Where things stand

We sent the letter out to my ex-company Monday morning. It is actually a very "soft" letter. All I am asking for is for them to change my classification from voluntary to involuntary. At the end of the day this is all we are asking for--to simply allow me to collect unemployment. After talking to my lawyer, we didn't want them to be on the defensive right at the bat--therefore we are not asking for the "stars and the moon" right off the bat. If they decide that they will reject or say no to this first request, our second round will be a lot more demanding. Since I have 8 years of history with this company I really didn't want to make this more ugly that it is already. Plus I really want to convey to my bosses and I am not after the company money--I am simply asking to collect what I believe I deserve.



The last couple of days have been really weird. Once that letter went out I was practically cut off from everything with my ex-employer. First I get an email from the admin asking about my vacation days...next another email from my boss regarding sending back my computer and badge..then I have no access to the network. All of these just seems so hostile--I guess I knew this was going to happen but I just didn't expect to feel like such a criminal. I spoke to my old boss-who is still with the company, but she is now with another department. She was the one who hired me and I reported to her for 5 years--I LOVED HER!! I told her how I felt and was in tears talking to her and she was made me feel so much better. She reminded me that I did not do anything wrong and I am being treated very unfairly. She actually can't believe how things are turning out. I can't either and i get a knot in my stomach every time I think about it. I wish things turned out differently. So now we wait and see what they will come back with. I have a feeling that they will reject this letter-even though it is in their best interest to agree and just let this rest--but knowing who I am dealing with, this scenario will not happen.



On the P front, I am doing well. I had a doctor's appointment this morning that I totally forgot...okay I didn't forget, I thought my appointment was tomorrow. The problem with my clinic is that they don't call you to remind you about your appointments--so it is up to all the pregnant people to be on top of their appointment. Probably not a good idea since our brain cells seems to dissaapear during this time period. I felt really bad, but I was able to re-schedule my appointment for Monday.

Ending an 8 Year Relationship

I don't even know where to start with this post. As most of you already know, I am being let go from my job at the end of this month. The past couple of weeks I've been trying to work with my company about certain items that I think I am entitled to. I haven't blog about this because it is a very upsetting subject for me. Today was the icing on the cake.

Let me tell you the guys the scenario--I will try to make it short. We moved out east in June of last year. At that point I asked my said company if I can transfer to the NYC office since I wanted to keep working. They told me that we might be able to work something out. I took a 2 month leave of absence to move my family and in August I went back to work with the initial agreement of a 3 month employment. During that 3 months I was extended until March and then until June. Throughout that time, my boss was trying to find help me get a more permanent position. In April of this month, I was told that my employment was going to end at the end of June.

I was told earlier that I am not eligible for a severance package since I was the one who asked to be transferred to NYC and they were trying to accommodate me. Fine..I don't agree with this but I will not fight it. S was more upset than I was-I told S I didn't want to burn any bridges since I've worked for this company for 8 years and I am hoping that maybe somewhere down the line I can do some contract work with them(which will probably never happen at this point, but I really don't care anymore). In the meantime, I wanted to talk to them about continuing my health insurance-due to my pregnancy and we already fulfilled all the deductible this year. It will be very costly to transfer mid year to S's insurance since we will have to start all over again. In addition, I wanted to make sure that I can collect unemployment insurance since I am not resigning and I am being laid off I felt that I deserve this benefit. I figured I will get some resistance on the medical insurance but I shouldn't get any resistance on the unemployment benefit since it really will not cost the company any money with this. This is a deduction out of my own paycheck that I paid monthly.

So this is when things start to get ugly. When I asked about the health insurance I was told that I can't stay on since I am not on the payroll--if I was on severance then this is a non-issue. I was upset about this but I got over it. It is not the end of the world, we have S's insurance. On the unemployment benefit, my boss informed me that this was a "slum dunk" since I was not quiting and she talked to the head of HR and they said it should be okay. I was okay with this--at least I am getting unemployment--which was my right since I paid into the system.

Yesterday, I emailed HR to get some guidance on how to apply for unemployment. I wasn't sure which state to apply to-I live in one state, work in another state and my co is based in a different state. She informed me that I will probably not be eligible for unemployment since in my record states that it is a voluntary resignation. Remember my boss said this was a "slum dunk" so I emailed her to clarify what was going on. She said she will get back to me. I also needed a letter to give to S's employer about my termination-since it is not an enrollment period for them for health insurance. I received an email from a different HR lady informing me that my letter is in the mail, but it is very vague--and again reiterated that in my file is says that I am voluntarily resigning.I was very upset with this and I emailed my boss and told her that I appreciated everything she's done for me but this is not something I can accept since it is not right. I never gave them a resignation, instead I was told that my last day of employment is at the end of this month. In addition, this might cause some issues in transferring health insurance since I have a pre-existing condition.

To make a long long story not so long...I received an email today and my boss stated that the reason it says voluntary is because my employment was always temporary and there was never a position in NY. I can file for unemployment and it is up to the state if I am eligible for one or not. In addition, since I already transitioned most of my project-I can take the rest of the month off if I wish.

In one email I saw my 8 loyal years with a company down the drain. Oh and I was told in thru email that today was my last day at my job! I wanted to do handle this in the most civilized way. But now they are forcing me to take some legal actions--it is just not about me anymore, it is about my family. What erks me about the entire situation is the unemployment benefits--it is not costing them a single penny!!! If I was not pregnant this will be a non-issues since I can go interview for a job, but in my current state I am out of the market until the end of the year. Who in their right mind will hire a woman who is 6 months pregnant??? And we are still waiting on word about the health insurance with S's company-their HR department is checking this for us. We have an appointment with a lawyer tomorrow-I will keep you guys posted. Right now I am full of anger and bitterness towards a company that I worked my behind off for 8 years.

I can't believe I just did that

****Warning TMI**** If you can't handle poop stories you might want to stop reading now****

You know you entered a different kind of world when you scoop out poop out of a diaper and put it in a cup and take it to a lab for testing. Yes ladies...that's what I had to do this morning. I never imagined in my wildest dreams that I would ever have to ever handle/examine any poop in my entire life-I don't even like dog poop! B's been suffering from diarrhea since we got back from Can.cun. It got better mid last week and I thought we were getting over this awful episode. We went to the doctor on Thursday to get some shots so I figured it won't hurt for them to check him since he had the said diarrhea. The doctor said that he looks good but if it doesn't go away in a couple of days I need to give them a "sample" so they can check it out further.

So I thought it was over...his poop was getting less and less wet even though he was still pooping about 3x a day--which is a lot for him-and since he was just getting over the diarrhea I wasn't really that worried about it. After a weekend of solid poop, yesterday we went downhill. During the day he was fine but last night he had another wet one. And then morning was even worst!! So as much as I dreaded scooping out poop out of a diaper-(the doctor told me I need a couple of tablespoon) I had to do it. After I sealed it up, I drove to the lab to drop it off. I told the nice receptionist I had a stool sample and she didn't even want anything to do with it. I really can't blame her. She asked me to drop it off the bin and took my paper work.

Now we wait and see for the results. I feel bad for the poor soul whose job is to perform the "poop tests". I don't think you can pay me enough money to do that kind of job.