Thursday, March 22, 2018

Pineapple Express

Pineapple Express is the name the weather reporters call the moisture-laden air stream or "atmospheric river" we get from the tropical waters off the coast of Hawaii.  It is dumping a fair bit of rain along the coast of California.  The brunt of it moved further north, today, but we have had rain all last night and most of the day, today, until about 4:30 p.m., when it cleared.  Another storm is supposed to move in early tomorrow morning. 

I had arranged to work from home, today, too, in anticipation of the water heater repair person coming out to replace the pressure regulator.  But the company called around 10:00 a.m. to say he will not be able to come out, today, after all.  He won't be able to make it, tomorrow, either, and I really didn't want to try and work from home on Friday, too.  So, we have scheduled for him to come out on Monday.  I have the day off from work, on Monday, in observation of Cesar Chavez Day.

In the meantime, I have hot water!  Yay!  I took a nice, hot shower, today, and washed my hair.  Later, I did two loads of laundry.  I aired out the house in the evening, took a look at the garden, watched the evening news and a documentary about Stephen Hawkins, and spent a relaxed evening.  A couple of friends and Aunt C phoned.

Later, I video chatted with daughter.  By the way, the good news is, she has received a "cost of living" increase that will be retroactive as of January and will be for the duration of her current contract, which ends in May.  This increase will more than make up for the increase in rent and leave her a little more than the $15 she had left in her previous budget!  However, apparently, someone in payroll made a mistake when entering the increase and put the decimal point in the wrong place!  So, instead of an additional $196.00 in her most recent paycheck, she received, no, not $19.60 (which wouldn't have been too bad as it could have been corrected, eventually), but, rather,  $19,600!  Her paycheck gets deposited directly, so there was no way daughter could prevent it from being deposited!  She has notified payroll, but that person was out of the office, today.  Daughter can get a cashier's check from the bank to pay it back; that is not a problem.  I am just hoping this is not going to create a tax situation for her and she won't have to pay taxes on almost $20,000 that she received in error and paid back!  She will have to make sure that she gets a corrected W-2 when the time comes!

Today, I am grateful for:
- Being able to get hot water at the turn of a handle!
- A hot shower!
- Being able to work from home
- Rain for the garden
- A cost of living increase for my daughter!

Thursday's To Do List:
- Go to the office
- Put away the laundry
- Water the indoor plants
- Do the litter box

How was your day, today?  How is the weather where you are?  Are you being affected by the nor'easter that is dumping so much snow on the east coast?

10 comments:

  1. You have been having a lot of rain. When your live in a somewhat arid climate, I would think it's always welcome. Is it?

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    1. The first rains are always welcome. Unfortunately, a little seems to go a long way, over here! The roads/intersections get flooded very easily - seems like we don't have the proper drainage (or the openings to the drains are clogged with trash). Usually, the rains come after a summer of fires and the burn areas have no vegetation to hold the soil in place and we get mud slides and flash floods. And, of course, people forget how to drive in the rain on slick roads and there are always accidents! And the normally dry river swells up and flows and they have to make public service announcements begging people to stay away from the river because the current is fast, but, of course, people disregard the warnings and either fall into the river or go into the river and have to be rescued! But, other than that, the rains are wonderful! Especially after such a long drought. :D

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  2. What a nuisance you're having to wait to have your heater fixed but it must be a relief to at least have some hot water.
    I hope your daughter gets her pay sorted. It must have been quite a shock to see that number on her bank statement. X

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    1. Jules, yes, but, at least I have hot water! The leak is a nuisance, but, as long as it doesn't put out the pilot light, I am OK!

      Yes, I am sure the company will want their money back! :D

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  3. Very disappointing that the water heater repair was cancelled at 10:00 am! Not very good customer service. Hopefully it will now go ahead on Monday.

    Congratulations to your daughter receiving a cost of living increase. Did you say one time she is a contract hire and therefore the increase is not automatic. It often seemed to me over the years that prices often went up more than the yearly raise. Today doing my weekly shop eggs had increased. I was not expecting that, thinking with Easter they would be on offer. I also noticed several brands of cheese now are 6oz and not 8oz as previously.

    We have also had rain and our drought is over. It has been colder than usual for March. Son and his family have been affected once again by the nor'easter. He often said when they lived in Manhattan it was amazing to see how they always kept the roads and even the sidewalks clear. You could still get just about anything delivered and much of it is by bicycle. Of course it did affect flights. I loved the many visits we made.

    Hope you are having a good day.

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    1. Sandy, yes, it was disappointing, but, I didn't mind too much because I had hot water! That was my more immediate concern.

      Yes, daughter is on a yearly contract. So, this is not an automatic increase. They are calling it a stipend, actually; I'm calling it a cost of living increase. They are aware of her rent going up and are trying to keep her there!

      A yearly raise is not a given, anymore, is it? What is a given is the cost of things going up! None of the grocery stores here are having a sale on eggs, either! Maybe they'll go on sale next week? One of the Kroger affiliates are having butter on sale for $2.59/lb., though. Maybe that is the new stock-up price for us, over here!

      Hope you stay warm and dry during the rain and that your son and his family make it through the storm safely. Hope you have a good day, tomorrow.

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  4. I hope your daughter gets it all sorted out. That sort of thing can make a real mess of the paperwork. I'm glad you have hot water.

    From the sound of it, you deal with rain there like we deal with snow - with caution! If you are not set up for the weather then it's always going to throw people out. Still, I hope your lovely garden gets the benefit, and I LOVE that the weather has a name. LM x

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    1. Lyssa, yes, apparently, payroll will do a reverse direct deposit, since she didn't touch the money. And they will not show the payment in her year-end earnings statement (a form that is known as a W-2), that gets submitted when she files taxes.

      Yes, we are ill prepared to handle the rain when it does come. Because, too often, we will get an entire winter's worth of rain in the space of a few days - the ground gets saturated and just gives way!

      Yes, we have the Pineapple Express, the Catalina Eddy, the Santa Anas (hot, dry winds); lots of names for the various weather phenomena we experience. :)

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  5. Proud daughter got the raise. And got the mistake fixed.

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