Banking changes - what is old is new again

I have been with my current bank for over two decades. Back then, I had made the switch from one bank to this one due to a change in credit card (the bank changed from Visa to MasterCard) at the former.

To make a long story short, I had made a payment to the new credit card and the transaction got lost electronically. I didn't like the response that I got from that bank -- that nothing could be done. Instead, I cancelled all my accounts with this bank and moved my accounts over to a different one.

Two decades later, I am in the same predicament. Within the last month, my bank has made a couple of atrocious withdrawals from my account, which has caused a lot of stress. The latest one involved a transaction that came out of my account a week early and messed up my payment plans. I was livid and it happened during the Thanksgiving long weekend.

Ever since these two recent incidents, I have decided to change banks yet again. The funny thing is that my new bank isn't really new. I have always had a no-fee chequing account with this bank. I never bothered to use it until now.

I made the bold step the other day by changing my banking information with payroll. Once I see my pay get deposited to my newish chequing account next week, I will continue moving my various accounts over.

It's exciting to make such a change. I will also be saving on monthly fees. I don't know why I didn't make the switch sooner, but it's definitely better to do it now than to continue down this horrible fee path.

Research on winter tires by my guy

My guy is sweet. I asked him for help on getting winter tires for my car. He said that he would look for deals for me.

He loves Kijiji. He found a fairly decent set of used tires that have barely been used. The person is within my neck of the woods. My guy even pointed out what I should look for and what questions I should ask.

It's nice to have a knowledgeable tire guy.

Stressful Friday and a reflective, relaxing Saturday

On Friday, there was drama with the new writer on my team. She isn't working out.

I gave her a task to update a crucial page in our documentation. The details were outlined in a PowerPoint presentation. Our manager also got involved.

Before our meeting on Friday, we had had three previous meetings. Each time, we had changes that needed to be made.

Just before our meeting, my manager asked me whether I had reviewed her work. I indicated that I hadn't seen the link to it. Instead, we did a bit of an analysis.

In the meeting, it started out okay, except that her attention started focusing on something else. Figures. Her attention span is all over the place.

The meeting got worse when my manager and she confronted each another. What rubbed me the wrong way was that she found out through another writer on our team that my manager and I had reviewed her work beforehand. She claimed that it was still work in progress, which was the whole point of the meeting.

I didn't feel great about being accused of prematurely looking at her work at first. However, when you do go into a review meeting, it makes sense to review what is currently there. Is that crazy?

The changes are pretty straightforward. She ends up doing her own thing while not paying attention to important details. This page details what versions of various application can work with our software product. It's important. You can't make stuff up as you go.

She has a ton of issues. Whenever she gets a task, she has the need to meet the person and hold meetings. The rest of our team does not understand why she makes things more complex than they should be. You are giving a document. Just do the work. Why do you need to meet that person immediately?

She isn't the right fit for us.

It is unfortunate that we cannot fire her, which my manager has hinted. We have yet another hiring freeze and he cannot afford to throw me back into development work.

I feel much better today. It helps to have a decent night's sleep to unwind.

My phone locked itself automatically - weird and good

I thought that Friday would be a quiet day at work. Nope. Drama and weirdness occurred.

I will go with my strange incident. After work, after a trying day, I went out to have a drink and a bite to each with a friend.

We went to a bar and grill close by our workplace. I was checking my phone while waiting for him and it automatically went into lockdown. I tried using my known password, but I couldn't unlock my phone.

After dinner, I had to drive to a different part of the area that I vaguely know. I am so glad that I have a GPS in my car. Otherwise, it would have taken me a bit longer to get there, especially when it gets dark so early in the evening.

I got home and called Google Pixel support. I must say that tech support there is pretty slick. You basically type a brief synopsis of the problem online, click a button, and in a minute, you get a phone call.

The person on the other end said that my phone had to be factory-reset. It meant that I would lose all my data.

The cool thing about this phone is that I have unlimited photo storage and my phone is automatically backed up. So, restoring my phone was straightforward. It went ahead and downloaded all my apps.

In some ways, my phone works better than before.

I asked the tech support person why my phone would simply lock on its own and not let me in. He figures that the cause was a bug somewhere, but he has noted the issue down.

I am so dependent on my phone. However, not using it for four hours felt pretty good.

Declining my second interview

I decided to pass on that second job interview. It's interesting how a few events managed to change my thoughts about the position.

This potential job opportunity is a contract. I don't mind that. I would also be taking a pay cut. Again, that's not a concern, for the job requires working from home.

These days, it's health benefits. This job doesn't offer any. I need peace of mind that I am covered. Paying for my own isn't an option.

The fiasco with the resource manager saying that another candidate had been selected over me, and then apologizing by saying that he got the hiring managers mixed up put a damper on things. As much as I was okay with the mixup at the time, it's still not the best emotional roller coaster to be on.

I was asked to produce a network topology diagram. It has been a while since I did all this preparation work for an interview, but I managed to get it done on Saturday.

This week, things got busy at work. This hiring manager contacted me through e-mail and phone. I couldn't attend to both.

During this process, the hiring manager corresponded with me using two different personal e-mail addresses. He panicked and guessed at what my work e-mail was. He then sent me an e-mail on how concerned he was. I didn't appreciate it. The last thing I want is a hiring manager to be contacting me at work. Our IT department does data mining, among other data checks. I don't need the company realizing that I want to jump ship.

So, I wrote to him and said that I wasn't interested anymore. I actually am good with my decision. I have health benefits and I like my colleagues on the whole. Sure, a change would have been great, but I am going through change with my job duties at my current place of employment. I want to see where I go with them.

Teasing my guy in anticipation for a spanking

My guy works from home when he is not on the road. One benefit is that he can sleep in. He admitted to me that he gets up at noon these days.

"I'm a night owl," he told me.
"I know. I'm a night owl, too. The difference is that I can get up without hitting the snooze button so often that I need to replace the glass on my phone," I hinted.
"I can't wait to get you over my lap and spank you for that remark," he threatened.
"Me, neither," I replied.

It's enjoyable teasing him and getting myself in playful trouble.

Being vulnerable... he's here!

When my guy and I started dating, it took him a while to open up to me. He wasn't great at expressing how he felt. He would tell me that he felt vulnerable and a bit uncomfortable.

These days, he embraces his vulnerability. We both trust each other. He comes to me when he needs to talk. The feeling is mutual.

After sex, we both are in a lethargic, relaxed state. We say the most fun things afterwards. The other day, my guy ended up singing. That's nothing unusual.

"I'm here! I'm here!" he sang to me.
"I know. You're next to me," I said, sweetly kissing him.
"I'm here! You're here!" he said, in a dopey voice.
"You're here. Me, too," I said.

He's sweet when he is in this state. I just want to hug him even more.

Encouragement to seek a side job

My guy and I are supportive of each other. When we first started dating, my guy would often suggest things that I could do to earn extra income on the side.

It's funny, but I don't have that business-money sense like he does. He teaches a course on the side. This semester, my guy doesn't have a course to teach.

He has often encouraged me to teach a night or weekend course, like he does here and there. He also suggested that I do tutoring or provide editing services on student papers.

I decided to do something different. I asked him whether I should earn a bit of money by becoming an Uber driver.

"That's a great idea," he said. "You know your way around the city, you're personable, and you like to drive."
"I'm thinking that it would be a great fit. I could drive on the weekend and earn a bit of cash," I replied.
"For sure. You'd be a great driver."

The good news is that I have been approved. I simply need to register for a business number.

Staying calm in traffic after a mixup

It has been a long week.

On Friday, while driving home from my various shopping excursions, my cell phone rang. It was my resource manager from the employment agency. I took the call.

He broke the bad news. He explained that the hiring manager who liked my skills during my first interview decided to go with another candidate who was more qualified. I was actually okay with the news. I explained that I hadn't been interviewed in over seven years and was simply pleased that I have a decent set of skills that gets noticed.

It was a cordial call. We hung up.

Five minutes later, my phone rang again. It was the same person. I was still stuck in traffic.

He indicated that he had made a mistake. He is working with two different hiring managers with the same first name. Mine is still interested in conducting a second interview.

It was an odd mixup. My resource manager apologized. I indicated that it has been such a crazy week that mistakes happen.

It's a good thing that I am a calm person stuck in traffic.

Trip is postponed, but sweet words carry on

My guy broke a bit of bad news.

"My trip to Seattle is postponed again," he told me.
"Bummer," I replied. "Keep me posted. I will join you when it's resurrected."
"I was really looking forward to having you for a week," he admitted.
"You have me already," I said, smiling.
"I know. I just love seeing you after work when I am on the road."

He's sweet, as always.

My team and my guy - thoughts

I have three folks on my team. Two are full-time writers and the third is my student.

Technically, all three are new to my team. On a good note, they all get along. It's an interesting dynamic.

My student and I get along well. She does not hesitate to do any task that I give her. She does require an occasional trigger word to get her on track on a few tasks. Otherwise, she completes them with quality and I am pleased.

One writer is essentially my mini-me as far as work ethic goes. She is a self-starter and simply runs with whatever tasks are available. She is a fast learner and does have a lot of experience with an authoring tool that we will be cutting over to. She's great, her work is close to being perfect, and is taking over roughly have of my development work.

The concern is with the other writer. She is the oldest member of the team. I tell her information. It goes in one ear and completely out the other. I feel like I am a broken record.

She also does not read e-mails carefully. Often, she doesn't read them at all. She prefers instant messaging over e-mails. I am the complete opposite. I find the former distracting.

When I do work from home, I put myself into do-not-disturb mode these days. It means that you see me online, but I won't accept instant messages.

Both the student and the younger writer understand that I get a ton of e-mails. They also know that I am completely accessible through e-mail. The other writer seems to be all over the map.

She told me the other day that she felt that she was doing student work. She does have an issue with status, indicating that she is a senior writer. It's funny. She doesn't give me the impression that she is.

Perhaps it's me. I am also in that same senior writer as far as experience goes, although she has more of it. However, I do not label one task as being for a student and another for a senior writer. I do tasks that need to be done. Period.

Over the last few weeks, it occurred to me that I have a ton of knowledge. Even older technology that I have to resurrect from the dead comes to me naturally, which has been the case for the past few days. It's funny that I acquired this knowledge mainly through trial and error. I don't see any initiative with the older writer when it comes to self-learning. It's there with the younger one. The student has it, too.

My concern is that the older writer, who is supposed to take over the other half of my development duties, won't be able to hack it. She is set in her ways, which is a red flag.

The good news is that I am taking Friday off. I will be seeing my guy, so it will be a good, relaxing time away from work.

Gord Downie and Jann Arden - Canadian music celebrated and loved

I worked from home on Wednesday. It was highly productive. It was also a day of music. 

Gord Downie, lead singer of the Tragically Hip, died. He was only 53 years of age. He succumbed to brain cancer. He will be missed.

His music represents Canada. It is Canada.

I then went to see Jann Arden in concert tonight. I have seen her more than any other singer or group in concert. She is so funny. I love her songs and her voice. She, too, is Canadian. A true gem.

Although things change, my love for their music never ceases.

I am currently listening to a tribute to Gord Downie and his band. So good.

Course is done and all is well

I completed the second part of my refresher course on Tuesday. It was shorter than I had anticipated. Then again, doing a nearly four-hour course over two days is a decent length.

I have received positive, favourable feedback. I am thankful and pleased.

It's a good thing that I am working from home on Wednesday. I plan on going into productive mode. I am banning myself from our instant messaging tool. It is such a distraction.

Control and targeted audience for a course

On Monday, the first part of delivering my refresher course to colleagues went well. I have one more session to do on Tuesday, which will be shorter.

My manager was there simply because he had created the meeting. I suppose that it's a control thing. Technically, it would have been best if I had created the meeting with conference and Web details to join it.

He sat through the three hours. At the end, he said that he didn't understand anything. At my desk, he said the same thing when he provided his feedback.

My response? The course isn't for you. The targeted audience isn't you. It's for writers who have used this authoring and publishing tool. Naturally, you won't understand anything. You were simply there to admit colleagues into the meeting online and on the call.

He nodded. Enough said.

Training

At work, I am teaching a refresher course. It is split up into two sessions. The first session starts on Monday morning.

It's interesting that I am both relaxed and nervous. I have given the same training for a while. This course focuses on fundamentals that need reinforcement. I think that it's good that I feel nervous. It means that I care about the content that I am about to deliver.

I didn't think that I would ever be in this position. It's cool that my guy understands what I do and vice-versa.

Fun step pleasuring and exciting my guy

It's always wonderful pleasuring my guy. Last weekend, in our hotel room, he was completely naked, minus his socks that I noticed later on.

It's practically instinctual for me to wrap my hand around his hard member and jerk him off. He loves the look of my hand around it. I had berry-coloured nail polish on.

"Kiss me," he said.

I did. He gets more excited when I do.

He also loves my shoulders. He pulled down my t-shirt, exposing my right shoulder. He looked at the colour of my bra strap.

"You're wearing a black bra," he said.

His excitement went into overdrive. He loves a black bra and panties on me, which was exactly what I was wearing. At this point, I just had the former on.

Moments later, he came. We kissed, embraced, chatted, and then cleaned up.

I am always content when he ejaculates. Naturally, he is, too.

Rescheduled trip and hugs

Over the weekend, my guy brought up some good news.

"It looks like my trip has been rescheduled to next month," my guy said.
"That's great. Can I come?" I asked him.
"Of course. It will give us plenty of time to play," he hinted.
"Yay!" I said.

We both can tell when we have missed each other. We don't need to say a thing. When we embrace, we feel it. We hug each other tightly. It's feels good.

Passed the first stage of my interview... yay!

This post is an update on trying my hand at applying for a new job and being the interviewee. I haven't been in this position for over seven years.

On Thursday afternoon, I had a phone interview. I was notified of it on Wednesday. The agency representing me is pretty thorough. The resource manager taking care of me let me know what questions were going to be posed. What I didn't have any time to do was to send my answers to him. Work is busy to begin with. The last thing I feel like when I am at home is to write bucketed answers to questions.

I felt good during the interview. The hiring manager flat out told me that he wanted me back for a second interview. My resource manager told me that this company rarely tells candidates about coming back for a second interview. Normally, the hiring manager thinks about it for a day. Sweet!

The hiring manager felt that my skills were a perfect fit and told me that he liked how confident I was.

It was a good day.

Anniversary month - so down with it!

October is our anniversary month. I feel like saying, "We made it!" We have certainly had our fair share of ups and downs, as is the norm in life. My guy and I are more in love than ever.

For the first couple of years, I didn't do much maintenance around my pubic region. I just let it go. My guy never complained. In fact, he said that it was fine, but recommended a trim or two.

It took our time briefly apart where I decided to keep my pubic hair nicely trimmed.

I do see the advantages. My guy likes to go down on me. He did that after taking off my lacy black panties and having me rest of my back on the bed.

He spread my legs wide. He then pleasured me with his tongue. It was incredible. My orgasm was intense. It was so good. I was immediately lethargic and he knew it.

He came over to hug me.

"Thanks for saving the world. You are my superhero," I said to him.
"I'm glad. I'm naked boy," he replied.
"You're tongue boy. A very talented one," I said, hugging him tightly.

It wasn't a bad start to our long weekend together. No complaints at all.

Knocking on my door to save the day by undressing

I'm back! It was a nice, well-deserved break with my guy over Thanksgiving.

I drove over to his neck of the woods on Saturday. I booked a hotel for us, which felt like a decent staycation. I am also close to renewing my elite membership with this particular hotel chain, so it all works out.

After I had checked in to my room and had settled in, I let my guy know of my hotel room number. He came over in a flash. He knocked on my door. I opened it and let him in.

We hugged and kissed as soon as the door had closed. He grabbed my buttocks and groped them, which I loved.

He took my hand and led me over to the bed. We both sat down at the edge. I caressed his head, which had a bit of stubble. It was soft and nice.

He started to take off his clothes.

"You don't waste time, do you?" I asked him, watching him take off his shirt.
"We don't have much time," he said.
"Are you going to save the world?" I asked him, as he reminded me of a superhero.

He laughed, as he took off his pants and briefs. He then kissed me and gently led me to the bed to stretch out. He then helped me remove my black lacy panties under my short skirt.

It was pretty good welcome. Yes, there's a pun in there.

Thanksgiving weekend with my guy

I am taking a staycation this long Thanksgiving weekend. I am off to spend some quality time with my guy.

Enjoy your weekend!

M&M's fan for a fan

My guy got me an M&M's fan that has candy in it.

"I got you this gift," he said, handing it to me.
"You know, you didn't have to," I said, happy to have it nonetheless.
"I wanted to get it for you. The M&M's guy is a Seattle Seahawk," he noted.
"I love it. The fan works, too!"

I like how thoughtful he is.

Backstory behind our change of treehouse plans

On Tuesday, my guy called me from a taxi.

"Hey, are you there?" he asked me, referring to the parking lot at work.
"I'm close. I decided not to wait there. My manager's motorcycle is still parked there," I remarked.
"Doesn't he ever leave work?" he asked me.
"Apparently not," I replied. "Is it okay if we move to a different area once I'm there?" I asked him.
"Of course," he said, noting how uncomfortable it would be for both of us.
"Yay!" I replied, which made him chuckle.

The last thing I want to do is have my manager see my guy and I making out in a car at work.

Five minutes later, my guy's taxi had arrived. He paid, got his belongings, and headed over to his car. I did, too.

"Hey, sweetie," I said to him.
"Hey," he replied, peering in as I pulled up next to his parked car.
"Are you hungry?" he asked me.
"I am," I replied, noting that I hadn't had dinner yet.
"Me, too. Let's go have dinner at our usual place," he said.
"Sounds good," I replied.

It's nice that treehouse time ended up being a dinner date.

Dinner date with my guy upon his arrival

I met my guy on Tuesday night shortly after his plane had landed. We changed things around and made it a dinner date. We were both hungry.

It was nice hugging, laughing over dinner at our usual Chinese restaurant, and kissing under the moon.

I am glad that he is back. He's happy to be with me. It's a decent reunion after an odd business trip for him.

Odd events lead to good karma

Sometimes, I wonder about various events. Yesterday, my guy had landed in Seattle for work. I was happy as can be, as I was going to join him for the Thanksgiving long weekend.

My guy left home without his driver's licence. It may have foreshadowed the events that took place after that.

On Monday, I had the worst time trying to troubleshoot various things with three new folks on my team. The worst was with the new writer who says that she knows everything. However, she ends up clicking various sites on her own that it causes even more problems. Her laptop had the most difficult time connecting to our company's wifi.

It was humourous how the rest of us simply assumed that her laptop was troublesome every time she tried a task on it. It's not me!

My guy texted me after I was done work, which was around 17:20. He indicated that his course was cancelled and that no one had told him about it. Bummer. Such horrible communication!

I had booked a one-way ticket to Seattle. I had also booked a hotel room to stay closer to the airport, for my flight was at 08:00. I had also booked a rental car.

All our our plans were dashed. My guy said that he looked forward to my joining him this trip, which was the highlight for him. He's sweet.

Looking on the bright side, I had already booked a staycation this weekend in his hometown. I had cancelled that reservation, but managed to rebook the same duration at a cheaper rate.

There is no penalty when I cancel my flight within 24 hours. I also managed to cancel my car and hotel reservations with ease. No harm on these fronts.

My guy flies back on Tuesday. We are meeting for some quality time. He told me that he wants to spank me for being a bad girl. Naturally, that turns me on.

We chatted twice on Tuesday. I got him off on the phone. He was so lethargic that he ended up singing.

Although our original plans didn't work out, our alternative ones are equally as good.

Impromptu travel arrangements to be with my guy

It's nice chatting with my guy on Skype. He made it safely to Seattle.

It looks like I may be joining him for the long Thanksgiving weekend that is coming up. I am making travel arrangements

It turns out that my guy has lost is driver's licence, so he is stuck without a rental car while he is away. It's another reason why I should be with him.

He is thrilled that I am looking into flights and such. I'll keep you posted.

Waking up and wrestling

My guy flies off to Seattle later on this morning. I offered to drive him to the airport, but he said that it would be too early. I would be meeting him at work at 07:00.

We had a fun chat just now.

"Have a safe flight and don't snooze your alarm!" I told him.
"I'll try not to," he said.
"You can't!" I replied.
"You know me too well," he said, laughing.
"I do, more or less. Otherwise, I'd have to say, ''Wakey wakey!'," I noted.
"Yes. I'll then wrestle you," he remarked.
"I like when you do. The aftermath is fun!" I noted.
"True," he said without hesitation.

I'll miss him. I'm glad that he is travelling on business again, though.