Endless Cups of Tea

Am I happy, or am I sad? It seems my life will now be endless cups of tea. I got fired yesterday.

Will I miss the 1o hour days (plus some)? Nope.
Will I miss being so tired, that my bones ache? Nope. Will I miss being surrounded by other tired, grumpy people? Nope.

Will I miss the money? Hell yes!
Can we survive without me working? That remains to be seen.

Why? I'm wondering that myself. Being told my work is substandard and my customer service skills are not up to par is absolute bullsh*t. My previous employers would agree with me, as would past clients.

Maybe it's because I refused to extend my 50 hour week to 60, while being paid for 40? Or possibly because I insisted on having a lunch hour? Maybe because I put into words my concern about the amount of factory recalls on their vehicles? Possibly. Or, it might have been because I voiced my opinion on the elderly lady who was charged $1500 for 4 tyres, when she could have gone to a Tyre Service and paid $800? Or the other one, who was charged $195 to supply and fit a new battery?

I just raised my eyebrows and shook my head when given the news. I think I actually smiled, possibly from relief. I hate liars, cheats and thief's. How can you be a team player when this stuff happens?

So, buyer beware when it comes to your car, and service charges. Shop around for prices, don't just take it for granted that your local dealer is honest. Most of them are, by the way. But, this one is something else.

Getting fired is a first for me. And no, I'm not unhappy with their decision, just the lies contained in the delivery.

Avenger - EMPLOYEES BEWARE

I seem to be having one of those days, or rather months. You know the ones, where you can't be bothered or are sort of down.

I still believe this state of "un-bliss" is caused by my former employer and very "tall tales". I guess I shouldn't be saying anything about that though.

The hot topic at the moment is employees bad mouthing their employers on their web pages, My Space / Facebook etc. Apparently they are being tracked down and eventually sacked.

I think this is rather funny, seeing my former employer took his former company's board of directiors to court for unfair dismissal. It turns out his private secretary had taped hundreds of hours of private employee conversations along with secretly videotaping board meetings when he (boss) was not present. He said he didn't know anything about that in court. This is all documented in court proceedings and made headlines around Australia. He is known as a 'colourful' charactor.

At the time I commenced employment with them, I didn't know a thing about this, not being an avid news junkie. So, I get this job offer, was promised the world and got basically nothing in return. For nearly 10 months I was strung along with broken promises. I trusted them, and I was loyal.

As I said earlier, I knew nothing about the former prodeedings what so ever, until I was asked to pack up another employees belongings, in amongst the bunch of stuff was a stack of newspapers, the Age, Australian, etc. On the front page of every one were article's about my employer and what had transpired in the Court prodeedings, plus other stuff as well.

I was absolutely stunned. That night I did some research on the net and read many articles from newspapers about the above. The only one I can remember was called "On her Majesty's Secret Service", it was about industrial espionage and although not about the above in particular, it was mentioned. Anyway, the more I read, the more concerned I became.

I guess I went into panic mode, anyway a lot transpired and I handed in my resignation. My employers last words to me were, of course making sure no one else was close enough to hear : "We could sue you, you know, about the garbage coming out of your mouth". The only 'garbage' was actually true, it's in the court transcriptions, and they lost. If I had of known about this prior to being employed, I would have run a mile, and would not want to be mixed up with this mob at all.

I have left a huge chunk of this story out, so everyone remains annonymous. There are a lot of major players and recognisable 'big' names ( and I really do mean big) involved. Oh, and did I mention they did not pay into my Super for nearly 7 months, and nor have they since I resigned? Oops, but I'm not allowed to tell you anything about that, I signed a contract.

Employers have a duty towards their employees, but not this mob. They chew you up, spit you out, and don't bat an eyelid along the way. Masters of manipulation.

Annonymous

Interesting day. Hmmm........ Annonymous. No faces, no names.


Today I voiced my opinion regarding the non payment of wages, and my negative outlook at the present time because of this. It ended up a total fiasco.

My husband resigned. The boss went nuts.

A little later..........I was asked to resign, I refused. She basically said she would make life very difficult, and that I couldn't do my job properly. Which I can, by the way. My performance targets are way up, on one side, the other side is unmarketable in it's present form, as has been documented in numerous meetings, by her. But, like all good bosses, she changed her mind and blamed it on me.

The thing is, unless they actually produce the product, and the purchaser pays in full, I don't get commission. People get sick of waiting, pull out, and I lose out. I reckon around $14,000 this financial year.

Crashed, Trapped & Burned

Have you ever got to that place in your life, when you feel you have crashed and burned? I don't mean literally.

That place where you feel you can go no further, you are stuck. Everything seems to be at a standstill. Stuck in a job you don't like, in a place that you hate more and more each day.

You feel you will be at this place forever, no moving on. You've given up on being well off, with a reasonable house and NO mortgage. I forgot to ad the credit card, definitely NO creditcard. Well, no credit card debt, anyway.

The car, another thing I'd love to ditch. Payments, that is.

I have a job interview next week, I guess in the end it will become the same. A means to an end. It just feels as if it will never end.

I'm not sure if I have ever loved my job. I can't remember when I last jumped out of bed, and couldn't wait to get to work. I don't think it has ever happened.

The icing on the cake: Not being paid on time. Three times in a row. Can you believe they told us to move our direct debits forward 2 days, because they couldn't guarantee we'd be paid on time? I believe the words were "We'll go broke together" Can you believe that shit?

I rebelled and got to work very, very late. When asked my reason, I said if she couldn't pay me on time, I couldn't get to work on time.

On another topic, Victoria still has 15 fires buning. Different areas being threatened, more stress on families. Now they are talking about only re- building the homes that were insured, how un fair is that? Over two thousand homes lost, and two and a half thousand sheds, multiple businesses.

I guess that's my bit said for the end of the month.

Angel of Sorrow

As the time draws closer for me to leave, I am in turmoil. On the outside I have a 'stiff upper lip', on the inside I am devastated.

What will I take with me, what will I leave behind?

I have a great idea! Can I leave myself behind? I am thinking about this quite seriously.

Meanwhile, I think I have found Diesel a good home. The people 2 doors up had two Saints that died of old age, and are buried in their back yard. I approached them a couple of days ago, and they have been taking Diesel for 'visits', to see if he gets on well with their dog. So far, so good.

The cat is taken care of. My next door neighbour has offered to adopt her, which is great. I didn't even have to ask, she approached me.

I have bought furniture for the new place, bed, dining, TV, recliners, fridge. It cost a small fortune, but what the heck, I have a credit card. I did however, look for bargains, and I found them. There is a lot on offer at the moment, as traders are feeling the credit squeeze.

Meanwhile, my co worker has decided she is going to take a long weekend, included in that are my 2 days off, which I have to cover. How am I supposed to move and work at the same time?

I have discovered lots of little things. EG: She will work a public holiday, to get a day in lieu. Monday is her allocated day off, which is a public holiday, so therefore, she is working. I did a bit of spying on our competitors, on my day off. She came along as well, and we met at the site. She said she had to go early, as she had an appointment, but what didn't she say? That it was my client. So, SHE got $1000 commission, and I missed out. This is the second time.

I was also told to watch out with what I say in front of her, as she has been employed there for so long, and she sabotages her co-workers. She does this my being intentionally rude, deliberately misinterpreting an innocent remark, and telling tales about their misdemeanours, until they have had enough, and leave. She then complains that she has to do it all by herself, and wonders why no one likes her.

The staff that she considers are in the "lesser" dept. ( I can't tell you what or where),absolutely hate her. None of those people have said a word directly to me, but they say it to their Manager, who in turn tells me to watch out, and we never had this conversation.

Well, I am learning my lesson. She has made the odd remark now and then, which I have been suspicious about. I don't trust her, and it is making me nervous about the whole moving thing. I mean, there are now two jobs at stake now. If I stand up to her re my clients, what is her position on G going to be? Actually, I don't have to ask that question, I already know the answer.

I am just about ready to put my tail between my legs, turn around and hi-tail it out of there.

Now I remember why I have usually chosen a male dominated workplace. What a BITCH!