what a week
saturday, september 22, 2012


yea, i know i haven't written in a month. most of the time it's just a lack of time and other things taking priority. this past week...i don't even know. it's been a doozy.

i guess the biggest thing is what's been up with saxy and his production job. the manager he works under has been not so gradually pushing him into a position that doesn't allow him to work for the company he loves working for (the catering job) and into a management position that he doesn't want. they're still paying on 1099 after promising to go to w-2s months ago, so we're already pretty screwed when it comes tax time. my only hope is that we'll end up owing nothing or very little, but this has been his primary job for most of the year in terms of hours, so i'm honestly not holding my breath. we came under the line for a deferment of his loans just barely, but my son no longer qualifies for free/reduced meals at the school, so i have no idea where we fall in terms of taxes and how badly this will hit us. anyway, the company is trying to finalize their usda qualifications so they can get their food into grocery stores. as part of the transition, the manager has decided that saxy will work the 2 to midnight shift where all he'll do is cut veg, which does nothing for the career he plans on going into. after everything else that's gone on, he told me what was happening, the shift change and so on, and i told him to give his two week notice. he doesn't have anything to cover what we're losing yet, but this is just ridiculous. he was hired with the understanding that the catering company was his priority job, and now he can't even work it. he was given the keys to open and close the place and a "manager" title, so to speak (though we have no idea what it's supposed to entail because he was never given any additional duties other than opening and closing the place, though he does supposedly lead the evening shift, not that anyone told them or really listens much) and a $1 "raise" for it. at this point, they're making it impossible for him to even try to move on to what he needs to do for what HE wants for his career (and veg production ain't it, folks), so the options weren't very good: stick with it and be miserable and not get the background he needs, or take a bit of a risk and jump. i knew he wouldn't be comfortable taking that jump, so i told him to do what he needs to do and do it now, before things get so entrenched that getting out will be harder on everyone involved. and here's the thing: if they hadn't told him he'd be working these new hours and everything else that's going on to get them usda approved, he may never have taken that leap.

and, really, i was pretty sure this wasn't going to be as huge a risk as it sounds. his catering company chefs have been very supportive, and his el taco chef has recently increased his hours to help cover what he was missing from not working catering as much any more. saxy texted them and told them what was going on, and within 5 minutes, both responded and told him they have his back and to keep them in the loop. so even if he doesn't get into lure like we hope, we're pretty sure they're going to do what they can to help cover the loss. we'll still be making less than we were until a third job takes over the vacuum, but it won't be desperate bad, i hope.

the real kicker? when he gave his notice, his boss was pretty much "We'll see what we can do." um...what? then she told someone else she needed to talk to him some more about it, and when she did finally talk to him about it, she tried to tell him she WAS getting him ready for a sous chef position. she just doesn't seem to understand that he NEEDS actual, in a restaurant line experience and has A LOT to cover to get prepared for acf sous chef exam in 5 years. she wants him to think about it. monday, he's going back in and sticking to his guns. two weeks notice is generally "i'm done and i'm leaving", not "convince me some more." she didn't offer more money, but it honestly wouldn't help, not with the tax situation the way it is. if anything, it would make it worse, so that's not nearly the temptation it would seem like.

the other kicker early this week was some paperwork from ssi to make sure taz is still disabled. like autism goes away. and it's a lot of paperwork. i've had to work on it in small doses because it's so overwhelming. i can't even imagine taz trying to fill this stuff out. i've got to finish it this weekend and get it out in monday's mail because it's supposed to be in by friday. usually they give you longer than 2 weeks. and i'm just hoping i'm not screwing anything up for him. right now it seems like the government is trying to drop as many people as they can off everything, and i wouldn't be surprised if one "wrong" answer would screw him over for life. so that has me stressed out a bit. even more so than hubs taking this leap because the financial impact for all of us would be disastrous. we'd be losing 1/3rd of our income, and i already know one of his meds is several hundred dollars for 2 or 3 months. there's just no way we could cover it all. i've been thinking of applying for food stamps for him, but i don't know. i hate dealing with the bureaucracy years of being on afdc in cali just taught me to hate the whole process (and romney thinks we're all lazy asses who love being on the dole, moron). i need to get through this with ssi before i decide, i guess. and also see what happens with saxy's jobs. i don't want to apply if we can get through without it (though, right now, i can't pay the credit cards at all, so maybe we do need some extra support somewhere).

everything else that happened this past week is smaller in impact but still helped make this a wtf? week. the air mattress hubs and i use developed a leak (faster than the previous air mattress, to be honest, and it was supposedly puncture resistant....). i tried duct taping but never did find the leak that only got worse the more tape i put on the damn thing. by thursday, it wouldn't stay inflated longer than an hour or two (which, since we STILL couldn't find the damn leak, tells me there may have been several of them), and i ended up putting a bunch of blankets on the floor and sleeping on them. not a good thing. i only got maybe two hours of sleep and woke up in agony. after a discussion, we decided to get another air mattress, single level (the one that just died was a double level) and just be prepared to spend $40 every 3 or 4 months on a new air mattress. even the cheapest of alternatives is well out of our ability to purchase right now and a real mattress, even a cheap one, would be even more than that. seriously, air mattresses aren't made for long term use. or cats. we do have a pad on there to help protect it, but more than likely the cats got the sides of the double, if it was the cats. i may buy an extra pad to give the new single level a little more protection from the monsters. lol

and speaking of cats, vagner's uti problems appear to be back. we had to buy the friskies uti food a few weeks back and have since been dumping in more of the good stuff, but apparently his system has reached the point where any of the cheap food is a problem. we're still buying more good stuff, but it will take time to get all the cheap stuff out of the mix. in the meantime, he's back on his uri soothe. and yes, he's so thrilled about that...not! at least we caught it before it started making him sick and i had to start worrying about him. i almost wish we could afford his $700 surgery just so it will stop being as bad a problem as it becomes for him. he's got to be miserable and in at least a little pain. poor baby.

friday was the worst of the whole week. first, saxy's fifth group paychecks didn't make it in. they STILL haven't made it in. i'd be more freaked except the one bill i needed to pay immediately got a stay of execution. we did get his production job check, so were able to get food at the farmer's market and the new air mattress, but this is still more than a bit worrisome. saxy did call in about it, and the company apparently changed auto deposit companies. they expected the money in today, but still a nope. hoping it gets in by monday since i have more than a few other things to take care of.

then we tried to take taz to his new behavior specialist. tried because unlike most doctor offices, you have to call in and confirm the appointment or they cancel you. usually it's a call and cancel or you get charged for missing the appointment, so i didn't call, they canceled it, and the doctor had no openings for the afternoon. we're more than a bit irritated, but now i'll make sure to make a HUGE note telling me to call and confirm the next one. he'll apparently have to see someone other than who he was scheduled for yesterday because that doctor is no longer taking new patients. wtf ever. the bigger problem was that taz is out of his concerta and we were hoping for a refill but now couldn't get one because of the cancellation. so we went to his general practice doctor (who takes walk-ins) but she had absolutely nothing open for the afternoon either. we made an appointment for monday. saxy will get a ride in to work with a coworker, and taz will stay home because he'll be almost impossible by monday. in the meantime, i will keep him occupied with movies. even wired, that will help keep him as settled as he can be when not on the adhd medication.

while dealing with all that, youngest called to tell us her cell had been stolen. i spent a couple of hours yesterday after we got home reporting it, getting the line suspended (the rep did send a text message that the phone had been reported stolen and to turn it in to the at&t store, but like that will happen), getting a new line added to our account and a new phone for the girl. the kicker is that we think we know who has it—our new neighbors. they apparently were over to see youngest during the time it disappeared. and when saxy called it, we actually heard one of them answer a phone upstairs, though they didn't say hello or anything. thing is, we can't prove it because we haven't seen them with it. it would be a weird coincidence if someone called them on a different phone at exactly the same saxy called her number. they did use the phone to call out of state, but fortunately our plan makes those free calls. i have to double check for any possible international calls though. and i'm more than a little annoyed that i have to keep paying for the damn line until december, which is the earliest i can cancel it without being charged. we didn't have insurance because we can't afford it.

so, yea, it's been quite the week, and i'm so very glad it's over now. i still have to finish the damn paperwork for ssi, and saxy just texted that he was given a check for the missing money (good thing nothing has to be paid RIGHT NOW because only $150 or so of it will be available when deposited, and it probably won't get deposited until monday, so the whole amount won't available until tuesdy or wednesday). and we're waiting on the girl's new phone. and, of coarse, i get to deal with a wired taz all weekend. so even though the week is over, the fallout isn't quite done yet.

really hoping next week is better, but also very aware that the manager at the production job could decide to fire him. i doubt she will, but it would be one more bit of crazy...which does seem to come in waves. i'd just like to wave it good-bye for awhile please.