Although I missed it completely, it was widely reported last month here, here, here and here, and many other places according to my extensive research (Google search for” iTunes Hacked”). Apparently Apple was saying this was limited to 400 iTunes accounts and one scumbag app developer.

Not so.

On August 10th, there were 11 purchases made on my iTunes account, all for the same app, all for $159.36 each. The app is called “Original Gangstaz Rock, 2700 Street Cred , Seller: Addmired, Inc” according to the 11 e-mails I received from iTunes confirming these purchases. I did find a website for the developer here but that’s about it. I can’t find the app that costs $149.99+tax that was purchased on my account 11 times. I did not authorize any of these purchases. Just in case you haven’t done the math the grand total is $1752.96.

Obviously I have no idea who did this and none of my other online accounts have any unauthorized activity. I have no idea how they did it either.

We called PayPal and our bank immediately to notify them of the unauthorized charges. PayPal “unauthorized” them but said they automatically go through as soon as the order is placed. They couldn’t stop the charges from hitting our bank. We called the bank and placed stop payments on them and were assured the charges would be bounced and never hit our account.

Not so.

$1752.96 is currently pending to be withdrawn from our account today. The bank isn’t sure if the stop payments will actually bounce these charges because they require 3 business days to guarantee stop payments on electronic payments. No, there is no way for them to manually bounce them even though I called 2 days ago and was assured this wouldn’t happen. No, there is no way for them to make certain that the charges are bounced. We have to wait until tomorrow morning to find out if the stop payments work. Are they magical? Does the bank really have no control over anything at all? They are completely at the mercy of “their system”? Yikes.

If the stop payments do not work, we are temporarily (I’m told) out the $1752.96. We will have to file a claim and there will be an investigation. All fees will be waived, yada, yada, yada.

In the meantime we may or may not be out $1752.96 for up to 45 days even though we called all parties involved immediately upon receiving the e-mails confirming these charges.

As far as iTunes is concerned, their phone number was not answered on the evening this occurred since it was after business hours. The very next morning I completed their “report a problem” form online and still haven’t heard a peep. I called them today and was told I just have to wait 48 hours from when I submitted the problem to receive a response. Yes, even though I was currently on the phone with an iTunes representative there was nothing they could do. Wouldn’t even discuss it. Even though they have over $1700 of mine. Even though I’ve never purchased more than 2 albums in one day the entire time I’ve had an iTunes account. You’d think this highly unusual activity would have alerted their fraud department, if there is one, or something. Even though they’ve known for over a month about a hacking issue similar to what happened to me.

So we wait.

Good times.

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Almost a month. It’s been almost a month since I’ve written a blog post here. I’ve missed it. I started a post last weekend but got lost while writing, was exhausted and finally just gave up on it. That’s the only attempt I’ve made since my last post on July 14th.

I’ve missed a lot more than just writing here on my blog. I’ve missed my sanity, my life, my kids, husband, sister and even our new puppy. I’ve missed the sun, going to the pool and most of this summer. I’ve missed reading and playing and pretty much everything that is enjoyable in life. I’ve missed doctor’s appointments, a blood test that is long overdue and to say my house is a disaster would be an understatement. Ever play Sims? If you have you know that if your Sim doesn’t clean, flies start buzzing around the toilet. I feel like that could be a very real possibility here soon.

What is it that’s taken me away from all that I need and want to do? No, I haven’t been traveling to exotic places (I wish!) or been sick. I’ve been working. A few posts back I declared that I was going to stop taking on additional freelance work. I did do that. I also declared that I was going to focus more on my life and have some balance. I have failed miserably there.

Circumstances beyond my control have created conditions under which my current full time job has become completely unmanageable. I’m working 13+ hours per day and weekends and still not coming close to keeping up with everything. It’s most likely a temporary situation but has been going on for the past 3 weeks and doesn’t look as if it will stop anytime in the very near future. My guess is things will settle down around the middle of September.

The problem is that I can’t wait another month to stop the insanity that has become my life. I have to take back some control of my life and I have to do it now. I am not helpless and no one has a gun to my head. Yes, I am being pulled in 1,000 directions by those who I work for and those who work for me. But ultimately, my days are mine to do with as I see fit. I have fallen back into my old beliefs about people pleasing, only this time those people are not even my family, they are my employers and employees.

That blood test I missed is an annual one that my doctor requires in order to refill a prescription I take daily. I don’t have any of that medication left, haven’t for several weeks. It has started to affect my health. Did I put my foot down at any point last week and go get the damn blood test? Nope. I just kept working. I just kept trying to do what others wanted me to do. I also feel exhausted, depressed and more anxious than I have in a very long time. This is so infuriating as I read my own writing. Why are others more important than I am….to myself??!! Admittedly it’s a bit more complicated than that as it is my job and the paycheck it provides that pay a lot of the bills around here too. However, there is no excuse for not taking care of myself in any way for three weeks. It’s not “them”. Their demands are their demands. It’s me. It’s been my choice to leave this house for one hour one day to get that blood test and I haven’t done it.

That, my friends, is a glimpse into the insanity that is people pleasing or deriving your self-worth from your impressions of what others expect of you. I imagine it could literally kill me if I let it. I was far more out of control in my people pleasing ways with my loved ones and it did almost kill me emotionally. The idea that I could be fired for taking the time to get a blood test is simply an excuse. It has no validity whatsoever. Well, it may, I really have no way of knowing for sure SINCE I DIDN’T GET THE BLOOD TEST!! But, it’s highly unlikely that an hour away from my desk is going to get me fired and if it did….well, would I really want to work for anyone who would fire me for that?

And next week I’m off for three glorious days. We’re going to a friend’s lake house for a few days to get in a vacation before the boys go back to school. There will be no computer, likely no cell phone, and definitely no work. I’m sure everyone at work will survive those three days without me. No one is going to die and the company will be just fine without my presence for three days. Do I really think I’m so important that everything will fall apart if I go get a blood test??!! What the hell is the matter with me?!

Furthermore, despite all that I have been giving up I could still be laid off or even fired tomorrow for reasons that have nothing whatsoever to do with me. I’ve worked hard for many a company that has ended up closing for various reasons. In the end, no matter what I did actually mattered. And I have never been fired for not doing my job in my life. Every thought I’ve had and every action I’ve taken over the past 3 weeks have been completely and utterly irrational. And I know better.

So, I’m not missing any more. I will still work hard and do my best, as always. But I will get that blood test. I will not work myself to death. I will go on vacation next week. Dammit.

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I’ve written before about how my sense of self-worth was (is still to some extent?) tied to my job. I obtained this knowledge when my career was completely derailed as the mortgage industry took a nose dive in 2007. I went from being a VP with a six figure income to being unemployed for a full year. It wasn’t pretty. I felt like a big loser. A failure. I learned a lot in that year. For instance, that I am still me, and still a person worthy of love, even when I am unemployed. I am not my job. I am not worthy of love only when I am working and bringing in the big bucks. Good lesson.

Since I’ve been employed steadily now for longer than I was unemployed I’ve noticed something else. My self-worth is also tied to how much I earn. I took a huge pay cut out of necessity. The VP jobs were few and far between with hundreds of qualified candidates applying for them. I took several steps back. I’ve made some progress as far as promotions. I am back in management. But I’m not making anywhere near six figures these days.

I was bothered by this for several weeks recently as I came to believe that I’m worth more. And I am. But it took a bit longer to see that the amount of money I make does not define me any more than my job title or even lack of employment does. I am worth a lot more than my paycheck. I was taking on way too much work. Any freelance opportunity that came my way, I accepted. There were a few weeks where I was working 13 hour days since I have a full time job already and had to work on the freelance stuff in the evenings.

The thing is that I’ve already got the job I want. More important to me than the money is the fact that I work from home. I don’t have to fight traffic or be stuck in a cubicle all day. And the main reason I wanted to work from home was to have the extra time to spend with my kids and other things that I want to do. So why the hell was I taking on additional work that took more precious time away from what I really want?

Money. I’m not particularly materialistic. I don’t care about expensive cars, houses, jewelry or “stuff”. I do feel more secure when we have money in the bank and I don’t enjoy having to watch every penny I spend at the grocery store. But when I think of how many people in our country alone are in much worse financial shape than we are, not to mention all the people in other countries living under completely inhumane conditions, well, I feel like a shallow snob. Sadly, it does make me feel better about myself to earn an extra raise, bonus or additional pay from a freelance job. It’s mostly the pride in taking care of things, financially speaking, and the security that comes from having extra money for those unexpected emergencies.

But at what cost? The time I so desperately wanted. I’ve spent it working instead. At the ripe old age of 40 I’ve finally learned that if I want something, I am the only one who can obtain it. Clearly I’m a slow learner. And I am the only one who can sabotage myself too. I got what I wanted. I work from home. I like my job. I make decent money. Spending more time on additional work is taking away from what I want and the money is usually long gone by the time the regret sets in over the fact that I have spent my time doing something other than what I want to with it.

Do what you love and the money will follow, right? Starting today, that’s exactly what I’m doing.

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Believe it or not, this blog post is coming to you from my brand spanking new computer provided as a replacement by Best Buy under my extended warranty. Incredibly, the super secret service center who repaired it and shipped it back to the store to re-install the operating system and deliver it to me, did not actually complete the repair process. Nonetheless, this time around Best Buy finally did the right thing and simply replaced my lemon.

Photo courtesy of Adventures In Dullness

The GM who provided me with the new computer and even threw in an external hard drive with all my files on it couldn’t have been nicer. He didn’t even attempt to sell me an extended warranty. It struck me as I was waiting for him in the store how odd if felt to be there. My sons and I used to refer to Best Buy as hubby’s “mecca” or “happy place”. All those shiny new technological gadgets used to make for an exciting trip to the store. We always had to stop by the TV section to check out the coolest new big screens and would wander around checking out cameras, video games, etc. This time was different. The same agent that tried to scam me out of $130 to run a diagnostic that was included in my warranty was still behind the Geek Squad desk, likely trying to scam his next mark. I had the slimy queasy feeling I have when shopping for a car. I wondered how many of the customers in the the store were getting ripped off and/or were about to purchase something that was going to result in service issues similar to what I’d experienced. I couldn’t wait to get out of there.

Interestingly, my most recent post has apparently been posted to the Geek Squad’s internal discussion forum as I have received several hits from their site. Unfortunately I’m not able to see the forum since you have to be an employee to login. I’m guessing I’m being called even worse names there than I was in the comments from all the internet tough-guys.

I really have nothing more to say on this topic except that I am thrilled that I finally found someone at Best Buy who took care of my problem. It’s unfortunate that this wasn’t resolved when the original problems occurred 2 months after I bought it but it is, thankfully, resolved now. I’ve written so much about my dissatisfaction with Best Buy and the Geek Squad that I felt it only fair that I write once and for all that they finally did resolve it.

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Yesterday, The Consumerist published my recent post about my on-going problems with my computer, HP and Best Buy. As a result, it was also posted to several tech-related forums. I’ve received a ton of comments here on the blog and have also read those posted to The Consumerist and the forums. It’s overwhelming really. After reading them all it seems that people who commented generally fall into four categories, although some overlap. They are:

Photo courtesy of CtW Connect

 The Internet Tough-Guy – These jerks generally use screen names and fake e-mail addresses when commenting. Some may or may not actually know a little bit about computers but they have only nasty things to say and nothing of value to contribute. Their comments range from infantile name calling to borderline hostility. Some critiqued the length of the post itself, some critiqued the content, some my writing style and other posts on the blog. One even accused me of making the whole thing up. Several called me an idiot or stupid. I imagine the people that fall into this category are unemployed, angry, live with their parents and spend their days playing video games and posting absurd and inflammatory remarks on websites and message boards because they have nothing else to do and use the internet as their personal forum to spew their negativity no matter what the topic.

The Tech-Snob – These individuals are knowledgeable about computers, or at least believe that they are. Their comments may contain bits of helpful information but the insulting way in which they comment overshadows the nuggets of info contained in their comments. They believe that everyone who doesn’t know everything there is to know about computers are complete morons and love to point that out every chance they get.

Photo courtesy of Eric’s Wise Words Of Wisdom

The Empath – These folks may or may not know much about computers but either way, can empathize with my issues or have even experienced something similar. Their comments are polite, can be funny and even helpful. I like them.

Technical Support – They are very knowledgeable about computers. Their comments are detailed and helpful. Many have either worked for Best Buy or have worked at a place where people bring Best Buy’s many mistakes to be corrected. This group comprises the largest number of people who commented overall. Several left specific instructions, helpful tips and general advice on fixing, buying and building computers.  I like them too.

To answer a few of the questions that came up:

I freely admit that I am no computer expert. If any of my explanations about specific issues with my computer were incorrect, that is due to my own error in interpreting what my tech-support friend or Best Buy told me. I work in the mortgage business, not IT. If I asked someone outside of the mortgage industry if FNMA allowed C/O on a SFR N/O/O refi at 95% LTV with a 57% DTI, they would not only not be able to answer my question but would not have a single clue what I was even talking about. Does that make them idiots? Of course not. That is how IT lingo sounds to me. That makes me a layperson, not an idiot, just an average consumer not in the computer industry.

My IT friend did give me a USB NIC. Unfortunately he was unable to install the driver, presumably due to the fact that the motherboard needed to be replaced.

I most certainly could have asked him to repair my computer instead of taking it back to Best Buy. I’m sure he would have been more than willing to do so. However, this computer exhibited the exact same problems 2 months after I bought it, I paid for the extended warranty, why should I pay one dime to have it fixed? Yes, since I’ve purchased this computer I have learned that it is better to build your own or buy from a local shop because Best Buy is notorious for selling shoddy equipment, horrendous service and useless extended warranties. But I didn’t know that in 2008 when I bought the computer and the extended warranty. My thought was they needed to fix it (again) or replace it. I held them to the standards I expect. Just because I, many other consumers and the entire IT industry now know they are a joke does not mean I should not exercise my options under the warranty I paid for.

Graphic Courtesy of Write On Target

I did contact corporate both times. I got nowhere. They wouldn’t even tell me who the district manager was back in 2008, let alone put me in touch with anyone in upper management who would help. This time around, I finally e-mailed every executive I could find online, spoke with numerous agents on twitter and submitted my complaints to The Consumerist. I don’t know if it’s a direct result of The Consumerist’s post or some combination of all three but I have now received an e-mail indicating that my computer was returned to the store but that the motherboard was not “tattooed” (same thing happened last time) so now they are finally replacing my computer and providing an external hard drive with all my files on it. I left a message for the GM as instructed to arrange to pick it up but have not yet heard back.

Thank you to all the Empaths and Technical Support people who commented!  You made a frustrating situation better and gave me valuable information on how to handle repairs and purchases the next time around. And thank you The Consumerist for consistently exposing corporations who fail to provide satisfactory service to their customers.

Thanks for stopping by!

“Geek Squad® Agents and Installers are ready to take the hassle out of your technology woes. They have the know-how and skill to set up, install or repair your computer, network, home theater solution and car audio, video and navigation systems, no matter where you bought your gear.” – Best Buy Website

Long time readers of this blog may remember my struggles with Best Buy back in December 2008/January 2009.

To sum up that situation:

We purchased our computer in 10/2008 with a 2 year extended warranty. Two months later it would not power up. We took it to the local Geek Squad where they put in a new power supply (for unknown reasons they did not replace the power supply with the same part, they added a different power supply with a separate on/off switch), claimed all was well and sent me home. When I hooked everything back up I couldn’t connect to the internet. The NIC appeared to have been damaged or was missing. I returned it to the store where they tried for several hours to install software to workaround this hardware problem before finally telling me they had to ship it to their super secret service center.

At the service center they replaced the motherboard but the replacement motherboard was also defective. They replaced the motherboard again. Then they replaced the CPU. They declared it fixed and returned it to the store. I was instructed to come pick it up. When I arrived there was nothing on my computer, not even an operating system. I had to return the next day to pick it up again.

All of this took a month and significant time and effort on my part to even find out what the status was throughout the entire ordeal. This was a 2 month old computer with at minimum 5 repair attempts. Best Buy’s extended warranty has a no-lemon clause which says it will replace any item on which there are 3 qualified repair attempts (I notice on their website this has since been changed to 4). The loophole is the word “qualified”. Even though they attempted to repair my two month old computer 5 times, they did not assign a new service order number to each attempt so all of these attempts only counted as 1 repair attempt.

Never mind that it would have been more efficient, less expensive and better customer service for them to just have replaced my two month old computer. No, they much preferred to spend a month replacing multiple components that they had to purchase from HP while their customer became more and more dissatisfied.

Fast forward to the end of May 2010. Suddenly the NIC is once again damaged or missing. Nothing else was acting up but I could, once again, not connect to the internet. I took it back to the dreaded store where I immediately encountered a shady Geek Squad Agent who claimed that he couldn’t even get the computer to boot up, it appeared to be a software issue, not a hardware issue and that I would need to pay $130 in order for him to perform a diagnostic test to diagnose the problem. I questioned the $130 fee since it is still under warranty but he insisted it was a software issue, most likely a virus he said, and therefore I had to pay for the diagnostic test. I left the store with my computer.

When I got home I plugged it in, turned it on, and it booted up just fine. The only issue was still the NIC. A friend of ours with a master’s degree in Information Technology, ten years of experience working on much more complicated problems and systems than the Geek Squad agents are qualified to handle and diagnostic tools of his own, ran the same diagnostic that Best Buy runs. Twice. Nothing. No virus. No malware. No software issues at all. The NIC was simply missing from the ROM BIOS.

After finding a sympathetic and seemingly helpful Geek Squad agent on Twitter (@AgentScottie) who confirmed that the diagnostic test was included in my extended warranty and that I should not be charged $130, he suggested that it sounded like a hardware problem and that I should take it back to the store just to have them ship it to the service center. He understood that I did not trust the in-store Geek Squad since they claimed that my computer had no operating system when it did, had a virus when it did not, and tried to get $130 out of me for something that is included in my extended warranty.

I returned to the dreaded store and asked them to ship it to the service center. I specifically stated that I did not want them to touch it, other than to pack it and ship it. The same agent who tried to scam me out of $130 immediately started plugging my computer in and taking it apart despite my having just instructed him not to touch it. A manager came over who did acknowledge that I should not have been asked to pay the $130 but that it was “irrelevant” that his employee had insisted upon charging me. He was combative and rude and not helpful in any way.

Today I have learned that the service center replaced the video card for no apparent reason as we had no problems with the display when we dropped it off. They also replaced the motherboard (this would be motherboard #4, including the original) claiming it had a short. I have yet to find out if the original problem (NIC) has been repaired or replaced but I have been told that the operating system will need to be reinstalled due to the number of components that were replaced. When I pointed out that the only reason the operating system would have been removed was if they had replaced the hard drive, I was given a new excuse for replacing the operating system: the computer is only able to boot into safe mode and that this can be a sign of either damaged startup files or corrupted drivers – both of which are issues that can be addressed by reinstalling Windows. The catch here is that if the latter excuse is accurate, they can move my profile including all files, off in safe mode, reinstall Windows and then put all my files back onto my computer. However, they really want me to pay the $150 fee for backing up my files so therein explains the multiple excuses for reinstalling Windows.

Upon expressing concern about all of this AGAIN, I was told to take it up with the in-store Geek Squad when my computer arrives there later this week!

I had also e-mailed my issues to HP and even received a call stating that I would hear from the retail services department within 48 hours but, shockingly, have not heard from anyone at HP since then.

In summary, my complaints about the horrible service at this store have been completely ignored. I have no idea if the problem I took it in for has been fixed. Multiple components have been replaced with no detailed or logical explanation provided. They are trying their hardest to either claim this is a software issue or to get me to pay to back-up my files when it is not necessary and is also not in line with providing excellent customer service after all the nonsense I have had to put up with over this computer. And it would have been cheaper and easier to replace this computer since we are now up to 8 repair attempts.

Update: Immediately upon publishing this I received this response from @AgentScottie:  “I apologize you’ve had such trouble with us thus far. If it were up to me, I would’ve replaced the PC already. But sadly” – via Twitter. And this from him this morning: “Again I’m truly sorry for the issues you’ve encountered. This is definitely not the level of service client’s should expect“ - via Twitter. Too bad he’s not running the show.

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Today was my mother’s last day of work.  Forever.

Wow.  I’m sure she’s feeling it more than I am but I simply can’t wrap my brain around being completely done with work for the rest of your life.

No more alarm clocks.  No more rush hour traffic.  No more stressing out about pleasing management or getting laid off.  No more meetings, TPS reports, memos or e-mails.  No more annoying co-workers.  No more dress code.  No more corporate nonsense or politics.  No more cubicles.  No more micro-management.  No more being a “team-player”, “proactive” or any other nonsense that some drone made up to impress management.  No more.  Ever.

How cool must that feel?  Freedom.  For the rest of her life.

She’s already planning a trip.  She leaves Saturday morning to visit her mother.  She’s not sure how long she’ll stay.  It doesn’t matter because she will never again have to worry about running out of vacation time!

This quote is fitting because Vegas is her happy place.  She can go whenever the hell she wants for as long as she wants, provided that she doesn’t run out of money of course.

I’m happy for her.  Really happy for her.  She so deserves this.  I’m happy that she got the opportunity to do it and didn’t work herself into an early grave.  She is was the hardest working person I know.  She didn’t leave early, or even on time today!  Yes, she stayed late on her very last day of work to finish up whatever she was working on.  I imagine that if I ever get to retire that I’ll be literally throwing important papers around and telling off anyone that ever got on my nerves even once.  She worked late.

Anyway, that’s all over now.  I can delete her work number from my cell phone.  I hope she takes the time to enjoy the little things in life that we so often miss out on rushing to and from work and spending such huge chunks of our lives there.  I hope she can relax and just be.  I hope she has fun.  I hope she’s available for a lot more babysitting!  :)

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My TV watching schedule is picking up fast.  I try to limit the number of shows I watch and keep most on the DVR for a while before watching several at once.  However, this week, there are two shows starting that I always have to watch the same night they are on.  Entourage and Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations.

Last season after writing a blog post about how much I love Bourdain’s show, I was contacted by the PR firm for The Travel Channel and asked to post weekly promos that they sent out regarding the upcoming episodes.  I agreed to do it for several reasons.  One reason was that I already loved the show and didn’t mind posting the promos for it.  Another reason was that I thought it was pretty cool that they contacted little old me to help promote their show.  Finally, I was pretty new to the blogging world and naive about how things worked.

I was pretty harshly criticized by some other bloggers for agreeing to this.  I was accused of shilling for The Travel Channel, not writing original content and even of claiming that the promo posts were my own original material.  For the record, I never received any compensation for this or claimed that any of the promos were my own original material.  I did receive an autographed picture as a thank you.  I disclosed all of this on my blog.

I’m not so naive anymore.  I still have no problem promoting this great show on my blog.  However, I now know that bloggers are regularly paid for ad space on their blogs.  I no longer “shill” for free.  Especially when dealing with an organization as large as The Travel Channel, they can certainly afford to pay for ad space.

I’m not sure why they choose to ask bloggers to advertise the show.  Obviously, the way they are going about it now is cost effective, since no one is getting paid.  What I don’t understand is why they need to promote this show in this manner.  I believe the show is already pretty well known and know that they run  traditional advertising campaigns.  You wouldn’t think that the promos bloggers agree to post would make a big difference in the ratings, but as long as it isn’t costing them anything I guess it can’t hurt.

Am I watching the show this season?  Of course!  Will I blog about the show again?  Maybe, if I feel like discussing a particular episode for some reason.  Will I be more than happy to receive compensation from The Travel Channel for being a sponsor on my blog?  Absolutely.

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Today was my first day working from home.  I spent most of Monday and Tuesday night installing the necessary software.  Of course it didn’t work the first time, hence the necessity for Tuesday night.  I stayed up until 2am and finally all seemed to be running smoothly.

HA!

As of this writing, it’s around 11pm on Wednesday.  I just stopped working about an hour ago.  It took over 12 hours to get my work done.

Just in case you didn’t notice, that’s longer than a normal workday in the office.  The whole idea of working from home is that you can allegedly get more accomplished without all the distractions, phone calls and other interruptions that naturally occur in the office.

HA!

Seriously though, almost everything is finally running smoothly.  There is only one remaining issue and it’s up to IT to take care of that one.  I hope it gets done tomorrow since I’m working from home again on Friday.  If not, I may need to resort to a handgun and tequila.

After all of this nonsense, I’m pretty happy that I’m going into the office tomorrow, commute and all.

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Tomorrow marks the end of my third week at my new job.  I really like it there.  Everyone in the office is great.  Once I got over the initial shock of not being home all day, I adjusted just fine.  I’ve got a pretty good handle on the computer systems and policies.  The one thing I have been unsure of is the manager’s opinion of my work.  I’ve gotten no feedback whatsoever.  Normally I would just think no news is good news.  Since I’m a contract underwriter (basically a temp) though, there is always the chance that tomorrow could be my last day.  I’m told they anticipate this assignment to last indefinitely but still, you just never know.  Under those circumstances, it’s nice to know where you stand in management’s eyes.

The poor woman is just completely inundated and overwhelmed with work.  Of course, being busy is a great problem to have.  She just hadn’t had the time to sit down and chat with me.  I finally found her alone in her office with the door open and she wasn’t on the phone.  I asked.  She said she is happy with my work and that after next week I can begin working from home a few days each week!

I’m so excited to have this opportunity!  My hope is that it will provide some of the elusive work/life balance that working parents are always seeking. 

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