Blue-Footed Musings

We were supposed to go to Great Wolf Lodge for today and tomorrow, but that didn’t work out as planned. Yesterday I went to do the early check-in, which I had expected to do online, but the instructions were for phones only. 🙁 Anyone who knows me knows how I feel about using smart phones for these kinds of things. It’s not just that the technology befuddles me somewhat, but also because I don’t want my whole life dependent on that one piece of technology.

So I went to the website to sign into my account and look for a way to check-in online. That’s when I discovered a startling bit of news: half the water park is closed for renovations. I had not been told about that when I made my reservation. How could they not tell me? And how could they expect me to pay full price for half a park? Not cool.

So I called them up and asked them to move my reservation. They tried to tell me the new date would be more expensive, but when I refused to accept the higher price, the representative pulled a promotional code out of her a$$ that magically made it cheaper instead. Really? Everywhere I turn, I find a business asking for a lot more money than they’re willing to accept, just to see if I’ll go for it. Corporate greed is everywhere. Never accept the first price you’re offered on anything!

So now I have a whole day to fill. Since the kids won’t be skipping school tomorrow, I guess I’d better do my usual Sunday tasks, including laundry. How boring! But I suppose it’s better than being on vacation and being disappointed by it.

• I am officially on vacation until next Tuesday. Woohoo! It’s an awkward time for taking PTO, though, because I still don’t know if I’m going to get laid off. The axe could fall at any moment. Oh, well. I have no control over the situation or any ability to predict the outcome. All I can do is live my life, same as always. But I’ll probably check my e-mail every evening to find out if anything terrible has happened at work. Otherwise I don’t think I could handle the suspense.
• A couple more packages arrived today. One package contained new comforters for my bedroom. The comforters had looked pretty online. In person, the colors were different and the fabric felt cheap. Too bad. I guess that’s why God invented returns. The other package contained two bathing suit tops. One top was too tight and will have to be returned. The other fit fine. I think I’ll keep it and make it my back-up. (This may sound silly, especially as someone who swims so infrequently, but I prefer to always have two swimsuits, just in case something happens to one of them).
• I’ve been sleeping so poorly that I finally decided to try melatonin. I tried 3 mg for a few nights. No effect. So I tried 5 mg. Still no effect. So I tried 10 mg. Nothing. In fact, I slept worse each night that I took melatonin than I usually do, and that’s saying something. The only reason I’m not going completely insane from sleep deprivation is that when I can’t sleep, I can at least rest. But summer is almost over, and soon I won’t be able to rest either….

• As I mentioned earlier this month, I had another eye doctor appointment. I hate those appointments. It’s a long drive for very little purpose. There’s nothing the doctor can do for me except tell me my condition’s “better,” “the same,” or “worse.” When they take pictures of my eye, they use colors to show the degree of splitting. Cool colors are good. Warm colors are bad, with red being very bad. But there is a color worse than red: white. My left eye has had a big white splotch in the middle of it for a while. At Thursday’s appointment, the white splotch was slightly smaller, so that’s an improvement. My right eye was stable, and actually tested 20/20, which was good. But, the doctor did nothing for me except renew my prescription, so what really was the point of being there? To some extent it’s just a money-making scheme for the doctor. If I hadn’t already exceeded my giant deductible for the year, the appointment would be pricey. Even with the deductible covered, I still have to pay 20%. Healthcare in America sucks.
• Speaking of healthcare suckage, that hospital bill (the one for my knee) has gone to collections. I spoke to the collections people. They work for the hospital and are trying to collect on the hospital’s behalf (i.e., they did not purchase the debt). So, there’s no negotiating with them either. I explained to them why that bill was a scam, and they said, “We have nothing but your word for that.” Okay. So now I’m mentally sending a bit “Fuck you!” to the collections guys, too. I’m not going to pay that predatory bill. I mean, not only was I not informed that I’d be charged a premium for having my scheduled, non-emergency visit at the doctor’s “other location,” but the bill is higher than any other medical bill I’ve ever gotten, excepting surgery. It’s more than an emergency room visit. It’s more than an MRI. How dare they charge me thousands of dollars just for being in the building! As a person who prides herself on always paying her bills, it’s irking me not to pay, but damn it, they crossed a line.
• Oh, and a couple of days ago I received a notice from a second collections agency that’s trying to collect on the same bill, also on behalf of the hospital. So one wasn’t enough, and now it’s a free-for-all? Geez. What the hell is this country coming to?

The bombshell finally dropped at work. The company is offering severance packages to anyone in my department who volunteers to leave. The offer is one week’s pay per year of tenure, up to 26 weeks. It’s not a very good offer for newer hires, but 26 week’s pay would be pretty generous, which suggests to me that it’s the long-term employees, such as myself, that they’re hoping to unload. The scary part is that if they don’t get enough volunteers, they’re going to stop asking and start axing.

My knee-jerk reaction is to hold on and hope for the best. I’m a good employee, and they’d be stupid to let me go. But, I wish I knew how many people they’re going to cut, how they’ll decide, and how much severance pay will be given to those forced out. Obviously I’d rather leave of my own accord with a half a year’s salary in my pocket than be kicked to the curb with less. So, I’m not 100% decided yet. I will be giving it a lot of serious thought over the next couple of weeks.

P.S. I’d like to remind the Evil Genies AGAIN that when I said I was bored with my job, I also CLEARLY stated that I didn’t want to be forced out of it.

P.P.S. I should start looking for a new job, or at least start looking into how to look for a new job. But I don’t wanna. 🙁

• Livia can solve the Rubik’s Cube, and I’m impressed. She tried to explain how, but I didn’t get it. Rubik’s Cube is a puzzle that I’m never going to be able to solve, and I accepted that long ago, back when I was younger than Livia is now.
• The kids’ swim lesson was canceled this week due to the weather. The sound of thunder could be heard in the distance, and indoor pools, like outdoor pools, get closed when there’s any chance of lightning. Their swim instructor, who is apparently a paleontologist with multiple degrees, had promised to give his students megalodon teeth to reward their progress. He kept his promise, handing each kid a giant shark tooth as we left. He said he had found the teeth himself in North (or was it South?) Carolina. Very cool!
• Today I had a doctor’s appointment in the afternoon. I was so keen to spend time with the kids that I convinced them to keep me company for the trip there and back by offering to get us all an early dinner at McDonalds. Marshall said yes. Livia had to be coerced. To make it up to her, I let her get a McFlurry, and then I had to let Marshall get one, too, so everyone got something special out of the deal.
• At work, there have been no new layoffs so far. Whew! And I was right about the systemic problem that I found in my work project: it had happened before. I’m just the only one who noticed. Not surprising. Still no word yet on whether I’ll have to start over again from scratch, though.