Thursday, February 19, 2015

Long Overdue Update ~~ 2/19/15

STRESSED & LITTLE VENTING

It's been stressful around our house.  A few weeks ago, Hubby went to their weekly company meeting and was informed that the company he had worked over 32 years for had been sold.  The new executives were there to introduce themselves and assure all the employees that "everything would be fine" and to tell them "don't worry about a thing".  Maybe I watch too much TV, but those statements were huge red flags to me.

Since then, very few questions have been answered, and even more troubling to me, is the lack of concern the executives seem to have regarding salary and "benefits".  When you take a new job, you at least know what the salary and benefits will be.  With the new company, Hubby only knows that he's lost his commission and the "benefits" cost double what they did with the old company.

What irks me is that pay day is the 15th and the 30th of each month.  The new company didn't even process payroll until the 16th, a FEDERAL holiday, meaning no one got paid until the 17th!  It's all processed for direct deposit so we checked our bank on the 17th.  No deposit.  Checked with the bank on the 18th, no deposit.  Hubby called the HR girl and she informed him that she had a problem processing his pay and they had to mail him a check.   Still haven't received the check.  Why the heck didn't she let Hubby know this on the 16th?  At the very least, she could have sent him an email! 

The new company is large and does a lot to promote positive moral among the employees.  Last week, they held their company-wide quarterly meeting.  It was held at a very large convention center in Chicago with catered lunch and 3 celebrity guest speakers.  Each employee was entered into a raffle drawing.  They gave away ten Samsung 60" Smart TV's, ten Apple iPads, ten Beats Headphones and various smaller prizes.  Even though Hubby didn't win anything, he enjoyed the meeting.  Because the company exceeded it's 2014 sales goal, every employee who worked during 2014 received a trip to Jamaica.  I can't believe how much the company spent on that meeting and they do this 4 times a year!  Promoting positive moral among employees is a great thing, but it means nothing if the company doesn't also take care of the employees with salary and benefits. 

It's caused an unbelievable amount of stress for Hubby which, of course, means I'm stressed too. 

Ok, I'm done venting now...on to better things!

CHRISTMAS GIFTS FINSIHED ~~ Better Late Than Never

My girls both asked for scarves for Christmas.  Being the crafty mom that I am, I had the great idea (on Dec. 10th) to crochet them each a scarf.  It took me a few days to get the yarn, but I still thought I'd get them done in time for Christmas Day.  Then I got sick and that changed all my plans.


Each of these were crocheted with my own version of Entrelac Tunisian Crochet.  Many tutorials for this type of crochet are available, but they all involved too much yarn cutting and tying on for me.  In all the tutorials I looked at, the piece is never turned to work the next row like in regular crochet.  I came up with my own way to turn the work and continue working the pattern without all the cutting and tying on.   I really like the texture these scarves have and they are heavy and warm.  Perfect for the sub-zero temps and windchill we're having this winter.

FOUND

I was digging around way in the back of my storage closet and pulled out a large plastic storage tub filled with things I've forgotten about.  Among the baby clothes, blankets and bibs, I found a bag with yarn and a 30 year old UFO crochet project.  Yep, I said 30 years!

I crocheted the baby blanket for my cousin's first baby way back in 1984.  I had enough yarn left over that I started a second blanket and the little matching sweater.  I can't remember, but I don't think I had another baby in mind when I started these a second time.  Way back then, this baby yarn was super soft and now it feels icky.  It's scratchy, dry feeling and I can't imagine ever putting it near my skin, let alone a baby's skin.  I could hardly stand to touch it!  I think I'll be getting rid of the old yarn and I haven't decided what to do with the unfinished blanket and sweater. Can yarn be restored to it's original softness?

MAILART SENT & RECEIVED

I participated in a Mailart Exchange for Valentine's Day.

Mailart sent to Shelley.  I had fun designing and stitching this.  It was my first mailart piece and I'm sure I'll be making more.  I forgot to get pics of the extras I included.  I made a card embellished with hearts cut out of the backing fabric.  I also included a skein of DMC floss and a matchbook style needle book.

I received this mailart from Debbie B.  She coffee dyed the fabric and used variegated floss.  It was also her first time making a mailart piece and I think she did a fantastic job!  Thanks Debbie!

I'm amazed that these go through the postal service and make it to their destination.

That's it for today.  
I'm hoping to catch up soon.

Stay Warm!



 





12 comments:

  1. I am sorry for the work junk and stress.
    What pretty scarves. And the baby items! Oh my!
    I have held off with mailart because I always wonder if it will make it.

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  2. Pam
    Sorry that you and DH have had a stressful few weeks. I can relate to the situation. Hopefully things with the new company work out, once they get the payroll bugs fixed. I love what you've done with the crochet scarves. I'm glad I'm not the only one that finds 'treasures in the closet'. Perhaps try hand washing some of the yarn in baby shampoo and hopefully that restores some of the softness. It was my pleasure stitching the mailart for you. And it is amazing that they survive the postal systems. Take care.

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  3. The mail art is a great idea! My DH has been through many similar experience to that of your husband. It is very stressful!! I hope the best for you both!

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  4. Having been through three corporate changes, things *always* change even when new management say it won't. Payroll definitely dropped the ball when they supposedly couldn't get the direct deposit to go through. Having worked in payroll and dealt with banks/direct deposit, I find the excuse a bunch of you-know-what. At the very least, they should've wired the funds (at their cost). If you had direct deposit before, it was something payroll did wrong that it didn't go through correctly.

    Your mailart turned out beautifully. I hope you enjoyed the exchange. I love mailart exchanges!

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  5. Sorry about all the stress you and DH are having ,and really hope things will get better for you.

    Love the letter art what fun , I have seen some on some sites it look great.

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  6. That is stressful! The company I worked for during the holidays was sold in October - same idea. Now they've fired all the top executives so no idea if they will reopen here for the holiday season this year or not. Love the colors of your 30 year old project!

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  7. I am so sorry to hear about your family stress. Mergers/sales of companies are not easy to get through. I do hope that things settle down soon! So did you mean to say that your hubby won a trip to Jamaica, since he worked in 2014? That is something to look forward to this year! Glad you had fun with the mailart. I do find it amazing they get through the mail intact and pretty perfect! Hugs!

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  8. I hope your hubby gets some answers and his check soon, how stressful for both of you.
    The scarves are very pretty, love the colors.
    Mailart is too cute also!
    Marilyn

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  9. Yeeeeeeeeeeeeesh. Red flags indeed. :( I hope it works out for him in the end. *fingers crossed*

    The mailart is super cute! It looks like it was a great exchange. Something different.

    You could try washing the yarn/items in mild soap, like hand soap. See what happens. Most baby yarns are acrylic and I'm not sure what happens to that over a long period of time. Maybe it starts to break down at some point?

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  10. Oh, Pam, I'm so sorry to read about the work problems for your husband... Any change brings on stress and this sounds like a huge change. I hope things calm down and work out for him... In the mean time--keep on stitching; that is such a huge stress reliever for me :)

    Love your mail art--I am always amazed at how it can travel through the U.S. postal system without getting destroyed!

    Hang in there--I do hope everything works out for you and your husband with the job situation...

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  11. I hope the work situation for your husband will improve so that your needn't worry about it any longer.

    Mailart is such a great way to share cross stitched items. I used to do it for a couple of years and it was a great experience. I love the envelope you received, but for some reason I cannot see the picture of the envelope you sent.

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  12. I am so sorry to hear about the financial strains your husband's "new" employer has put on your family. I can completely sympathize. I will be praying everything gets straightened out soon.

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