Tuesday Tunes: Week 75

Brought to you by The Music Memoirs

A little word association again:

10 words, you give the song/artist/album etc that come to mind.

Egg: "I Am the Walrus" by The Beatles
"I am the eggman, they are the eggmen..."

Spring: "Poisoning Pigeons in the Park" by Tom Lehrer
"I think the loveliest time of the year is the spring, I do. Don't you? Of course you do."

Friday: "Friday the 13th" by Royal Crown Revue
"I'm gonna lay a part in his wake that will most definitely make him eligible for a boneyard certificate, you dig?"

Rain: "Tears in Rain" by Vangelis (from Blade Runner)
"All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. Time to die."

Stormy: "Ridin' the Storm Out" by REO Speedwagon
"Watchin' the full moon crossin' the range..."

Flower: "Fading Like a Flower" by Roxette
"Every time you leave the room I feel I'm fading like a flower"

Awake: "Wake Up Little Susie" by The Everly Brothers
"The movie’s over, it’s four o’clock, and we’re in trouble deep"

Ride: "Ghost Riders In the Sky" by Johnny Cash
"Then cowboy change your ways today or with us you will ride"

Shine: "Earthshine" by Rush
"Earthshine, A beacon in the night I can raise my eyes to, Earthshine"

Orchestra: "Nights In White Satin" by The Moody Blues
"Breathe deep, the gathering gloom..."

Not Pleased

I have to admit that I was troubled when I saw this headline the other day:

GM CEO Wagoner to step down at White House request

In other words, the head of one of America's largest and oldest private corporations was effectively just fired by the Federal government.

I don't like this. I don't like this a lot.

Agreed, GM is in a lot of trouble, and granted, changes needed to be made. And yes, GM is taking a lot of federal bailout money, and that effectively makes the government a shareholder in the company.

But for the Head of State (or his office, anyway) to fire a corporate CEO?

If that's not nationalization of business, I don't know what is.

Now, I'm not inclined to believe, like some talk show hosts and bloggers seem to be, that this signifies "the end of American capitalism as we know it". But it is definitely a step in a direction that I don't like.

Of course, I suppose former GM CEO Rick Wagoner asked for it when he agreed to accept the bailout. It would have been nice if he—and the rest of the company—had known this would be the price beforehand.

You can't get government assistance without inviting government interference, I suppose.

Observations from a High School Hallway

Flash cards to study for a content area exam: $2.
Criminal background check for the State Office of Education: $69.
Content are exam necessary for certification: $130.

Walking down a high school hallway and hearing "I Love Lucy" coming from the Spanish classroom: Priceless.

The Circle of Life

"How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant of the weak and strong. Because some day in life you will have been all of these."

–George Washington Carver

And...We're Back!

So I was supposed to start a long-term substituting assignment this morning. A chemistry teacher at one of the nearby high schools was going on six weeks' maternity leave starting over the weekend, and I was going to cover her classes while she was out. Six weeks of guaranteed work, doing what I'm best qualified to do—I was excited.

We got home last night from the dedication of the Draper Temple and found that with the rain and snow, our power was out. So we made our way to my mother-in-law's house, taking dinner with us to cook. On our way there, I got a phone call from the teacher in question saying that she hadn't gone into labor yet. She couldn't afford to take days off until she was actually having her baby, so the assignment was off, at least for the time being. She did say that she was scheduled to visit her doctor on Tuesday, and that it was likely her doctor would induce labor Tuesday night because she's already overdue. So the delay would probably only be for a couple of days.

So, with an unexpected Monday off for me, we stayed at Nancy's mom's house pretty late last night. We watched videos and played games with her family, including her youngest brother's significant other. We had a longer than usual drive home due to snow and slick roads, but we made it safely. We ended up getting home around 11:30 and in bed around 12:30.

I usually turn my phone to Silent when I turn in for the night. Last night, I intentionally left it on. Just in case.

Sure enough, my phone rang at 7:02 this morning, and it was the teacher. She was calling from the hospital. The job is back on. I'm leaving for school in just a few minutes.

Good thing her schedule today starts with a consultation period!

And Speaking of Ayn Rand...

I saw this quote today over on the Hero Games Discussion Boards. I had to chuckle.

"There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old’s life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs."
-John Rogers

March Maddening

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Fool me thrice...what the heck was I thinking?!

Every year, when the NCAA brackets are announced, I fill one out. And every time I see BYU, I pick them to win at least their opening round game.

And every year, it comes back to bite me.

This year, BYU was the #8 seed in the West. That means, at least in theory, they should have been favored to beat #9 Texas A&M. And this year, just like the last two years, they botched it.

The most telling comment from the story: "An outstanding perimeter-shooting team during the season, the Cougars couldn't make a shot early."

BYU lost to the same team this afternoon that they lost to in the first round last year. In both cases, BYU was seeded higher. The year before, BYU was a ninth seed with a very winnable game against eighth-seeded Xavier. Three eminently winnable games, three losses.

Why do I continue to pick these guys in the tournament? For that matter, why does the NCAA continue to invite them? Maybe next year the folks behind March Madness could do the Cougs a big favor and just leave them out of the tournament. That way, they'd get an invite to the NIT and probably draw a home game in the first round. They could probably win at least one in the NIT, especially if they're playing at home.

Well, at least the BYU basketball team doesn't have to suffer alone. They can take comfort in knowing that the football team botched their postseason appearance, too.

Way to go, guys.

Wait, What?

I had to do a double take on my way through the church parking lot this morning. On one of the cars, I saw the following three items: a Darwin fish, a Free Tibet bumper sticker, and an Ayn Rand Society license plate frame.



Not necessarily what you'd expect to see on a car in a Mormon church parking lot....

Poor Positioning

I had to go deposit my paycheck (from the school district, so no problem with bouncing checks there) yesterday during my lunch break. As it turned out, the nearest branch of my credit union to where I was teaching was inside a Walmart store. So that's where I went.

On my way in, I saw a man with a cardboard sign at the entrance to the parking lot. It had the usual "Homeless" "Please Help" "God Bless" and so forth on it. I've discovered a lot of places where panhandlers like to set up shop here in SLC, but this was the first time I'd ever seen one in a Walmart parking lot.

I couldn't hep but notice that nobody was stopping for him. As far as I could tell, he wan't making any money.

I passed him again on the way out. Same thing, no business. I wanted to roll down my window and tell him he'd picked a really bad location. I wanted to say:

"If these people had money to give away, they wouldn't be at Walmart!"

Think about it.

And Now For Some Good News

In the midst of all this dren I'm having to go through with my employer, I'm also trying to get things organized for student teaching in January. It's a long, complicated, and expensive process. The part of the process I'm trying to work through right now involves the paperwork for certification and licensure. Background checks, documentation, and test results are all involved.

The tests in question are the Praxis exams. (No, they have nothing to do with the exploding moon of Qo'noS.) I took the Praxis I series a few years ago while I was at the U and scored quite well. Unfortunately, I have no idea where my test results are anymore. And part of the state licensure requirements is the a passing score on the Praxis II test for my content area (Chemistry). Naturally, these things aren't free—or even cheap, for that matter. The Praxis II test costs $80 to take, plus a one-time (per year, anyway) registration fee of $50. And to get a duplicate copy of my Praxis I results? Another $40. Expensive, but like they say, you have to spend money to make money.

We're fortunate that we have a pretty good tax return this year. I say 'fortunate' because when we looked at our W-2 forms, we were sure we'd owe money because of the ridiculously small amounts our respective employers withheld. A big chunk of Nancy's income last year came from waitressing (i.e., tips) and of course the restaurant didn't withhold anything on the gratuities. And the school district withheld less than $10 in federal taxes on my substitute pay for the entire year last year. (Hint: "Married, but withhold at the higher Single rate" is the way to go, I've since learned.) So we were certain we'd end up owing Uncle Sam a pretty penny. The thing that saved us was the fact that we got to take the nearly $6,000 we spent on tuition and fees as a deduction. Nice!

So our tax refund showed up in the credit union last night, and this morning I was online to register for the Praxis II. I'm scheduled to take it on April 25th, which gives me about six weeks to study for it. There were no empty seats available at the testing center in Salt Lake, though, so I'll have to drive to Ogden to take it. No biggie. It'll be nice to stroll the old Weber State campus grounds again.

With my Praxis II exam now officially scheduled (and paid for), I called the toll free number to order a duplicate copy of my Praxis I results. And this is where the good news came in. The girl I talked to noticed that I'd just scheduled the Praxis II exam. She said, "If you're not in a hurry, the results for the Praxis I will be sent along with your Praxis II results after you take the test." I was surprised, to say the least. I just had to ask to make sure I'd heard correctly. I'd get both sets of results at once? Yes, she said, they'd be sent out all together.

Forty dollars may not seem like a lot. But given all the nonsense I'm getting from work right now, an extra $40 is a lifesaver.

Somebody up there must like us. Thank you!

This Just Gets Better and Better

Note: This post is a follow-up to the Should've Seen That One Coming post from yesterday. Read that one first, if you haven't already.
--

Yesterday I had that little chat with the owner of the company about the fact that my paycheck had bounced. It went about like I'd expected: the accountant wasn't there (it was her mandatory day off without pay), but he took a copy of my bank statement with the fee in question clearly identified (by me; I wanted to make sure there was NO way anyone could miss it) and said he'd give it to her to put on today's check. And with today being payday again, I made my way to the call center at the appointed hour and picked up the check.

Two small problems.

First, the fee wasn't on there. Jason and I both looked over the check stub, and it simply hadn't been included.

Second, when I went to the bank—not my credit union, mind you, but the issuing bank, my employer's bank—to cash the check, I was met by one of our employees on her way out. She said she'd been told there was no money left in the payroll account, and that the bank wasn't cashing any more paychecks today. So I went inside and stood in line behind another of our employees, and sure enough, they wouldn't cash his check because there was no money in the account.

Frick.

The word from Jason is that the owner deposited money today sufficient to cover the outstanding paychecks, but it was after 3:00, so the funds aren't actually available until tomorrow (at the earliest). And the other word was that the owner had (he claims) talked to the accountant about getting that fee reimbursement for me, but somehow it slipped through the cracks and didn't get done.

So now the plan is for me to go to the bank tomorrow and try to cash the check again. Then I'll head down to HQ and see the owner again and get the reimbursement check—and hope that it clears, too.

You've heard of the point of diminishing returns? We're past that point. That point's so far in the rear view mirror, it's a speck on the horizon right about now.

I'd really hoped this job would serve me until I finished my student teaching and could start my teaching career in earnest. That's just not going to happen, I'm afraid. No, not really afraid. More certain than afraid at this point.

I start a substituting assignment on March 23rd that will run until the first week of May. If this company hasn't closed the doors and filed for bankruptcy by then, I'll be amazed.

If I had anything else to do for work between now and the 23rd, I'd already be gone.

Should've Seen That One Coming

I got a phone call from my credit union today. If you've been reading this blog for a while, you can probably guess what's coming next...

My paycheck bounced.

Again.

Yes, again.

This does NOT make me happy.

The thing that surprises me about all this is...well, the fact that I was surprised by it. I really should've seen it coming. True, it hasn't happened for a while, so I figured it was no longer a problem. And yes, I'd heard grumblings from some of our employees on the sporadic occasions when I've actually been able to work in the past couple of weeks. But I checked my account information online, and there was no sign of trouble. So I let it go.

That's what I get for being optimistic, I suppose.

The good news is that my credit union called the issuing bank, and there are now sufficient funds to process the check. The bad news is that another payday is coming up tomorrow, and by the time this resubmitted check clears, the payroll account may be depleted again, meaning that this check could bounce a second time.

I'll heading over to chat with the owner of the company today. I don't anticipate that it will be a pleasant conversation.

Especially for him.

I've had enough of this yotz.