Music:Feren's Streaming MP3 Server - The Eagles, "After the Thrill
We're in the money...
Well, I suppose it's more fair to say that I'm not precisely in the money so much as getting paid some money -- money that was most definately due, at that. Today is payday at work, and as usual my direct-deposit check has hit my bank account over 12 hours before the paper checks are handed out to the rest of the cogs at work. I truly do adore that direct deposit system, as there's absolutely no muss and no fuss for me to deal with. I don't have to worry about being in the office to get my check, or asking a coworker to pick it up for me and hold it, or any other number of problems. I don't have to run out the door at 4:15 every two weeks and make a mad dash to the bank, or force myself to get up early on Saturday morning to make it up to the credit union so I can deposit the money during lobby hours. All I have to do is saunter in to my office, pick up the envelope that has my paystub in it (stamped "Void/Void/Void, this is not a check, mister banker do not honor, actual cash value 1/100th of a cent") and wander back out again. If I don't happen to make it in to the office on pay day, I can pick up the envelope at my leisure during the next week, and not feel pinched for cash. This certainly encourages lazy behavior, but it does have an upside: I don't have to spend as much money on gas since I'm not making a bi-weekly run up to the bank. Maybe I make it sound worse than it really is, since my branch office is about 8 or 10 miles away from my apartment, but it's that many less miles I have to put on the car twice each month.
I also received my first check from accounts payable, reimbursing me for the expenses incurred during all the ridiculous travel I've been doing for the company. I have in my hands a check for approximately $1,037 in cold, hard cash -- or as cold as it can be on a bulk-printed check. The pity of it is that all my expenses are put on my American Express card. The aforementioned American Express balance is due on the 12th of each month, so I have to put that check into my account tomorrow. So, after all my gloating about how I don't have to go to the bank to deposit my paychecks, I now have to go to the bank because this particular batch of cash cannot be direct-deposited. Bleah, I say.
Once that money is safely nestled into my checking account I'll be hopping online and throwing every last cent of it at American Express, so I can pay them off on time and not incur AmEx-y wrath and/or late fees. The joys of having a charge card as opposed to a credit card! Ah well, I'm mostly just smugly pleased at not having to wait 45 days to get my reimbursement check, as seems to have been the norm the other times I did company travel. Paying out of my own pocket and then waiting for the company to get around to paying me back was, well, rather unpleasant. I'm doing everything in my power these days to make sure that situation never arises again, as I am not in the business of paying these high interest rates on behalf of my employer.
I've got a half hour before my weekly team meeting. I suppose I should sort out my office mail, pay my car insurance and check my voicemail. More updates later, as the day continues to drag on...
