I mean, really. A certain former employer of my spouse still owes him a paycheck from nearly a year ago. We haven't sued because then we'd still never see the money. The man has lost nearly everything he owns, not through uncontrollable forces but through chronic mismanagement of his business. If you can call it a business when the company doesn't produce anything but ever-deeper debt. My spouse landed them an awesome, very lucrative support contract, and they took the income from that and bought a 25-acre swamp with a tractor shed and a diseased well, then spent their last $200K turning the shed into an "office" building with nonworking toilets. In the winter there is no running water at all because the well pump is insulated from the elements by a pile of cardboard boxes. Last spring, just after Andy got his new job and just before he could turn in a resignation letter, everyone was laid off. There's a whole other story there, but I digress.
The point is, he still owes Andy a paycheck. We are talking $3000. Andy has been more than patient, in my opinion. He has called him every few weeks to ask how it's going. Every time, of course, it's some sob story. "I had to put my dog down because I couldn't afford to take care of her." "I've lost everything I own, blah blah blah." The last time it was, "I am selling my house and we are moving to the office building." (Which, I can't imagine his wife living in a swamp with a port-a-potty, but... we can't sell the office building!) But among listing the reasons why he is too broke to pay Andy, he promised to send a part of the paycheck in with the W2s. Well, here is a huge surprise: He got the W2s, but ... no check!
Now this is my favorite part. He has hired one of the programmers back part-time, and that person had the GALL to call Andy up Saturday asking for help with a project they are trying to do. I was HOT, especially since Andy actually helped him. True, it took 3 minutes. True, since they owe us $3000, I guess we want them to be able to get this contract finished. But for crying out loud - that is a lot of nerve for someone who has already demonstrated his lack of balls.
You know, the more I think about what I could do with $3000, the more irritated I get. That is: more than a month's payment on my Huntsville house, a great down payment on a new car, a fantastic chunk of my Piedmont house debt gone, or furniture for my still-empty living room. And so on. Not to mention that we really could all use some new clothes, and a bunch of little stuff for the house, and a new lawnmower, and landscaping @ the Piedmont house, etc etc etc.
Grrr.
Someone please remind me how fortunate I am to have what I do have.
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wakeful dreamer