Battle Kitten: Ascension

[fleaball]

Someone do this job application for me. 

 

And then all the other ones. 

 

Oh and then put my father on a rocket to the sun.

 

"The VNA in the next town over offers support groups once a month, would you consider going?"
"Why?"

"Because it's a grief support group and you should probably do something?"

"I can't count on anything because I have to do all the overtime that comes up and work 70 hours a week until I get out of this hole." 

 

 Relevant information: he still doesn't know how much money is in his checking account, he only asked me last night what the balances and rates were on the mortgages, he has yet to make an appointment with his financial advisor like he's been talking about for over a month, and he went to a number of banks' websites requesting information on refinancing but has been ignoring all of their calls "because I don't want them bothering me." So he's been taking all this overtime and bitching about it forever without actually knowing what kind of trouble he's in and how much money he needs to get out of it. He also had an equal hand in digging this hole he's talking about because he spent over a decade just assuming my mother was paying off the mortgages the way he wanted without checking on the progress or talking to her at all. ("When I bought back vacation days every year, that money was supposed to be an extra payment." Did she know that? And did you tell her when those buybacks actually happened since you hoard all your paystubs? "It's what was supposed to happen." Okay.) He's also in a mood right now and I made the mistake of asking what's wrong. He's been mad all day because his phone rang this morning and he ignored it, only to check it hours later and see that he missed an opportunity for overtime today. I understand that not everyone is glued to their phones but no one ever calls his cell except his brother or work, so even if you ignore it because you're doing something in the moment, maybe check it relatively soon? Note that he didn't say he's mad at himself, he's just mad that he missed the overtime. This is a legitimate distinction because even when something is directly his fault, nothing is ever his fault. Unless he can play "it's all my fault and I can't do anything right" to get sympathy. 

 

I'm gonna go get Chipotle and then apply for jobs where I will be severely underpaid but can at least close the gap on my resume.

 

eta: I should add that while I still hope he develops a conscience and does the right thing with it, he’s been sitting on a life insurance check that would pay off roughly 20% of the combined mortgage balance. I am so done with the martyr act but I can’t say anything til I’m sure I can move out. 

[Wobbegong]

19 minutes ago, fleaball said:

even when something is directly his fault, nothing is ever his fault.

magical thinking yaaaaaaay 

 

I'm so sorry. *hugs* Best of luck on the job search front and have good Chipotle! 

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

Posting so I can follow. As a former Enterprise Employee (Car prep for a few months at the tail end of grad school) I totally agree Hertz sucks.

[fleaball]

44 minutes ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

Posting so I can follow. As a former Enterprise Employee (Car prep for a few months at the tail end of grad school) I totally agree Hertz sucks.

Welcome to the crazy! 

[fleaball]

Oh hey I did the thing. It was only an application for a part-time (and apparently inconsistent, according to Glassdoor reviews) transcription gig and there's no way it can replace Lyft, but I wrote out an application and submitted it. They have weekend shifts, so if all goes well I either do this and then drive after, or get a real job and keep this on the side. Either way, I submitted an application for a job. Yay me.

[fleaball]

Get to Lyft 20 minutes early and there are already 3 people here. What the hell ugh. I should still have enough time to get to the doctor but I am annoyed. 

 

Also got an email from the place I applied to last night. They want me to come in for testing to do two sample projects. Yay. I think it’s a little unfair bc they say you don’t need prior experience but they also want you to perfectly format these two samples; they give you time to review their in-house style guide but that’s a lot of pressure, man. D: Anyway, I’m not responding to that til I get this shit figured out, but my ego is pleased.

[Wobbegong]

1 minute ago, fleaball said:

They want me to come in for testing to do two sample projects.

Just be careful not to let them jerk you around. Two sample projects sounds like two things they would otherwise be paying people for -- aka free labor. Since you're looking at this more as a side hustle it's probably fine, but stay on your guard. 

[fleaball]

6 minutes ago, Wobbegong said:

Just be careful not to let them jerk you around. Two sample projects sounds like two things they would otherwise be paying people for -- aka free labor. Since you're looking at this more as a side hustle it's probably fine, but stay on your guard. 

It seems pretty legit. They have high reviews on Glassdoor and lots of people mentioned doing tests so they can judge you. How else are they supposed to tell

if you’re as fast and accurate as you say you are? I’m not worried. 

[Wobbegong]

Just now, fleaball said:

It seems pretty legit. I’m not worried. 

Excellent! I'm glad to hear it. 

 

I have lots of experience with ignoring corporate shadiness so I'm learning to be more watchful. But it sounds like you're on top of it already. 

[Bookish Badger]

11 minutes ago, fleaball said:

They want me to come in for testing to do two sample projects. Yay. I think it’s a little unfair bc they say you don’t need prior experience but they also want you to perfectly format these two samples; they give you time to review their in-house style guide but that’s a lot of pressure, man.

 

Agreed with @Wobbegong, be alert. But if they're on the level, I suspect that the requirement is because they've figured out that people lie. (Shocker, I know.) Applicants regularly pad or exaggerate the experience they have and it can be nearly impossible to get straight answers about what employees actually do from the former employers. Sounds like a reasonable approach: "we don't care what you've done as long as you prove that you can do what we need."

And I'm sure you'll crush it!

[fleaball]

Fucking raaaaaage. While everyone is signing in this girl just walks up to the counter to ask her question and now they’re helping her instead of the people in line. I’m going to scream. 

[Wobbegong]

2 minutes ago, fleaball said:

Fucking raaaaaage. While everyone is signing in this girl just walks up to the counter to ask her question and now they’re helping her instead of the people in line. I’m going to scream. 

I don't understand why employees tolerate that shit. When I was working at Starbucks I had entitled assholes trying to cut the line all the goddamn time. They "just wanted a refill!" or "just had a quick question!" or "just wanted a price check on this mug tho!" The looks on their faces are always so priceless when you tell them all the other people in front of them are IN FRONT of them and refuse to serve them until they go to the back of the line, and the other customers love watching. If the problem person complains, your manager won't care since the asshole tried to cut the line. So really there's no reason not to call people out for it. 

 

Of course, when other customers call people out for cutting in line, they look impatient and stuck-up, so it doesn't always work as well. That's why the employee should always handle it. 

[fleaball]

Oops. I was that asshole too. Hertz guy couldn’t do anything for anyone bc he was waiting for someone somewhere else to do something (as usual) so I went to the Lyft guy and asked how I go about getting a discount and there was a second Hertz guy (?) who said he could do it for me. I was like “okay am I cutting anyone right now or are you unable to do anything else?” And the Lyft guy was like “well there are people in front of you.” But second Hertz guy was like “this will be really quick, it’s fine.” To be fair of the two people in front of me (someone else who was here had left already) at least one was trying to rent, which they couldn’t do. 

 

So I get points for being quasi-assertive and at least I tried not to be a dick?

[fleaball]

Omfg. Stopped at the maintenance desk to ask what the status of my car is and now I’m still waiting while they track down the information. Kill me. 

[fleaball]

Fucking lawl. Still waiting on authorization because it’s the Hertz guys IN THAT STORE who have to approve it. PepBoys guy said when the line dies down he’ll go over and ask them directly. Also said The might not approve it, they might just get rid of the car. 

 

Hertz guy said earlier I could just return the car and get a new one, but getting a new one depends entirely on how many cars they have in the first place. Today they had at least 5 reservations but only 2 cars. So that’s fun. This is a clusterfuck of epic proportions and I am SCREWED if this shit doesn’t get resolved ASAP. 

[fleaball]

I think the second Hertz guy screwed me and is charging me for more days than he should. Unfortunately there’s no way to see it in the Lyft app til tomorrow or Wednesday. And if I want to try swap it for a new car, there’s no guarantee they’ll have one available. I could return the car, but the next appointment to rent is usually a week out if not longer, so I’d lose the possibility of the car being done in the next few days. There’s no way I can win here. 

 

And I don’t even know if this other job thing is just the test or also an interview. I’ll schedule it for Thursday and just prepare as if there were an interview just in case. 

 

Oh nooo I just heard a Dunkins ad on the radio and the guy said “macchiato” except he pronounced match-ee-ato and it hurt my soul. 

 

My doctor was pushing therapy as a cure-all again. I’m not arguing that I don’t need it, and I’m sure a lot of my physical symptoms are at the very least related to my stress and anxiety, if not caused directly by them. But at the same time it’s really not as simple as “make appointment. be totally fixed.” Which is almost how she’s treating it. I’m probably being extra sensitive about it because I know I need it but keep hitting roadblocks but ugh I am so over this lecture. (She did say I look I’ve lost weight since I saw her last month. I haven’t, but I’ll take it.)

 

And now I’m going down this epic spiral of blargh because today has sucked. I have so much to do and zero desire to do it but also there’s no relaxing/recharging activity I want to do either so I’m just sitting here being stressed and grumpy. Yay. 

[Wobbegong]

14 minutes ago, fleaball said:

as simple as “make appointment. be totally fixed.”

God, if only. 

 

15 minutes ago, fleaball said:

I’m just sitting here being stressed and grumpy.

Sounds like it's time to watch Supernatural. Out of new episodes? Reruns are your friend. 

[Bean Sidhe]

1 hour ago, fleaball said:

And now I’m going down this epic spiral of blargh because today has sucked. I have so much to do and zero desire to do it but also there’s no relaxing/recharging activity I want to do either so I’m just sitting here being stressed and grumpy. Yay. 

*Hugs* If only anything was "make appt, be fixed" The world would be so much simpler

[fleaball]

Good news for the day: "Idk if you and [shithead brother] planned on doing anything big for Christmas but I was thinking we all just get each other one thing for like $20." Hell yeah? 

 

Slightly concerning: "I already know what I'm getting you. It's nothing cute or anything, but it's actually something useful." I have my doubts, sir.

[Wobbegong]

3 hours ago, fleaball said:

"I already know what I'm getting you. It's nothing cute or anything, but it's actually something useful."

I was going to suggest perhaps an attitude makeover (for him) but that would probably cost more than $20... 

[Bean Sidhe]

10 hours ago, fleaball said:

Slightly concerning: "I already know what I'm getting you. It's nothing cute or anything, but it's actually something useful." I have my doubts, sir.

 

Maybe you can suggest the gift receipts put on the gifts for that "just in case" issue. I was kinda wondering what he was going to do about the holiday. I didn't think he had ever really been in charge of it before.

[Sylvaa]

36 minutes ago, Bean Sidhe said:

10 hours ago, fleaball said:

Slightly concerning: "I already know what I'm getting you. It's nothing cute or anything, but it's actually something useful." I have my doubts, sir.

 

Maybe you can suggest the gift receipts put on the gifts for that "just in case" issue. I was kinda wondering what he was going to do about the holiday. I didn't think he had ever really been in charge of it before.

 

I am going to have popcorn ready to find out what you get!  

[fleaball]

12 hours ago, Wobbegong said:

I was going to suggest perhaps an attitude makeover (for him) but that would probably cost more than $20... 

Yeah that wouldn’t even cover the copay for one therapy visit. 

 

6 hours ago, Bean Sidhe said:

 

Maybe you can suggest the gift receipts put on the gifts for that "just in case" issue. I was kinda wondering what he was going to do about the holiday. I didn't think he had ever really been in charge of it before.

Oh he def hasn’t. My mother did EVERYTHING. He would buy her gifts on his own (after asking my brother and me what to get) and that was it. 

 

Again, I feel kinda bad because he does seem to like Christmas so I feel like maybe more of an effort should be made, but it’s also no secret that I do NOT like Christmas, so I wouldn’t even know what to do for it. We’ve never really gone all out anyway. 

 

5 hours ago, Sylvaa said:

 

I am going to have popcorn ready to find out what you get!  

Earlier in the conversation he’d mentioned being at Bed, Bath, and Beyond so I have visions of weird ass “As Seen On TV” bullshit suddenly appearing. Definitely afraid. 

[fleaball]

Called PepBoys 15 minutes ago to ask about the car again. Dude says "give me 2 minutes, I'll call the guy in charge." Haven't heard shit. ARRRRRRGH. I'll call back in a few minutes (hoping maybe he's just sorting it all out) but if he doesn't tell me it's approved I'm going back tomorrow to try to swap it for something else. That doesn't guarantee I'll get something, but it's better than sitting here thinking about all the money I'm not making right now.

[fleaball]

Quasi-success! He called me back before I got to him. Idek if he called the other guy or not, he didn't say. What he did say was that they don't have to get work under $500 approved, so he put it in for just the tires and the brakes, which are what the car needed most. The other stuff I can go back for some other time. I'll probably bring it back next week for that. I think the other thing it needed was shocks. Then I just have to cross my fingers and hope no one at Hertz sees that this car was in for service multiple times and decides to call and cancel it or something. Anyway, for now he said he'd do everything he could to get it back to me tonight, and if not then definitely early tomorrow. My father is working until 9 so I was planning on staying home and enjoying being alone since my brother goes to work in an hour, but if I get the car back I'll probably wind up driving. Actually scratch that, I hope they wind up keeping it til tomorrow so I can get another day refunded.

 

Istg if I wind up having to return this car I might just suck it up and start renting from the airport even though it's a pain in the ass. I don't want to deal with these people again.