Two Days of Hell: Day 14 & 15


frustrating day

Life likes to throw curves. Sometimes even knuckle-balls into the dirt. And on a rare occasion, the ball comes directly at you and hits you in the head. That is exactly what the last couple of days have felt like. Although I’m not somebody who usually gets stressed, I can confidently say that my blood pressure was probably a lot higher than it should have been the last 48 hours. No matter how well you plan for things, the unexpected often happens.

While the latest curve didn’t affect the minimum wage challenge directly (in fact, it probably helped it a bit), it’s definitely not something that I would do over again. I’d hoped to get out to see some places in the area where I’m currently house sitting over the last couple of days, but these plans were quickly thwarted when the server for the websites had some major problems. While there really isn’t a need to go into the details (which would likely make me explode if I had to repeat them anyway), suffice to say that what was supposed to be 30 minutes at the most of downtime turned into 48 hours of watching the sites crash again and again.

This brings up an interesting quandary. The sites not being up ended up costing me a few hundred dollars in lost revenue from advertising. My sister, because she never misses a chance to make a challenge more difficult if she possibly can, thinks that I should have to deduct that amount from my minimum wage earnings. Her philosophy is that it’s like me getting sick where I couldn’t get into work and had to take a couple unpaid sick days.

I, on the other hand, see it more like a corporate emergency where I ended up having to go in to work overtime for no additional pay. While technically my websites lost money because of what happened, I ended up spending a lot more time working due to the situation so I don’t equate it to taking time off from work. So the question is, which one of us do you feel is correct in this situation?

For those who like to try to find a silver lining in all situations, I didn’t end up spending a dime over the last two days since I was in front of my computer 16 hours a day. While certainly not a lot of fun, it did totally focus me on the problems at hand which meant a couple more no spend days. What’s more, since I lost two days of my normal work to the issues of getting the sites back up and working properly, I will have to spend most of tomorrow catching up on my regular everyday work. This current house sitting job hasn’t been nearly as conductive to getting out and enjoying the local opportunities available like I was able to enjoy in Arizona, but I do hope I can get out and about at least one day before this is over.

On a brighter note, I did pick up another four days of house sitting after this job. I have a friend who is currently vacationing in Hawaii (I need to figure out a way to house sit out there) who has asked me to stay at her apartment for safety reasons (no pets). I will go directly there after this job, and I’ll be there until the 22nd meaning that I only have a few days where I don’t have confirmed lodging this month.

I think it’s definitely time to take out a few of those beers in the fridge, crank up some good music and let it help me forget about the last two days, or at least let them disappear into the past…

Yesterday and Today’s Spending

Food: $0.00
Car: $0.00
Housing: $0.00
Travel: $0.00
Misc: $0.00

Total: $0.00

Total Spending

Food: $7.39
Car: $0.00
Housing: $0.00
Travel: $0.00
Misc: $16.15

Total: $23.54

Next article: Day 16: I Have A Date

(Photo courtesy of music2work2)


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January 15th, 2013
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Comment Number:
1
Written by:
Mamasita
Posted on:
January 16, 2013 at 3:33 am

I’m glad the site is back up, I’ve been checking! :)

Enjoy the well-deserved beer!

Comment Number:
2
Written by:
Wendy
Posted on:
January 16, 2013 at 4:28 am

Although I do know that minimum wage folks don’t usually get sick pay, I think this situation is more akin to having to work overtime due to a computer outage. You should pay yourself overtime, or get time off to compensate you.

Comment Number:
3
Written by:
Liz
Posted on:
January 16, 2013 at 5:53 am

My husband works in the IT industry and has for over 20 years. There have been times in the past where he has had to go in to work outside his normal hours to fix a situation. He doesn’t get paid extra for it, it’s considered a part of his job (this is considered the norm in the industry). So, in your case, I would neither add any money or subtract it.

Comment Number:
4
Written by:
Pauline
Posted on:
January 16, 2013 at 6:53 am

If you make minimum wage, you are not the owner of the company so when facing that kind of IT problems you would probably make more for overtime. If it were a pet project on top of your day job would have to take the loss AND profits, which would defeat the purpose of the challenge, so this has to be your day job.

Comment Number:
5
Written by:
Joan.of.the.Arch
Posted on:
January 16, 2013 at 8:16 am

A minimum wager tethered to the job reminds me of the stories we were hearing a few years ago of certain big box retail employees being locked in the store after hours to complete stocking. cleanup and so on. Couldn’t leave could you?

In the opposite direction, here’s a nuance for your sister to torture you with. Occasionally min wagers arrive at work, perhaps put in a couple of hours (perhaps not) and then are told to “Go home: there’s not enough work today.” They will have spent transportation money, yet earned little to no money to compensate.

Comment Number:
6
Written by:
Jane Savers @ The Money Puzzle
Posted on:
January 16, 2013 at 9:52 am

We are crazy busy at my work because of the flu epidemic but all overtime has been banned by the big wigs.

The computer crashing would probably be a financialy neutral issue for a minimum wage person. Others would have to scramble to complete your regular tasks while you scrambled to fix the problems. Other tasks would just pile up for you to deal with when you have the urgent situation fixed. That is how it goes at my work.

People will have to wait longer for service, paperwork and other tasks will pile up and all staff will feel the stress but there will be no overtime or extra staff called in to help and there will be no extra money in anyones pay.

Comment Number:
7
Written by:
nore
Posted on:
January 16, 2013 at 10:02 am

minimum wage positions at my job are hourly and would get paid over time – only persons on salary are exempt from being paid OT.
Not sure how you and your sister worked out the possibility of OT, I think she nixed it but I do not think you have to subtract any money.

Comment Number:
8
Written by:
colleen
Posted on:
January 16, 2013 at 11:34 am

I enjoy your post with the exceptions of your sister. The mentions of the way she treats you is enough to make me not want to read. I do not like when people are mean to each other even if it is for so called fun or sibling rivalry I have a brother (3 yrs younger) and we never pick at each other this way. The world is hard enough with out your own family constantly picking at you.

Comment Number:
9
Written by:
jeffrey
Posted on:
January 16, 2013 at 11:41 am

It’s her job and it actually serves a positive purpose — it keeps me honest when doing them. While I ultimately disagree with most of her “new rules” it forces me to think and make sure I’m holding up my end of the challenge bargain.

Comment Number:
10
Written by:
Minny
Posted on:
January 17, 2013 at 1:11 am

I think I see where you are coming from on this Colleen, but It seems to me that both brother and sister have a good friendly relationship. The challenges his sister sets Jeffrey are right up his street and give him new insights into different areas of saving money.

Comment Number:
11
Written by:
Bobbi
Posted on:
January 17, 2013 at 5:49 am

I think you should deduct something, a quarter or dollar perhaps? for every cuss word spoken during the last 48 hours. That ought to take care of the challenge. ;) have fun.

Comment Number:
12
Written by:
mimipaula1
Posted on:
January 17, 2013 at 7:46 am

Please, please, PLEASE! Let me send my just-younger sister to you for two weeks….she has a great sense of humor, is a hard worker, but, most of all, is the person I would call if I suddenly had to go to WAR! She would never ask a question or make a demand; I know she “has my back” in every situation. She wants me to succeed, ’cause she finds success in my success! One of my greatest blessings is this sister!

Then….send your sister to me! I think I can “help” her understand how the “family thing” works–yeah, it’s “One for All, All for One” in my mind!