The kicker to the kicker

Kyle and I arrived home from New Orleans at 2:30 a.m. today, slept for a scant few hours and then headed to work (him) and worked on Christmas gifts (me). When I hopped into my car around 10 a.m., I was greeted by an engine that choked, sputtered and jerked as I drove. I promptly took it to the dealer, teeth clenched in anxiety the whole way. I dropped the damn thing off, borrowed Kyle's car, and a few hours later, got the verdict: I was in need of $650 worth of maintenance and repairs. It was little comfort to have the service guy tell me that it was nothing I'd done, just routine work. Which, ya know, is awesome, considering I'm still paying the $1,000 bill for car repairs I incurred over the summer. Bleeeeegh. Time to check the going rates for organs on the black market.

The kicker

There was some sort of screwup in payroll, so we might not get paid until Monday, instead of today. I have $20 in my checking account, I'm leaving this evening for Louisiana, and, wait ... I feel like there is maybe some sort of holiday coming up that involves spending money on stuff?

In other words: FUUUUUUUCK.

Scrooged!!

No raise until September 2008.

I guess the jelly of the month club would've been too generous

Or, "Seriously, my job has morphed from Office Space to National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation."

I'm still on jury duty, but have so far had the fortune of not getting called for seating so far today (a story about the trial I was on last week is forthcoming).

Anyhoodle, the current state of affairs provided me time to check in with work, as I did just a couple of minutes ago. It was then when I opened one gem of an e-mail from one of The Powers That Be. To wit: Instead of having a review (and, hopefully, raise) at the beginning of the year, we're to have it on the anniversary of our employment. Only ... mine was in September, and I have yet to have the review or see any of the desperately needed cash. Oh, and as to that (paltry, but still needed) holiday bonus? They don't do that sort of thing. Instead, we've been told, we can be eligible for a program that pays out bonuses to select employees for outstanding performances if -- and only if -- the company exceeds expected revenue for the month.

It's called "Lightning Strikes."

Um, I think I have an idea of the liklihood of actually landing one of these.