saxy has begun training for the new position with the crap company. don't get me wrong, we're glad he's employed, but the paycheck shenanigans are wearing thin. which is why, even though he could earn more as a driver (on good weeks and assuming they don't find ways for the miles to not count, which has been the norm of late), he's taking the new position. he'll be earning about what he was making when doing construction, only he'll be having taxes taken out. we can deal with that. having a steady, regular, we can count on the amount paycheck will be a godsend. seriously so. and so far, they're doing the training bit gradually -- not dumping all the info on him all at once. this should make it easier for him to get the system down.
and maybe, just maybe, once we use a chunk of the tax return to catch up on our utilities, we can stay caught up. maybe we can get back on track with the rent and pay it all on or near the 1st again -- though that one may be hoping too much. at the very least, i'm hoping i can split the utility payments and get out of this perpetual round robin of disconnect notices and late fees.
this is actually going to become even more important now that trin is out of the military. we have no idea if he's still going to honor his agreement to pay the amount he told kitten he'd pay. if not, we're probably going to have to reduce the amount she pays towards rent and utilities just to help her out. that reduces our available income and makes staying on top of things even more important. if we end up back in this craziness, i don't see us being able to catch up again any time soon. saxy is under employed. getting behind again would be impossible to fix at our income level. look at what 2 or 3 months of unemployment did. we've been trying to get back on top for nearly 6 months now. it's been impossible.
the good news is that there don't seem to be any more rumbles of the company shutting down. instead, the owner is working on getting a new driver to replace saxy once he's completely in the new position. and, from the sounds of it, they might need another driver on top of that. i'm not going to say saxy's job is 100% secure right now -- no one's job seems to be secure in this economy -- but it seems more secure than it was over the holidays.
which leads to another good thing. saxy will be on salary. this means he gets paid that same wage every week. it's not a $70/day thing, it's a "this is what you get per week". of course, i'm sure if he missed a day, the company might try to screw him out of that day's pay, but right now it's a per week thing so he should get the whole week's pay regardless. the down side? no extra pay for holidays, though they did say he would get a little more for being on call on weekends. he's trying to decide how many weekends a month to be on call. i say it should be two, he's thinking just one, i'm sure the boss would like it to be every weekend. lol
after such a bad year in 2008, it's nice to see this year starting off with such promise. we're still going to need to watch the pennies, but we're already feeling like we're in a better place than where last year ended.
as for the remainder of the tax return, i'm definitely getting my "scaled down" laptop. in fact, once the utilities are paid up, i'm supposed to go and handle my laptop, the things for this desktop, and the wireless network first. i'm also supposed to try to find saxy a really cheap laptop (something around $400, if possible). i've been looking around to figure out what is the best to get and have gotten some good advice on what to look for and what to have done before i bring anything home. i have to admit, after the problems with my first comp, i'm really nervous about this. last thing i need is another nightmare machine. fortunately, i'm not looking for a high end media and gaming machine, so that should help reduce any possible problems. the desktop will remain my graphics, web work, and email machine, pretty much. the laptop will primarily be for writing and editing work (so the one thing i need to be sure to get is win word; though i don't necessarily want office). saxy would like a more media friendly machine, but for music and movies, not gaming. as you can see, a lot of thought is going into these two machines. here's hoping i find ones that work as well, and as long, as the desktop has.
after that, there's something saxy wants, which i have no problem with him picking up, then we're discussing a ps3. while the ps3 would be freaking expensive compared to a dvd player, a dvd player won't allow us to play our games when the ps2, which really is on its last legs, finally goes out. and if we don't buy now, there's no way we'll have the money for it later. problem is, we'd not only have to pick up the actual ps3, but new memory cards and at least one, possibly two, controllers. that bumps the cost up at least $100, and we all ready have to pick up a more expensive machine to make sure it will play the older games. the one thing we're NOT getting with it (assuming we can afford to get it at all) is any new games. personally, i can wait until 2010, which is when the game i want comes out. saxy's games that he wants are on a reduced price list, so we might be able to pick them up at a later time. i'm just going to be happy that we can play our games, that taz can play his games, and that we'll have something to watch the movies with. it would be really sad to not to be able to do either, considering the number of games and movies we own. :P
any money left after that will probably go to a new office chair for me (mine just won't stay at the right elevation for me...it's the incredible sinking chair almost every time i sit in it) and glasses. i'm nearsighted, so it is very weird to have to hold a book away from my face to be able to read it. yea, definitely time to take care of the glasses issue.
on the one hand, i feel incredibly indulgent. on the other, i need the laptop to work. saxy's stuff, well, yea, i guess those are a little indulgent, but it also only seems fair. and the ps3? well, it's now or never...and losing the ability to watch movies and play our games once the ps2 tanks. we don't go out to movies much any more, and taz does have games he loves to play, so while it's expensive now, the ps3 will provide the majority of our entertainment for the next few years, so it ends up being a good investment.
still can't help thinking maybe a little should be tucked away somewhere. but anything left after the glasses will go to other pressing needs. not that there will be much of anything left after all that. if the amount is too small to be much use elsewhere, we just might take the family out to eat at a nice place. eating out is another one of those luxuries we just don't get to do much any more (and when we do, it's because kitten and fitts decided to pay for everyone). and while all the electronics have their purposes, they're still for me and saxy more than anything (with the exception of the ps3), so treating the family out would be a good way to spread some of the cheer and indulgence around.
and after all the crap last year, just maybe we're due for a little indulgence.
~*~
word of the moment: munificent
very generous; very liberal in giving or bestowing; lavish; characterized by great liberality or generosity
