The old waiting game

Still haven't closed on the condo. The mortgage broker is saying that the as of January 1st 2009 there have been 500 changes to the guidelines of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The mortgage lender we're going with is not approved by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac or any government lenders and they are the only ones doing loans right now. Plus, the condo property we're looking at is in a declining market with 15 foreclosures within a 2 mile radius of the condo and there are also 25% of residence in that specific building that are defaulting on there HOA dues.

All kinds of happy news, eh? At least we do have a house already, and have no pressing need to move, so all in all, it's not a stressful situation. Unless you consider waiting stressful in and of itself.

What is stressful, on the other hand, is work. A funder is coming to do a monitoring visit at the end of the month and we have not been meeting our client numbers (duh, it's a recession! No one's starting businesses now). Plus I'm trying to balance our organization's budget and again, the recession is making it hard. I have nightmares that all our funding is pulled and we have no money and I have to lay everyone off and I'll lose my job. The impending visit from the funder is not helping my stress levels.

High stress time

Like most jobs, my job has cycles of high activity/high stress, and low activity/low stress. Guess where I am now? Yes, the high stress part. I have 4 grant proposals coming up, which of course means budgetting and seeing in black and white the gap between income and expenses. And not a good gap.

And yesterday my mother in law came into town for a visit.

Bad week, continued

So it's Friday, I'm feeling like, Whew! Week's almost done! This weekend Husband and I are going to the mountains to the John Campbell Folk School arts and crafts weekend. We might rent a powerboat and go out on the lake up there.

Every week, at least once a week, I think about firing Complaining Employee. Monday was no different. But as the week went on, I thought, okay, we have a little crisis at work, but she's coming up with solutions, we can do this and get back on track. She has the skills and drive to get it done and it'll be okay.

I also resolved to hire a permanent bookkeeper. Enough with the temp agency.

This morning Complaining Employee asks if we can talk. I finish what I was doing and in my heart I was hoping she would resign. I went over to her office, she does a lot of complaining, all the while saying she loves the work but then it's not really her life passion, she's not looking for public recognition but feels let down that I didn't come by her workshop back in June, and so on. What the f?

She said she has a draft of her resignation letter (yay!) ready to send not just to me, but also the organization's board of directors, an outside assistance organization who came a few weeks ago, and our major funder. Can you believe that?!? What a passive-aggressive, manipulative, blackmailer!

Well, I thanked her for sharing all this, mea culpa for my part in the little crisis, yes I need to stop being reactive and be more proactive, apparently I haven't been as supportive as clearly she liked, and that I was confident that she had the skills to do this job (whining aside). I mean, she often brings up her past accomplishments which shows she can deal with the situation. Apparently however she was able to accomplish those things only with copious amounts of complaining along with it.

She also complained about my judgment to continue using temps from the temp placement agency that sent people with criminal backgrounds. But then felt that I didn't give the temp with the criminal background a chance to defend herself. Hello! You're the one freaked out by the possibility of identity fraud! She also threw in a couple of complaints against other staff and comments about me being young(er than she is).

That was in the morning. This afternoon, I get a call from a project partner saying they'd like to make Complaining Employee project director, not just coordinator. This, from the project director who in the begining didn't even like Complaining Employee. This is quite the turn around.

Next week all the project partners, including Complaining Employee and I, will sit down and talk about next steps, who does what, etc. There is a way to get back on track, and everything will work out one way or the other.

But for crying out loud, what to do about the passive-aggressive, manipulative, blackmailing?

As my mantra has become in the last year -- I'll think about it.

Criminal record part 2

Last week I learn that the accountant the temp agency sent had a criminal record, regarding fraud. So they sent another accountant.

I should have asked for a background check on the other accountant first. Because today, after requesting it, I got the new person's background check which showed a possible warrant for her.

What's going on with this temp agency? They advertise on the radio, talk radio as well as NPR, touting that they are an international company, and they send me 2 people without clean records?

I know that people deserve a second chance, but I want to make that decision myself first, and with due diligence and thoughtfulness.

I told the temp agency to send me someone who definitely did not have a warrant out on them and I am willing to wait until later in the week if necessary.

I have such a headache now.

The week's not getting any better

Just got the call from the temp agency that the accountant they had been sending us turned out to have a criminal record, regarding fraud.

Let me repeat that: the accountant, who deals with our money, who had access to our social security numbers, who had access to the bank information, has a record of fraud, of cheating people or governments out of money. Gah!

This is just too bad. I really liked her, and she worked hard, and she gave me answers I was looking for, and I had thought about hiring her permanently.

The temp agency will be sending someone else from now on.

And I will be looking to hire someone permanently and will be sure to conduct a background check.

Since I'm working on the budget, I'll add a line item to pay for background checks.

I'm going home, going to have a beer, do a little knitting, and then go throw pottery.

The week started by reading in the paper that someone I know in a similar work situation has been arrested for fraud. Then I spent Monday with the treasurer of the board who wants the budgets presented in all different kinds of ways. By the way, the fraudulent accountant came through with all the answers. Then yesterday I got a call from a funder placing severe restrictions on how we are to spend their money. Then this morning was spent defending the budget to the full board (at least it was only a handful of people). And now this. And it's only Wednesday!

The week isn't over. I wonder what's next. I'm buckling up for the drive home today.

It couldn't last

Long story short -- A situation that I willingly turned a blind eye to for a year has come back to bite me. Now I will have to figure out a solution. Which will require more money, of course. Sigh.

One of those days

One of the toilets at work overflowed and spread water all over the carpeted hallway. Again.

So I called the leasing office to say hey! Toilet's overflowing! Leasing manager said that he was sending the maintenance man and to turn off the water.

So I grabbed some paper towels, walked through the water, cursing, and leaned down to turn off the water.

G--D--n it.

We've complained about the toilet before and just this week the manager and the maintenance guy came by to look at it.

I'm just glad Complaining Employee wasn't here today (she doesn't work Wednesdays). Yesterday at staff meeting she asked about getting a dishwasher or disposable plates, because those are more hygenic than washing by hand. What, she doesn't know how to hand wash? Does she think there's some cleaning fairy that comes around to clean up after her?

She'll also complain that there are dead bugs in the hallway, instead of picking it up and throwing it away herself. When she pointed it out, I said "Good. That means the pesticides are working." Hello, again, there is no cleaning fairy!

I hired her knowing that she'd be difficult to manage, but come on!

She also has a painful past, with family members killed by militia, and a personal history of protesting her previous country's government, which is why she's a refugee.

Personally, she bugs the hell out of me. However I keep her on staff because she is representative of our clients. The refugee experience is traumatic and the mental health aftershocks continue even after they are physically safe in the US.

I talk the talk about needing to support refugee women. Keeping her on staff is how I'm walking the walk.

And no one ever said it would be easy.

But is it too much to ask for toilets, in a big, modern city in the US, to freaking work!?!?!