the last minute and signals a turn in that direction. I stop, she doesn’t move, and then the light turns red.
She then proceeds to turn right as originally planned (still in the middle lane, btw), and I’m stuck for a whole light cycle.
I FINALLY make it to the interstate (keep in mind this is just over two miles from my work place, and it has already taken me over half and hour to get there), and merge on - and than am almost immediately run off the road by a handicapped driver who cut in front of me and then slammed on her brakes to avoid hitting the car in front of her.
Two minutes later, I watch a see of red brake lights light up in front of me as a dump truck crosses four lanes of interstate traffic at once to make a last minute left exit.
It was like America’s Worst Driver’s all rolled into one episode for my viewing pleasure. Oh, wait, there wasn’t any snow. Well, there’s some forecasted again for Wednesday.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Money Mondays, v2.0
(Posting a day early as my internet at home is still out because of recent weather...not sure if I'd be able to tomorrow!)
As promised, here’s a little update about some convenient ways to make or save a little bit of cash online, which may be especially useful to those of you with smaller or unstable incomes, like myself:
Mypoints.com - as predicted, I ‘cashed out’ for a $10 Panera gift card the other week. So far, I think I have to say this is my favorite online cash cow - I get points for reading emails, writing reviews on certain websites, or using a few internet applications (like a weather channel desktop app or their own search toolbar). Not a lot of work at all. And get this - after I requested my gift card (which was right around 1500 points), I got a 500 point bonus for ordering the card. Yes, that’s right...I’m already a third of the way to my next one! All this for doing their smaller, ‘no purchase required’ offers; if you actually use their interface to place orders through their supported merchants (and there are a lot of them), you can rack up thousands of points on each order, which could essentially make your purchases free or close to it. Definitely recommending registering with this one.
Netverdix - I hadn't mentioned this before, but this is a smaller but well-reviewed survey site. They don't send many survey invites, but qualifying is easy, and there is no minimum to cash out. So I took a short survey back in December and automatically received a check from them this week for it. (Ok, ok...it was only two dollars, but hey - that's a cup of coffee for work tomorrow, eh?)
Free stuff updates - Hey, look what’s in the mail! I got a free energy drink mix, a book about wine, two fragrance samples (from StartSampling.com), and a sample of GoldBond Lotion from Wal-mart.
Getting paid for your junkmail? Not so much. I registered for a company that supposedly will pay you for certain junkmail and spam email (specifically, anything relating to finances - banks, credit, insurance, etc.) at the suggestion of some of my online pals. While they have (and continue to have) a very positive experience with the company, I can only assume the business is not taking new consumers on as I have yet to get any response from them after registering. Total bummer, too, since I get so much junk mail that would qualify.
As promised, here’s a little update about some convenient ways to make or save a little bit of cash online, which may be especially useful to those of you with smaller or unstable incomes, like myself:
Mypoints.com - as predicted, I ‘cashed out’ for a $10 Panera gift card the other week. So far, I think I have to say this is my favorite online cash cow - I get points for reading emails, writing reviews on certain websites, or using a few internet applications (like a weather channel desktop app or their own search toolbar). Not a lot of work at all. And get this - after I requested my gift card (which was right around 1500 points), I got a 500 point bonus for ordering the card. Yes, that’s right...I’m already a third of the way to my next one! All this for doing their smaller, ‘no purchase required’ offers; if you actually use their interface to place orders through their supported merchants (and there are a lot of them), you can rack up thousands of points on each order, which could essentially make your purchases free or close to it. Definitely recommending registering with this one.
Netverdix - I hadn't mentioned this before, but this is a smaller but well-reviewed survey site. They don't send many survey invites, but qualifying is easy, and there is no minimum to cash out. So I took a short survey back in December and automatically received a check from them this week for it. (Ok, ok...it was only two dollars, but hey - that's a cup of coffee for work tomorrow, eh?)
Free stuff updates - Hey, look what’s in the mail! I got a free energy drink mix, a book about wine, two fragrance samples (from StartSampling.com), and a sample of GoldBond Lotion from Wal-mart.
Getting paid for your junkmail? Not so much. I registered for a company that supposedly will pay you for certain junkmail and spam email (specifically, anything relating to finances - banks, credit, insurance, etc.) at the suggestion of some of my online pals. While they have (and continue to have) a very positive experience with the company, I can only assume the business is not taking new consumers on as I have yet to get any response from them after registering. Total bummer, too, since I get so much junk mail that would qualify.
Friday, February 5, 2010
Bad Driving Rant #4: Driving in the Snow
There is a time and a place to practice driving in the snow. On the interstate, in seven inches of ice and snow, in your Prelude, is not it.
So I just recently moved to a coastal area that's not prone to snow, but lo and behold, last week we had six inches dumped on us. I come from an area where snow and ice was the norm during the winter months, so I dug my SUV out of the driveway, and slowly headed on into work.
I admit to being momentarily shocked that the interstates weren't even plowed - but then I remembered my city probably didn't even own plows. So I stayed in four wheel drive and leisurely made my way down the road.
I live 17 miles away from my work place. I counted 34 wrecked, disabled, or stuck cars just on my way in that day. Seriously - did you think your lightweight 2-cylinder sports car was gonna get any traction OR clearance in half a foot of snow?
Some tips to drivers unaccustomed to driving in the snow:
1) If you don't have four-wheel drive, stay home.
2) If you don't have any experience driving in the snow, stay home.
3) Slamming on your breaks in the snow or ice is a sure fire way to NOT stop. If you need to stop or make a turn, simply let off the accelerator early and slowly glide into a stop.
4) Leave at least 100 yards between you and any other vehicle. Even if you think you're in control of your car, you still don't know about that other guy.
5) If you have a pick-up truck, put some bricks or rocks in the back so that you actually have enough weight to not go fish-tailing all over creation.
Of course, as usual - unless you really have to drive in that stuff, just stay home with some hot coffee and a good book.
So I just recently moved to a coastal area that's not prone to snow, but lo and behold, last week we had six inches dumped on us. I come from an area where snow and ice was the norm during the winter months, so I dug my SUV out of the driveway, and slowly headed on into work.
I admit to being momentarily shocked that the interstates weren't even plowed - but then I remembered my city probably didn't even own plows. So I stayed in four wheel drive and leisurely made my way down the road.
I live 17 miles away from my work place. I counted 34 wrecked, disabled, or stuck cars just on my way in that day. Seriously - did you think your lightweight 2-cylinder sports car was gonna get any traction OR clearance in half a foot of snow?
Some tips to drivers unaccustomed to driving in the snow:
1) If you don't have four-wheel drive, stay home.
2) If you don't have any experience driving in the snow, stay home.
3) Slamming on your breaks in the snow or ice is a sure fire way to NOT stop. If you need to stop or make a turn, simply let off the accelerator early and slowly glide into a stop.
4) Leave at least 100 yards between you and any other vehicle. Even if you think you're in control of your car, you still don't know about that other guy.
5) If you have a pick-up truck, put some bricks or rocks in the back so that you actually have enough weight to not go fish-tailing all over creation.
Of course, as usual - unless you really have to drive in that stuff, just stay home with some hot coffee and a good book.
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