Friday night

It's a bit chilly here tonight, in the 50's, which is chilly for here. I took a nap when I got home from work (without the cats, since Lucky has been disturbing my naps by jumping around--Bootsy's fine). Then I bundled up and walked over to Starbucks for a cup of coffee and read my magazine. I say "bundled up"--I was wearing my usual denim shorts but had on a long-sleeve shirt, a jacket and my mocs (instead of my sandals). Of course we have natural air conditioning at home tonight.

I'm sad to report that 12 people were laid off yesterday from work, with severance. I'm just glad to report I wasn't one of them. I've been there before (without any severance), during a downsizing, and my employer at the time even lied about me in an attempt to prevent my getting unemployment benefits. They turned out to be a nasty, sleazy and cheap outfit, while the principals had lavish, spacious offices that looked like a reception hall for a king, and which even included private showers and toilets.

It had been bad enough that I was suddenly out of a job, but then to find out that my former employer had engaged in unethical (probably illegal) behavior in an attempt to block my benefits only made it more bitter. I curse them to this day, and it has partially worked. The attorney who presided over my dismissal--a partner with a beautifully furnished office that overlooked Biscayne Bay and the Atlantic Ocean beyond--also lost her job there during a subsequent downsizing and now works as an associate at another firm (probably in a little office which wouldn't accommodate her former furniture, and with a shitty view), and has worked there for years now without any advancement, although she's already well into her 50s if not much older. (Meanwhile, the firm she and I used to work for, which used to have offices all over the state, is now practically non-existent.)

At any rate, my unemployment case was quickly adjudicated in my favor and I received the benefits, which surely helped me out at the time, modest as they were.

It's been over a month since Home Depot said to be patient about wrapping up things here. I called the kitchen designer on Monday (exactly a month later). I hadn't talked to her in a while. We discussed the itemized bill for the electrical work (haven't received one) and the need for the counter people to come back and secure the kitchen sink (it moves, and it's not supposed to, and the seal is broken, and water damage could occur). She agreed these things needed to be taken care of. She also said, by the way, that the general contractor that dropped the ball on my job is no longer working for Home Depot, and that the kitchen expediter whom I could never reach and who would never return my phone calls no longer holds her position (I dared not ask whether she'd been fired, which had been my fervent wish at times). Didn't hear anything else from them all week long. I can be patient. Meanwhile I hope I'm not getting water damage to my new cabinets by water leaking out around the sink. (I check and don't see any.)