Yesterday I received the notice for my Unemployment hearing. It's at the end of the month, and I am very nervous about it. I've never been fired before, so I really don't know what to expect or what kind of questions they'll ask. I also don't know which story The Studio will tell them, so I don't know which set of their lies I need to be prepared for. All I can do is tell the truth and do my best to stay calm and unemotional. I'm trying to get letters of recommendation from some old vendors and customers, as well as a letter from my old boss and one from the HR lady my husband ran into last week. I hope that will help my case. I hope the judge is fair. I know a lot of these government-mandated programs tend to lean towards the side of large, high tax-paying corporations (like the studio), which means the little guy (hapless, low tax-paying employee) ends up taking it in the shorts. I pray that isn't the case here. My shorts really can't hold any more.
One good thing that came from all of that crap -- I heard through the grapevine that some of the guys in the warehouse of The Studio got "small" raises. I'm guessing that they re-distributed the payroll money that was freed up when I was fired. It's about time -- those guys worked far too hard to have to go for four years without even a cost-of-living increase. I should know; I went through it right along with them.
Also yesterday I got a surprise in my email... the lighting company that sent me the pathetic offer actually did respond to my counter-offer. They turned it down flat. "Thank you but we've decided to go in a different direction for that department." Yeah, like cheaper. Oh, well. You get what you pay for. Besides, their office facilities were dismal and dirty -- cubicles off of the warehouse, really -- which tells me that even though the company is charging top dollar for their lights, they don't want to have to spend one more penny than they deem necessary, and comfort for their employees is apparently not a top priority. Their loss.
Like I said before, cheap people suck.
My husband's car couldn't be saved after all. The mechanic found all sorts of damage when he got into it -- the ABS brake system was destroyed, and he said the valves were bent. So the insurance company has totaled the car. Now we're on the hunt for a replacement -- hopefully we will be able to find another Passat GLX with similar mileage and all of the nifty options we had before. The leather seats were heated and it had a 6-CD changer. Of course, we'll have to buy something used, but we're all right with that. His rear license plate and frame came in the mail today. That's all we have left of his car. The front plate was lost in the accident, and we cleaned out all of his personal items before it was towed from our driveway. I know it's silly to become emotionally attached to a car, but we're both sad. It was a really great car.
Oh, great. I was just interrupted by an email from another potential employer saying "... unfortunately we are an extremely small office (total of 5 on staff), and we do not have anything available at this time. I do not anticipate that we will have any openings for some time either; however, I will be happy to keep your resume on file for future reference." Gee, thanks a lot. You're too kind. I'll make sure and keep that in mind when I'm depositing my next (perhaps last) unemployment check. And why is a major entertainment industry union office keeping such a bare-bones staff, anyway? I will bet dollars to doughnuts that those five overworked people are all stressed up all the time.
Is it me, or are all industries getting to be that way lately?
