Meanderings: February 16, 2000

Wednesday,
February 16, 2000

Okay, so I didn't get home until 8:30 PM -- I didn't get in until 1:00 pm, either.

And went almost directly into a project meeting for MD, once again in Swedish, whee. I used to think that I was pretty good at plastering an interested look on my face while my mind was busy writing a shopping list or deep in some kinky fantasy, but these meetings have put an edge on it that's practically Toledo-like. The speakers keep turning to me periodically, seeing my rapt expression and sharp, questioning eyes, and ask if I understood what they just said.

"Nope," I reply cheerfully. And then they get to precís it in English. I like to think I'm providing a service here, giving people the perfect opportunity to practice their English.

But not all of today was a combination of fun and duty -- I found out why I haven't been reimbursed for my November business trip yet. The way it works here is, you fill out a little form (or reseorder in Svenska) requesting a plane ticket and such. The manager signs it, and then you call up the company travel agency and book a flight, a car, etc. The top sheet of the reseorder goes to them when you pick up the tickets -- the rest of the form gets turned in to the department secretary with a reimbursement request and receipts from the trip, and ideally you get your money within a few weeks.

Ah, but that's so simple, I hear you cry -- what could complicate it? See, our regular secretary (whom I will call, oh, Puttyhead) left in January, and we've had a very nice temp ever since. Said temp was out of the office due to illness this week, however, and since Amex and First Card were starting to get understandably nasty about being paid, I thought I'd dig around the secretary's office and see if I could find any records of when she sent the forms to the finance office.

And promptly found the forms sitting on the secretary's desk, buried underneath a pile of paperwork. My forms weren't alone, either -- there were at least four other sets keeping it company. Apparently Puttyhead didn't feel like processing them and left 'em for the new secretary.

To say that I was incandescent with rage is putting it mildly. We're talking about an amount in five figures here, okay? It's not something we can pay out of the household budget while we wait for the TBS wheels to grind exceedingly fine. So I stormed into my manager's office, waving the forms like a dead rat. Decent man that he is, he listened to my screeches and found the number of the person over at Finance who can deal with trip reimbursements. I then called her up and explained the situation, admittedly in a calmer tone of voice. She said she'd handle the forms, just mail them over.

So at least THAT'S taken care of. Unfortunately, Lyndon's supposed to go to Boston in two weeks, and as it was his Amex card that covered the November expenses, Amex won't allow any new charges to it until we pay off this big one. Such fun. We may have to get creative with my Amex card and the upcoming paycheck -- like what else is new?

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