airco yearly visit and installation

[Eleonore Beaudoin]

Had to take Friday off because kiddo was coming over to help me and help me at my mom.


He installed my airco, then replaced the screen door that already had a few holes before the
cats arrived, and that by now needed replaced if I did not want any insect bites. Though I
must say that if any tried to get in,t he ctas waited for them. Of course I would free the
poor things and throw them out.

Anyway.

Kiddo brought me a mother's day present.
An Iphone!

I have very very few calls at all, and the qlst one he bought me, a Fido, had remained unused,
both because I kept running like a hen with no head with work, never having time to relax or
do anything, and because it stayed int he car, plus I feared the cats tuipping it over when on
the charger. I had tons of minuites accumulated and unused, and therefore did not want to
change cell phone, just the same.

Work often asked and reproached my not having a ccell phone, but really with the few calls I
had, if they wanted me to have one for work, they should just have paid for it. They used
Blackberries, and everyoen else had one on the office except me, so...

My voicemail at work constantly gets overloaded for work stuff, and so they could not leave me
a voicemail. But they coudl email, OR pay the cell phone, nah.

Still, with all the changes in the making lately, and future employers trying to reach me, has
been a mess, with them moaning I ''never answered my calls' when I was stck to pack archives
for national library deposit, as office is very soon closing...I then was at the other end of
the office. They had manin reception number, but did not bother to try. They could have
reached me and let me know I had a call. Finally they used email, for one. But as I will leave
that office,others will not have (nor me) my new phone number yet at new workplace...There the
iphone becomes quite handy, if I do not necessarily like giving work a cell phone number they
do not pay for. I am not supposed to ''pay'' (for) the employers: they are supposed to pay ME,
nah:).


But for this situation, it isfine timing. Since I will be not only moving to a new work place,
but as I elarned suddenly this week, will be shipped at times from one office to the other
depending on their office general work needs (I do not like that idea much at all, specially
since I have to teravel by car, will be the one paying the darngas and having to pay two
parking spaces or three simultaneously, to reserve them all:( - and wish I had been told it
involved different cities before the alst minute...:( ), giving a cell phone number to those
trying to reach me (other than THAT employer since they are the ones doing the shipping me
around: if they wanna reach me then, THEY pay for the cell phone) is great timing.

Funny coincidence: my provider called to make a commercial throw, to try and sell me a cell
phone and service package. Told them to contact my son, sicne I always leave it to him to see
about the need and prices, not knowing much where those are at nowadays, knowign about the
Fido and not having shopped when they call, and not wantign to pay a cell phone and service
when I never used the one I had. Kept it in the car in case of emergency. Called kiddo right
away to tell him that I did not want to have to pay any monthly nothin for a phone, since I
had all those accumulated hours on the other one I never had an occasion to even use.

I had told him in the past that an Iphone looking way more liek the Ipad screen, I woudl be
more at ease with that, if however it was way too expensive and with high monthlies.

So kiddo gets here, and as he unpacks the airco heavy window unit (vertical ones are too ehavy
for me andwindows juuust too high for me to lift it to the window sill to install. I can
remove it in fall, but not istall it in spring....Easier to let it drop on table than to lift
it to window sill), he tells me :
-Oh, this aldy called for a cell phone. Imagine, she was tryign to push me sayign you ahd
asked for an iphone ad saifd it was okay with you, hah!!
-WHAT??? I never said that!! I said that of course I'd love aniphone if I changed, but that my
use of my actuial phoen right nwo showed it would be expensive to switch,specially with all
the minutes I collected on my Fido. As she was insisting and ushing the sales, told her to
call you, that it was specified in my file to always deal with you on those thigns and that
they still called me even so. Glad I coudl reach you before she called you and leave a message
for you to not be had by her, then! I never told her I was okay with getting one at 49 a month
on lease contract!:(

Later he sits down and hands me a wrapped present in a smallheavy box...Mothers day present he
says....

I then see the lid is with gift wraping but not the bottom adn the cover can be pulled...I
turn it over and read 'IPhone'.
-Git outtahere!!!! You did not get this at 50 a month when I have all that tiem on the other
phone!!!!!!???
-Hahaha, no, just a coincidence. You had told me you would feel more at ease with the screen
and options of the Iphone, would it not be so expensive on monthlies. But I bought a used one
on the net, and transfered your minutes of Fido on it.
-What???? That can be done????
-Yup. So now the Fido has no time on it, it all is on the IPhone. You have a ton fo time to
use that would otherwise expire in October, from all the eyars you never used them. You lost
some, but stillhave 4.5 hours accumulated to use before ocvtober. Afterwards, it will be ten a
month for time, if needed, or depending on how much you use it, if you want more.
-So you have no monthlies to pay on thism, huh?
-Nope. All paid when bought used. When you saw my ad last eyar to sell my previous one as I
got a 5, and said you wanted it but was there monthlies...? I had just sold it, it was sold
real fast...So I boyght another one, but this one is better. It is a 4s. A Notch higher, just
under the 5.
-For the use I make iof it so far, is already more than I need!:) Wow!

When came the time to chose a ringtone, I saw there was a preset selection.
-Oh....I had a ringing in mind all those years....
-You did, huh....ermmm...what...?
-Somethign I heard when I was nine and that stayed in my memory ever since. Probably is only
remembered by people over 75:)
-Let's see....

We found it. He seemed a bit sighing inside thinking he woudl not like my choice of
ringing....Made me wonder if chosing a ring was so important....I hate when people play a few
bars of a tunefor a ringing, unless it is quite fitting, and recognizable, but even then,
after you ehard it once, you tire of it.

When he found it and heard it, I felt he was almost envious:
-Wow! That is exactly my type!!! Any geek woudl want to have that! This is the type of ringing
geeks would fight to have found for their phoen to play it in a geek meeting! Techno and vintage.
-...vintage??? Makes me wonder. I liked that ti was old so not everyoen woudl ahve the same,
but...
-It's great! It is a syuper ringtone, exactlythe type I'd want myself!! Hahaha:)
-Yeah but...erm...you are not thought of as 'vintage'...But I am vintage in them techies'
eyes....They might think I am as old as it, but again, I heard it when nine only...while those
who knew it in their twenties to thirties would now be what, over ...77 to 90!

Dunno if nor when I woudl tire of it.But must say I love it. Always thought if i used a cell
phone, I wanted that ringtone on it. Never heard it elsewhere either, if it must be used
elsewhere.

Since no one calls, not having my number anyway yet:), I learned how to make the ringtone play
to hear it, hehehe:)

And sicne it uses the same connecting plug than the Ipad to recarge, I can have one at hoem
and one at work to always make sure it is charged.

Though will not bring the charger at work now, because am moving out of that office in a week.
A four day week sicne Monday is a statutory holiday...

Lots to sort and do still. Was not given any tiem at all to deal with it, while others had
months to do it on free tiem here and there. I just never had free tiem in that job EVER. I
was still asked after the texts finally slowed down, to do archives insetad of tend to what I
shoudl be granted by law. Puty my foot down adn told the person there to close office that I
neededs to take care of email and so on, to respect employer's way of dealing with archives
and respect of privacy for clients. When she snapped and said that I still had to do 'some'
work for her, on an unacceptable tone and with no regards for the weeks I already did depte my
won workload, while others had nothign else to do, I tirned around and said 'I had been told
you were not my maager...?' -I am not either. -Then if you will excuse me, I know how much
there is left to do, and how short my time is. It woudl ahve been a miracle to do it in three
weeks, now I only have days left.
-Oh, but if you did not start workign that late, hah!!
-Excuse me??? I do not work those hours normally,. But you give me so much work with all I
already ahve to do that I get it at nine to ahve time when everyoen si gone to not be
interrupted and produce MORE, AND ten I stayed overtime, unpaid ever, again,to sort what I
could of my things on my own private time. So my ''gettign in late'' is not to avoid work but
to do as much as I can in too little time and to add soem fo my own time for free on top of it.
I know I will end up havign to do things too fast and not keep what is of importance to me in
my Personnel files and all that, passing employer first...If yet I did it on my own privatye
unpaid by employer time, after my work hours. So in fact, as usual, employer owes me time,
not the other way around at all. I am supposed to eb allowed two weeks for the transition:
the last you heard I was to start there on Tuesday. Leavign me one workday to do it all,
while legal delays are two weeks minimum. Papers are not signed, true: they are being made and
Personnel is overloaded. But as soon as they ae done, they call me to go sign and start, which
coudl be any day, including Tuesday. I had told you that I woudl do all that is needed with my
own archiving my documents and emails and lists and so on, and THEN with time left if any, I
could and woudl help with the rest. But I never had a day wothout texts until yesterday and
ysterday, I did texts that YOU asked me to do, and this morning, I did translation for you,
and now this table of calclations for a report on the office's last two years of production.


Later I went to see her with a production report of mywork I fell on,sorting, and shwoed it to
her to make her unsdderstand.
-3,500 texts a year????!! Oh my gawd...that looks almost impossible....
-On 7.5 hours a day, it is. I did it adding time ebcasue it had to be done, time for which I
never was paid nor compensated ever. Mond you, they were done also in two languages, so count
double. AND that does not coutn the same 3,500 I had to send to the Internet team, re-revise
once scanbned and put there, correctiosn to send for scannign errors, coordinating with VIPs
and with the sr staff and Head, answerign requests not only on what I was hired for, but on
legal stuff as well, douing the reference lists that yetw ere on x's description tasks, the
errata that were on Y's description tasks, and replacing the sr staff. Add to that hat we were
supposed to eb four to do my job without all tose additions, AND that as tiem went bny, we
were short on staff sicne years: we only ahd 2 sr officers left that ahd to travel to
hearings, where I did all their office work sicne they were always on the road, AND that of
the four ones that ahd left sicne they were not repalced and the other two were as I said on
teh road all the time. All other staff including those two sr officers had moments where
their job of a day was done. That never existed with mine. I NEVER had a free moment. But I
worked an average of 12-16 hours OT unpaid a week, for the forst 8 eyars, then an average of
6-12 a week since. Unpaid always for the OT. I was not asked to do it. I stayed and did it
becasue no oen else saw the workload come except me. Sicne I managed, they always fogured
there was nothign to it. if they did see these reports. And mind you, the next pages give the
list of all the document numbers I worked on, so no one can pretend I cheated on numbers.
Exactly because I knew it was beyond belief. But I DID it for real. So imagine.
Where others have three filing cabinets, For six of them, I had to fight for years to have
three. AND I have to clear them all, plus the immense piles in my office, drawers, tables, and
the ones from the colelageu that left eyars ago without clearkign hers completely.
AND I have ten years of emaisl I never coudl tend to, if I stayed late for that too to try adn
clear some a few years back...But I am still back to ...2006-7.

I asked new employer to push the start date to the 27th. Had an outroar for a reaction.
Todk them I aslo did not have any holidays this eyarand had planned to take them in june,
normally, but could not so far set a date not knwoign what theiy had for priorities on their
staffs holidays and if that was convernient for them. had a grumpy snappy replay there again
adn was tolsd their boss woudl not like my excuses, which really hit me in a 'eeeew' and
'Humpf' mode in the tummy. I thenw as thrown at like a four eyar old woudl that I 'never even
answered my phone". Eeew....'-They are NOT excuses:(! And I did explain before that I am working
archiving boxes at the othr end of the floor from my office, far from my phone, adn that my
voicebox thenm got full...
-Listen, was I told in another snap and paternalistic attitude, as a manager, I dio not have
to ehar what you are douing for another manager:('
-(...Lord give me patience. Do not give me strenght, Lord, give me patience, ebcasue if you
give me stenght Lord, I am gonna..........&?%#$# her, Lord!'...;-) ...;-))

I bit my tongue and left a silence. Soemtimes people need to ehar the echo of their own words
to realize how they are acting....

I exactly was NOT telling her that listen I work for soemoen just like you who snaps and all
and wants all for free, and besides, exactly, tyou are not my manager yet and your words are
completely uncalled for and unfair, not to mention rude and inmpolite, and out of place.


I was so frustrated after thatc all that I thought 'I have to check on Tuesday abotu pension.
Heck, if I am gonna be trated this way over there too, and fi there is a way I can avoid that
even eatign dirt, so long as I can eat soemthing, be it dirt....

AND I had just elarned that they forgot to tell me that they said i woudl eb working in this
here city which made it more acceptabel for me, but that they klied, it will be in another
town. And later, that oh, they shoudl tell me that they will ahve me in this other twon the
tiem they need me most then when others need me more I work in that iother town adn so on and
so forth. Then in another call it was 'I shoudl; tell you....We will be reloacted....
-Huh...?&&
-...to the other town in question.

But the tone did not make me trust that additinal info at all: it sounded liek soemoen not
wantign to tell me bad news by fearof losing me, and opting to lie and say the town I ahd been
told in the fotrt place to make sureto soften the blwo of the first lie.


Eeeew.
And then I am reproached what again????? To not answer my phoen while I still work for some
other manager???

Ewww.


All others in the ofice feel whipped to do the closing part that is not theirs to do at all.
We were left behind to do the work left, but not the moving of heavy boxes and funiture and
archives. That si fotr tyhe personw ho was sent there to do. What p me off is the other day an
assistant was tryign to fnd help from me with this person cnfising that the person asked her
to do this than a minute later to do that, forgettign she ahd asked her to do the forst thing,
then again and again the same thing, to only come abck and throw 'you never did what I asked
you this motrning, did you!:'. Told her I ahd the same treatment of oen thing and another,
that she was panicking, simply, and passing it on us, but that right now, I walke dby her
office with boxes, and saw she was looking at stuff on the net with another and giggling at
games and videos. Now THAT bugs me.

For weeks she twiddled her thumbs and nwo she panicks because she learns the three of us are
leaving. All three awaiting their papers to sign for the new place. Other two are offered by
new organization. NOT ME. I deal with a new manager that does nto have a clue all we are
doing, that has a serious need for the same at her end, and thinsk she is alone in it all with
too lil staff. And of course I can not give her details about anything....

New manager called and said her boss said okay for 27th as start date and check it out, that I
then "coudkl be free until ***June 14**** for holidays.


The date the card readign had said....But what was with the 'until june 14, startign from May
27th' thing???
-Did you not say you took yout holidays in june and mention the week that June 4 fell in was
usually what you went by to try and fall on nice weather?
-...yes?
-Well there you go. The week starts with June 3rd, and two weeks off woudl amke it ed on June
14th.

-(!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!I never even had looked at the calendar for when it woudl fall!!!!)


I was too stunned y the exact date to ask why she mentioned 'free from May 27th to June 14'...
Was I gfonna work the week of May 27th?? For fove days then leave for holidays or was she
countign nwo three weeks?? If so, trouble: a breqakof five days would make me no longer a
permanent employee....EEEEK.


It is always ruish and rush and try and not be had...

hey want meto come when theyc all to sign the papers immediately on the spot. BUT given all I
heard now about citiers and reloaction....I do not wanna end up in a same boat in a few months
for heaven,s sake. I fear their need is temporary and they are not syaing, where I again woudl
ahve to go throught he motion but withotu any optiosn anymore, in a while, see...So I wanna
have the right and tiem to read the contract carefully and not be pressured, which i know I
will be, and will have an earful of insults for asking.

I will be a tioered overworked, ver very exasted wreck to start on the 27th...given the no
time given at all where i am to finish all I have to:(

Texts are supposed to come in but have not arrived yet.
The second they do they will flip out, but hey, I have to clsoe my officve and move out!! They
did NOT want me? Now live with it, what can I say!!!

Cannot both have your cake and eat it, nah.

Even new boss was telling me it did not take three days to close her files when SHE moved. Of
course I coudl not say 'I am sure., But then again, did you do the entire office'swork on your
own? No? Thought so. That make sit very different.'.

Had to bite my tongue and keep swaklowing insults for the hard work....

Everyone is on edge as they are too shotrt on staff after all thse cuts. Well, what can I say.
I did not arrange the cut backs...
My opinion was never even asked.

In the meantime, exboss already gone at new organization keeps wtritign to know if I had a
news or if I found something.

Until papers are signed and info is clarified abot the week of 27th, am not saying anything,
because if it changes on me, i will be the oen given poop by all three.
But makes me wonder if ex boss wants me now in new place having trouble making things work
with workolaod and qwuality, or if she rather is eager to know I am shipped to tomboctoo and
out of her way.

One fo the gorls had a double offer: new organization or another division. She told e she was
wnderign what to chose, now....Asked her if she wanted feedback, she said sure. I sad flush
'em. Like me and Jewls, they left us behind to use because they could count on us to do the
work. Yet you and I were always treated like dirt, shouted at, snapped at, withotu any
ackowledgement even for the extra work we did. AND you know they alla re unhappy there,l and
that there is no chance for advancement, plsu they are in anotehr town, while the other offer
you ahev is ion your own hometown. If ti was me the choice woudl eb very clear. Hekck,. being
in my own hometowan and not havign to cross the ridges and awful traffic each day made it more
acceptabel to me wioth this tone, and nwo they are changing it to the same buolding as the new
organization I never wanted t see again.....Sigh....But if i coudl chose the town....as it had
been offered.....My choice woudl be clear in your shoes.

She finally opts for the different palce:). But they ahve to hurry as new organization wants
her to come and sign papers so now other plce are racinf to amke it before them...

Just hell all overfor managers and employees alike with stress bigger than can be described to
start a new job in and elave an old job in as well...

Will not even have time to say 'by' to the last ten eyars of my life....

But man, I don't wanna be snapped at ever again:(.