I was reading the paper today and on the front page it was saying that most Canadian families would be getting a cheque for $1000. But it hadn't been substantiated and they were waiting for the budget to released today. So later today I was on Yahoo and they were talking about the budget announcement. The first thing I noticed is that they were predicting the end of the recession to be in the spring of 2013. That is a pretty damn depressing thought if you ask me... Not that the government should be unrealistic and glossing over how bad things are.... but I think I was better off not knowing that they expect it to last another 4 years.

As for the cheques they are real. Families who make less then $160,000 will get up to $1000 and individuals will get $300. But before you get excited it's not all at once. It's spread out over 3 cheques, the last of which will come out in June of 2011. So one cheque per year of 1/3 of the amount that you will be receiving.

But it's not really free money... The government is trying to stimulate the economy but with the recession expects prices to rise on goods. More importantly, the big reason for this cheque is to ease of the pain of their proposed harmonization of taxes. Instead of paying 5% for the GST and 8% for PST it would be combined into one tax. So 13% tax on everything. Want to tell me that is not a cash grab? How does that benefit the consumer? There are numerous items that right now does not have PST like staples in food items, children's clothing, and books that will all be taxed at the 13% rate if this goes through. So I will get cheque for $300 but what is it really going to cost me?

Finally Things Are Getting Back to Normal... As Normal as They Ever Are

I really do have a legitimate reason for my absence this time.... I was without the trusty MacBook Pro for 47 days.... Might have been longer. The repair alone took 40 days. That was a nightmare. The local repair facility is completely incompetent let me tell you. And they couldn't even get the model right... They seem to think I have a 17" MacBook Pro. It was downhill from there. Granted I would have been pretty happy if I had come home with a 17" MacBook Pro in the end. Mind you their incompetence did benefit me. Took it in there since it wasn't powering on. Might have had something to do with mass amounts of water being dumped on it. Let me put it to this way when we put it on it's side on the dishwasher to dry off there was water running off the side of the dishwasher. So it was pretty much soaked. Any ways it was completely cleaned before it went in. But we had no idea what to predict when the unit was powered on. With my PDA when it went through the wash (yes me, electronics, and water are quite familiar *lol*) for a few weeks I could still see the water in the screen. But they didn't check it when it went in and just ordered the part. So there was no way for them to prove it went in with liquid damage. As a result Apple issued a CS code to cover the repair. Then the part wasn't ordered. Had to get Customer Relations involved to get the repair completed. Now their own policy is that if it's not done in a timely fashion (typically 14 days) then the computer will be replaced. But even after having Apple conclude that it did not go in with liquid damage CR went right back to blaming me for it. So no replacement. Get the part in and then the display woldn't close. They claim it was due to corrosion. They were really milking the liquid damage to cover up for their own incompetence.... or to get extra money from Apple. Their conclusion was that a new bottom case was required. I have seen the service manual for the computer and the bottom case just houses all of the components but the display does not connect to it at all. Now the issue they were having with the case just required the screws to be adjusted.... not for a whole new bottom case. And even when I did get the computer back the case is separating. There is a gap in several places between the trackpad area and the bottom case. When asked they continued to say it was because of corrsion and that they did the best they could. If this is their best I am kind of concerned. After all they were supposed to completely repair it... since it is now under warranty specs... or at least it is supposed to be. Apple's policy on liquid damage is to replace the logic board which was never done. Oh and it was returned with an optical drive failure. About 50% of the disks burned fail. And if that wasn't enough it was returned without the power adapter which magically they couldn't find and had to order a new one. So from the day I took the computer in until the day I had it home and powered up was 40 days.

During that time I really wasn't on the computer. I don't like using the Windows computer nearly as much. Partially becuse it's Windows but it's also not a laptop so it's not as convenient. I will say that there were some positive aspects to not having the computer. I didn't feel like I was on overload all the time.... I was able to get away from technology. I would come home from work and actually watch the TV shows instead of just having them on as background noise. Azrael was getting plenty of attention as well. Pretty sure I was eating better too. Now I have the computer back and it's back to life as usual.

During my absence I also got really sick. Missed almost a week at work. Each day it was a new symptom so I never really knew what I was dealing with. The first day it felt like the flu with the full body pain. Then the next day it was like bronchitis and then the day after I looked like a cocaine addict since I was blowing my nose so much. I stumbled into work and was so pale. I was pretty much hallucinating and had no comprehension of what I was saying. The only reason I was even there is so I wouldn't need a doctor's note to come back. I made it until it would be considered a leave early and not a sick day and then went home. It was rough. Glad it's over adn I am back to being relatively healthy.

At about the same time I got sick all the overtime got canceled. Based on low quality scores we were put on a reduced queue so we are taking fewer of the calls. About half the reps had to go through a remedial training and were put on action plans to bring up their quality scores. I had managed to avoid that. Then about a week ago I had a really bad call that the client was listening to... And even though I don't agree with the way it was scored my team leader won't fight to get it changed. So instant action plan for me... and no more time off the phones to assist agents with their calls. It sucks... and even if I get off the action plan I still won't get any off phone time until the summer. So a real lack of motivation there.... That was the one thing I looked forward to. I can understand if it was a trend.... but really it was just one call. We have all had bad calls.... anyone that has worked at a call center that is.

The good news is that I still have a job. I have heard on a number of occasions instances where the client hears a bad call and the agent no longer has a job. So it could be wose.... I like having gainful employment. Also this month two of my good friends from work have quit. It's making me a little sad. I am happy for them that they are on to bigger and better things but a little bit of me is still selfish and wants them to be there when I come into work since they always brightened the day.

Not much exciting going on in my world... but sometimes that is a good thing. After all I don't really want any more flooding... I am quite content with my life... even if some would say it's boring. And now I think there is a little furry creature that wants some of my attention. I am more then happy to give it to him.