this morning I got a call from accounting, they wanted to know when I was going to return some invoices they sent for approval...I was like: huh? I have nothing pending (honest, I don't!)...well, you signed for them and they aren't back, can we check??...turns out the invoices were given to me in OCTOBER, after some searching, I found an email that I sent TO THE PERSON THAT WAS CALLING ME stating that these particular invoices were NOT "ours" and that they had been sent to the pertaining area/person for approval...she proceeds to ask me for the ticket number (things that are sensitive are to be sent with a numbered ticket via comail)...er, I don't have it...I don't even remember if I used one!...(I can feel her glowering at me over the phone)- who did you send it to?...-CP (the manager for the unit, and the one who was supposed to sign)...she hangs up on me and calls the SECRETARY for the unit and, of course, she doesn't remember...I NEVER talked to her about this!!...so, now I get an email stating they all want the ticket number so they can find out what happened to this...I send an email back, stating: I don't really even know if I used a ticket, this was 3 months ago (to the day!) and, with all the stuff that we send out (which is true!) I really can't remember from the top of my head. CP, it's difficult to remember based on invoice numbers alone, but these invoices are for training X, which I coordinated with the hotel, but which was to be charged to your cost center. I even drew up the payment request and sent it to you so all you had to do was sign....
Aha! - here comes a response from his secretary: Now that Maria mentioned the payment request, I remember you gave me those documents to be sent to accounting. I made a copy of the front page and, I just looked it up and, sure enough, it's from Maria and it has the invoice numbers and amounts. The ticket number was XXX and comail dept is showing it as RECEIVED IN ACCOUNTIN by XYZ - not the person calling me!
HA!! TAKE THAT!! - if anyone has lost those invoices, it was the accounting dept, not me!...Especially when they are invoices (but, honest, I have over 100 sent items with tickets for October) ...and here she was, treating me like I was some sort of criminal or like I'm disorganized or something! (I'm not the neatest person in the world, but I keep track of these things!)
In the future, everytime I send or give them something, I'll ask that they sign and stamp it!!

this issue with the storage and the moving company?? The one that cost the company ~$8K (actually ~$11K once you add the storage!) ...it was finally resolved yesterday...my boss agreed to pay part of the storage (the one that might be imputable to us due delays on the documentation we had to supply) and they agreed they'll try to recover the rest from the company they subcontracted to do the packing at origin (because most of the storage fees came about becasue the stuff couldn't be taken out of customs because the packing list was not detailed enough!)...Although I didn't authorize the expense, it fell somewhat under my duties to do the follow up and, actually, the authorization SHOULD have come from me...except I was tied up with trainings at the time and so I wasn't the one reviewing/approving the documentation - for $8K, you bet I wouldn't have authorized it myself, I would have gone to my boss and HE certainly would have said no!...luckily for me, this was authorized by HR, but, I was the go-between and so it fell on my lap once my boss said not to pay it and the moving company kept calling to collect! - so, that's one less thing to worry about!I feel sooooo relieved!
(and, yes, I try not to take these things too personally, but, it's really really hard!!- darn work ethics! LOL!)

****************
This refuses to die!!! I just got a call from the woman who handled the cargo: the moving company is going to charge her and she wants me to intercede with my boss so that we pay for it...which I know is NOT going to happen!!....aaaaaaaaarrrrghhh!

the international moving company is charging us $11K for moving of some stuff from Sweden to El Salvador...my boss called me in this morning to find out WHO authorized this-and whether we did or whether the company just went ahead....we authorized it, but, I told him I wasn't sure who, as the movers had been speaking both to me and to HR...thankfully, it was HR who authorized it ...wheew!...for a moment there, I hesitated...I didn't want to say outright that HR had done it, as it would only make matters worse if it then turned out that the documents had MY signature on them!!...The original quote was for $9k (still waaaay higher than the alloted amount, which is $3k!!), and the remainder is storage charges...

I can breathe a bit easier now!!...Thank God for the paper trail!!

Yesterday, the other admin looked "off" and I asked her what the matter was...I wish I hadn't! ...she showed me what she was working on: requests to HR to increase salaries for 4 of the analysts in the group...2 of them will go from 1,450 to 1,775....the other 2 will go from 1,775 to 2,400...that's USD/MONTH....oh, and the 2 latter ones also get their monthly bonuses changed from 3% of their salary to 5% of their salaries if the dept reaches its goals...it is soooo unfair!...I make $800 and haven't had a raise in 2 years! ...not even when I went and ASKED for one!!...the other admin makes $600 and hasn't had a raise in 3 years!...the reason: they don't know what they could possibly say to HR to justify increasing OUR salaries!! (how about: when we started, there were only 13 people in the unit, and now there are 32?? or...there were 2 houses and now there are 5??...) makes me sooo mad, I could cry!...I thought the feeling would have worn off by today, but it hasn't...

I NEED A HUG!!

unfortunately, it IS in the job description! lol!....I have to process payments for: utilities (electricity, water, phone, internet and cable) at 5 houses, rent at 5 houses, maids at 5 houses, gardener at 2 houses...AND also personal and business travel expense reimbursements, reimburesements for moving expenses, reimbursement for payment of food for a seminar, payment for facilities for another seminar...BORING!!...and sooo time consuming! For each payment, I have to fill out a special form, print 2 copies (one for my records, which I almost never have time to file!!) sign it, get supervisor's signatures and deliver to accting...that's why I try to do them all in one day...for reimbursements, additional to the above, I have to include a receipt from the employee - which I normally sign myself, I really don't have the time to go around looking for 5 more people to sign other 5 papers!,,,plus, the money gets deposited into their accounts or, if they don't have a bank account, they get a cheque...
Oh, well, I just finished the ones for the Admin Director - completed, signed, signed by Director and delivered, YAY!...now I have to get started on the ones for the VP of my unit!! (which, quite honestly, have been sitting here for 3 weeks, as he was away and, I didn't feel like doing them, so now they are backlogged!!...serves me right!!) ((sigh))
Maybe I can finish them before noon (it is now 11:48am!)

First, thanks to Jorge for that last comment...I never thought of my life as interesting before, crazy, yes, but interesting??...

I have 1 of the 5 houses we rent almost sorted out now...I have 3 execs there, with their new maid, and I'm only pending with stuff from 1 person which is arriving tomorrow (finally!)...Let's call this Villa 1

House #2 is almost ready, too, I'm only pending sorting out the gardener payments....

House #3 is "messy" in that the landlady is disorganized, makes a fuss any time we want something fixed (and the house DOES need a lot of work!) and has a debt with the water company from before we rented, which she has arranged to pay for a period of 1 year...for which we are NOT paying, so all these receipts I have to pay in cash and then submitt for reimbursement, which is a lot more complicated than it sounds, and it's a lot more complicated than the system we have set up for the other houses, where I just have to fill out a form, get a signature and drop everything off at the mini-bank inside our offices...It is also messy in that the phone/internet/cable TV bill arrives at the company's main offices....where it gets lost until it reaches someone that recognizes the address and then forwards it to me, which results in payments being late at least 90% of the time!!

House #4 is "messy" in that the exec living there is constanly traveling and giving me the bills once they're overdue...this is a problem because, again, if the bills are overdue, I cannot pay them with "paper" but have to use cash and then submitt for reimbursement...

House #5 is messy in that the exec made the contract in his name (see previous posts) and am still trying to fix that so the company starts paying...I know he's getting mad - this has gone on for 5 months now!

Hopefully, by the end of the year everything will be in order....this really drains me - and takes a lot of my time, which could be used more productively in other things...

...we had to fire the maid today...my boss (director) and 2 managers share a house, but, the maid wasn't really performing well...some days she was a star, and others...she was just terrible!...and, she was abusing the phone...there were calls for her cellphone for about $100 this month!...he was very nervous about it and I said: I'll be there (I was the "liasion" of sorts, since I was the one calling her to give her the complaints in Spanish every time there was a problem)...today, he was: Oh, it'll be messy...and I told him not to worry, since I had fired people before (sadly) while I was at my previous job...It went rather well, actually, very professionally done, if I may say so myself...and he remarked on that, so...I guess it's just a side of me that he hadn't seen before (in command, as opposed to taking orders! lol!)...now, they want to keep paying for her son's school - I believe the reason they hadn't fired her before is that they all loved the little guy so much!...and she said she didn't want any help and that she'd find a way to make do without them...I told her not to be silly and not to let her pride get in the way of her son...I told her if she wants him to have a better life, he needs to have an education and, she has 2 other kids...I told her to take the aid as something being offered her son, not her, and that they are doing it from the goodness of their heart and not because they feel bad, and that they have set out to help him because they love him- they do! and that, despite what she might feel and think right now, they are actually fond of her and care what happens to her - they do!...I told her to call me as soon as she finds a school for him next to her own house or next position (although, this arrangement of letting the maid have their children with them is most definetely NOT usual in ES), so that I may go to the school and take care of the tuition, uniforms, etc...We changed the locks on the house, though, just as a preventive measure...her "husband" is a shady character...so much so that the guys prohibited his visits in the house, because he made their girlfriends feel uncomfy!...and, after all, she DOES know all their routines...and when the house is most likely to be alone! ...

I hope she takes my advice about the school aid for her son!

and no, I don't mean my salary....
I'm in charge of paying utilities and other bills for the houses that we rent for our executives...well, one of them rented the house in his own name instead of the companies, and now general services refuses to pay for the utilities until this situation is solved (I.e. a new contract is drafted)...in the meantime, they came to shut off his water yesterday and we are one month behind with the electricity bill...so right now I have to go beg the GS Director to pleeeeaaaase authorize the payments...the worse part is, since the execs in my area are the only ones that have houses paid for by the company, a lot of people are jealous/envious - including the GS Director!- and, since they can't spew their venom onto the execs....guess who they use as scapegoats...yep, the lowly Admin assistants - that would be me and B, the other admin assist in my area...people are generally nasty and mean whenever we request "favors"...as if it were OUR houses or as if it were somhow OUR idea that these people get preferential treatment...SORRY, OK?? this is the way THEY negotiated their contracts, SORRY if YOU couldn't, but it's not MY fault!! ((sigh))....Ok, I have to go and get humiliated by this "lady" right now...(no, generally I don't go to her, I go through my boss, but, unfortunately, he's on vacation, so I have to go there personally this time!)

***********
Wow!...she was actually nice to me....she said "no" on the money thing, but she was nice and offered an alternate solution....I'm impressed!

says they are willing to consider re-classifying my position, so that I MAY be eligible for a raise!!...now, he also said not to get my hopes up just yet, as he still has to sit with them to redefine the position, see where they would be able to pay more and see what level of increment they are willing to offer...In the meantime, I continue to send out resumes whenever I see a good offer...Through it all, I know that God will do what is best for me and will either send me a better job, or see that I get a good-enough offer here...(If I get no offers from other places, I know He wants me to stay here!)...

Well, I answered an ad placed by an employment agency and went in for an interview... I feel it went rather well, and that the guy doing the interview was impressed...I particularly feel that he thought he could get a good comission (they get paid based on the salary of the person being hired!) so that gives me hope...that was on Tuesday...then, yesterday, I got a call from the US Embassy to come in for testing regarding an application that I had sent a couple of weeks ago...I think I did well on the tests...One was a General Services one, with several questions on things like taking stuff out of customs, local labor laws, etc...and, although I found a couple of the questions a bit difficult, seeing how the other applicants seemed to have a hard time answering - and seeing that they found the English test hard, and I didn't - I think I might have an advantage...The only thing is, after we had finished the General SErvices test, a woman came in for the English test...and she was wearing an Embassy id badge...she already works there! - internal applicants have preference, of course...but, then, she is pregnat and due next week (she told someone else in the group), so, unless she's planning on a very early return to work, or they are planning on waiting for her to come back from maternity leave (3 months), I think I am still a good candidate...
We'll see...it would be a dream come true...the place is like 5 blocks from home, and the salary is 2X what I'm currently making!

PAID OUT bills!!....Sis and I have decided that this year we really, really won't give each other presents...I'll get my DD something and she'll get her DD something and that'll be it... What I'm going to give myself is PAID OUT cc bills...I'm going to make copies of the account statements and/or cancellation letters and make ornaments with them to hang on my Xmas tree!...that way, instead of feeling sad that I don't have presents, I can remember that I'm giving myself - and my daughter - a gift that is worth soooooo much more than anything we could buy!!
I have paid out 2 cc's already and, have made payment plans that will allow me to pay 1 more by December 15th and yet another one by January 30th...that'll still leave me plenty of debt to worry over the next 2 years or so (taking into account that my parent's farm money will run out on Dec, so payments will be lower and won't have such an impact...may even have to go back to min payments on the remaining cards)...
I have gone back to knitting for the $5,000 challenge and, tried to schedule a talk with my boss about my salary...he didn't answer, so I'll re-schedule (he was out of the office yesterday and has been in and out of meetings today)...I already know what I'm going to say and how I'm going to say it...because, honest, I don't only NEED a pay raise (raise, not adjustment!) but also WANT a pay raise, and, more importantly, I DESERVE a pay raise!! I'll let you know what happens!

Well, I called the cc company and asked if they would consolidate the debt that I have for the 2 cards I have with them...they said yes and offered a monthly payment of $184 - for 4 years!, which is less than what I am currently paying, but more than I was willing to pay ($150), and I had estimated 3 years to pay them off!...I have to call them again and ask a few questions before I make a decision (what exactly are they consolidating, what is the interest rate, does it stay fixed or can it go up/down depending on market trends, etc....) I might say yes and continue with my plan and then try to get a loan from a bank at a much lower interest...but, I just don't want to commit just like that, without researching other options...ah! I must be getting smarter!

My $20 into $5,000 challenge efforts are stalled at the moment, and I hate it, but, I have been sooooo tired lately...I am supposed to knit for 2 hours every night and, I haven't. I have been going to bed 2 hours earlier and waking up half an hour later.... there must be something wrong with me...Either that, or they are working me too much! (probably!...this week I have been given 100 pages to translate, 2 trainings to organize -logistics only, not materials- and about 200 feedback forms to input into the feedback database - which is not difficult or anything, but, still, takes time, and I'm supposed to be shipping packages to our South and North American stations...) But, because (almost) everyone else is out at training, I have been going home early (at around 5:30 to 6, instead of 6:30-7!) and spent some time with DD...

The people from the ad for freelance teachers called!! I have an interview on Saturday at 8:50am!!!....I'll drop DD off early at church and then go to the interview...I hope that I can pick her up on time to go to the swimming lessons...
I KNOW I can get that extra job!!...and, the place is about 8 blocks from work, so if I'm going to be teaching from 6-7pm (hours I listed as available), I can leave work at 5:30pm and have plenty of time to get there! (I generally leave work at 6:00 or 7:00pm (my schedule is supposed to be 8:00 to 5:00, but in reality it's more like 8:30-whenever....so I could compensate by arriving at 8:00 sharp and perhaps taking 45 minutes for lunch instead of 1 hour!) woooo-hooo! ....wish me luck!

The apt is up for sale again...sent a group e-mail to all my friends to let them know so they can forward it to their friends, in case anyone is interested...

I have a 3-day holiday next week...I have decided a great part of that time will be spent at home, de-cluttering and organizing...I have already told DD...I already have an action plan!...

So much to do this week...we have another training (creating and giving new trainings for other dept's of the company is one of our major KPI's) starting tomorrow...guess who's in charge of the logistics! (although, technically, there is someone in charge of logistics, I do the actual grunt work!-yuck!)...and I'm fighting IT over delivery of the PC's I need!!

Oh, well....gotta go! ((sigh))

It makes me mad to see people waste things...it makes me even madder to see people wasting in the name of frugality...just what do I mean?...somebody at the office decided to recycle paper into the printer...and put it in wrong...so now, I printed a huge document and not one page is usable, because it printed on top of the pre-printed side of the recycled paper!!...whoever tried to put this paper into the printer should have tested that s/he had put it in right...Now I have wasted energy and toner because of this well-intended person...(plus, we generally recycle by using the blank side of the paper to take notes or make drawings of slides, etc...AND, putting the printed paper in the copier dirties the print drum and then THAT needs to be replaced!!...talk about being uninformed!!!)

I HATE IT!!! I'm sooooo mad at everybody at the moment...they think I'm a machine or something, they give me so much to do, and they don't mind if I say NO, they just give it to me anyway and pout and go talk to my boss about it!!...and, at home, with my sister unable to help, I'm practically the weekend maid!! I HATE IT!!!...on top of everything, there's never enough money...
To my normal workload, add the fact that my hard-drive "died" and had to be replaced...they managed to save most of it...except my .pst folders in OUtlook...where I happened to have a LOT of critical information!!...aaaaargh!!...lost forever, is what they tell me!!...so, now I have to scrape and ask for info that I used to have right at my fingertips!
I'm going nuts, I'm really, honestly, truly going nuts here!... I need a break...some kind of break...As it turns out, my level of satisfaction with my life, on a scale 5-10, with 5 being "sucks" and 10 being "perfect", it looks like this:

Family : 6 (DD "boosts" the score! so you can imagine!) With my sister sick, I'm chauffer, messenger, administrator, cook, maid and even provide moral support (who's giving ME moral support??)
Spiritual: 6 - have not had a prayer meeting/attended my praying workshop in ages!!
Work: -3....right now, I like my job, I just hate everyone around me!!
Physical: 6 - I'm not exercising, I'm not eating too well, I'm always tired...I try to get 3 meals a day, though, and remind myself to breathe often!
Financial: - do I REALLY need to score it?? or can you guess? -4 Creditors keep calling and things seem to be looking down, rather than up, lately!

Ever wonder why I never speak of a significant other?? Well, I don't have one and, at the moment, it seems like I will never have one...why? 1.I'm always working, so unless they start hiring some grown-ups, there's no chance (believe me, the age difference and mind-set difference is abysmal!)...plus, it'd have to be someone that likes children...2. I look like sh*t at the moment..yes, I always look tired, my hair is a mess (no time/energy/money to actually do something about it) ...and, no, I can't go out...it's too expensive for me right now....even if I go to "free" events, I have to pay childcare after 9:00pm, so...

The scores might change tomorrow, but, today, I hate my life!!

I hope they pay before 5:00pm today (they do it electronically), because, otherwise, I won't be able to go to the supermarket until tomorrow...I also won't be able to pay the nanny today (I pay her once a week, every Monday)...that would really mortify me, as I know she NEEDS the money...((sigh))
Will keep my fingers crossed!

I took my boss' shopping list down to the supermarket (due to the structure of our unit, you can say I have 9 bosses: 1 VP, 2 Directors and 9 Project Managers....besides the normal admin assist stuff, I am also in charge of the houses)....this is my latest effort to NOT have to deal with the maid!! (meaning, I don't want to have to call her twice a week to get a grocery list, I do not want to have to translate said list and I do not have to keep getting calls from the maid explaining that she can't cook/clean because she hasn't received the groceries yet!...which is what happens when I give them the list so they go to the store!)...I made a super-duper list, with quantities and brands and everything...I made 20 copies and sent it to the maid...now all she has to do is tick off what she needs...then send it to me, then I will take it down to the supermarket (there's a supermarket on the first floor of the building) and they will fill out the order, call me when it's ready, one of the PM's will go pay for it, then the supermarket will make the delivery...end of my involvement! ...anyway, getting to the pictures, it is a special promotion the supermarket has, that if you spend more than X amount, you get a coupon for a picture...they got 4 coupons, and, since they buy so much, they got 4 coupons...and, since they really don't have any use for them, my boss let me have them!! I gave 2 to the other admin and kept 2 for myself!!
Will go this weekend for a picture of DD and one of DD and myself!
How fun!!

I have applied to 2 jobs in the past 2 weeks...not necessarily that I want a change, I'm actually happy where I am, but, these might bring more money (plus, they were very attractive, right the kind of work that I like!)...worst-case-scenario nothing will happen!

so many people have dumped their jobs on me...to finish it all I'd have to stay until 9!...and, we don't get paid overtime! (because, according to the law, I make too much money!!...you have to make $600 or less a month to be paid overtime!!...)
some days just suck!

a couple of weeks ago we had a meeting, and my boss stressed the fact that we need to have more activities as a group...well, I'm sorry, I don't have the money to participate in their group activities...every friday they go out to lunch...to places that charge at least $5-$6 for a sandwich!!...this would mean that, to go to one Friday lunch I would have to sacrifice for a week and a half...hmmm, don't think so!...their other activities involve mainly drinking and dancing...not that I have anything against that, only that, if I'm going out, I have to pay for a cab for the nanny to go home, which is about $7.00 ....I generally give her $10...if she can haggle with the taxi driver (we don't have meters), then she gets a little extra...but, that means that just going out -even without drinks or "cover" for entry into any place- costs me $10...
They?...well, the expats, besides making almost 3x as much as I make in salaries, receive a per diem to cover food and, the company pays for their house, utilities, maid, car, gas....the locals? the eldest, I think, is about 27, only one of them is married, no children...besides him, all others still live with their parents, as is the custom here, so they don't pay rent or utilities, and only some are required to help with food expenses....so, basically, their salaries go to buy gas and car expenses, and, the rest is "free" for them to either invest (I hope! for their sake!) or spend as they wish...and they make almost 2x what I make....
With my salary, I have to pay for rent, childcare, utilities, debts (yep, that takes the most of it!), gas and car expenses...talk about living in different worlds!! ....one day, maybe, my boss will ask why I don't go to these things....although, of all of them, he might be the one to understand....if only because he's the only one that actually KNOWS my salary!!