The Complaint Dept

[Harbone]

I don't know if this counts, but I just lost another job.

No, I didn't lose it. I quit. This is mostly rhetorical, but why can't I find it in myself to stick it out?

Right now, CBMS, the Colorado Benefits Management System, has just taken away it's employee's ability to rescind cases. That means, if you should apply for, say, food stamps or county help and you get your materials in even one day over the 10 day deadline, your case can't be restarted. Now, most people I work with are either homeless or a little loopy. Getting their stuff from a doctor or digging their termination paperwork out from their bosses can be more than a little challenge. Getting your stuff in late is ALWAYS expected.

Now, the staff manual used to have these guidelines that let people applying for aid have 10 days extra to rebutt any denial. If I turned them down, they were allowed another 10 days to provide adequate proof that the denial was improper before moving on to the lengthy and resource-consuming (for the county, the state AND the client) appeals process.

However, thanks to the butt-heads at Colorado State, regular county workers can't rescind (reopen) a case that they've had to close down for initial guidelines. This are the same jerkwads that implemented CBMS in the first place, a million-dollar monster that rarely does what it's supposed to and has become more of drain on the taxpayers than the welfare system it was supposed to alleviate.

Keep in mind that CBMS, made by that sell-them-something-someone-else-didn't-want firm, EDS, in Plano texas, is so crappy, that it doesn't populate fields with residency information from one case to another if both sets of data have the SAME participants. I mean, clearly, the participant is a shared data string, but somehow this does not include residency information. Also, if more than one person is on a case, you cannot simply tell this thing that a person should not count as part of the household, even though that is what Federal and State rules require. You have to collect information on, for instance, a child living in a house even though you have adoption documents or other evidence that a different couple living in the household have legal custody over the child and, according to regulations, should NOT COUNT toward the amount of Food Stamps the house is getting. The Rube Goldberg-esque teeter-totter of dates, conflicting and overlapping rules and calculation triggers make hitting any button on this system like sticking your fingers into a mousetrap to get one tiny bit of moldy peanut butter.

Beyond that, they've made sure that, God Forbid, should you get the ability to rescind a case, it goes into something crap like Supervisor Approval Pending mode. That means that a supervisor has to review the case and get it going again. Now, I have piles (it used to be 27, but diligent attention by my overworked boss has reduced it somewhat) of supervisor pending cases on my desk - and many of these are for cases that required emergency food stamps in the first place. Meaning that clients can expect to wait months (not weeks or days, but months) for any help from the state. Many of my clients are older folks who just got laid off or are beyond the employment age limit, anyway.

Anyway, I quit. I don't want to see the state of Colorado succeed at this time. I'd like to shake the dust from my shoes and leave this beautiful countryside to freeze, dehydrate and eletrocute the 2-bit fundamentalist Jingoists who run it, but I've been living day to day as it is and I've promised to save Umberella from the house that is trying to eat her soul.

Somehow, I might still do it, but I can't do a job where they won't let me do my job. This is, perhaps, because I lack valuable military experience in sitting on my hands.  

[Lil-Jo]

Jerk brother-in-laws!!!


OK, my sister married a man that is very controling. He took a job in Texas back in January. They have been trying to sell their house since then and the company just told them to buy a house there and they would cover the costs of the other house. My sister wanted to move, yet she did not want to leave the friends she has here... we will be moving to Texas soon so it is not all bad. Her husband wanted the move because he wanted her away from the neighbors they have. They are the close neighbors that do everything together. He does not like her having close friends. When we were out there on monday he said in front of me and my husband "if she makes friends there like she has here I will just find another job and move her again"... He has to have complete control without anyone else involved... If there was a way, she would leave him.  

[Nodijo]

evil First of all Harbone, I certainly can empathize with your frustration, when I received aid as a single parent, the state of Oregon wanted me to do "Job Search" and gave me a sheet that had like 25 spaces on it to fill in the names, addresses, and phone numbers of companies I turned in applications to (in the lobby there were two single women getting aid as well with those forms and filling them out by copying things out of the phone book instead of actually doing the 'searching'! GRRRR. If I was offered a job, I was not to turn it down or they could cut me off completely, so I I could not work too many hours or too little hours, I couldn't make too much money or too little money if I made too little I couldn't make it on my own- leaving me in the proverbial Catch 22.
Lil Jo I wish your sister could leave that arrogant S.O.B to. I hope he doesn't come between you and her, sometimes in relationships like that the guy gets jealous....what a jerk *^$@#&!!!  

[Lil Brat]

Hair color products.... gonk

Colored my hair about three weeks ago... about two weeks ago my hair started falling out - lots of it! crying

In just two weeks I've lost about 1/4 of my hair... and it shows not signs of slowing down. Is now going on-line to have a little chat with someone from Clairol to find out if this affect can be slowed down... sweatdrop

Tis a really good thing I usually have massively thick hair... cry  

[Lil-Jo]

We still need a buyer for our house... ANY ONE WANT IT???

I had a call last night asking if they could do a showing this morning at 9am... ok, we hurried this morning and left at 9, came back just after 10. There is no business card here from a realtor and no sign that they were even here. I have no way to know if they showed up and I hate that. I clean and hide things, lock the dogs out, then waste gas to leave so they can do their thing... then they don't even leave me a card to know if anyone was here, HOW RUDE!

Most the people that come threw either are kind and don't leave much for comments or they are the rude ones that want to only go threw spottless or empty houses. They complain about us having too much stuff or the animals, or whatever they can think to add. Don't people realize that when we move that we will be taking our stuff and our animals? The house is clean... and we don't have a garage to throw things into... PLUS, we still have to live here until the place is sold!!!

The last comment sheet we got noted that "the house next door was a real steal compaired to ours". The house next door is for sale too, it is the same year as ours, it is smaller than ours, it has half the property as ours, it's listed $22,000 higher than ours, and it has been on the market longer than ours... the difference is that they have a garage... If it is that much of a steal, why did they not buy that one???  

[Lucky Hoku]

Lil Jo I totally understand what you are saying about your brother in law... mine is the same way and the sad part is I introduced them. Well, I was an idiot or more so, my sister. She was 22 years old, just graduated from University and complaining that working as a teacher she wasn't meeting any men. I had met my future brother in law on a flight home and thought he might be a nice date for my sister so I set them up. Little did I know that they would marry after 3 dates. It was an absolute shock to my family and even further shock when he moved my sister all the way to California. Now, the only chance of seeing her was to fly across the Pacific. My sister was a fashion model in her younger days and travelled extensively... well her husband told her that she was never to wear any makeup, he bought her a new wardrobe that did not include anything sexy or revealing, he told her not color her hair or cut it, and he took away her passport. He basically locked her up from the world. Whenever I would call on my sister he would stay in the room and whenever she came to visit me, which was rare, he ordered her home before the sun set. The change in my sister from this vivacious, international model to this frumpy, overweight housewife was dramatic. My mum and da accept the situation but I can't. My sister tells me she's happily married but when I see her she is so worn out. My brother in law on the other hand travels everywhere, expects a cooked meal on the table every night, clean house, and doesn't go near the children. If the children make any noise or try to seek his attention he locks himself in his home office. One more thing, our family is Catholic and he immediately had my sister baptised as a Born Again Chrisitan. She is not allowed to talk to me about politics or faith because as he said to me "you are the kind of f-ing liberal that destroys this country". So, as you see I can related to your Brother in Law situation because mine is just as worse and no matter how much I think my sister should leave him she is some how convinced that she is happily married and loves her life. Funny how she only says that whenever her husband is in the room.  

[Lucky Hoku]

Co-Workers Who Are P S Y C H O!

I know you've come across one of these... maybe two of these... maybe a whole friggin office full of these. Yes, the Psycho Co-Worker who is like a landmine ready to explode if you accidently step near it, over it, or on it. My Psycho Co-Worker is the Technology Director for our school.
Little Background Info: Besides teaching Art I also produce the school's yearbook. The last few years, the photography company that we've used has screwed me seriously with my students yearbook photos... so this year I opted not to renew their contract and change photographer. Of course, I did not do this without first consulting my Principal who also sat with me as we interviewed new photographers. Once we chose the new photographer I promptly introduced him to the Technology Director who over sees our students school ID badges. I informed the photographer that he would have to provide the TD with a copy of all photos for her to maintain incase a student loses his ID which she would recreate. Now, why would the TD have anything to do with student photos? Well, that was my question and the answer was that since she oversees anything to do with technology like the student database, she was put in charge of the ID cards. Make sense. Good. Well, after introducing the TD to the photographer the TD went balistic... she stormed into the Principal's office and demanded to know why I had changed photographers. Yes, the TD was quite aware that the previous photographer sucked because he screwed up the TDs copy of the student photos but this didnt matter. What mattered to the TD was that "I" had chosen the photographer and that "I" didn't consult with her. The Principal calmly explained that the choice was actually made by both the Principal and myself. That there was no need for the TD to be involved since the students photos were primarily for the yearbook and the student IDs were secondary. The TD exploded with frustration and demanded that "I" be made accountable for not consulting her. The Principal told me that she looked at this lady and said "accountable for what?" You have no say in who the photographer is and to let it go. Okay that was 2 months ago.

PRESENT DAY TIME:
Yesterday, I receive a phone call from the photographer who is extremely upset that the TD called and yelled at him. Trying to calm him down, I ask what did she want. Well, she told the photographer that if he wanted a list of the students for the yearbook photos that he was supposed to go through her not through me. That I had nothing to do with the student photographs and that I was only the art teacher and yearbook editor. Then she demanded that he come down to the school and show her his portfolio and tell her what he was going to do for her before she makes up her mind about using him. The photographer was confused and pissed off. I was not only shocked to learn this BUT Horrified that the TD did this. How humiliating and embarassing is all I could feel and think. So, I called the Principal and told her what happen. The Principal was shocked and horrified. She called me later to tell me that she pulled the TD into her office and told that if we lose this photographer because of her behavior that she would be fired. She told the TD to call the photographer and apologize and to call me and apologize. The TD apparently kept insisting that she was incharge of the photographs and the Principal was confused. The Principal told me that she just looked at this lady and said "what is your problem with Maori, do you think she wants your job or something or do you want to do the yearbook?" The TD didn't answer and told the Principal that she just takes her job seriously and that she is incharge of any technology that comes in or goes out of the school. The Principal told me that she didn't realize how whacko the TD was until that moment. The Principal then told me that she called the photographer to apologize for our TDs behavior and that should she ever call him again that he was to notify the Principal immediately. OMG as I sit here and type this I still cannot believe the DRAMA of this PSYCHO... next week I go back to school and don't know what this woman will do when she sees me. I may have to put those locks back on my door again to keep the PSYCHO OUT! pirate  

[freaxy]

over-productive minds shouldn't require extra sleep. sweatdrop
the past couple weeks; I've been designing a complicated myspace profile, getting a computer ready to be formatted as a server and learning how to set it up by myself, downloading needed files, trying to locate drivers, creating images, trying to make more music, talking to friends, including trying to leave time for the g/f and outings. stressed
I slept for about 11 hours last night, and I was still tire when I got up. confused

no more pizzones for the FR34K, they no make tummy feel good. crying  

[Lil Brat]

Slow down, Fr34x0r ~ you've got plenty of time to be superman... burning your candle at both ends will surely lead to insomnia... which still won't allow you to get everything done anyways... sweatdrop  

[Nodijo]

Wow, Maori talk about a whack-o....she would drive me nuts! I don't know how you kept your cool and didn't 'go off' on her, self-centered witch.....she needs to be fired. evil oh and I totally feel for your situation with your sister and her husband, he should be married to the psycho co-worker from hell, they'd make a great couple...wonder who would kill themselves first-him or her... biggrin  

[Lil-Jo]

fr34x0r

over-productive minds shouldn't require extra sleep. sweatdrop
the past couple weeks; I've been designing a complicated myspace profile, getting a computer ready to be formatted as a server and learning how to set it up by myself, downloading needed files, trying to locate drivers, creating images, trying to make more music, talking to friends, including trying to leave time for the g/f and outings. stressed
I slept for about 11 hours last night, and I was still tire when I got up. confused

no more pizzones for the FR34K, they no make tummy feel good. crying

Try adding a job now...

That much sleep is why you woke up tired, too much can do the same thing as not enough.  

[Umberella]

Psycho co-workers make me yell at people I love.

I am just REALLY glad that you have witnesses to the insanity.
Keep written records of what happens and when, just in case the situation ever escalates into something involving court dates.


And Harbone, I am sorry your job ended because as revenge I got a DVD box set of the ENTIRE RUN OF THE DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS CARTOON SERIES!!!!!!!!!! rofl rofl rofl

Just kidding about the revenge thing. That job was a holy nightmare and I'm glad you ended it. You will find something mellow that doesn't fry your brain. UM...but I did get the D+D box set. I couldn't resist. It has a mini book in it with stats for the cartoon characters!!! biggrin

Uni is AC 18 with a +1 magic horn if used as a weapon. All the humans appear to be Level 7. Dungeon Master can kiss my hinder.  

[Lucky Hoku]

Umberella

Psycho co-workers make me yell at people I love.

I am just REALLY glad that you have witnesses to the insanity.
Keep written records of what happens and when, just in case the situation ever escalates into something involving court dates.

Thanks Umberella for the kind words. When I returned to school today, I was told by my Principal to document the whole incident, return a copy to her and to keep one for myself. Apparently, the Technology Director decided to go off on another teacher yesterday and has now been put on written notice. The school wants documentation in case, as you say, for legal purposes.  

[Harbone]

mAOri waHIne

Lil Jo I totally understand what you are saying about your brother in law... mine is the same way and the sad part is I introduced them. Well, I was an idiot or more so, my sister. She was 22 years old, just graduated from University and complaining that working as a teacher she wasn't meeting any men. I had met my future brother in law on a flight home and thought he might be a nice date for my sister so I set them up. Little did I know that they would marry after 3 dates. It was an absolute shock to my family and even further shock when he moved my sister all the way to California. Now, the only chance of seeing her was to fly across the Pacific. My sister was a fashion model in her younger days and travelled extensively... well her husband told her that she was never to wear any makeup, he bought her a new wardrobe that did not include anything sexy or revealing, he told her not color her hair or cut it, and he took away her passport. He basically locked her up from the world. Whenever I would call on my sister he would stay in the room and whenever she came to visit me, which was rare, he ordered her home before the sun set. The change in my sister from this vivacious, international model to this frumpy, overweight housewife was dramatic. My mum and da accept the situation but I can't. My sister tells me she's happily married but when I see her she is so worn out.

I'm glad to see you haven't given up, Maori Wahine. Let me tell you a little story. I can't give details, because my clients have a right to privacy, but I can generalize about the services and conditions we encountered on a daily basis.

At least once every few weeks I'd meet a woman like your sister. Usually, their husbands had not handled the finances very well. I met one who earned only $125 per month from Social Security because her husband had never let her work, another who could get no help at all because of the controlling crap that their husbands had pulled on them. In the end, your sister is going to need your help. Find some way to talk with her privately and find out what is really going on. I suspect something more than just "Born Again Christianity" is involved, although that is enough to bring out the macho, wife-crushing and brutish side of most men. In the end, you're either going to look after her when her husband dies (because her husband has taught her well and good how NOT to look after herself) or you're going to have to help her find herself again if the marriage breaks up for legal or financial reasons. Good luck, it's going to be tough. I reccommend checking out your local women's shelter for advice and literature. (Like Ruth's House in Honolulu.)