Variations on the theme (4).

Oh, the fun just never stops, does it?

I guess I have neglected keeping you posted (haha) on the job/contract/money front since that glorious day before my holidays. Well, you are better off not knowing anyway. Just think engaged phone lines, angry emails, a helpful secretary, more engaged phone lines, some more no-follow-through emails, then eventually a condescending "under reserve" pay check for July and much, much later still - hooray - a new contract!

Now, just when I thought that those people had finally worked it out that I am - in fact always have been - still working for them, it turns out that, well, they haven't, have they? Why else would they send me a pay check for August that only covers the first sixteen (still summer holidays) days? None of it makes sense. Especially when you keep in mind that they were first declining, then promising, then showing an incredible reluctance to pay me for those holidays in the first place.

Well, private investigator me has solved the riddle. By the looks of it, the one office has still not told the other office that I have a new contract. Easy mistake to make, must be so much of a hassle to shove a piece of paper back into the house-mail - so much to do, so little time! I mean, they only had, what, 3 weeks to do that?

The best part of it: Do you know how I found out? As of this morning, my phantom contact person is no longer a phantom! She actually did answer her phone after just one hour of trying to get through! I must have caught her unawares. I sincerely hope she'll get over the shock soon.

Now the tricky bit remaining is that me sending her a duplicate of my contract to hurry things along is just not on. Instead, I had to ring my school secretary so that she can get back to that Sisyphus effort of trying to get someone from that other office on the phone (aah, groundhog day!) in order to get them to forward that same contract to the first office (far too much getting for my liking).

Easy-peasy. At this rate, I'll have my money in time to buy the bailiffs a round of drinks...

* * *

Meanwhile, my phone line is playing up. I can go online, I can ring my landline from my mobile, but I can't ring anyone myself. Go figure. To increase my chances of ever writing that bloody paper (you know, the one that was due in March), it would have been far more helpful for the internet access to go dead. Then again, oh, the withdrawal symptoms...