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.

Angels Hell

This morning when I woke up, I wondered where the fun in my life had disappeared to. When exactly, did life become all work and no play? Did it just happen? Or did I work myself up to it?

The realisation came a couple of days ago, the catalyst I believe, was when I couldn't find my favourite white shirt.

I turned the wardrobe upside down, looked in the washing basket, and in the dryer. The fairies must have nicked it, along with by black heels.

I decided to clean the wardrobe ( two wardrobes) and drawers out, with a strict policy, if I hadn't worn it for a year, out it goes.

Washing and ironing done, everything hanging in color coded order. Shoes in the same order on the rack, bags lined up on the shelves. Knickers and bras folded neatly, along with socks and stockings.

Since when did I need 18 white shirts and only wear 3, and how come I have 22 pairs of knickers? As if I didn't do the washing a couple of times a week! So many pairs of shoes, of which I wear only a couple, because the rest kill my feet. And, the bag I had to have, which I bought 3 months ago, and cost the best part of $200. I loved it in the shop, I don't like it any more, so it is lined up with the other 11 bags. To top it off, I haven't used it.

When did this happen to me, how could I let it happen? My credit card bill is $17,000. No wonder I work long hours and hardly get a spare minute to myself. I'm too busy being an over spender, over achiever, making sure my team never fails to meet their monthly sales target, and being a "can do, no problem" person for the boss. When did I start working 12 hour days? Can't remember, it just sort of happened along the way.

I get stressed and mail order. Work stresses, family stresses, they have merged and become one. I can no longer draw a line between the two. There is no time to de-stress, no time to sit and do nothing. No time for my favourite things, reading, blogging, gardening, I can't dance either, it isn't 'productive'.

I say no time because I have to be busy, I can't relax, have lost the art of reading for pleasure, and doing nothing. When was the last time I had fun, without shopping? I can't remember, it's too long ago. When was the last time I didn't feel pressure, from one source or another, and when exactly was the last day I didn't have a headache?

How did I turn into this person? When did I start to look at the world from the outside, instead of joining in? How do I find my way back home?