Category: Useful Things I did Today

Went rather swimmingly actually.

They went to great lengths to explain that the corporate culture in hell has been going through a regime change, and that all the horrible things I had heard were in the past. They love women and actively recruit them. They realise that they are no good at relationship sales, and are trying to change the culture, to the extent of cold calling competitors and poaching them – like in my case. Apparently the sales manager called me for a chat pretending to be a customer and was so impressed that he called a store manager to get me in for an interview. I’ve never been head hunted before, it was rather flattering.

They offered me the job. Well, to be perfectly frank and earnest, they offered me any job I wanted (within reason). They told me to name my price (but of course I have to pay my own way with sales), and I get to choose where I work. I can pick any of their stores to work out of, or a serviced office. I can start work when it suits me, and choose the sales model that suits me.

All very flattering and wonderful, except….

WHAT THE HELL DO I WANT TO DO?

I’ve been in a funk all day. It’s silly how something that should make you feel 10ft tall and bulletproof has just made me feel like it’s my first day of big school, and all the other kids have new shoes and ribbons in their hair, and I have a second hand school case and one long frumpy braid. I don’t look different, I just think I do, and I can’t possibly interact on a level playing field because in my head I only have one leg and no arms.

If I had to fight for this job, would I feel better about it ? Would I want it more if I felt that I had to struggle for it? Why do I feel like I have a block of concrete tied around my neck, and I am drifting to the bottom of the pool?

Should I become an agent of satan, despite my nebulous and incoherent misgivings? Can I be an agent of regime change, and use my powers for good ? If I was an agent of satan, would my duties be largely ceremonial?

I have “until Christmas” to give them an answer.

One more to go.

Had a job interview this morning, which went relatively well. I’m not qualified for the job, but they might offer to train me at a lower salary. Or they might not. I think it’s easier to learn technical stuff than it is to learn sales skills, so I am a good prospect, and I think they liked me. I’ll hear next week.

Another interview on Monday morning.

Popped over to Mosman to see the shop where I’ll be working for the next few weeks, and I can see that I will be able to make a difference there. Then off to the doc to get the results of last weeks blood test. Hep A immunity is OK, but I should have the Hep B shots. And Typhoid. Or was it cholera? No nasty stomach bugs causing my reflux, but I do have a vitamin D deficiency. Apparently it’s somewhat of an epidemic in IT workers who never see the sun. No problem, I just have to “take some fish oil supplements”, says the doctor. “Fish are friends, not food”, says Lara. General hilarity ensues. Apparently my freaky aversion to eating sentient creatures will lead to cancer, bone deformation, osteoporosis, tiredness, depression, muscle loss, fractures, muscles spasms, low calcium, eczema, tourettes, halitosis, acne, syphilis, obsessive compulsive disorder, mange, plague and an escalation of conflict in the middle east. And someone, somewhere will be mean to a puppy.

Or at lease some of the above. And I already have a very mild form of tourettes. Hardly noticeable at all.

I need 1000 “international units” of a vitamin d supplement per day for a few months to normalise my levels before I have another blood test and can use sun exposure and diet to keep my levels at a normal level. Right now, they are so low that diet and sun exposure alone won’t cut the mustard.

The thought of eating fish (even in capsule form) makes me gag, but I’ve always said that if my diet came down to me and a cow on a desert island with no other source of food, I’d be chasing after the cow with an axe.

Has it come to that ?

More good news.

I’ve been offered casual work for a friend between now and Christmas, and I just got a call from another reseller asking to meet me on friday. So surely someone will want to employ me and give me lots of money ?

And in other news, the whole “You’re redundant, and we might give you some holiday pay” thing took a turn for the worse yesterday when I discovered that it looked like I owed TRS some money. About $1200.

I work in sales. Part of my pay is in wages, and part in commission. Except, I was never paid commission – I got a laptop on salary sacrifice instead. All well and good, but for one small catch – I never had anything in writing telling me how much I was owed, and the invoices I made out to myself for goods that I had taken never were marked off as paid. So on paper, it looked like I owed the company about $6000. I pestered for a statement, which I got, but that only showed commission up to the beginning of the year, and there was a shortfall of about $1200.

Cue some very bad dreams.

But this morning I had an email showing my commission statement for the rest of the year, and I am covered. The balance is now $1000 in my favour. I won’t get paid this because of the entitlement capping (mutter, mumble, whinge), but at least the debt collectors won’t come knocking…..

And now, I am off to CherryHills for the funny little knitting circle thing they do. I can’t call it a stitch ‘n Bitch, it just wouldn’t be right.

And I promise I will do another post with pictures soon.

In the meantime, check out this wonderful traveling breakup song – it’s on the Aussie iTunes Music Store.

Every Fucking City from the album “Roll On Summer EP” by Paul Kelly

But the bad news is first.

First up, the bastards addressed my redundancy letter to “Mr” Lara Nettle. Talk about adding insult to injury. Then, on further reading, I discovered, that as a relative as the director, my entitlements are capped. That means I won’t get all my entitlements – most, but not all. Just because Adam is my brother. Bloody hell! How did they find out ? I changed my name and everything…

Secondly, Mark had an utterly shit day at work today, and has realised that he can’t work out the rest of the term. He’s taken sick leave till the end of the term, and is considering resigning. He’ll get most of his time off covered by sick leave, but there will be about a week at half pay, and then holiday pay until Feb – even if he does resign. In Feb, he’ll either do casual teaching until he feels confident enough to tackle his own classroom again, or perhaps look at going back to IT. But we can’t rely on his wages into next year – and the need for me to get a job, a job that pays well, is now at the forefront of my mind, right there with making sure that the man that I love is healthy and happy.

Mark is the most wonderful man I have ever met, and I haven’t for one second ever regretted marrying him. And even though I expected that marriage would bring with it trials and tribulations, I am not sure that I expected this. When I was single, I went through some bad shit, but the consequences were never that scary – I could always rely on friends or parents to help me through a bad patch. But as a couple, a committed, serious, married couple, the consequences are compounded, and scary beyond anything I have experienced before.

OK, the good news.

I have a job interview with the devil on monday, and high hopes for a well paying (and hopefully fun) job that would start in late Jan. I also have a few other fingers in various pies, and we’ll see what happens.

I still haven’t had a good cry. Tonight we’re going to have dinner with Mark’s parents (bless them!), and discuss our options, and what we can do to support him through this. After that, I’ll pull out “The Joy Luck Club”, and have a good weep.

And nothing to report. A very busy sales day, met a lovely chap who does voiceovers (it was spooky, a little like talking to the TV), and basically hurtled headlong towards Christmas.

I had a meeting with a business counsellor, and clarified my goals for the future. I want a happy and healthy family, and financial security. And I have the means to get it (the financial stuff at least). The future is bright.

You may not see it at first, but this parsley has one, very large, trunk, like a fig tree in the botanic gardens in miniature.

A perfect metaphor for my day today. Sorry to be so cryptic, but let’s just say that life is interesting, and strangely fucked up, yet with a shiny and interesting character.

Perhaps I should have let it flower and produce seeds – just to see what the children were like….

Tomorrow we’re going to pay for the tickets. I still don’t have my leave approved, but at this point, I think the trip is vitally important for my mental health – and for Mark’s too.

George’s estate has finally settled, and so today Dad gave me the cheque which is my inheritance from his estate. It’s very sad, but I know he would want me to use the money for something important (like saving for our house), so tomorrow I’ll have a little moment of silent thanks for having known him, as I sign the deposit slip that will add significantly to our house fund.

It’s full steam ahead for holiday planning – thanks Kate for the hotel tips! Mark has agreed to plan our trip to Halong Bay, and I’ll book hotels in Bangkok and Hanoi. The rest we’ll do when we’re there, as I think (hope) that we’ll have enough time up our sleeves to take some risks.

It’s been so long since I’ve travelled, and really entrusted my safety and wellbeing to the universe, that I am a little apprehensive that I will remember how to do it. But then I remember my first days in Thailand as a little kid – being offered a choice of chilli soup and porridge for breakfast on our first morning. At six going on seven, I’d never had porridge, and it looked disgusting. I chose the chilli soup, and a large watermelon juice.

I made the right decision then, and I’m pretty sure I’ll be all right this time too. And Mark and I get to examine our relationship anew in the light of travelling together.

I can’t wait.