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.
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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.