Friday, April 4, 2014

Friday Update

GROAN....just got back from the Dentist, and found out I'm going to lose a tooth.

Bottom right molar, the very last one, (#31, I think) has a cracked root. I had a crown put on this one back in 2009 after the filling fell out, and I didn't do anything about it for too long.

What could have been a $250 filling replacement turned into a $2200 root canal and crown. This was while I was laid-off, and didn't have any decent dental coverage. The dentist my wife's coverage provided wanted to just pull the tooth, but I knew it could be repaired, so I paid for it out of pocket as my Dentist wasn't in her plan's network.

Oh, well....I got another five years out of that tooth.....

Funny thing is it doesn't hurt, which is good because it hasn't started to decay yet. They X-Rayed it back in November, and nothing showed up, but because there was some weird feeling in it, my Dentist said they'd watch it closely.

The launch has been delayed until the middle of May due to damage to the rocket and some equipment on the launch platform that happened last Saturday when they went to erect the rocket.

A very large panel with electrical and gas connectors, similar to the umbilical on a U.S. launch vehicle, didn't line up properly, and when they raised the vehicle, the connector panel on the rocket and the mating connectors on the launch platform were damaged.

In order to assess the damage, the complete launch vehicle had to be transferred back to the command ship, and the payload assembly/third stage demated. Now we're hearing all the damaged parts will have to be sent back to the rocket manufacturing company in the Ukraine to be rebuilt and recertified for flight.

AND....one of the export managers quit yesterday, and when I went to to take the original letter from my Doctor to the outsourced HR person who only comes in once a week for 4 hours a day, I was told "They no longer work here".

Hmmmm....no HR anymore?

WITHOUT any announcement?

SO.....I took the letter to the gal who handles all the legal stuff and maintains the paper files for all employees, and find out that she's out until next week. The payroll lady has the next office over, and when I asked her about the HR person, she hemmed and hawed for a few seconds, and said "If you have any issues, talk to your direct (manager) first". Then I help up the letter, she turned red, and said I could leave it with her, and she'd give it to the legal gal next Wednesday.

I think I'll keep it and give it to the legal lady next Wednesday myself.

If we're open that long..........

4 comments:

  1. Never rains but it pours, eh? Sounds like you've got some things to go through.

    Good luck & God bless!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Reading the chicken guts and blood shows portents of doom.

    Good luck with the job and the tooth....

    ReplyDelete
  3. That's not a sign of good things to come. Hope everything improves, including the tooth situation.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Well....I've had teeth extracted before, but it was my 4 wisdom teeth, and two of those had to be blasted out. One was growing sideways, and the other was impacted into the tooth in front of it. That was not an enjoyable experience, except for the rather potent pain killers they gave me to take after the anesthesia wore off.

    Real, live, genuine "Whoopee Pills" that, as the old joke goes, didn't so much kill the pain, as you just didn't give a damn that it still hurt!

    My Dentists said this "should" be a normal extraction as the X-Ray didn't show anything abnormal other than the root had separated right under the crown, leaving plenty of it above the jaw bone to grab. The root is also in "good" condition, no signs of decay, so it should come out easily, too.

    She's an exceptionally good Dentist, top of her class at USC, and not only has all the latest techno gadgets, but a great "chairside manner", and probably the best Dentist I've ever been to.

    The work situation is extremely unsettled right now. Besides that fact that there's basically NO morale left anymore, getting rid of the on-site HR person, without making any formal announcement of it, stinks to high Heaven. I've heard through back channels that they were pretty much hired to write the new "Employee Handbook", which had a complete release of any and all liability the company might have had, or will have in the future, of any and all obligations you'd expect a normal employer to have in regards to the employee, and that once that was done, they were gone.

    The Employee Handbook is a huge "CYA" document all in favor of the company, and very little in favor of the employee, making great, sweeping statements that California is an "At Will" employer state, and we basically agreed to have no right to sue for any kind of termination, grievance, or "other" matter. Of course, it also stated that should we decide to leave on our own, a two week notice was required, while the company could tell you your employment could be immediately terminated at any time, with no reason being given.

    And the last page came about as close to "Sign this agreement OR ELSE...." than I've ever seen before.

    Frankly, I don't think they'll be in this business in another six months, and I expect the axe to start being swung around the end of May, or late June at the latest.

    ReplyDelete

Keep it civil, please....

Gloomy, Gritty, Grey Day

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