tortillas are the basis of Salvadoran diet, so, if tortillas become more expensive, EVERYTHING will soon be more expensive, too!!...they used to be $0.04 each and now they're $0.05 each!!...we hardly ever eat tortillas at my house (or bread, for that matter...did you know white bread is considered a "luxury item" by some segments of the population here??) but, if corn prices go up, soon everything else follows!...because of the atypical rainy season we're having, corn is scarce....ES is opening it's borders to Honduran and Nicaraguan corn to try to bring down the price a bit...I do hope the Salvadoran corn crops can be saved, though!

...I took Fiona for her annual vaccines/deworming and a nail clipping (I don't have the stomach to do this myself, I'm always afraid of hurting her!)...$40...eye doctor appointment for myself (my eye had a red spot!!) and Ale (annual exam!)... $35 ($16 for Dr and $19 for eye drops!)...now, besides the appointment for myself, which was due to "illness", everything else should have been programmed, preferably before May or after August, so it didn't coincide with school expenses!!!! ((kicking myself over this!))
oh, and the Dr said there's nothing wrong with my eye, that I've probably just been too stressed and the blood pressure broke some veins in my eyes...said I should be back to normal in 15 days...and I can wear my contacts once the discomfort passes!...Ale's sight is perfect, but she DOES have a slight allergie (either from the pool or from kitty!)....

see? I knew that'd get your attention!!...actually, I DID go on a shopping spree...for stuff I NEED (new shoes for Ale AGAIN!...size 2 this time!!) and a pair of pants for me (to replace ones that nearly disintegrated in the last wash!)...I decided yesterday was a great day to do that, as a popular dept store was having a "yellow tag" sale...meaning for two days only you got 30% already discounted prices on select merchandise...I got Ale 2 pairs of shoes (1 "everyday", 1 tennis shoes) for $26 and, the pants I found were $25 original price, but ended up costing me $12.50....there was other stuff I would have wanted (3 other pairs of pants, all gorgeous, all similarly priced)...but, I really didn't NEED that...I can wait to get that later on, when things have stabilized more financially ...

I finally went to get my severance check and, it turned out it was more than I thought it would be ($600 instead of $200!)...BUT, regulations required me to endorse it to the employee coop due the loan I have with them... I had much better use for that $$ (applying it towards higher-interest debt!)....oh, well, at least that means I owe the coop nearly $1,300 instead of nearly $1,900!!... gotta look on the bright side, right??

Because I didn´t have my regular income in April, I´ve fallen behind with some payments...rent (I should have had March paid off by the beginning of April, but, I used the rent money to pay for Ale's school and transport)...1 cc (used that $$ to pay for groceries), the bank loan (used that for gas and the nanny)...so now of course I´m trying to play catch up (have half of March rent paid off, so I need to pay for April and half of March by the end of May!)...on a month when I also have to pay for Ale´s school books for next school year (they have to be ordered by end of May, else they won´t get here before the beginning of August!)...Thank God May is a 3-pay period month! (new job pays every other Thursday, so I will get paid on the 3rd, the 17th and the 31st)...this feels so strange!...my old job paid on the 15th and the last of the month!...
Anyway, I have been working my numbers and, between paying for the renewal of my car registration and Ale`s school enrollemnt fee, school supplies and Spanish books in July, it´ll be a good six months before I´m able to catch up totally (meaning I´ll be up to date AND making progress, I already paid the cc, but, because of the many fees for missing that 1 payment, only $7 went towards debt!)
Oh, well, it´s worth it, because by 2008, things WILL be very different!

well, you've read about it, beware of "free" gifts, they might end up costing you $$...

We got a free tank from one of my cousins...it had two ornaments and 2 plants, the filter, a lamp and a fish net...we had to buy sand and a glass to mount the lamp...while it wasn´t all too expensive, it´s still out of budget...($15)...we filled it and it´s working now...we are just waiting a whole day so we can move the fish (and our mermaid!) into it later today...we did not use bottled water, see, but used water that had been "sitting" in our pila for two days, so it should already be free of clorhine...we just want to make sure it´s 100% safe by waiting the customary 3 days before putting them in!...it looks so nice!!!...of course, Ale chose pink sand, and Clau wanted purple sand, so we bought 4lbs of each!...the guy at the store tried to get me to buy gray/tan sand, but, my poor fish are so gray themselves, they would be invisible in that!...so, the move is scheduled for tonight!....I´m so excited!!!

there are network problems and I cannot print...I NEED to print!!!...otherwise I cannot hand in the manager's travel expense reports!!! H E L P ! ! !....

I already called Help Desk...they are working on it....so, the questino is: can they fix it in time???

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I thought I had 9 vacation days remaining and, according to the HR system I have -2?? meaning I have taken 2 days MORE than I was entitled to??...NO!...so, I wrote to them to try to clarify it....I mean, I want to be PAID for those 9 days -as per local law!

I'm trying to do my day-to-day tasks while filing/throwing away everything that I should have filed/thrown away in the past 3 years, but didn't!! and, whose fault is THAT? mine and mine alone, really!) ...also, I'm trying to write out the programmable admin tasks for April and May, so that things are at least half-controlled once I leave (not really "required", but I know it's expected!)...there's a major training in April and, things should have been ready by April 5th, so now I'm trying to have everything set up by March 30th...that will give the other admin about 17 days before she actually has to take 100% charge of the training logistics (believe me, that is supposed to be an "extra 10% activity", which somehow ends up being a full time job for at least 2 weeks!)...I'm also in charge of a pilot test for the new purchasing process, which started this monday....so I'll also have to leave instructions for that...so far, I've managed to list (most) of the tasks for April...but, this is the "programmable" ones, meaning the ones I KNOW when/how will hit me...there are also the many odds and ends that I take care of....needless to say, I'm feeling the stress!!!...(the only good thing about that is it DEFINETELY offsets any sadness I might feel about leaving...it actually makes me want to run away!!LOL!)

well, we had our bi-monthly meeting yesterday and, sure enough, they casually mentioned that the rules of the game will soon be changing when it comes to our monthly bonus (based on X index on performance, which has been constantly achieved for the last 3-5 years, and which has meant a monthly bonus of $120 for all employees...the bonus will soon be based on Y index, which is consistently lower than target...those $120 could very easily go down to $30 or less per month!)...I mean, it makes sense, the idea is to make everyone work towards improving Y index, but...O U C H!

They didn't announce a date for it, so it might still be a couple of months away, but, at least WE get a heads up....other areas will be hit without warning!

I like to keep a stock of toys for b-days Ale might get invited to....but, lately she's had lots...and all boys!...so, I have about 4-6 toys for girls which I CAN'T use!...so I need to buy some toys for boys...(I ran out of the "unisex" ones a long time ago!...mostly puzzles, building blocks, coloring books...)

((sigh)) time to go downtown again!

I just read the news this morning, ES tax forms have changed!...rats! ....just when I was starting to understand the old ones!...oh, well, I hope the changes are for the best and will make things easier!... (I already printed the explanation off the local newspaper site!)...in the meantime, I cannot even start thinking about doing my taxes because the company hasn't given us our tax retention letters...

I forwarded the news to our payroll dept!...(it was during our lunch break, so it should be OK!) :P

the lasagna nanny made yesterday was such a hit, there were no leftovers!!!...and, there were only enough leftovers from day before yesterday to pack 1 lunch: Ale's... that means I have to buy my lunch today....unless there's a Work Unit lunch and somebody decides to invite me, but, I'm not counting on it!...oh, well, I'll try to keep it as close to $2 as possible!

UGH! the school didn't accept the generic white glue...they want X brand-name...the one we bought was $1.28/tin...the one they want is $2.75/tin....now, this is just white carpenter's glue and,it's being used for kids crafts...

anyway, we need to bring the replacements between today and tomorrow, which means there's no time to sell the ones we have first...which means WE have to shell out the money and then find a way to recover at least part of it!...rats!...plus, the profit on most of those school packages was about $10-$15....with this, it goes down by $1.47 per package (for preschool packages)...$8.53-$13.53....

I'm not a happy camper today!...

our faucet in the kitchen started leaking all of a sudden...BADLY!...so we called the plumber...we also asked him to fix the basin in the downstairs bathroom, which looked like it was about to fall off! (I had already declared it off-limits for Ale...she might have broken her foot!)...total was $40!!!...O*U*C*H!

Oh, well....the way that faucet was leaking, I'd probably would have spent just as much on next month's water bill!

so...Ale has managed to lose 2 cases of colored pencils since January 8th...when she lost the first one (Staed.ler ones!), I bought her the shortest, cheaper ones I could find...((you should have seen her face!)) ...I told her she couldn't have "nice ones" until she learned to take care of her things...I also warned her that these would be counted EVERY day...she just called me and said that her new pencils (bought last week!) had been "thrown into the garbage"...she said "the cleaning people at school threw them away"...she also said she spoke to the teacher about it...now, it is obvious to me that if the people from cleaning threw them away, they must have been on the floor or something...anyway, this weekend I'm making Ale take out money from HER piggy bank to buy new colored-pencils for school...she just HAS to learn to take better care of her things!

since my nephew will steal any money within sight, I told cousin I could keep her money at my house and she could come and retrieve it as needed, instead of hiding it around her house (he's alone at the house all day, which means he has around 12 hours daily to search for her hiding places!)...well, the other day I needed $40 to pay the nanny (forgot to withdraw the money from the bank before going home)...since this was before a holiday (Jan 16th), I didn't want to send nanny home without cash, so I took $40 out of cousin's envelope and gave it to nanny...I told cousin and promised to repay her...for one reason or another, I haven't reimbursed her yet...she called me today to remind me that she needs her money...it made me so mad...I told her, yeah, I need MY money, too...she said; "Oh, I know, believe me I'm well aware that I owe you that money"...yeah, well, she's "been aware" for over a year now!...some people! aaaarrrrghhhh!...If I didn't consider it highly unethical, I would just keep the money and tell her to "put it on my tab"...

Cousin and I have been working like crazy-- getting up at 6am and going to bed at midnight...it has paid off, though, we already made enough money to repay the loan to our cousin ($800), got back what we invested (about $300) AND, got $559 each...we may have to reinvest part of that, though!...we'll see how things go, we still have 3 more days, but we don´t want to go crazy like last year!!...

On non-financial related news, nephew R came by the other day....sis and I agree he´s NOT ok...another reason for worry is that we locked ourselves out of the house and he said: no problem...he simply took out some windows (we have the kind that open and shut to let in the air...) and slid sideways through the bars in front of the window (he´s THAT skinny)...took him less than 2 minutes!....I already bought a planter for that window, and, tomorrow I will go out and buy some soil and some thorny plants...I guess it IS financially related, since I will be spending some money on that...((sigh))

well, gotta go to bed...it´s 1:41am already!!

Just wanted to wish you all a wonderful 2007 and to let you know I´m still around!

...((sigh)) YES!...
they want all expenses for 2006 to be tallied in 2006 (obvious!)...so, one of our PM's sent a message to the whole unit regarding this, so now I'm SWAMPED with things that need processing for payment before tomorrow (when our PM leaves!) ...it's 4:40 and, I don't think I can finish before tomorrow noon! ...

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I'm looking at what Xmas will cost...about $200-$250 ....that pays for my half of dinner and also for presents (sis, niece, Ale, cousin, friends, teachers, nanny, etc)...not really too much all things considered...still, $200-$250??...part of me says I should be paying off debt with that money, while another says if I don't spend some money doing stuff that is fun, I'll go crazy and burn out...I don't know which side to believe!...The money is already spent anyway, so, short of returning the gifts that have been bought but not given out yet (which is impossible for the most part, having been bought from informal businesses downtown!)...well, there's little I can do about it anyway...

Yet another part of me wants to go out and spend, spend, spend...but, I KNOW I need to shut HER up and throw her out the window if needed, so I'm not worried...plus, it's not like I have the money to indulge her, even if I tried!

...I'm having several different problems at the same time (work-related, but having to do with $$$)...one is a guy that left the company over a year ago crying for his expenses (which he SENT to me AFTER he had left!) and about his medical insurance (they sent him a reimbursement for expenses that were over a year old when he presented-- which is against policy, but, somehow the lady in insurance management got them to pay) and, because the cheque wasn't cashed on time, now he wants the insurance company to reissue the cheque...we already told him, he has to mail the old cheque...he doesn't want to do that, he thinks it's too much of a hassle and wants us to say that the cheque got lost and the company should reissue a new one...he also sent some plane tickets to be reimbursed...all this after he had already left the company (the tickets were issued for him BEFORE he left and were covered under his contact)...then I have 6 interns who are supposed to be getting reimbursed in CASH every week for their living expenses (they are from other countries)....but now audit has cancelled all cash reimbursement and they have to wait for cheques to be cut...noone told me about this and, we just found out today when they tried to cash their payment requests...this is a hassle for me because obviously they NEED their money and, I'm the "contact person"....Then I have two of the (expat) houses without internet service "for non-payment"...WHAT??...and because we DON'T cut cheques for THAT, now I have to go to accounting and beg them to let me look at the petty cash files for the last 3 weeks to get a copy of the paid out invoice....
AND the maid in one of the (expat) houses is leaving at the end of the month, so I have to find them another one...AND they are also vacating the house and looking for a new one!-- luckily they rent furnished houses, but, still!...AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGHHHH!!!... I want to go home!!! NOW!

....we have to deliver 4 orders by this weekend, as all 4 companies are having their Xmas parties on Saturday....

so is my company...at a water park 45 minutes away from the city!!!...from 7 to 12...which means I'm sending Ale with my friend B, the Other Admin....

Saturday is also Ale's church pageant...at 4:30pm...so she's going with my sis...

because cousin and I have to go host a customer's children's party! ...starting at 2:30....

AND, our unit at work is going to the Padre Vito Guarato Home (yes, I wanted them to go, but, did they have to pick THIS Saturday to do it??)

Besides the physical exhaustion, the stress is killing me! ((think happy thoughts, think happy thoughts))

it's THAT time of the year again...when everybody else in our unit - except the other admin and myself- get a raise!...I guess they (VP and Director) once again couldn't come up with an idea to justify it to HR and accounting! (the "scheme" to give the others raises is that every year they get a "promotion"....they created 4 steps for each position, so they get "promoted" to the next step....same responsibilities, different salary/benefits! ....The ironic thing is that their starting salaries are double what we make!...so, with the promotions, some of them are now making 3x what we make!...and most are unmarried still, which, in ES means living with their parents and not contributing to the house even!... I know life's not fair, and noone ever said it would or should be, but...still...I'm seriously considering NOT going to the Xmas party....last year the VP even got to say he's got the best directors, the most talented PM's, the greatest analysts: together they are the greatest team in the world....(and the little elves that do the administrative work while the other admin and I do our nails I suppose, as we two were never mentioned!)...as vitriolic as this post is, imagine if I "sound" like this when I'm sober, what will happen after the official toast?...I should stick to soda, definetely...IF I go, I'd probably just stay for the "private" part of the evening (and leave once there are enough guests arriving for any one to notice me slipping out)...I generally don't let this things get me down (too much), but, at times it's difficult....

we were supposed to have a "working lunch" to discuss the new fundraising for the community development thing, so I didn't bring lunch from home, but the managers got stuck in a meeting and, couldn't make it so the lunch got rescheduled! (the meeting was supposed to end at 11, and our lunch would run from 12 to 1...their meeting lasted until 1!)

Hate it!>..note to self: bring food from home even if there is a working lunch scheduled!

we are having a cold wave and it's COLD in San Salvador....this means temperatures are about 12 degrees (C)....and, YES, we consider that COLD...freezing, almost!!....

Now, I DID buy her a perfect sweater, navy blue, to wear with her uniform....she wore it to school ONCE and doesn't know where she left it...I've checked at both schools...not there....I've checked with the transport lady...not there...so, I let her wear her purple sweater with ponies on it two days ago....GONE!...she doesn't know where she left it...If I were my father, I'd let her go without a sweater so she learns to take better care of her things...I probably would do it, except that she'd get sick and then I'd feel guilty!

And, in case you are wondering, it IS difficult to find sweaters in San Salvador...(seeing that we normally don't need them, few stores carry them...generally European or American franchises...like Benett0n, Zara or Mimo...which means they are EXPENSIVE!!!)...

I've commissioned my cousin to try to find a "generic" one downtown!...

ugh! still no water at our neighborhood!... I swear, you really don't appreciate what a blessing it is to have running water until you lose it!...Thankfully, we are scheduled to get ours back today, but, I cannot help to think of all those families that do NOT have access...During the war, because of the guerilla blowing up towers our electricity was rationed and, we had to do without for 8 hours...it wouldn't have been so bad if it hadn't meant that, somewhere across the city, the water pumps were ALSO left without power, so we were left without water for 8 hours each day!...since the schedules were rotating, there was a time when the water arrived at 1am!...we had set out alarm clocks to wake up at that time and do laundry, wash dishes and fill barrels!

She asked me last week if she could join the "Art club" at school...I told her to find out: 1. when they meet, 2. what time they're done and 3. how much it costs....she did!...they meet on Mondays, from 3-4pm (right after school ends) and it costs $20/month....
So...I told her if she REALLY wants to join, then we would have to give up going out to "places that cost money" on the weekends...she started crying and said: but, Mom, I want the art classes AND going out to places...so, we finally reached an agreement...we will still go out, but will minimize our spending (a specific example: if we go to the movies, we WON'T buy popcorn, soda and/or candy anymore!, and we will always go to the matinee, which is cheaper)....she also agreed to having her weekly allowance reduced from $2 to $1... This will free me $5-$7/month from the enterntainment budget, and $3-$5 from the allowance budget, so I still have to find $8-$12....

I guess she REALLY wants to join the Art Club!....I need to contact the school secretary tomorrow to verify Ale's info, though!

...they are fixing a main feed pipe in our neighborhood, so we have had no running water since Saturday! (still, we are the lucky ones, other parts of the neighborhood haven't had any water since Friday morning!)...work is expected to be finished today...((crossing my fingers))...I had to go to a friend's house to take a shower yesterday!...most of my clothes are in the hamper and, the sink in the kitchen is overflowing with dirty dishes (from Friday night and Saturday morning, when we still didn't know that we wouldn't have water!)... yuck!...luckily we still have the habit (acquired during the war years!) of keeping barrels of water in the house, so at least we have been able to flush toilets!!!

I have over 1,000 new feedback forms...plus leftover handouts that need to be shredded,...invoices that need to be paid and new travel expenses to be processed plus some non-disclosure agreements that need to be signed.... all these arrived TODAY!!!....

((sigh)) ....at least the cocktail party turned out well!!....

I still have to pack the leftovers tonight and return the trays to our supplier tomorrow...

And I'm still missing 3 training boxes...which means more feedback forms, more feedback forms, more documents for the shredder, 3 projectors, 1 video camera, 1 tripod and some toys to be put away on Monday...on top of my regular tasks and taking the company car to (finally!) get the new license plate!...

Oh, and my boss wants me to translate a document and then do the voice over for a video based on that text! ...

I better stop here or I'll have a meltdown!

The original plan had the presentations lasting until 5:30...this was changed (and noone bothered to tell me)...they are now scheduled to end at 5:00... the food has not arrived...the waiters have not arrived.... I do have plates, glasses, cups and drinks, though....

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