Wednesday, October 04, 2006

Dizzily Spinning Around and a Windfall of Sorts

Spider Girl Tip for a Happier Life #436 : Check out the fine print on your paystub.

Ah, windfalls! You gotta love 'em.

And perfect timing. I was ready for one.

This whole last month at work has been a little bit crazy, you see.

A brand new batch of little kids at the daycare, the perils of toilet-training(in all my ten years at my workplace there has never been so much POOH involved), toys flying through the air (both literally and as a metaphor for perceived chaos), ear-splitting shrieks of silliness and rage (the children not the grownups), and the general settling in that rears its head up again every September. (Last September I got smart and hid out on the Serengeti plains for awhile. Not a wee child in sight!)

On top of the general dizziness of September, rhere was a week of laryngitis and general miserableness from a flu bug (there is a shortage of subs so I always feel awfully guilty about taking sick time), and Sally Spider Girl was ready to tear her hair out! I caught myself waxing nostalgic over the good old days at my minimum wage video store job. I was obviously ready for something amazingly good and work-related.

Here it is: due to a perilous accounting error concerning the percentage of holiday pay on my paycheque, I discovered that I've been underpaid for the last four years or so and I have been assured that I will have a BACKPAY cheque coming my way by the end of the month for nearly two thousand dollars!

O frabjous day! Calloo! Callay! *Spider Girl chortled in her joy*

This is the first year in ages I have NOT gone on an international trip and I've always taken my holiday pay in one lump sum--I simply never noticed or looked for an error. But this year I took my three weeks separately to spread out the rest and relaxation over the whole summer--a week in June, one in July, and one in August. And I couldn't help but notice how VERY little they were paying me for the final week. Like, er, almost nothing.

Hey, I know I'm not in the childcare profession for the money but, AHEM!

Now, when I first found out about this error, I didn't count it as a windfall. I was a bit miffed actually. Grumpy. Unsettled. Disbelieving. Peeved. If I'd quit this job and moved on to another any time in the last few years, it is quite likely I'd never have known about that lost money.

Ignorance is not necessarily bliss. Grr.

But I've decided now to look on the matter as GOOD news and move breyond the petty annoyance phase into the HEY AN EXTRA COUPLE GRAND phase. After all, most likely this would have been money already spent otherwise...

It's going to very neatly cover one of the plane tickets to Italy we'll be shelling out for soon, and then some.

I'm thinking maybe a trip to Home Depot to look at the kitchen renovation aisle...

14 comments:

Tai said...

You're paying for MY ticket to Italy??!!??

OH SPIDERGIRL!!

How generous...how kind!
A truer friend I could never ask for.

In return, Chris and I will come visit you this weekend.

:)

Spider Girl said...

Ah, Tai! My ever-optimistic friend!How about I buy you dinner in Italy instead?

You and Chris could still visit. :)

Mike said...

That's really good news! Better late than never, eh?

ZooooM said...

AWESOME! And can I just say that the child care community is lucky to have you? I think kids are great, but I only deal with them when I'm at gatherings or family holidays. I'll never have kids of my own, but if I did - I'd want them to be in the care of you.

I hope you have a fabulous time on vacation. And with the kitchen.

kimber said...

Hey! I recognize that Sally Spider!

Congrats on the winfall -- isn't a big pile of money falling out of the sky a lovely, lovely thing?

Eric said...

Hooray for money!!

dorkybutcute said...

holy hell. i would say congratulations, but you didn't do anything special to get the extra money. i guess the most appropriate comment is: it's about damn time. really though, have a blast with it.

Pol* said...

The Roly Poly Spider by Jill Sardegna has the best illustrations!!!! Great aboout the money (and no one had to die for you to get it!)

adman said...

That's almost as good as getting EI

Michelle said...

Congrats on your nice Christmas check coming in....or save it for a rainy day, perhaps flowers for next spring....all of course after you recieve that nice massage you have well deserved.

PBS said...

Nice windfall, hope you do or get something fun with it!

Belizegial said...

Hello Spidergirl,

A bit late in paying a return visit :)

I know too well about kids and the breaking in pains for September. Seems to me like I just came out of that phase with my two girls. The pooh is no fun, eh?

You do have to pay attention to the fineprint ALL the time. All is well, that ends well though. Enjoy your windfall and have fun in Italy!

Enid

Sameranda said...

Hooray! Its clearly the good karma that you deserve.

blackcrag said...

I thinki it is great that you get extra money. It is a windfall for two reasons:

1) It is coming all at once.

2) They might not have discovered the mistake at all, and you would be permantently ac ouple thous poorer.

And now the Italy trip is a couple thou richer! Yeay!